Chez

Allardyce? Fuc in ell. Just kill me now.

Lack of quality in the final third the problem not the managers (Puel and Pellegrino) in my opinion. Redmond, Gabbiadini, Long, Austin, Tadic and Boufal simply do not create or take chances. They are not good enough. Neither too are Hojbjerg and JWP leaving us having to play Davis as part of a two man central midfield, which despite is qualities he is not up to. Add in a keeper that has never been good enough and you have a tough tough job.

good decision. Boufal was out on his feet, and jwp perfect man to swing in the last few set pieces and crosses into the box with VVD pushed up front.

who leaves after 81 minutes at 0-1? I know we have lost our way somewhat, but **** poor support.

Long or Austin?

who'd you like to see?

he played central, but it was quite tough going. Brilliant double spin move early on beating two men must have got his confidence up, but space was so limited he couldn't work any gaps. Not much came off. His little slide rule passes were all intercepted. He gave the ball away a little bit. I'm a fan as was annoyed he was taken off last week as the game was opening up, but just as it opened up this week he ran out of gas. That was only 70 minutes in, which was a little disappointing. MP kept him on but he faded and he either gave up (perhaps knowing he was being subbed) or was dead on his feet at the end as he walked forward when the break was on. For me the key is to keep persisting with him, especially away from home where he might get a little more space earlier in games.

we played Boufal pretty much off the striker, with Redmond and Tadic pretty high up the pitch. Saying we had 1 up front is a little disingenuous IMO. What formation and personnel would you have preferred?

what do you mean exactly by gutless? Do you mean players too scared to try and beat a man in case fans get on their back? Not looking for a fight, genuinely interested

any minute now we will have some chump saying drop the lot of them and get the youth in

big Boufal fan here, but even I'd have to admit that he looked tired after 70 minutes and was walking forward (whilst we were breaking I might add) shortly before he was subbed, so think its harsh to moan at MP for that substitution. If we'd scored from one of JWP more effective crosses at the death would that have said it all then?

perhaps he needs a bald jesus playing him in with guilt edge passes all game long.

has he metamorphosised into a pacey strong fullback over the summer? If not, then no thanks.

thought he looked fine to me. Couldn't see anything wrong with his attitude, professionalism or effort. Got up and down. But for a very good block might have scored in the first half. Its not easy playing with Redmond.

painful. If only it was a one off. We might actually be better off allowing teams on to us a little. Maybe ht the channels now and then. turn teams, break quickly. Anything so that we create a bit more space as the guys we have don't have the ability to work in such congested areas

wish I had read your post before making mine. Could not agree more. Winning games is all that matters to most though...

In my opinion it was a complete smash and grab job from an extremely limited, but extremely well organised Burnley side. I can see posts on this thread describing such opinions as `deluded', but thats how I feel and you will do well to change my mind. We dominated the game pretty much from start to finish. There was a period in the second half when Burnley simply couldn't get out of their own half. Literally they were encamped in their third, hoofing it clear with no one 40 yards from the ball. They had nothing in attack at all...or so it seemed. I'd argue that our passing back to front was crisp and mostly precise, though not nearly enough from the usually reliable Romeu. We looked pretty solid at the back (no one needs me to tell you that) and we limited them to pretty much two chances, the headed goal and when they got round the back and Wood crossed poorly. Thats it. Two breaks. Jesus. Imagine travelling 230 miles to see your side have two breaks. If I'd done the reverse trip to see that performance I'd be fuming...right up to the point the team scored. Boy does a goal and a win make you forget a performance quickly... Returning to us. The central midfield battle was won comprehensively. We kept the ball well and passed our way out from the back playing ourselves out of trouble. Whether you like it or not there were redeeming attributes to our game. But I doubt anyone wants to read about those. When you lose and have lost similar games to this week after week you want have a good old gripe about it on here and blame Reed or MP or Redmond. So let me offer my 5 pennies worth. Where we came unstuck, and where we continue to come unstuck is that we don't have the quality of payer able to unlock a packed defence. A team sitting back with 4,5,6,7 or even 8 men back behind the ball, because we are dominating is one we are simply unable to break down. Tadic, Redmond, Boufal, Davis, Long, Austin, JWP and Gabbiadini, individually and collectively are not good enough. On their day they all can shine, but week in week out they simply are not quite good enough. There are obvious things like Longs finishing, Tadic's reluctance to shoot and Redmond cutting inside all day long. But there are also subtle things. Take for example the fantastic overlap by Bertrand in the second half, Redmond played him in and Bertrand's shot was blocked. It wasn't the most memorable chance, but it could have been the best one if only the weight of pass was right. but it wasn't. Redmond overhit it a little, Bertrand had to adjust, which took him wider, enabling Lawson to get back and block. And that's the key. The perfectly weighted pass comes from players with outstanding talent and we don't have them. We have good players, but not top notch players. And that is the issue. With limited space and decent defenders you need high quality to break it down. The same applied last season. We corrected the issue of a lightweight central midfield, but we have done jack **** to address the quality issue up front and out wide. Who's fault is that? Is it the managers? The board? Any manager will only be able to do so much with these.

more what? Cos if its attacking threat, productivity or better defending, then I'm not with you.

Cedric got the byline a few times yesterday and Bertrand has done the same in previous games, so not sure I agree with your assessment.

If you witnessed Ian Andrews **** ups at QPR back in god knows when, then you tend to be a little more forgiving of keepers, but that said I have never rated Forster and I still would prefer Arthur. In my humble opinion Forster is a limited keeper and I have always been sceptical. He gets his body in the way of things and by and large his positioning is decent, which is why he gets in the way of things. That's a very useful attribute and I wouldn't want to gloss over it as its fundamental to decent keeping, however there is no way of getting away from the fact he doesn't make saves, i.e. ones where the ball doesn't just hit him. I have yet to see him make a `worldie' where he has had to dive. There was the Arsenal save, but I'd argue that he just stretched his arms out wide and the ball hit one of them. It was a very good save, no doubt about that, but how about something where he has to dive or move his feet? You don't need me to tell you his kicking sucks, he doesn't sweep and is stuck permanently to his line, but shot stopping, that's a basic requirement for top flight keeping right?

Why take Boufal off just as the space is opening up? Don't understand that substitution. The last 5 or 6 minutes there are two or three break opportunities, just when you want Boufal on the ball.

no.

as they did with the Tesco planning application, they will probably start a campaign for its removal ignoring any locals suggesting they might need power.

Karma. I guess at least the fat snake has a lot more time to take one of his many holidays.