OTF

Have you forgotten how excellent we are at second halves?

Given how little ball he has received I feel like he's been quite effective. If the referee had eyes he could have created a goal and possibly scored one.

Send Graeme Jones down to ask what the ref has been watching.

That's twice Wood has had a foul called on him for doing sweet fuck all, absolute soft shite from their centre half, very lucky the ref is useless.

What exactly is Wood accused of doing there?

He's like an anti-substitute; bringing on stale legs.

He's at least somewhat mobile... even if it's very difficult to determine whether a touch from Willock is a short pass or a dribble.

As odd as it is to say, losing Joelinton will really hurt our chances.

Raphannyha

Brilliant pass from Trippier to Willock in miles of space who just passes to noone.

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.