S-Clarke

It's another game where we'll end up being on the end of the wrong result. It's a typical relegation season if you look at it, get surprising results against the teams you don't expect to get them against, but then throw it down the pisser in the games you have to be targeting. Even Fulham raised their games against the bigger sides when they tried, but failed, to stay up a few years ago. (Winning away at Liverpool for .e.g). As you saw against Leeds, Wolves etc - these are different games for us and we don't seem to have an idea of how to manage them. In these games we let these sides have too much of the game and ultimately the better quality comes to the fore. It's a strange season in that respect, as there is a lot of quality in the bottom half (Maddison, Rice, Harvey Barnes, Daka, Tilliemans, Soucek, Bamford, Zaha etc etc). The teams you'd expect to be down there, who have less quality on paper (Brighton, Brentford, Fulham etc) are well clear. That's why we're struggling big time imo.

Confusing post. We scored 3 goals, Adams and Theo from open play. I don't think you can look at Bazunu for any of the goals y/day, if you're really nit-picking maybe, but the first for example was down to a wandering Perraud and a non-tracking back Ely. I've seen Orsic play a few games, against Grimsby the last one, and to say he was inept is being generous. He's done nothing to get mins ahead of anyone else. It's another mysterious case of ''they're not playing, so they become world-beaters''.

If you look at our recent form in both performances and results, it's probably our best run of the season. But even our best run of the season hasn't managed to move us off of the bottom of the league, and I don't think we're capable of too much more than we're giving now. That probably illustrates pretty well how it's almost an impossible job for us to stay up. It's like our relegation in 05, the games against the teams around us have been tossed and that's what's done it. Points and wins against Utd/Chelsea/Spurs are all well and good, but when you blow it against Wolves, Leeds, Brentford then there is only ever going to be one result.

He's in the form he was in when he first came to us (on loan), the 18 months after that were to forget though. A nice last hurrah for him, he's certainly giving it his best shot personally. I reckon he'll retire int he summer so he's trying to go out with the biggest bang he can personally.

I thought we played really well today, competed and worried Spurs on a few occasions. The 2nd goal (from Kane) was a little against the run of play, and I thought 1-3 flattered them to be honest. Great comeback, great spirit. We benefited massively from the worst VAR call ever, but I'm not complaining. Doesn't really change anything in terms of our outlook, it's all but done in that sense. This is our best spell of the season in respect of form and results, yet we're still rooted to the bottom. It's nice to see game with us scoring goals in for a change though.

I think we've gone past worrying about what others do, we can't even sort our own shit out. Doesn't matter what others do now.

Somewhat agreed, but I won't be going in on him anytime soon. I reckon he's got genuine talent but you have to appreciate that he's come into a totally dysfunctional group, it's not amazing environment for anyone to flourish right now. People were burnt from writing off Mane too soon (I remember the comments after the Sheffield United cup game), so it would be daft to do similar here.

My faith went after last night tbh, I had a bit of a hope spurt after the Utd game but we simply HAVE to win our home games against the sides in the middle of the table (Brentford included). We had opportunities at home over the course of the season v Brighton, Forest, Everton, Wolves, Brentford, Villa, West Ham, Leeds - all those games and we haven't won any of them at home. We now need to realistically win every single home game we have left, which includes Liverpool, Man City, Spurs etc. If we can't win all of the remaining home games, then we will need to be getting wins away at Arsenal and Brighton. That's how tricky it is after last night.

This is just demonstrating how well the loan window works. He was clearly down the pecking order in the summer, whether that was right or wrong is up for debate, but rather than sit around as a squad player here we allowed him to get game time at Burnley - and it has risen his level. I thought he was ready to explode after a pre-season a year or so back, but it never really happened due to the environment here (chop and change galore). This has given him the opportunity of regular football he needed so bad. This puts us in a stronger position whatever the outcome. We either make a tidy sum on a player whose value has risen 10 fold in 12 months, or we have him next season and he tears it up for us. Whilst it's frustrating to see him perform there and not here you have to understand the circumstances are different, he'd have never had the opportunity here for the run he's had at Burnley.

Yeah I don't think he's totally terrible, but the drop off in quality when KWP went off last night was so evident. Our only threat was coming via him really during that little period after HT, the drop off to Bree was just enormous for this level. Luckily we won't be at this level next year.

I will always be baffled as to what managers see in both Diallo and Elyounoussi, I can only assume in training they do everything the manager asks like a good boy, but when you stick them out in the cauldron and up against 'real players', then they are simply hopeless. Too weak and no physicality for this level, it's plain to see. No level of training will change that, they will never, ever, ever cut it in this league or country. It's a shame we're lumbered with them. You watch us offer Elyounoussi a new contract in the summer just to rub all our noses in it.

He'd be a perfect Championship forward, would cause all sorts of chaos down there. Be interesting if he sticks around. Look at Daryl Dike at WBU for example, an absolutley awful footballer - but he's a unit, and is a goal machine at that level. Karlem Grant similar.

Doesn't this seem to be a reoccurring theme of every attacking player we've bought over the last few years? Start well, look exciting and then become this scared risk adverse player unable to make an impact. (Moussa, Armstrong, Diallo, Aribo, Mara...the list goes on.)

We Marsch on?

Let them enjoy their moment, the inevitable will happen in a few years and they'll fall back down to their level.

I'm not looking at it in terms of the points we are away from teams today, it's the games we've got left and who we've got to play. Fair enough we might be a few points off of x today, but in a few weeks we won't be as we've pissed away all the games we should be winning. Basically all of a sudden we need to win 5 or 6 from our last 11. That 11 includes Arsenal, Newcastle, Tottenham, Liverpool, Brighton. I'd say that's pretty much not going to happen.

Certainly the way to look at it! We will have some money behind us, so there is no excuse financially and we will be able to properly compete in a league for once. Just need to make sure we get the recruitment right and the coaching setup right. A chance for a reset for sure, but there's still some good elements to build from. You would have to say it's next season or bust though, you don't want to mess up the first attempt. Stoke, Swansea and co are lessons in that one.

That's the key comment for me, there was a lot of good stuff but sadly a lot of the same as well. I don't know how you can get us scoring goals from open play, it's like a mental block at this stage. I guess it's frustrating to see us do what we do at Utd and Chelsea etc, but the difference in those games are that the teams come out and leave space. Brentford closed every gap and every avenue, in those situations you need that extra tiny bit of quality, intelligence and guile (And quick play) in order to break them down. We don't have that, we rely on the space being given to us. Do you know what sums this team up? A bunch of nice but dim guys.

He's going to get us a decent ££ in the summer. Don't think there's any chance of him staying here after the season he's had.

I think that's fair. I notice the usual mentalists are pointing at the manager, but he is still trying to get goals out of the same bunch who seem incapable of scoring goals. Not sure who could make Adams, Armstrong or Ely pose a threat from open play. That's why we've been relegated, no goals in the team. Obviously the Jones blot in the middle removed any chance of a decent fight, but it was always a tough ask with this squad imo.

If any game summed up our season it was that. Absolutley zero end product, nada. Lots of effort, lots of possession but absolutely no guile. Brentford defended well to be fair to them, but we made it somewhat easy as there was nothing different from us. We don't seem to know how to get the most out of either Sulemana or Ounachu yet, so the goals haven't been injected from those guys. That's us done now anyway, we couldn't afford to lose another game like this at home and we have. So there's no way out now.

This is the thing though, he was never going to be a cultured silky player, he was always going to be ugly to watch. But I assumed we may play to his strengths as his height would be useful, but we don't even seem to do that. If we're going to play a high press/high energy counter pressing style then I just don't see how he fits. Maybe a last 10 mins option when you're swinging balls into the box with a plan b, but that's one hell of an expensive plan b when we don't really have a plan a in terms of a goal scorer.

I thought he was decent against Chelsea, but if I'm totally honest I don't think he fits the rest of our team. He's not mobile enough to engage in the front press. His height is almost certainly an advantage, but as of yet we don't seem to be making the most of that. Still early days as he's not really played much, but given that Adams is now back in front of him it's probably suggestive that he doesn't quite fit the style we play. Hope he's not another Carillo.

I don't see that view as someone having an affinity to them, I don't even think half of the people who post stuff like this know what race is - they just know what will get clicks and attention, they don't even understand half of what they post. I don't think anyone should excuse this, but I just don't see how you stop the vile content on social media. It's not just race, the same people play the fat shaming game, homophobic game, you name it they will fire shit at people - it seems to give them a kick for some reason. Sadly social media has given these warped individuals the platform to fulfil their incredibly deranged needs and sadly I don't think there is much you can do about it.

Very much a 4 - 2 - 3 - 1 - which worked perfectly. You had the back 4, who were stable and balanced. Two in the pivot in front in JWP and Lavia (either covering if a full back went forward). Then in front in a number 10 Alcaraz, with Sulumana and Walcott in the wide areas - but playing inverted at times. Adams up top on his own. At times Alcaraz joined Adams as a second striker, but it was a really fluid formation and it suited our lads perfectly.