qwertyell

Welp, we made a game of it. Just lacked the quality up front to take our chances and defended a few situations pretty sloppily, and that was the end of that. The first two Wolves goals were a catalogue of errors. Tella losing the ball, Bednarek making an untidy and uncalled for lunge when all he needed to do was poke the ball out of play for a corner; the marking disasterclass and goalkeeper walkabout that led to Coady's goal. All very avoidable, but evidently not for us. Not sure I've seen that referee before, but he was hopeless for both sides. Didn't have a fucking clue what a foul was or wasn't. Let loads of physical challenges go, and then rewarded dives and booked people for shoulder bumps. The penalty could've gone either way - we would've screamed for it for our side - but the fact the referee missed it and had to be told what to do by his superiors was the least surprising moment of the match. Take it on the chin - Wolves are a decent side - and move on to the next one. At least like that Le Tissier vs Blackburn game in the 90s, we can forget the result and just remember an absolute howitzer of a strike from Prowse, who never hits free kicks with that technique normally. He's expanding his repertoire.

How did Bednarek even manage to fuck that up? He had it - just had to poke the ball out of play - but somehow failed to do so. Another self-inflicted wound. Was an even game until then, although Wolves were starting to look more threatening.

Man United went 4222 against Wolves last week and got played off the park. Absolutely dominated in midfield.

Yeah, boyyyyy. Nicely done. Needed a win or two from the Brentford and Newcastle games before we collide headlong into a difficult run of fixtures. Obviously Newcastle ducked us, but tonight's three points puts us in a relatively comfortable position, making those upcoming games something of a free swing. Defensively a bit all over the shop, but I like the midfield three - the manager needs to find a space for Diallo more often. He's got bags of potential. Good stuff.

We'll need a third to take this one. Getting serious Burnley vibes from Brentford - very effective pumping the ball forward and playing physical. They'll create another big chance. Diallo doing well. Nice to see a midfield three not getting totally overrun for a change. Come on, bring it home.

Low quality game, this. Lot of kick and rush - that Brentford seem better at than us. Lyanco sloppy as fuck so far.

Bednarek must be getting towards double figures for own goals now. Absolute donkey. Elyounoussi makes it 2-2. Extra time is already more interesting than the entire game has been thus far.

Better to lose in 90mins than be dragged through extra time. The manager again hasn't adapted to the game not panning out exactly as predicted.

Liability as usual. Brains of a rocking horse.

Hope it doesn't mean Crocker is out. He was showing promising signs of turning around the youth set up.

Fantastic effort. Can't argue with that. Played very decently when it was eleven vs eleven, and showed plenty of heart to guts out a point playing 10 vs 12 for nearly an hour. Imagine Yan Valery, playing CB in a back four, keeping out Harry Kane and Son - funny old game, Saint(s). Definitely a bonus point in the bigger picture. Norwich and Watford losing makes it a good day for us. Beat Newcastle next up and we can breathe a little easier for a while. Everyone put in a shift. Including Frannie Benali, probably.

Absolute disaster, that. This game should've been a free hit - just get through it without any injuries or suspensions and focus all our energies on Newcastle, which is a key match. Two suspensions (so far) out of our back line is the antithesis of what the doctor ordered. Yan Valery at RB against Saint-Maximan? Yikes. Salisu wasn't lasting the game regardless of his second yellow for an obvious penalty - he was reckless all half; there was a shocking all-or-nothing lunge on the halfway line that he was lucky to get away with just a minute or so earlier. It's a pity, we were playing pretty well. But there's nothing there for us from this game now. Just dig in, maybe get a heroic point - but more importantly, don't pick up any more injuries or suspensions. Anthony Taylor has been about as one sided as any official can be.

Thought we were a bit of a rabble, to be honest. Two brilliant pieces of individual skill glossed over a very disjointed, disorganised, chaotic performance. There was a 10-15 minute period at the back end of the first half where we looked like a side that vaguely knew what they were trying to do (after a terrible start to the game), but in the second half it was all last ditch defending, panicky clearances, no composure in possession, cheap turnovers, and waiting for the inevitable Palace equaliser. We didn't create anything. The plan, if there was one, was to hope Tella could sprint the length of the pitch on the counter attack. Oh, and the inept long throw routine from Salisu that keeps threatening to catch our opponents out with it's comical shiteness. Still, a point is a point regardless of how messily it came about. We don't look like much of a team, though.

Most unlike us to not show up in the second half. Just waiting for the inevitable Palace winner now. Super - Shane Long's coming on. That's a statement of intent.

Weird sport. We were shite for 90% of that half, but two absolute belters later and we're sitting on a lead. Too open and too sloppy for it to last, but hey - small mercies and all that. Broja's a real handful. If only he can stay fit for a while.

Vincent Kompany spent around three years struggling to come back from a calf problem. He'd return for a couple of weeks and then be out for months again. It's not a good injury to have - can be extremely difficult to "cure".

We've been in free-fall for an entire YEAR. Every excuse in the book has been made to absolve the manager of his responsibility for this side's terminal decline - and some do have merit; this is a poor squad with poor depth and limited funds. But, regardless, he's had a year to prove he can turn our fortunes around and get a tune out of these players, and he patently can't and isn't going to. What possible harm is there in trying something new? The worst they can do is fail, which is in keeping with the current status quo. We're heading down if we do nothing.

Okay, that was pathetic. Gave Tierney three chances to cross it, and when he did we had a box full of statues marking nobody. And Lacazette's just messed up a three on one. We've caved in.

So easy. From their goalkeeper, straight through the press, and into our goal without a single one of our players even making the merest physical contact. Chumps.

He'll go back to Germany. His stock's still high there, and there's a real churn of managers every year in the Bundesliga - a decent job will open up sooner or later.

Possibly ungentlemanly conduct, like climbing on your teammate's shoulders to gain extra height is (or used to be).

Didn't Lewis make his only senior start against Arsenal? We got hammered - and he was crap. Who are we playing next?

The most mentally feeble team in the league. We were in control until they went down to 10 men, then totally shat the bed. Captain Prowse has had a nightmare there - his shit simple pass leading to the free kick, and then playing Maupay onside. Fucking bottle jobs.

So far so good. Unfortunately, this is where Brighton make one minor tactical half time tweak and then absolutely dominate us for the remainder of the game.

Fuck me, Armstrong is dog shit. Can't/won't pass.