S-Clarke

So, ABK had a dislocated shoulder in that game. He has supposedly opted against getting surgery at this stage, as it would pretty much kill the rest of this year for him (and his WC chances). So he's trying to manage it over the next few weeks with a view on playing the last couple of games for us before the WC break. Lavia is back in training, but tomorrow will come slightly too soon. I imagine he'll be fully back in the fold for Palace. KWP out until 2023 by all accounts. It's a 6-week hamstring injury. To be fair I wouldn't have put KWP in the in-form category, one of our better players yes, but not really in any particularly good form.

I like Perraud to be honest, he's limited technically but he doesn't half put in a shift. Always described him as a bit of a terrier type player. He does tire a bit quickly, but I like his application and grit he brings to the team. Been a decent signing IMO.

What a massive blow for KWP. With Trent being dodgy, Reece James being injured, he had a chance of a WC shout. Hopefully we don't miss these guys too much what with the world cup in the middle, so there's only a handful of games. Still shit though.

We feel as stable as the government right now.

Absolutely. Everyone can see that a GE is the only option from here. Id hope that any new ‘prime minster’ does this as their first job, call a General election and let the country decide. They can’t seem to make the right decisions themselves and have lost any authority to govern in my eyes.

Agree with your views, although I quite liked the look of Caleta-Car. Strong, physical, got himself in good positions etc. He had a few odd moments with bouncing balls, but both our CB's were on equal footing of decentness last night I felt.

Now I've remembered that AMN cannot play against Arsenal...! Supposedly Larios can play both sides, so maybe he will come in at right and Perraud continues at LB. Like you say we don't have enough in CM to be moving people around, and given we'll be without Lavia the only option we have alongside JWP is Diallo - so we can't afford moving either of those imo.

I don't think people are digging him out too much, I think he gave a good shift and stretched the play quite well at times. People are just aware of his limitations.

yeah, realised my mistake with that suggestion!

doh'. good point, forgot about that!

Absolutley, he was much better on the ball than AMN was in my opinion. Calmed us down and helped us carry it. He was somewhat aided by the fact that there was a tiny bit more space as Bournemouth had pushed up, and by taking off Billing they'd lost their physicality in the middle area. But the subs we made helped us retain the ball in those closing 5.

AMN RB, I personally think he's a better player there than CM. He's too risky on the ball in CM for me.

It was never going to be a comfortable win after being on such a shitty run, you just have to get a win by any means. I didn't really feel like we were on the brink at any stage to be honest, they had a fair bit of the ball from time to time but we seemed to have their number in terms of the 1 on 1 defending and CB positioning. They were fairly toothless I felt.

Adams. Honourable mentions for Perraud and the two CB's, who were very physical and dominated their attackers most of the game.

Our first win in god knows how long was always going to be like this, nervy, backs against the wall for periods. We were fortunate Bournemouth couldn't really muster much quality up top, as we kept giving them the ball back. We did defend well against them though, I don't remember many 'clear cut' chances. My main criticism of our game - our ball retention was horrendous. Key players like KWP, JWP just tossing it away time and time again in really dangerous positions. AMN looks too casual on the ball; I don't know why he thinks he can dally around on it. Adams clearly the best forward we had, put a shift in, run their defenders around and got the goal. Adam Armstrong put in a shift, he ran around but he hasn't got the physicality to offer what Adams does and he also doesn't have the ability to offer anything else...so he's a pretty mute player really. Not a great game to watch, not much to be excited about - but we needed to get a win by hook or crook and that's what it was at the end of the day.

Yeah, it's been shocking on match days since the start of the season. Seems ok on the day to day for other bits that I use it for, but in terms of 3pm kick offs it has been pretty pants. Not sure if it's a capacity issue or if they're being 'targetted', but it's not the same reliability as it once was. The lack of comms and removing our ability to talk to them is a bit shit as well, it's not like they're giving it out for free. They've got customers at the end of the day.

He's not afriad to take a shot at goal, seems more direct then anyone else we have. It wouldn't take a world beater to be better than what we have, so nothing to lose. ABK could be a long term one, depends how bad the ligament damage is as by all accounts the shoulder did pop back in. Glad we seriously strengthend at the back in the summer, that's probably the only good thing about us this season.

We'll give him until January, let him spend £20m on his son, Patrick, and then sack him in Feb 😉

I'd be tempted to put Edozie in from the start. We need something extra in that final third which the others aren't bringing. Edozie for Armstrong would be my shout. Aribo - agree, he's got bundles of ability but just seems a bit lost in the team. That's the feeling I got from him anyway, he's not entirley sure on his role or position. He's got more talent than anyone else we have so for that reason he must start.

This is what I've always liked about Romain, he's got a bit of aggression about him and isn't afraid to get stuck in like you say. We don't really have any other players who do that, which is quite shocking in it's self.

That sort of striker shouldn't be out of our price range to be honest, these clinical strikers cost money and if you want to survive in the league you need to spend the going rates. By all accounts we were ready to put down £34m on Gapko in the summer, and Scammaca was around the same figure - so we could do it if we wanted.

This is the prob, we are playing with two 'support' strikers, and no actual clinical striker. We had that clinical striker with Broja (when he felt like it) and Ings for a prolonged period of time. I don't doubt that both 'could' have a role for us, but it can't be that they're the main man as they're not good enough.

They had 2 full backs and 1 CB in a back 3, if there was ever a time to beat them it was yesterday which is the most frustrating thing. The fact we are now giving Adam Armstrong his longest spell in this team is pretty telling, and no surprise we can't score. We have nothing else.

Thought he was really good today, particularly commanding as well. The lack of protection in front of him (CM) is the problem.

First half was decent. Should have scored a 2nd during that period, but Adams continues to make Brett Ormerod look like a clinical machine. Second half was the norm though, as expected the opposition react and we just don't seem to have the quality to repel them - either by defending or getting that crucial 2nd/3rd goals. We then lose control of the game. We did well to draw in all honesty, so I'll take that - but it's still not particularly impressive. Our lack of goals is no surprise really, we just don't have any goal scorers in the side and whoever manages us will figure out that enormous and ultimately fatal limitation in our game. I think it's time to start looking up the Championship grounds for next season, as I just do not see how we can win games with the attack we have.