qwertyell

There were (weak) rumours last summer of Chelsea being interested - which seems hilarious in retrospect. They must've been impressed with that "interception" stat that so excites people who play football on spreadsheets.

The right footed right back Brandon Williams? I would hope our club knows he only got some minutes at left back last season for United because they were desperate and had no back up - much like Stephens is getting a run out on the left at the moment for us. And no-one would possibly argue he's a left back either. Or would they? Since Luke Shaw got fit and they signed Alex Telles, Williams hasn't featured at left back. Because he's not a left back. He's got his minutes this season at right back. His actual position. It would be bizarre for the club to go all out to sign as a left back replacement a guy who's main position isn't left back. Not that I'd put it past us. His versatility makes him a handy squad player - and an attractive loan option - but he'd be a poor full time left back replacement. What with him not being a left back and all. Call me old fashioned, but I think a left back should a) be a left back and b) able to cross the ball on the run with his left foot.

If Fulham lose tonight, we should start planning for next season immediately. No point investing any more time in players that aren't going to be with us moving forward. Get Salisu into his proper position and have a good look at Jankewitz and Ferry; see if Obafemi still has a future here. Keeper; KWP, Bednarek, Salisu, Ferry; Jankewitz, Ward-Prowse; Armstrong, Tella; Adams, Obafemi.

One dimensional player whose entire game was dependent on outrageous acceleration that just isn't there any more. He's not even our fastest player - and our team is slow as shit. Pointless giving him a contract. His peak passed years ago. It'd be Shane Long all over again - who, incidentally, we're also going to be stuck with next season.

Not our worst half of football, to be fair. Just got vibes of the Spurs game about it: play pretty well against a half-asleep opponent for a half, but don't take our chances. Then fall away once they wake up and go through the gears. Hopefully not - hopefully we'll keep up the pressure in the second half. But I wouldn't be confident. Redmond's having one of his more positive days out. He's trying to make things happen, which is all anyone really asks. Walcott continues to offer nothing beyond anonymity. Tella might get a few more fouls if he wasn't such a persistent diver. Hey ho.

Pretty disappointing that everybody hid behind the stock excuse of "injuries and bad luck" as the predominant reason why we have been record-breakingly appalling in 2021 - as though no other side has faced any adversity this season without utterly capitulating. What they say in public and behind the scenes may differ, but on the face of it it doesn't suggest much self reflection has gone on. Which doesn't bode well.

I don't really understand what's in it for Stoke to retain him for another season. They have a number one keeper, and a current England u21 keeper coming through. Why on earth are they shelling out what I imagine is a decent Championship wage on another back up keeper? We should be sending Norwich a favourably edited video compilation of Gunny's best moments when he was on loan there a few years back. They still love him up there, and they're a PL club again with extra TV money to spend. Tim Krul must be getting on a bit now.

16th or 17th after the weekend.

To replace Ings on the physio's slab? Nice kid, good player on his day, but he had a poor fitness record before his most recent serious knee injury, and that ACL injury was described by (I think) the surgeon who rebuilt his knee as horrendous and about as bad as it gets. It's no surprise he hasn't returned to anywhere near the right level. There's got to be major doubts that he ever will.

Not surprised. Release clause rumoured to be as low as £7m (or as high as £11m). Creative teenage attacker - it's almost a free hit for a club like ours. If he's remotely decent, he'll be sold on at a huge profit (he's got Home Grown status, which is going to become increasingly valuable in the post-Brexit PL). And if he's only so-so, well, it hasn't broken the bank and we can probably recoup most of the outlay. Suspect we're already out of the running, though. Olise will have plenty of admirers.

It'd be interesting to hear Semmens and Crocker's defence of the frankly pitiful state our youth setup has fallen into on their watch - and what they're going to do about it. And whether they still believe imprinting Hasenhuttl's one, basic tactic right across the age groups has been a resounding success. Developing young players is the only thing we've historically been good at, and now it's a joke.

It has little to do with the result - we wouldn't expect to beat a top 4 team very often if at all. But what we should expect - especially with substantially more rest and preparation time under our belt - is a far better level of performance than we've been throwing in lately. And, perhaps more importantly, one that can be sustained over the majority of a game. If we can't play for 90 minutes with 11 days rest, if we can't get properly organised into less of shambles with 11 days preparation, then what's the flipping point? How is this manager going to turn things around? How much more time does he need? But thanks for adding a few more excuses to the list: confidence and luck are also against us. And the referees, of course...

No hiding place for the manager and his apologists with this one. Not saying we should expect to beat a team in the top 4, but with 11 days rest compared to their 3 days, the old excuse of our players being tired, of the schedule being against us, of not having enough time to prepare, is off the table. If we still can't turn up to a second half and put in a proper shift over the whole 90 minutes, the jig's up.

They'd probably be flattered.

We're literally in the bottom six. After we lose, Newcastle will jump ahead of us into 15th on GD.

I mean, there is a quote function so you can highlight exactly what I "stated" rather than your own misrepresentation. For the record, I was chiming in a conversation around the hypothetical question "Of the 13 teams above us, which should Hasenhuttl be disappointed not to be higher than?"

You don't think the highest paid manager in our history should be doing a little better than losing 9-0 twice, setting records for most consecutive defeats, and dragging the team to the bottom of the league in 2021 after a run of 12 defeats in 15? He certainly has more than his fair share of white knights throwing up all manner of excuses for his limited tactical ability and dwindling performance that none of our previous less-vaunted managers were ever afforded. Our "vastly inferior squad" got steamrollered by Championship-bound WBA last week - and lost to 9 man Newcastle a few weeks before that. And the manager's getting "a better tune out of this team than could be expected"?

Allegedy on £6m a year and the 8th highest paid manager in the league at the start of the season (although Lampard was below him and has been replaced by Tuchel who is probably on a higher wage). So anything much below 9th is probably not a great reflection on his value for money. Finishing below 14th as he probably will most certainly isn't.

Scored 6 this season. Che Adams has scored 7 (from more appearances).

It's just hipster 4-4-2. Only our wingers are too shit to actually do any wing play, so they all congregate towards the middle and instead do fuck all there in amongst the traffic. The trouble with hiring a "philosophy" manager is, what if his philosophy is a complete joke? Or so simplistically wafer thin that even a 29 year old caretaker manager who has never taken charge of a side before can figure it out in 45 minutes? Where do you go from there?

12 defeats in 15. The worst team in the league in 2021. Outfoxed by a 29 year old YTS manager and a team phoning it in before a cup final. The guy's fucking clueless. ANY manager with something about them would've found a way to halt the haemorrhaging by now. Might not be pretty, might be parking the bus and grimly picking up draws, but it'd be something; a reaction; a proactive response to atrocious, unacceptable form. But not the Alpine Klopp. Not the tactical maverick, reinventor of the beautiful game. He's got nothing up his sleeve. He's got the tactical depth of a puddle of jizz. Who's still making excuses for him? Hopeless. Still not convinced we won't go down this season, but we've got no chance next season.

Leicester weren't phoning it in with a cup final a few days away. Even so, we're far more energetic and committed than anything we showed on Sunday. Obviously Forster must have been weighing everyone down...

Fucking Adams. All the finesse of a breeze block. Every finish with him is hit-it-as-hard-as-you-can straight at the keeper or whatever defender is in front of him.

Palace chairman Steve Parish was on Monday Night Football last night, and kicking out the Six Splitters is absolutely not on the agenda for the remaining 14. The Splitters have the rest of the league over a barrel and they know it. The deference is embarrassing. Parish's implication was that they'd all put their heads together and try and work out a solution where everyone wins - i.e. the Six get precisely what they want, with a few minor, superficial alterations. The only way this thing is getting stopped - aside from government intervention - is if the players revolt. There's no Super League without them. It only takes Messi or Ronaldo to take a stand (aren't they rich enough already?) and the whole charade collapses.

Set the stadium on fire or fuck off, you cowards.