Midfield_General

Alan Shearer and Paul Rideout as twin centre forwards with Rod Wallace on one side of them and Matt Le Tissier on the other. That’s just a ridiculous forward line. Teams have won the league with far worse than that. I was at that game as a kid, and watching that footage just brings home how much more fun the football was then before the massive influx of money ruined it. We were never going to win the league but we and teams like us could afford to compete and keep it interesting each week. Powerhouses like Liverpool or Man Utd could come to our ground and get a hiding if we were on our game. Cheap tickets so kids and families could actually afford to go. Standing, rowdy crowd so there was a great atmosphere that made it thrilling to be there, whoever we were playing. Fairly regular bragging rights over the big boys so kids wanted to support their local team. Being able to actually keep good players for a decent chunk of their careers. Compare that to ‘the product’ now where every single thing is about money, and the people responsible for running the game seem hell-bent on turning every league in the world into an uncompetitive procession where only one or two of the same teams can win it and everyone else is just there to line up with ten behind the ball to be hammered by them. £50 a ticket to sit in a half-silent ground full of tourists and obediently watch on every week hoping you can keep the score down to 3 or 4 against. Watching an exciting young prospect have a great game and knowing that it all it means is that in the next window he’ll be bought by someone who will triple his wages to sit in their reserves. I’m genuinely amazed we still get 30k plus turning up every week for that ‘experience’. What a bit of skill by Matty to set up that third one though. Jumpers for goalposts, isn’t it? Marvellous.

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Pahars in 2022?

Yeah looking very good so far. Good to see him fit and back playing again, lovely player.

Yeah, only a second or two beforehand though, and by backing in and making him shove him off him he was giving the keeper something other to deal with rather than just focusing on the cross that was about to come in. Not clear cut by any means, but you have to wonder whether that would have stood if it was the other way around with a Wolves player backing into Ederson then ducking out of the way.

Re Wolves - linesman gave it offside too even before the VAR told the ref to look at it. Ref overruled both to give it but even though he went to the screen he gave it so quickly I’m not even sure they showed him the bit beforehand where Silva backed into the keeper. I thought Wolves looked like they should have had a direct free kick on the edge of City’s box before City went up the other end to win the corners that led to the goal too.

Is barging the keeper not considered interfering with play now?

Thought-provoking opinions there from the ‘fan’ who reacts to us conceding a devastating 97th minute winner by gleefully posting the betting slip that shows he celebrated it. Great supporter mate. Really, really great supporter. One of the best. Bet you’re still basking in it today, must have made your whole weekend. Fair enough if you enjoy it when we lose, that’s up to you, but don’t then go around lecturing the actual fans.

So according to MOTD Taylor said he saw it and chose not to give it because the shirt pull 'didn't have consequence'. He literally pulled him back for about five seconds, in the penalty area, as he tried to attack a cross that was heading straight for him. Corrupt.

Fernandes was on a yellow so I understand taking him off. Should have been Lallana who came on though.

Onuachu tried to be honest, stayed on his feet and got nothing. If he’d thrown himself down like everyone else does we’d have got a penalty. Then they wonder why players go down at the slightest touch. Joke.

When you’ve been given two yellow cards in the first ten minutes, and four after 36 minutes, for absolutely nothing, it’s only going to go one way. Then he let their player stay on the pitch after treatment, but ours had to go off. Then there was the blatant shirt pull on Onuachu that should have been a penalty, ignored even though he was looking straight at it, and no VAR review, then for the same offence we get a penalty against and a straight red. Then he plays a minute over the seven minutes of injury time he’s already given. I don’t usually moan about refs because generally speaking I think they make honest mistakes, but that today was a fucking disgrace, it really was.

You must have really punched the air when that went in Fucking prick

I don't blame Martin or the players for that That is on that cunt Taylor, 100% Needs to be investigated because I've never seen anything as blatant as that

The most bent refereeing performance I've ever seen Absolutely fucking disgusting

Ipswich 2 down (Or Everton 2 up)

This prick is going to send one of ours off at the first opportunity so we need to sub out some of the players on a yellow. I'd swap Fernandes for Lallana and Manning for Taylor second half. Also we need a third goal, because if they score next I've got a horrible feeling we will crumble.

He's been one of our best players in the first half

And not a single bad foul yet - genuinely one of the worst refereeing performances I’ve seen. Gave a yellow for nothing in the 3rd minute and has painted himself into a corner. Absolutely diabolical

No way are we finishing this with 11 men

Yes - it was his run that played in Manning for the cross for Archer to finish

KWP is five foot eight. Surely we're not playing him at centre half. Has to be the other way around.

Roll up, roll up, for the formation and team selection tombola. Is that a 5-4-1? At home, against Leicester, in a game we absolutely need to win? If Manning is playing as a third centre half, why him and not Taylor who actually is a centre half and is on the bench? Cornet, BBD, Wood and Edwards not even making the squad. If I was Dragan I would be asking serious questions about how my money was spent in the summer. On paper that looks like an absolute mess, but they've had two weeks to prepare for this one so I'm guessing they will be well-drilled and organised in yet another new combination of formation and personnel. Let's see shall we.

West Ham collapsing against Spurs the way Spurs did against Brighton. Conceded 3 in 15 mins and the inside of a post away from 4