qwertyell

Pretty shocking quality all round. If this is the future, now we're penniless and selling off our best players, it's not a rosy picture. Shane Long can't even get into the game against a league one side. How on earth did he get a new contract? Couple of decent touches from Watts, but our lack of genuine wide players isn't helping the cause.

This is all your fault.

Not arsed who makes our kit. Given our dire financial situation, the only information worth a damn is whether they're paying us more than UA or not.

He's injured too.

Stephens... FFS. Giving the ball away is one thing, but he then made a half assed attempt to foul as if he couldn't be bothered. Wouldn't have saved the game, but it'd have saved our GD another hit. Worrying how much we wilted in the second half after 10 days rest. Poor, after such a promising opened 45.

We've been dogshit this half. So many errors. Don't look like creating owt.

Think we've played half decent, in the main. One piece of poor defensive play has pissed on our chips. Doubt we'll get anything out of this now - Leicester have us where they want us and can (and will) hit us on the break. More likely a 2-0 result than 1-1. Smallbone's been all right. Seems to have toughened up a bit; not quite as lightweight as he has been. Hey ho.

And then pay Liverpool a 25% sell on fee...

Have they settled on an end date yet?

What happened to our interest in Joey Veerman? 5 goals and 7 assists from midfield so far this season.

Also available as a free agent: 26 year old North Macedonian number 10 Saso Dukov. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/saso-dukov/profil/spieler/224169 Surely the perfect partner for Wellington? (Jean Butez of Antwerp would be a good fit too, but he's a keeper.)

Contract is up at the end of the season. I'd imagine he won't be renewed. Hasn't kicked on.

29 year old uncapped Brazilian on a free? Good luck with that.

I'm a big fan of Tomori and think Chelsea have backed the wrong horse in going with Zouma over him, but he's not a player we need right now. Sure, if money were no object and we could indulge a big, deep squad, sign him up - long-term, he's a far bigger prospect than Bednarek or Stephens. I'm not expecting any movements from us in the transfer window unless we get a serious injury crisis or a key player is sold.

Why? He's too slow to be a full back (even before the serious knee injury he's had) and as a centre back would be our fifth choice. Flogging him for £16m was some of the best business we've ever done. He's not even bang average.

Gutted for Djenepo. He'd started the game well too. The boy loves his football but just can't get the body right. Chin up, kid.

He was immense. Great first touch, ability to spin away from close challenges, acceleration to drive forward with the ball, and defensively disciplined and focused. If he can deliver a better final ball, he'll be amazing. Really liked what I've seen from him so far. Looks a genuine talent in the making. Hopefully this gives the manager confidence that he can rotate his midfielders a bit to keep them fresh. I worry Prowse is going to wear his legs down to stumps.

We know how this one ends, but at least we've given a decent account of ourselves for a half. Leaving the defenders one Vs one against Salah, Mane and Firmino time and again is not a sustainable approach, imho. And, Jesus Christ, Forster's a total liability with the ball at his feet. Shitting bricks every time the ball goes near him.

It's coming. Not for us, though. Absolutely clueless going forward. Hopefully the manager watched the Leeds game instead.

Poor. Giving away West Ham too many set piece opportunities - playing to their strengths. We look shaky every ball that comes the into the box. Just aimless with the ball. No idea what the plan is to create chances when we have good possession. Once again, a desperate lack of quality in the final third. Walcott looks likeliest to make something happen, but I wouldn't bank on it. 0-1 incoming. Header from a set piece.

Welp, that's us fucked. We're not going to be one of those teams that performs better without the manager around. Ralph absolutely drives the boys from the sidelines. Thought his family were still living in Germany... Anyway, get well soon, boss.

Bit concerned by Hasenhuttl's post-match comments from the Fulham game where he said we'd have had no chance of coming back if we'd conceded the first goal. Weird thing to say. Does he really have no ideas up his sleeve to adapt Plan A according to the challenges any given game throws up? Anyway, West Ham will kill us in the air - Souchek scoring from a set piece. Or Antonio will play and thoroughly brutalise our centre backs like he always does. Happy new year.

Poor. Didn't deserve any better. Game management from the manager was a pisstake too - two subs after the 90 minute mark when we were playing so badly. Rubbish. Diallo was a positive - air shot aside - and a great block from Stephens preserved a point at the end there. Not a lot else to take from the game. If that's as good as we've got with a couple of injuries, we're going to be in for a rough month or so where we'll be glad we banked 25 points early doors. Officiating was pretty awful, but that's to be expected. To be honest, I wouldn't have been happy if the penalty shout we had was given against us. Bednarek might have gotten away with a similar handball in the first half. Where are we going to get goals from moving forward?

Pretty grim. Started to come into it more as the half wore on, but no quality at all. Diallo tidy, Stephens with some poor square passes, Long anonymous. Nothing on the bench to really give us much optimism. If we were playing anyone good we'd be in big trouble today. Scruffy 1-0 either way, I reckon. Edit: oh, and the ref's been terrible for both sides too. Where do they find these Muppets?

Fulham coped with Liverpool and Klopp's tactics pretty well the other day. I doubt they're having sleepless nights over a weakened Saints. It'll be a tough game.