Mohamed’s member movers and shakers v Pardew’s shit stained legacy.

[Kid Dynamite 5881]

So basically we need to play out of our skin to stand any chance of winning games in this league. We managed it for 4 or 5 games on the bounce but we've slipped back to early season form which proves we have too many championship players. Perez and Gayle in particular. Without investment we are fighting relegation again. Kenedy needs to be signing number 1

[adios 717]

1 minute ago, Kid Dynamite said:

So basically we need to play out of our skin to stand any chance of winning games in this league. We managed it for 4 or 5 games on the bounce but we've slipped back to early season form which proves we have too many championship players. Perez and Gayle in particular. Without investment we are fighting relegation again. Kenedy needs to be signing number 1

Wouldn't worry about it too much, without investment Rafa's off and the Championship would be a blessing.

[wykikitoon 16476]

We need some serious investment. However under Ashley that's never going to happen. We all know that. 

[Noelie 103]

4 minutes ago, PaddockLad said:

 

Fuck me it's a good job you weren't there v Pompey in 92 ya daft owld fucka

 

 

 

Was that 1892?...... can't say I remember that one, memory getting wonky with age.

[Dr Gloom 19721]

5 minutes ago, Kid Dynamite said:

So basically we need to play out of our skin to stand any chance of winning games in this league. We managed it for 4 or 5 games on the bounce but we've slipped back to early season form which proves we have too many championship players. Perez and Gayle in particular. Without investment we are fighting relegation again. Kenedy needs to be signing number 1

Agree about Kenedy or someone else like him, if we don’t get him on a permanent deal. It’s the lack of end product that needs addressing. Ideally we’ll see the back of Joselu and get a couple of number 9s and a new number 10 to consign Gayle and Perez to the bench. 

[Anorthernsoul 1221]

What does Gayle even bring to the team? Games seem to just pass him by without him having any impact at all.

[wykikitoon 16476]

He's got a shit hair cut too

[Tdansmith 2068]

7 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said:

What does Gayle even bring to the team? Games seem to just pass him by without him having any impact at all.

I agree.

He's championship standard, same as Mitro. I'd just rather have Mitro. Just.

[Tdansmith 2068]

54 minutes ago, Dr Gloom said:

Looks like my winning run of match threads has officially come to an end. It was fun while it lasted 

The winning run that kept us up.

You should still be the official match thread starter. 

[Dr Gloom 19721]

15 minutes ago, Anorthernsoul said:

What does Gayle even bring to the team? Games seem to just pass him by without him having any impact at all.

Pace in behind. Bit of an out ball when we’re playing counter attack for Shelvey to ping one over the top for him to chase. I’d keep him over Joselu but would hope he’s 3rd or 4th choice for the number 9 role next season.

Edited April 28, 2018 by Dr Gloom

[Dr Gloom 19721]

10 minutes ago, Tdansmith said:

The winning run that kept us up.

You should still be the official match thread starter. 

I take all of the credit for that run, naturally. 

[Howay 12447]

I don’t really mind Gayle tbh, just don’t think he’s a good first choice. Agree with Gloom that the tactics have to suit him really, today we needed a target man type as we had him playing with his back to goal and loads of crosses going in, he wasn’t going to do much with that. 

[adios 717]

The way things went, you'd think maybe Slimani should have started, but maybe if Shelvey didn't prefer Torremolinos to Russia this summer then Gayle would have been the right choice.

[Tdansmith 2068]

6 hours ago, adios said:

The way things went, you'd think maybe Slimani should have started, but maybe if Shelvey didn't prefer Torremolinos to Russia this summer then Gayle would have been the right choice.

Aye. Maybe you're right there.

It's holiday time. 

50 thousand  pounds per week those poor fuckers need a rest.

[ewerk 26144]

Aye because money makes a difference.

[Ayatollah Hermione 12735]

Pretty shocking performance all in all from a team who look like they're on their holidays. Nobody stood out but I will say that Yedlin is absolutely desperate. A right-back is a clear priority in the summer. Perez had another game where every second touch was a foul and nowt was sticking to Gayle. Slimani looked a bit lively when he came on but fuck me, you get someone on loan who's injured, they get a setback, then another setback and then he kicks someone and risks a retrospective 3 game ban, thus finishing his season. A fine piece of business there, all thanks to Ashley pissing about all January.

 

Still, West Brom are far from the worst side in the league. Rondon and Rodriguez are a handful, Phillips had a canny game and their back four dealt with things pretty well, I thought. It's a testament to Alan Pardew's managerial abilities that they're bottom and the likes of Huddersfield and Swansea are probably looking at another season in the top flight. 

 

Anyway, get the season done with and start the World Cup.

[adios 717]

7 minutes ago, Ayatollah Hermione said:

Anyway, get the season done with and start the World Cup.

Aye, that's how I felt after watching that shite.

 

I'm surprised they've switched off, thought a Rafa team would kick on from the Arsenal match and finish strong.  Too many weak minds out there it seems.

Edited April 29, 2018 by adios
and the Everton shite

[Howay 12447]

Aye it surprised me as well, a potential reason is it took a lot of graft to get us safe as since most the squad lacks in quality they had to graft like fuck and we’ve seen a bit of a hangover effect since we got to safety.

It’s still shite to see that sort of drop off and shite to watch but I’m happy with what the squad achieved and just really hope Benitez is allowed to build on his stellar work.

When you see how much Gayle, Perez, and Joselu struggle at this level it makes it all the more impressive that Rafa has managed to make it work and drag us over the line. I love seeing other fan bases point and say when it goes wrong we blame Ashley but when it’s going right we praise Rafa, as it’s not contradictory at all, Benitez has done this severely hampered by Ashley if we’d have went into the season with any sort of quality up top we’d have been well clear all season. 

[adios 717]

Aye, we've got to be happy with this season's result given the circumstances.  It'd be nice to watch some good football now that the pressure's off but that's just the icing on the cake and as you point out, there's a lot of shite out there and they've played their hearts out.

 

On the bright side, if we watch dismal displays till the end of the season, it might knock a few million off the fat cunt's asking price.

Edited April 29, 2018 by adios

[Alex 30230]

Psychologically it must be difficult for the players to keep playing like their lives depend on it when they're safe. That sounds like it's an excuse for them not giving 100% but because of the dearth of quality in the squad and the way we need to play to get results then it must have been a long, hard season. And not without a high level of stress that comes with spending quite a lot of time in and around the bottom 3 (even when we were a few places above it we were often only 2-3 points off 3rd bottom). And following on from Adios' point re: the results, even should Ashley stay then it should make him realise we need to invest enough to ensure mid-table and push for 7th/8th/9th whereas if we'd won our remaining games he'd probably think we're nearly a Champions League side already, such is his myopic way of viewing things

[StoneColdStephenIreland 74]

I think a massive positive this season is that when we've gotten beat it's only been marginal. I can only remember once this season getting beat by 3 goals or more (Against Man U) other than that it's been by the odd goal. When you compare it to 5 previous season in the Premier League we'd get beat convincingly every other week. Which just shows the mentality of the players we have in not letting their heads drop when under pressure.

[David Kelly 1115]

3 hours ago, Alex said:

Psychologically it must be difficult for the players to keep playing like their lives depend on it when they're safe. That sounds like it's an excuse for them not giving 100% but because of the dearth of quality in the squad and the way we need to play to get results then it must have been a long, hard season. And not without a high level of stress that comes with spending quite a lot of time in and around the bottom 3 (even when we were a few places above it we were often only 2-3 points off 3rd bottom). And following on from Adios' point re: the results, even should Ashley stay then it should make him realise we need to invest enough to ensure mid-table and push for 7th/8th/9th whereas if we'd won our remaining games he'd probably think we're nearly a Champions League side already, such is his myopic way of viewing things

Totally agree with this.  It takes us playing at 100% with the players we have and it's no wonder that subconsciously they have relaxed a bit now that the job is done.  I mean, I'm tired of the season and looking forward to a break from it all and I'm just watching.  I do think that Rafa will get into them about this though and it certainly wouldn't surprise me if we don't pick up a fair bit on Saturday.

Was nice to see that even with a poor performance we are still managing to be tough to beat and solid at the back.  Apart from the Man U win, Dubravka has had very few saves to make in any of his games. 

[Kevin Carr's Gloves 3180]

1 minute ago, David Kelly said:

Totally agree with this.  It takes us playing at 100% with the players we have and it's no wonder that subconsciously they have relaxed a bit now that the job is done.  I mean, I'm tired of the season and looking forward to a break from it all and I'm just watching.  I do think that Rafa will get into them about this though and it certainly wouldn't surprise me if we don't pick up a fair bit on Saturday.

Was nice to see that even with a poor performance we are still managing to be tough to beat and solid at the back.  Apart from the Man U win, Dubravka has had very few saves to make in any of his games. 

Or Rafa knows if they look shit in the final stretch he can argue for more investment.

[Alex 30230]

1 minute ago, Kevin Carr's Gloves said:

Or Rafa knows if they look shit in the final stretch he can argue for more investment.

Doesn't seem like his style though tbf

[Dr Gloom 19721]

agreed. i think the players have taken their foot off the gas because they busted a gut to achieve the main goal for the season. rafa won't be happy but there was a sense of inevitability about the last couple of results. they don't really have much left to play for. 8th looks beyond us but we've still a decent chance of a top ten finish, which would still be an overachievement. even top 12 would be an excellent effort all round, given the lack of investment on players.