S-Clarke

That was a disgrace from Newcastle. They didn't even try. Didn't even run. Didn't put in any tackles. They just didn't want to be out there. Looks to be between Newcastle and Fulham to me.

Start how we did today, what do you mean? Hammered by Burnley? Hammered by Burnley? Really? We played well today for the entirety, solid, comfortable, professional, no dramas, no issues. Job done.

Good game from Redmond. Need to see that from him consistently, maybe he needed a bit of confidence? I've been critical of him a lot, but it's only fair to doff your cap when he does a good job - which he did today.

Well, that was a surprisingly easy game. Christ, how bad were Bournemouth? But you can only beat what's in front of you. Should have been at least 5 (we had two caulked off which should have counted imo) We just had too much power and pace for them today, our movement was too clever. Wiltshire looks like an OAP, I'm sure I even saw Vesterguaard run past him at one point. Massive credit to Redmond, he started in his usual frustrating manor but once he got the assist you could see him grow and come to the fore. He's very much a confidence player, but he needs to work out how he can still find something from within when things aren't going his way. He probably sums up this team in a way, looks great when things are going your way, but when they're not....it all falls apart. Semi Final, exciting times. Will be very tough to progress beyond this stage, but who knows in a 1 off game.

Yeah he is, one of the 7 they're missing. He's quality as well. I'd sign him.

Technically, yes, probably the most skilful midfielder we had. The overriding problem with him throughout his career has been attitude and professionalism. If you are lucky, you get 1 maybe 2 good games out of him a year. This is why he's your typical journeyman footballer. I think Fulham were nuts when they put in a transfer arrangement into that loan.

Leeds games are great to watch, you can always guarantee chances when they play. Their games are so hectic, but it makes for entertainment. I can imagine their fans go through the wringer emotionally during 90 mins!

Thought Fulham were really poor tonight. That had to be a win for them IMO. They had a doomed look about them tonight.

No, he did say that. You didn't make it up. Clubs were being quite vocal about it a few weeks ago, but it's all gone a bit quiet now and we all seem to be assuming that the international break is going to happen as normal. That's going to stitch a lot of clubs up with regards to the quarantine rules.

A lot of fans say this when their team is struggling in the PL. It's just assumed that you'd go down and do well in the lower league, but it's very rarely that straight forward. Did Bournemouth want to get relegated so they could struggle to make the play offs in the Champ? Did Stoke want to get relegated so they could struggle to compete in the top half of the championship? I'd say, no. Relegation for us wouldn't equate to us watching a winning team next year by default. It would mean an enormous fire sale, selling of anything that moves and a team full of players from the academy who aren't actually good enough. It would be a truly soul destroying experience, so relegation would be 'all that'. Not that it's going to happen - this year anyway.

He's got a decent chance of being their main striker i'd say. Their other option is McBernie and he isn't a professional football player.

Something like that, although it feels like 1 win in 10000 tbh. Endless misery at all levels.

How on earth have you worked that out? It's the owners fault we are where we are. The chairman is actually doing a pretty sound job in the circumstances whilst the 'owner' is AWOL.

To be fair, it wouldn't have made any difference. The whistle was blown about 1 second after the collision, it wasn't the fault of VAR for allowing it to continue. But I'd agree the delay generally in other situations can lead to those situations. But I don't think VAR did anything wrong here, the collision would have happened had it been flagged off earlier anyway. But all academic anyway, Rui is fine. No issues. Probably a bad headache!

Appreciate you writing all that. Your views are fair and balanced.

That is my view really. I don't really want to keep him, but I think the default will be that we have to. Given that we won't get a fee for him we wouldn't be able to replace him, so it's not worth the risk. Sad it has to be that way, because we do need to do better in that position.

I imagine Bertrand is just fed up with having to put up with Redmond in front of him, it would do my nut in. I doubt anyone in the squad can get on with Redmond. He's shit at his job and blames everyone else for his own shortcomings. I've worked with people like that and the general consensus is that they're dicks and you can't wait to see the back of them.

It's an interesting listen, but it also paints a grim picture of how much trouble we are in. Are we any different to other clubs though? That's all I'd add - we are all having to deal with football without fans and are all taking out high risk loans, so maybe it's a game-wide financial implosion in that sense. It does make you fear about what could happen if we did get relegated under this current owner though. It doesn't bear thinking about does it. I think we'd be done, finished. Unless we get taken over in the summer, I fear for us long term. It feels like a club on the brink at all levels, close to needing life support. Who is going to be our knight this time?

This isn't a slump, this is a club wide crisis and make no bones about it. We are in an incredibly bad place. There is nothing here anymore.

Really good article that, thanks for sharing.

We can't, so what's the point in even debating that? Seems a daft thing to say.

Good point. For some reason I thought Palace was our next game, that's why I highlighted that one! It's not, it's Burnley..!

This is getting incredibly concerning now. We simply don't have the players to play this style, if they're doing the same as the first time in terms of the high line/high press? The club has imploded at all levels.

You're supporting the wrong club if you want us to win something! Where we are now/what we are doing is probably par the course without investment/engaged ownership. Decent sized club, chance of some good seasons every now and then if things click into place, but without investment any fun will be fleeting and not sustained. We were massively spoilt between 2010-2016. Let's not forget that. Those years were not the norm for this club. Success every year, improving on league places every year. That all started at a lower level from an engaged ownership model, some clever investment and a driven/committed group of players.

I wouldn't agree with writing him off, seems a bit daft. but not unheard of in the football fan world. Any young lad coming into this setup at the moment is going to struggle. I think he has some interesting attributes, although in a technical sense his touch needs to improve as it's diabolical.