OTF

Glad Perez is in, I'd have a sat Colback instead of Anita. Sissoko and Cisse deserved to be dropped.

The red mist with that challenge haha...idiot. Wouldn't have caused a man of any repute to even wince, there was nothing in it and anyone who suggests it risked injury is a blatant fanny. Yellow card sure, but nothing more.

I'm not fussed how he does there. He did a good job for us for a period but absolutely had to go.

The worst part is there is a separate set of rules for certain high profile teams.

Aye, we were a man down before Mitrovic was dismissed.

Against all odds we've scored

Pretend yellow for arsenal nullified by the immediate card for Widjnaldum who was no doubt asking for consistency in the shitty refereeing.

Not that anyone should care but the plastic haired podgy coke fiend Mark Bosnich said it's a red and went on a tirade about it. I'd say there's an element of racism there given he's of Croatian heritage, if not its all just down to him being a moron, perhaps exacerbated by the toxic invasion of synthetic matter into his cranium.

Mariner is a cunt of the highest order, look at the indignant look on the fucker's face walking off at half time to a chorus of boos. Shockingly we've been better since we went down to ten, there's a goal to be nicked there for us if we can keep up the intensity. That will be the challenge and will require use of our subs. Feel for those at the ground who have been robbed of a fair contest by Mariner.

As you know it was Taylor in this instance, wouldn't say the linesman was wrong here either. Either way there's no telling if Rooney would have put the ball in the back of the net if Taylor didn't peel off after the flag was shown.

Special mention to Perez, worked tirelessly all game, young kid with the right attitude and some raw talent I'd have him out there as much as possible, he clearly wants and deserves it. Mitrovic adds a completely different dimension, he should be a big influencing factor in games where our players realise they're footballers and can pass the ball and maintain possession.

Yeah great to have Colo back there.

Real bonus point there, some good defensive efforts but we were most appalling with the ball.

Really? Interesting.

Obertan was reasonable in the first game, and from what I have read was one of our better players against Southampton (I thankfully slept through most of that one) so it's fair that he's in there again. I don't mind the team given who we have to choose from. Taylor will be comfortably 5kg overweight and likely blowing out his arse after 5-10 minutes but what other options does McClaren have? I would have liked to see Thauvin out there starting.

After the injuries it certainly seemed that way, though big players can sometimes look slower than they actually are.

He had at least two consecutive seasons where major injuries saw him out of action for extended periods. Has obvious talents, though speed was never one of them.

Hoping to see a good showing from the new lads Mitrovic (starting), Wijnaldum, Mbemba and Thauvin. I'd be starting Thauvin as he's match fit and there's little to lose in a fixture such as this. I'd expect we'll have a very good idea of what Mbemba is capable of after this. I just hope that McClaren at least attempts to play to our strengths here rather than trying to nullify theirs. Clearly defense is not what we're best at at the minute so hoping to get something from the match on the strength of our defensive fortitude is misguided.

There should be little doubt that he enjoys going down in that box.

Once you're on the magic road.

Mike is no fool, he's protecting his investment. The new TV rights deal comes into effect in the 2016/17 season and that will further inflate the price of players. Spend less down on longer deals to save some money if you can keep an efficient squad. There's surplus money to spend from seasons passed as well so even though there's a high spend now balanced across a longer period since 2010 it's much more aligned to the aspirations Mike Ashley has for the club. Whatever the case whilst we're buying players we might as well enjoy it because there's absolutely no guarantee that it will be sustained.

An obligation to buy for an undisclosed fee based off undisclosed criteria. Eg. If he plays a certain number of games.

I too was a victim of the surprising enorm... size of this issue.

I hope Thauvin starts against Man Utd. He's match fit so no reason why he couldn't start from that perspective. Although our chances are slim it'd be a memorable introduction to the league and a good challenge for a young skilful player with it all to prove.

The Cardigan is nice.