Howay

Complete fucking suicide ball there by Ritchie. Good defending by Clark to save it.

Diame is in full on blast it anytime he touches it mode. Not even troubling row Z with his shots so far.

Steve McClaren's so-called hair clearly glued to his head. Sad! Looks like Russell will have to go off after Yedlins knee went into his head. Or it was nowt and they're just so nervous after Masons injury.

Agreed, the wife fell asleep towards the end and is saying we should watch it again. Not happening. I've been pushing to watch I,Daniel Blake for 2 weeks so she's not getting a second viewing of Ryan Gosling singing worse than me.

Agreed. Glad Sels isn't even making the bench now.

Could be being harsh aye, I was just expecting a bit more from him as we dropped down a level. Thought he'd have his confidence up a bit by now and look a bit more settled, but honestly he looks shaky as soon as the ball nears the box. I agree the rest are bollocks, I was more just expecting them to have found their level but sadly we're not at it yet.

True.

Aye I think that is more fair and accurate than my post. It's easy to forget he started with essentially a midfield pairing of Colback and Anita, we're really seeing just how inept they are this season as honestly both look out of their depth even at this level (Anita is arguably doing fine at RB but I'm talking as a CM). You're spot on about Rafa in all, the Villa situation really does put the job he's doing into perspective. He's also doing it with a squad that the bulk of isn't up to snuff. I expected a lot more from players like Anita, Lascelles, Dummett, and Colback, as although they're not PL level I expected them to be effective in the Championship but honestly they still look crap. With this in mind I agree completely that without Rafa we'd not be seeing promotion as likely by this point, I think we'd more likely be in the play-off scrap.

I'm still shocked at how utterly fucking shite he was.

It was taking the piss to a degree but they had us over a barrel. Our lot once again fucked about for the majority of the window before giving it a token go in the last few days, at that point it's always going to be hard to convince a team to sell. It's also worth noting what ewerk said, although they got him for 13m off us 6 months ago that was only due to a clause it's not his real market worth. Palace made it fairly clear early on in the window they had no desire to loan him out, our bunch carried on offering a loan deal. Palace's final offer was always bound to be a bit of a piss take as they didn't need to sell and didn't want to loan him out. No fucking clue whatsoever why we didn't just buy him when it become clear they didn't want to loan him out. I get what you're saying about others not being interested but we don't know if other teams weren't, it's also the case that decent deals are often made (or are put on the table) without other clubs moving for it for whatever reason. If utter shite like Schlupp go for 12m just pay the 15m and be fucking done with it. Now we're in a position where we have one proper winger at the club past the end of the season, I don't count Sammy, Gouffran's contract expires (iirc), and Atsu's loan finishes, this again puts us in an absolute fucking nightmare of a position to negotiate with clubs.

Spot on.

Aye, what a fucking joke man. I mean we all pretty much said this about Ashley but could we not have got a couple of years ffs, at the very least wait until we're back in the PL and safe before he starts to fuck about like last time. Instead he has decided to try and burst the wheels early. The bloke is a monumental cunt like and I actually hope to one day read he has lost everything. Just give Rafa enough money to spend to allow the squad to improve, at least what the club is generating. Sit back and then reap the rewards of a club in the PL that isn't overspending. What is hard about doing that? Instead he decides to penny pinch which has only seen debt increase due to relegations, the thick fucking tosser.

Looks like they're getting completely fucking battered. Hopefully this is the start of a rough patch for them. I understand what some were saying about not wanting to get promoted to teach Ashley a lesson. I must admit I'd love for us to win the league but I'm a little torn on it as it means Ashley will be confident that his (possible) putting off of purchases was right in this instance, when in all honesty it would be down to the manager and the more expensive players in the team dragging the team along.

Don't speak ill of Fabrice!

Aye it seems it's another case of refusing to spend when in a position of strength, we look likely to go up so that's good enough for him. We should have been looking at strengthening not only for the promotion push but looking ahead and preparing for the PL. I understand that in the end Everton were reluctant to sell McCarthy and Palace were asking for more than was originally thought however well run clubs aren't tunnel visioned in their targets as NUFC seems to be. Players that would have improved us moved around, Villa getting a couple of them. I know Hogan and Hourihane wouldn't be most peoples first choices but the fact is they would improve upon players like Colback (and probably the AMC position which honestly we don't have anyone that can play it properly), if we carry on ignoring players because (the club assumes) they wont be class in the PL we're going to end up with Jack fucking Colback getting 20+ PL games (if we make it back of course). I still think we have enough to scrape through and gain automatic promotion, especially once Gayle is back. The issues are that the club has yet again ignored a chance to buy from a less desperate position, which means buying more in the summer and having possible settling in issues at a riskier time, which all have potentially helped force at least one foot out the door of the best manager the club has had since Robson. Despite being in a similar position, table and points wise, to the 09/10 season I think it's fair to say it's a little shakier, so again while I think we'll go up I don't see peoples fears as unwarranted. We had improved a lot in the Jan window (as Alex and AH mentioned in another thread), we had more ability all over the field and weren't so reliant on 1 or 2 players being available, and we also had a far stronger looking defence.

What a fucking mess this seems to be. It would be one thing if the bloke was fucking up by listening to a new bloke coming along. But he is seemingly listening to the blokes that should have been fired for prior fuck ups.

Off at the end of the season type of bad interview? It's clear the squad is seriously lacking, it was before the window as we really have Shelvey and Gayle carrying the team (perhaps harsh on Ritchie but he hasn't been doing loads in recent months).

I hope we start giving Mbemba a chance. That Lascelles is a fucking wreck at the back, his concentration is shocking. I was hoping the Championship would see him find his feet and grow into a competent defender but it doesn't seem to be happening. The keeper pulled off some good saves against Shelvey and Gouff but Perez and Diame missed fucking sitters. I'm still in shock over Perez not giving that one on one a go, I think Rafa was too mind and he was hauled off shortly after.

Fucking crap performance that. Perez wants a slap for totally bottling that one on one ffs, his head was on a pivot from the start trying to see if there was anyone he could pass too rather than just having a go. Nervous the FA might pull Shelvey over that kick out.

Jonjo with a brilliant strike! 1-0 already

Colback isn't even on the bench tonight! Diame on the bench. Darlow Yedlin, lascelles, Clark, Paul Ritchie, Shelvey, Hayden, the Gouff Perez Murphy. Bench: Sels, Lazaar, Hanley, Gamez, Sammy, Diame and Mitro

But aye if we aren't in the lead at the 60th minute mark I think it'll be a canny tense atmosphere. Especially if Shelvey limps off at some point.

Aye, that's the main reason I'm disappointed we haven't bought anyone. We are fine in this league but this squad is a long way off being ok in the PL, it would have been better to get 1 or 2 in that are PL quality and have them in the side for 6 months rather than leaving it all until the summer. The fact that utter bilge like Colback, Anita, and Dummett are still playing regularly 4 years after everyone realized they are shit is a joke. You can say McCarthy and Townsend had inflated fees but I'm not all that convinced they'll be much cheaper in the summer, the price of players is just going up with the rising PL money and we'll once again be in a position of relative weakness as everyone will know we have to improve a lot of the players to be safe.