aimaad22

Ashley made his intention to sell very public. Staveley did the same with her appearance against Liverpool. It was clear from the start that this takeover was not going to be a discreet one. Could be that neither party is interested in going to lengths to keep things secret rather than there being some clever ploy in play. Its sort of the way things are being done these days in football as well. Players transfer sagas and all. We're apparently only valued a little over Neymar after all

If the fat man has any sense, he'll see the necessary investment in January as a means of securing the value of his club with a view to any takeover. Not just money down the drain. Squad overhaul is not expected in any case. A move for a striker should be sanctioned at least with the above objective in mind.

To be fair taking the description of a 30 minute period of play, in a match thread, as an overall assessment of Rafa or the squad's abilities is a bit silly

Didnt compare him to Pardew ffs. Get a grip. IT WAS THE WAY WE WERE DEFENDING AFTER CONCEDING THE FIRST GOAL. For a while we were playing like one of his teams. Thats all. Dear God. Some context is needed, like. Good to know how much that prick is still hated on here though, the smallest of references enough to get everyone's panties in a bunch.

It was with reference to our falling apart after going ahead, and the nature of the defending. We all expected to get beat today but many were saying we'll keep it tight and competitive. Which we couldnt. We made silly defensive errors. Happens of course, especially against that sort of opposition. I was on about the way we were playing during that 2nd half. Not saying Rafa has turned into Pards overnight for heavens sake

We've missed Lascelles today. Have to take the positives onwards, good first half, good going forward. Murphy actually looked decent at times today. Need to pick up points against Watford and West Brom.

Stupid defending, tons of space, goals shipped left and right. Thats a Pardew team you little pricks Its a really strange game. We've played some very good stuff. Created chances. Scoreline is harsh but fact is we've been poor at the back.

Like I said, Pardew team now. Disgusting defending. Who was that Clark? Pathetic.

Some of the players look tired. Bring on Perez and Mitro. Take a chance. Nothing to lose.

Looking like a Pardew team now.

Struggling to see Joselu's contribution to the game, yet again.

FFS from a header again.

We've had better chances than in the last few games combined. Look dangerous going forward every time. Makes the 2 goals let in all the more disappointing.

Thats so disappointing. We've actually played really well. Bad goals to concede. I say this after each game almost. Neither of the goals are directly Elliots fault. But he and should be doing better. He's absolute shite at getting balls from corners/crosses.

They'll win by 2 or 3. The only interesting thing's going to be how long we can keep them quite. I'll be shocked if create as much as a single chance. Yeah not too confident at all

I think its been mentioned already but the ref was a clueless wanker again. How much longer before we get some sort of luck with these guys? The foul on Gayle near the end was clear as day and he was in on goal. A couple of really cynical fouls not yellow carded as well. Useless twat.

And half a dozen other players that we didnt sign.

Wow. That was utter rubbish. Completely deserved to lose that. I tell you what. Last couple of games we've been as bad footballing wise as Ive ever seen us. We've offered literally nothing. Not a single clear chance. Hanging on against fucking Bournemouth at home and deserved to lose by a couple of goals at least. Shelvey the only player who can hold his head up high really. I thnk Elliot is a shit keeper. Distribution is shit, and he's shit at collecting the ball from crosses/corners. Proper pissed after watching that. Championship team without a shadow of a doubt.

Yup. A takeover of this size can easily take 6 months plus. And thats assuming there are no major hiccups and nobody gets cold feet.

Halfway to 6 in a row. Fans will be ok with that.

This has been a long time coming. But its every bit as good as we thought it would be and some more

Joselu in the no. 10 role would be an absolute sight to behold Aye. Has little choice as most around him dont have the ability to make a decent forward pass. Merino coming in in the centre will help with that hopefully.

This working hard thing is great but there HAS to be a maximum shiteness qualifier that precludes people from getting in the team on the basis of 'hard work'. The fact we dont have it shows the state of the attacking talent in the squad. Perez another one that highlights this. Fact many fans are okay with these two starting speaks volumes of the trust in Rafa and the system he's got going to manage with this squad. When you look at him individually, he'd be in the absolute bottom bracket of premier league strikers. Quite clear why he couldnt get into the team for freaking Stoke City.

That was a horrendous football match, our attacking play even more so. The lack of quality up front is depressing. Joselu, Perez, Diame are absolute dogshit. Yedlin and Manquillo are worse than useless going forward. Forget going forward in fact, they can barely make a straight pass towards the other goal. And 95% of the time they'll just cut back to the CD or the keeper resulting in us being continuously stuck inside our own box.