Teddeer

Palace v Fulham what a bore fest 45 minutes that was compounded by having to listen to Mark Hughes as the studio pundit.

Mike Dean takes immense delight in giving as many controversial decisions as possible against us. He loathes us and makes no attempt to hide the fact.

Leeds didn't look all that today against Villa. Contained them easily and never gave them much of a sniff in the whole of the second half.

Lee Mason at it again!

Just watched some of the Man City West Ham game. Although WH lost it was only 2-1 and they kept it quite tight while engineering a few chances themselves. What I noticed was the crisp way WH passed the ball - they weren't afraid to fizz it to each other. It reminded me of how we were playing before this slump and I'm convinced our passing now is much less firm almost as though we don't trust the recipient to deal with a strongly struck ball. Need to get back to having the confidence to fizz the ball around and stop the wishy washy tippy tappy stuff.

It's not a question of deliberately playing poorly more that there could be a small voice in his head telling him not to take as many risks which is a natural reaction. In his mind is he 100% fully committed to us if he knows he will be moving on? If he is then great. None of us is enjoying this run of results so naturally players are being put under the microscope.

Fulham will beat most teams! What are you basing that on?

Exactly the reason I started this thread.

Like Hjobjerg you mean. Come on, Levy has got previous.

Agree, this smacks of Levy doing his usual and trying to get a player he wants on the cheap. The big problem with that is that if Ings is set on going to Spurs then it does him no favours if he bangs in loads of goals because, of course, his price then goes up.

West Ham seem to be in a strong position for a club that has spent badly.

However we do it we need to mix up our play and make us less predictable or we are just too easy to defend against. These are professional coaches and players - they should be capable of changing things around during matches including spells where we recharge the batteries or preserve energy.

We should have been 2-0 up after eight minutes. Vestergaard missed a simple header and Tella should have passed to Adams who was in a better shooting position.

Well worth a cheeky £10,000 bet to make an easy £12,500 profit 🤣

Leeds didn't have a big lump up front but still managed to play some long balls to run onto and cause panic in our defence leading to goals and chances. I'm not advocating a Pele style centre forward to hold the ball up but rather balls played into space through the middle or on the flanks to get us up the pitch quicker as an alternative to our current one trick approach which is becoming far too predictable.

I'll probably get shot down but I don't think we are direct enough at times. I'm not advocating that we continually lump the ball forward but surely the long ball still has a place in football particularly if played accurately to forwards making good runs. Apart from anything else it might surprise the opposition and give them something else to think about. The possession football where we try to advance but are happy to play the ball back to maybe reset and change the angle is great, I don't have an issue with it. However, without mixing things up a bit, we just become too predictable and easy to defend against. In Vestergaard we have one of the best long ball passers in the game and others can try their luck too but we aren't using this option. We often concede to long balls into the heart of our defence but seem very reluctant to return the favour. Variety can be the spice of life - let's have a bit of it.

Whenever any team is on a bad run it is normal to work from the defence up. Unfortunately, for a variety of well-documented reasons, we are short of a right back. Compound this with the latest injury to Romeu who is a key defensive shield in midfield and we are in the mire. Ralph has a tough job but somehow he has to stem the goals against column and make us hard to beat. I thought he'd begun the process with a solid performance against Chelsea but that was all undone last night. If you look back at the Leeds game we generally panicked every time they played a long ball that bypassed midfield or played it longer down either flank. The two centre halves must stay close to one another to avoid leaving a huge hole through the middle and, whoever the fullbacks are, they need to stick with the wide men. Then the midfield must work to shut off the supply. It's tough when you look at what Ralph has to play with but he's got to work on making us tighter when we are being attacked.

Let's draw a line under it. Life's too short and it's basically just differing opinions.

I think part of the reason for these injuries is that we are in a spell when our passing is sloppy and nowhere as accurate as it needs to be. As a result players are having to lunge and stretch to try to retain possession (leading to the risk of injuries) when a little more care with the pass in the first place means that doesn't have to happen.

Firstly I did not specify Redmond I merely listed midfield players and his name was among them. Secondly you are implying that I suggested starting a game with Redmond playing central midfield. I didn't and never have. Maybe stop citing half truths to suit your agenda but I guess you know that.

That is a farce. What Mariner is really saying is that he realised when he blew originally that Leeds weren't ready. If he blows the whistle he is ready because he is the one doing the blowing. Another ridiculous decision that's gone against us. Who knows what the outcome would have been but we would sure as Hell rather have gone in at half time one nil up than level. How can referees continue to get away with spouting these bizarre excuses. I blew the whistle but realised I wasn't ready to blow the whistle. You really couldn't make this stuff up.

Just watched the highlights back and the disallowed Adams goal seems really tight. In live play I had thought the ref had not blown the whistle and JWP took the kick early. However, on a closer look it seemed like JWP started to run towards the ball then the whistle came just a fraction before he played the ball through to Adams. It's certainly close. Would love to see a replay using the 'snickometer' technology used in cricket where the stump mic picks up sound and they play back the picture with the sound-wave. Being honest I now think the goal should have been given.

Not at all. You stated that I had suggested we start a game with Redmond in central midfield. I did not and never have.

As I said, quote my post where I suggested Redmond should start a game as a central midfielder. No need for the snide 'like a drunk' reference either - this is meant to be a place for civil discussion and for fans to voice opinions. I get that you disagree with me so let's leave it at that and move on.

Maybe check our results since the turn of the year. We are well and truly in meltdown.