Whitey Grandad

You said ‘could have beaten. We were some way off that.

That’s far too long. If they can’t decide within 40 seconds then it can’t be an obvious mistake, or as Howard Webb calls them ‘howlers’.

Could have? We let in three goals!

Fun for Chelsea.

Too many senseless bookings.

Can’t you play golf in the dark? (asking for an old friend)

At the end of the season that one point might make all the difference. And mean that we nearly reach Derby’s record.

Because VAR tells them to.

Refs don’t give offside decisions.

Different sports with different tempos. Plenty of natural breaks so it doesn’t break up the flow of the game so much.

That’s just an unproven theory. It the opponents don’t chase you around then you get more tired than they do.

So why do we have to put up with it?

I was at a game in Vancouver where VAR stuck its nose in and interfered unnecessarily.

Offsides are nothing to do with the ref. VAR remit.

I’m not laughing.

It doesn’t have to be either play it short or hoof it long. There is such a thing as playing it out from the back but this lot just recycle it in diminishing circles. Of course playing it out needs a midfield presence which we don’t have if we play five at the back leaving our midfield empty.

The figures are for net migration and would have taken account of those who had returned. Frightening, isn’t it?

I think it was 10 years ago.

It reminds me of Hitler in ‘Downfall’. Always hoping that the ‘Steiner Angriff’ would save him.

What is this ‘tweak’ whereof you speak?

That’s because it is a chore

Of course it’s risky. And stupid. The slightest mistake and it costs us a goal. When do we ever have four players in the opposition penalty area? If the thinking behind this system is to draw the opposition in then it’s working. Once they have been drawn in then we are supposed to have more room to break free and counter but the exit pass never comes because it’s not allowed to. I wonder if Martin’s preference for five at the back is because he wants his defenders to be closer together to make the passing between themselves easier. For this reason alone he should go. He simply doesn’t like us to be attack minded.

I’m sure you’d like it to be 🥴

Yep always leave a player or two upfield. My neighbour Ivan Golac (name drop) said that he like to leave three upfield because then the opposition had to mark them with four.

The system exaggerates any mistakes and makes them more likely to lead to goals conceded. Even less talented players can be drilled to produce a tight defence. Defending is easier to coach than scoring goals but this posturing imposter has never been able to do that wherever he has been. I have no doubt that a more competent and experienced manager would have us set up better defensively. I don’t think we’d survive but we would at the least have made a fist of it.