Sheaf Saint

I guess Ralph is working on the basis that by going toe to toe with them like we did last season, we might get a similar result. But going up against City with the horrifically lightweight CM pair of JWP and Diallo...

Has it occurred to you that the constant barrage of snidey and sarcastic posts from you and a few others whenever the subject of women's football is brought up might have turned people off from wanting to discuss it here? No, I expect it hasn't. I watched it. I enjoyed it. I didn't feel the need to post on here about it.

This is mental. Shell are one of the most unethical, profit-hungry corporations this world has ever seen (if you're not already familiar with the case of Ken Saro-Wiwa, look it up). For their CEO's calls to implement more socialist policies and be taxed more to fall on deaf ears at Number 10 speaks volumes about how ghoulish Thick Lizzy's government is.

That's 3 games in a row now where the opposition has been there for the taking and we've just pissed it away through our own ineptitude and defensive frailty. I really hope SR have been working hard in the background to find a replacement for Ralph, because I really think he is a busted flush now. Just no ideas left and not the slightest clue how to manage this team to get points from winnable games.

And there it is. Another 3 points gifted to a shite team. This can't go on.

Yes. we had a decent run Last autumn/winter which included a decent 2-0 win over Everton.

10 minutes left to salvage something. we've been by far the better team since their second goal and at least made some chances unlike the previous two games. But if we don't score again, we'll have gifted yet another poor team an easy win through our own sheer incompetence.

Good save from Pickford but it was the perfect height for him to get to it.

Neal Maupay is such a little prick.

Utterly fucking pathetic defending for both goals. Another tactical shambles. Got to tighten up after getting that first goal and no concede immediately. But to give away two goals like that in quick succession after finally breaking the deadlock is nothing short of embarrassing.

I don't think it's even that. I think they know damn well that the events of recent years will make them completely unelectable for a generation, and what we are seeing now is a last desperate smash and grab to transfer as much wealth as they possibly can to their donors before they disappear into the political wilderness after the next election.

When my wife has to split the washing in the laundry basket into two loads and doesn't bother to make sure that no odd socks get left for the second load, forcing me to put clean but unpaired socks back in my underwear drawer.

Indeed. Since it was explained that the reason we utilise them is because we tend to win the second ball, I've watched carefully and it seems to be true. Very rarely do the oppo manage to clear it properly first time. The problem is that a) it leaves Salisu badly out of position if we do give it away and b) we don't have anybody on the pitch who has the slightest idea what to do with the second ball once we've won it.

Redmond contributed far more in his time here than Ely ever has or ever will. If I absolutely had to choose one of them to play, I would choose Redmond every time. At least he occasionally looked decent. Ely never has. Not once. Ralph's obsession with playing him every week is very troubling. Was it Einstein who famously said "the definition of insanity is doing the same thing over and over and expecting a different result"? If that were literally true then Ralph would have been sectioned by now.

Perhaps it's time for a new poll on sacking or keeping him. Will be interesting to see how far he has pushed the fanbase.

He has shown that it can be much better though, so I'm just gonna put that down to a bad day in the office. He wasn't the only player to have one last night. Having slept on it, I think I'm now in exactly the same boat as @trousers, I've run out of benefit of the doubt cards with Ralph now. Some of the decision making last night was just indefensible. How the actual fuck can a supposedly competent, experienced manager continue to persist with Moi when it os so blatantly obvious to literally everyone else that he is hopelessly out of his depth at PL level? It's beyond parody. How can he continue to try the JWP/Diallo CM partnership when it has been shown time and time again that they are just far too lightweight as a pair and we just surrender any control of the midfield with them in that formation? Why take off the only forward player who is likely to make anything stick up front and bring others into play, while keeping the completely ineffective ones on the pitch? Sorry Ralph. I've been one of your most optimistic supporters for a long time, but you've lost me now. I've finally had enough of you fucking it up, week in week out, while throwing your players under the bus and refusing to take responsibility for your own shortcomings.

I'm wracking my brains and the only positive thing I can say about tonight is that at least we managed to restrict Villa to only 25% of their goal tally against us in the same fixture last season. That's literally all I can come up with.

Ralph looks lost, like he's confused how we've lost that.

He did. And don't call me Shirley.

Moi finally comes off. On 78 minutes 😐

We look slightly better since the subs, but still not laying a glove on them.

Seriously, how the fuck is Moi still on the pitch? I haven't seen him make a single decent contribution to our attack yet all season. An utterly hopeless waste of a shirt.

So can someone please explain to me how the two players in offside positions are not interfering with play?

Surely if VAR can check for a possible red card if the ref missed it, they should be allowed to say no red but you at least need to give a yellow. Just another absurd aspect of how VAR is implemented.