aimaad22

I remember Malbranque having some class games for Fulham, was mainly shite by the time he played for the mackems wasn't he and nobody else would have wanted him? Still makes it to the top of their list

It's just difficult to fathom anything positive in terms of results could happen this season. We could beat City here and then go on to lose in the semi or final to some freak error or inexplicable refereeing decision. Tuck the sausages away till the summer imo.

Congratulations to the Fish family! And sorry to hear of your troubles Gloomy and Strawb, really hope there is some good news around the corner for both of you.

Orlando Bloom has just bought his son the complete Lego collection, and by complete I mean EVERYTHING they make. Rooms upon rooms of little bricks. He just never wants the lad to be legoless.

Aye they finished 8th twice under Arteta before splunking 400M odd over 2 seasons and lo and behold suddenly they are challenging. Bit of perspective for the miserable twats questioning Howe right now. It took Arteta 4-5 years just to get into the CL and with a MUCH better foundation than what Howe and Nufc had 2 years ago.

Well you can always hope their extended CL run ends up in tears and impacts the league form enough for them to bottle it again Didnt use to mind Arsenal so much but Arteta really is an insufferable prick.

That was my main takeaway from that tweet as well That and getting 25M for Almiron from Saudi and stuffing him in a taxi.

Yes because Longstaff has been absolutely throwing himself about really getting into people's faces eh?

It's easy to point to something like the high press and say that's why we're struggling. I mean I understand it, maybe it is. But so much else has gone on and who can say for sure what's at the root of our problems. Just look at the unusually large amount of individual errors this season. Tripper, Burn, now Botman. Dubravka ffs. Almiron and Longstaff have reverted to type and are largely passengers. Whether that's down to confidence, injuries and fatigue etc I don't know but you've got to trust Howe has a handle on it. We've all speculated having Joe or Tonali available would have reduced these errors but then that's just the cards we've been dealt this season aye? I think his objective now would be to maintain some sort of confidence and spirit in the dressing room and target a well within reach 7th place finish. It would mean a very decent season under the circumstances and probably fair given we've got a first time still half full of Bruce players. Anything above 7th/6th is punching above our weight which we did last season. That is key. If the club wants progress next season you've got to upgrade 3-4 players. Then demand a top 5 finish and a cup run. It's just not a realistic target otherwise.

Probably more mental fatigue and lack of confidence at this point I'd think than being physically knackered. And there's been a reality check for a handful of players who did really well and rode the wave last year but are really just mid table at best in the end. As someone said earlier, football doesnt stand still. You can get overcome lack of quality with intensity and passion for a certain amount of time, but the teams that consistently do well just have better players than others.

Yeah can't argue with that.

Not sure what he can do about the level of defending right now mind. We can't even use the Miley excuse tonight. They're just all over the place. And you just can't understate the drop off in quality between Pope and Dubravka. I know he was great against Blackburn like but I just have zero confidence in the man and much more importantly it doesnt seem like his defenders do either.

Oh well..

Bad luck as well as reality check. But yes, in the end if we don't upgrade 3-4 positions in the summer it will be more of the same next season.

Wow just feck off. We shouldnt even bother for Saturday I think

Tino again one of the few bright spots today.

Even Schar's not himself tonight. Really disappointing how poor we've been given how rubbish Chelsea are.

For upteenth time I'm absolutely at a loss as to what Longstaff adds to the team.

A whole ton of pressure resulted from Miggy making a couple of absolutely shit passess btw. We are just shite

FFS where us Dubravka standing there?

Chelsea have hardly looked to threaten but it's heart in mouth stuff everytime they get near our box just because we look so nervy.

Wasn't the case when he was in full flow last season. He's not a Haaland type of striker that'll only score goals (not that teams wouldnt necessarily want that if you're that good at it), he likes to come in and get involved. Run at people. I think people have made point previously, because of how we've been playing he's been isolated, might be a different story again next season.

Botman another one who's been shite since coming back from injury.