OTF

Shoulder to shoulder, no foul there.

Lack of altenative. Really only could have moved Dummett in and brought in Lewis or Manquillo on the left.

I know Willock had a foot injury, must have been pretty bad, since he's come back it's like he's playing with a wooden foot.

In the battle of looking shit when opponents counter they are but amateurs!

You moved down under?

Think it's a bit of shock for Fabian thinking that his best attribute, his beautiful face, may have been damaged.

Schar looks actually hurt here.

Lucky for Trippier. Easy yellow.

Apparently there will be a lot of focus on Shelvey's defensive capabilities due to him playing alongside Willock and Joelinton.

Ah yes, such legitimate sponsorship. Thanks FFP for making sure to protect the financial interests of all clubs.

That's also because when things turn bad consistently a manager is normally shown the door relatively quickly. Conversely with Ashley at the helm Bruce was left in place and the rot set in, having already had a tremendously poor season in terms of performances this season we managed to get considerably worse right up until the point that the sale was allowed to progress. The result was a bunch of unmotivated, unfit players lacking disclipline who have drifted miles from their best due to having sub-standard coaching, training and tactical application. That can't change overnight with a new owner or manager like a normal bad run of games can with a semi-capable squad. The problem is far deeper here.

A lot of potential chances/half chances for Wood will be sucked out of existence once the ball finds its way to the dribbler. I wonder if we could push ASM further forward so that at least when he goes for a dribble he will already be in an advanced position. Defensively he's next to useless also so playing him in a midfield role only decreases the protection that our leaky defense gets.

I'm just being grumpy but it's fucking incredible how shit the timing of the decision to finally allow the sale to go through was. If the PL didn't fuck about trying to satiate their 'top dogs' hoping PIF would go away we would have had Rafa come back in with an intricate knowledge of the players and club and have been in a position where we could actually attract players for an exciting project. Instead we're trying to get players in with the doom and gloom of almost certain relegation staring us in the face. It's not just the players that it has impacted, it has also seen us struggle to bring in a DoF and other key management positions. Honestly it's getting to the point where they may as well start preparing for the championship and switch the focus to youth, facilities and development, bringing in young players who won't mind being in the championship for a season. And who knows if we bring in enough raw talent it might get a last song out of some of our deadwood.

@wykikitoon Howe's Bargain Hunt Losers is a great name. Keen to see whether Howe mixes things up for this one, or whether he brings along the same menagerie of shite hoping there's someone keen on faeces at the auction.

Djokovic can hook us up.

Exactly, we're scoring less than a goal a game. We don't only need to shore up the back we also need to create more chances and ultimately score more goals. We need sharp players with movement and pace, not Longstaff, Shelvey, Hayden, Willock, Hendrick etc

Carlos never had our support anyway after Diego dealt him a beatdown.

*Alan Pardew and Mike Williamson have entered the chat*

Watched the last few minutes of this, they shat the bed big time; from the kick off at 2-2 there was no attempt to retain possession, passed it straight to Tottenham, very nice pass from Kane and composed finish.

Loans are honestly a good shout IF they're match fit.

Coming at it more from the angle that clubs do not want to lose quality players part way through the season and therefore in January you have to pay more than those players may otherwise be worth. That's the unfortunate situation we're in. Add to that that we're odds on for relegation and we also have to pay over the top in wages as well. It sucks but it's the way it is.

Exactly. We've been playing for ages with less than that.

Whatever happens we're definitely naive. We also need to overspend on players because we don't have the luxury of time.

Honestly when you've played at the highest levels it's probably a welcome change to play in the championship, especially if you're still being paid like a premier league player. #SilverLinings #TellYourFriendsTripps