Stoke City V Newcastle United

[Alex 34785]

I can't see changing McLaren making much difference. We have too many players with no heart, no fight and who can't hit a barn door.

I can't see a decent manager wanting to take any of that on, particularly given our likely premier league exit.

I can't even see a decent manager being capable of getting much more out of what's available.

yet you were saying we'd be guaranteed mid table status just off the new manager and coaching setup preseason, you utter fuck wit

[trooper 940]

Asked if he would be in charge for the rest of the season, the under pressure boss said: “I don't see any reason why not.

 

“We are here for a reason, and we have to continue. 11 games to go you saw tonight the reaction of the players was good.

 

“The players are frustrated, angry and disappointed. Everything you'd expect from a game we shouldn't have lost.”

[Christmas Tree 4679]

yet you were saying we'd be guaranteed mid table status just off the new manager and coaching setup preseason, you utter fuck wit

I think quite a lot of us were predicting mid table pre season. Nowt wrong with that optimism post carver and with (at the time) promising changes in players and coaches.

[Renton 21228]

Must admit, I've only got a slight preference of staying up. If we go down, I hope we go down with the mackems and Boro stay down, it'll make next season interesting with all the NE teams there along with the likes of villa and Leeds. Am going to Bournemouth and hoping for a win. If we can win that, I've got a ticket against Sunderland which will be massive for both teams. There'll be he'll if we lose that like.

[scoobos 297]

Christ, it wasn't that bad man, we lost and were expected to lose, usually lose to stoke... team selection was shit thon, no arguing with that, but I'm blindly hoping theres some reason , fitness whatever.

 

Can't abide the fans telling him to duck off like that.

 

Dr G, you reckon we've been relegation candidates all season, I think its the last 3 years. Everyone I've expected us relegated.

 

Until the fat cunt goes or is pushed by some kind of regulation that really needs to be ducking in there. He's a fuckin disease.

Edited March 2, 2016 by scoobos

[Anorthernsoul 1221]

The scary thing is, the bloke actually believes they are playing well. Stoke didn't even need to get out of first gear, it was like a training game for long spells. That Doumbia effort was probably the only decent attempt, and he's talking like the keeper has had a busy night. That's the most worrying thing as he has plain refused to change the system all season and it is clear he won't for the remainder due to his delusion, not one player on that pitch believes in it. There's no shape, no cohesion, no fight.

 

It is devoid of any sort of endeavour, any sort of quality to stay in the league. His team selections are abysmal, and his subs are even worse.

 

You've got the other sides down there scrapping for their lives, fighting for each other. Swansea went to Arsenal and fucking won tonight. This team could never do that under McClaren as his style of play is anti-football.

[Noelie 103]

I would love to have a face to face talk with McClaren and ask him to explain his player selections and game plan against Stoke.

 

1: Aarons & Saiviet are decent and left-sided players so WHY did you choose Gouffran to start ahead of them?

(Gouffran has never shown he has the quality to be a Premier League starter. ARE YOU BLIND OR STUPID?)

 

2: When Gouffran got injured WHY didn't you bring on Aarons or Saiviet instead of Riviere?

(Riviere has never shown he has the quality to be a Premier League player. ARE YOU BLIND OR STUPID?)

 

3: Why have you not given DeJong more opportunities to start and get more playing time when he is fit?

(DeJong is a proven international player, captain of a league winning team, and scores goals. ARE YOU DUMB?)

 

4: Why did you wait so long to pull Mitrovic who wasn't accomplishing much, and putting Perez in?

(Perez is much more skillful on the ball than Mitrovic and he's scored more goals. ARE YOU STUPID)

 

5: Where was DeJong?

(he wasn't on the bench and I haven't heard of any new injury. IS HE OUT OF FAVOUR?)

 

6: Where was Tiote?

(he wasn't on the bench and I haven't heard of injuries. IS HE OUT OF FAVOUR?)

[Anorthernsoul 1221]

Stoke aren't the quickest team at the back, playing two up front with two wingers was the clear best option tonight. Not for Stevie Mac, he loves to load the midfield for no apparent reason. You've got Colback in there, what was his job? Pointless player. What the fuck is Shelvey's role? He should be the playmaker but what can he do when he looks up and Mitrovic is the only option in the Stoke half? Wijnaldum's in there, he is largely missing as he has been asked to sit back instead of playing the number 10 role. How Gouffran is anywhere near the Premier League is one of life's great mysteries, he is dogshit and should have been released two years ago. There isn't one logical reason why he was on the pitch tonight, he literally has no attributes to benefit the team. Especially with those options he put on the bench.

 

What is Sissoko doing? He's obviously not a winger, he doesn't score goals. His final ball and decision making is a fucking shambles. Another waste of a shirt. But he starts every game, JOKE. A burning question I have aswell is, why did the club make a song and dance about needing a Striker when he had no intention of playing two up front?

[essembeeofsunderland 811]

Taylor turned his back and went to the left knowing full well the ball was going to his right.1 v 0 to Stoke

[Dickie 0]

That second half had relegation written all over it. I thought they did ok in the 1st, but that may have been down to how poor Stoke were. It was the lack of heart in the second for me. Bottom 3 with 12 games to go and 0-0 away from home against a team who clearly weren't at it and they turn in a 2nd half like that? They should have been scrapping for everything to make sure we got the point, maybe even 3, that were there for the taking, but instead there was a total lack of heart, as has so often been the case with this rotten club. Yes we probably weren't expected to win before the game but that performance should worry anyone who saw it.

In previous years I've not been fussed about going down cos I'm no fan of the premier league but this year the possibility of seeing the mackems and villa go down without us would be flipping class, that's the main reason I want us to stay up. That and not giving pards and his media chums the satisfaction.

[ewerk 30221]

One good thing about being relegated is we'll get rid of the likes of Sissoko who doesn't care, Certainly wouldn't upset me* to see any of them go to be honest, including our supposedly better players like Wijnaldum who can do one.

 

We would have no problem getting rid of either of them in the summer without relegation.

 

Time to give Nigel Pearson a call.

[TheGingerQuiff 2412]

I'd take Pearson for 11 games. I'd take Kinnear at this point

[Kid Dynamite 6985]

Looks like a loss to the Mackems will probably be our death knoll. What a complete cluster fuck of a season. £80mil spent and playing worse than under Carver

[The Fish 10682]

True, but relegation surely isn't a certainty yet. One of us, mackems, and Norwich is going to survive and we're all on the same points (with us having a home game in hand). Are we really any worse than these teams? Surely Bournemouth, mackems, palace, and Swansea at home are winnable games. Say we lose one of these, is there no chance we can pick 4 or 5 points up from the rest of our games?

 

This forum surprises me in its negativity sometimes. A loss today was entirely expected, we didn't play any worse than Stoke and lost. So what, nothing's changed imo. The next 2 home matches are crucial but definitely winnable. I rate our chance 9f survival slightly above 50% tbh.

 

This is about where I'm at. This result has changed nothing and it wasn't a fixture anybody was expecting anything from anyway.

[ewerk 30221]

 

This is about where I'm at. This result has changed nothing and it wasn't a fixture anybody was expecting anything from anyway.

You were at 60% the other day so clearly it has changed something.

[The Fish 10682]

You were at 60% the other day so clearly it has changed something.

Well I'm still about 55-58% confident we'll stay up, but stating something in that kind of detail seems to upset people.

[Holden McGroin 6471]

Not sure Stoke deserved to win that game. A draw would have been a fair result. The only real chance was Doombars. Shaqiris was a thunderbastard with the wind behind.

 

Edit: If Sissoko had any sort of a decent touch he would have been clean through.

Edited March 3, 2016 by Holden McGroin

[Alex 34785]

I think quite a lot of us were predicting mid table pre season. Nowt wrong with that optimism post carver and with (at the time) promising changes in players and coaches.

Yeah but you're arguing there's no point in changing a manager who couldn't improve on where we were last season despite the influx of players. That's where the stupidity comes in. Unless you're genuinely arguing the squad is worse now. Otherwise, how can it not at least in part be on the manager? How is inconceivable a new manager couldn't improve on the terrible performance of this one? Why wouldn't someone like Moyes come here? Arguing it's all down to the players suggests the likes of Bournemouth and Watford have significantly better squads. What about the ludicrous selections? Down to the players too?

Have a word with yourself, man

[Christmas Tree 4679]

Yeah but you're arguing there's no point in changing a manager who couldn't improve on where we were last season despite the influx of players. That's where the stupidity comes in. Unless you're genuinely arguing the squad is worse now. Otherwise, how can it not at least in part be on the manager? How is inconceivable a new manager couldn't improve on the terrible performance of this one? Why wouldn't someone like Moyes come here? Arguing it's all down to the players suggests the likes of Bournemouth and Watford have significantly better squads. What about the ludicrous selections? Down to the players too?

Have a word with yourself, man

I can't see Moyes wanting to join a club with one foot in the grave. I can't see other managers coming in with 11 games to go and giving Sissoko a heart or making Mitrovic a better player in the time we have etc etc throughout the team.

 

As for team selections he's tried a lot of combinations to get us scoring but little has worked.

 

I'm not saying he's worth keeping just that the problems are bigger than the manager.

[Alex 34785]

I can't see Moyes wanting to join a club with one foot in the grave. I can't see other managers coming in with 11 games to go and giving Sissoko a heart or making Mitrovic a better player in the time we have etc etc throughout the team.

 

As for team selections he's tried a lot of combinations to get us scoring but little has worked.

 

I'm not saying he's worth keeping just that the problems are bigger than the manager.

Typical of you to pick up on just one point but it's win-win for a manager coming in anyway. If it's framed right, i.e. you get a bonus and a good contract if you keep us up and, if not, you can walk away. If we go down, you can point to the fact we were 2nd bottom anyway when you took over so it's not your fault really. But, if you do keep us up, then you have an enhanced rep. Also, are we unique or something? Because it's funny how plenty other clubs in the shit have managed to attract decent managers before. You're talking shite

[trooper 940]

“McClaren ramblings about last nights game the man is a clown

 

"I thought there were good individual displays but overall a good team performance.

 

“You could see the determination to work for each other and a spirit there, not just from the 11 that started, but from the subs as well.

 

“This game is cruel and it has been cruel to us again but we will dust ourselves down and go again on Saturday.

 

“There are a certain amount of wins we need – we don’t quite know the target yet but we have got the talent to do that.

 

“If we show that attitude we had tonight, we will get them"

[David Kelly 1219]

This is about where I'm at. This result has changed nothing and it wasn't a fixture anybody was expecting anything from anyway.

I actually agree with you there Fish. I think if we'd played like we did last night in more away games this season we'd have picked up more points. I expected a feeble rolling over last night but we were pretty solid. Yes we created nothing apart from Doumbia's chance, but neither did they. Our defence was pretty resolute and I think Taylor and Lascelles deserve credit for how well they dealt with all of the balls into the box (Dummett allowed them to get far too many crosses in).

 

But whilst I agree with you and Renton that on paper Bournemouth, the tramps, Palace & Swansea looks like a very winnable run of games, the fact remains that we haven't put a run of wins like that together in years and never at all under the current clown we have as manager. I just don't see us winning all of them. I think 7 points from those games is the best we can hope for and given our away record I have very little hope we'll get anything. I rate us as having about a 40% of survival under McClaren. I think as Alex says, if we chucked some money at someone like Moyes, a new manager boost might give us a bigger shot. But since we've not sacked McClaren yet I honestly don't see it happening even if we get relegated.

[Gemmill 44258]

Well I'm still about 55-58% confident we'll stay up, but stating something in that kind of detail seems to upset people.

Amuse, rather than upset.

[The Fish 10682]

I actually agree with you there Fish. I think if we'd played like we did last night in more away games this season we'd have picked up more points. I expected a feeble rolling over last night but we were pretty solid. Yes we created nothing apart from Doumbia's chance, but neither did they. Our defence was pretty resolute and I think Taylor and Lascelles deserve credit for how well they dealt with all of the balls into the box (Dummett allowed them to get far too many crosses in).

 

But whilst I agree with you and Renton that on paper Bournemouth, the tramps, Palace & Swansea looks like a very winnable run of games, the fact remains that we haven't put a run of wins like that together in years and never at all under the current clown we have as manager. I just don't see us winning all of them. I think 7 points from those games is the best we can hope for and given our away record I have very little hope we'll get anything. I rate us as having about a 40% of survival under McClaren. I think as Alex says, if we chucked some money at someone like Moyes, a new manager boost might give us a bigger shot. But since we've not sacked McClaren yet I honestly don't see it happening even if we get relegated.

 

I pretty much agree with everything here. Might be a little more confident of picking up enough points to survive than you are, but if you're 60% confident of relegation and I'm 55% confident of survival, it's not really worth arguing about.

[Alex 34785]

The comedy and football accounts getting mixed up again