S-Clarke

That's good news, I was thinking he was one of those 'not wanting' to sign. He's a decent CB, well worth the renewal.

Nah, he was good against Newcastle. The goal capped an all round energic/high energy game from him I felt. But I have to agree that he was poor against Utd.

Vestergaards performances need to be put into a bit of context. He has improved in certain aspects, that's undeniable, but he looks better because we have been playing on the front foot - he is then able to get on the ball and play, rather than chase behind him. His reading of the game has been better though as is his decision making. However....as soon as any real quality or pressure is put onto our centre backs, they buckle. So, like you...I wouldn't say he's been brilliant, decent, yes,…but we still buckle when we are on the back foot for any prolonged period of time.

He's a nice lad, good around the dressing room and a popular guy - no doubts about that. But are those reasons alone enough to offer him a 2 year deal on probably 50k a week? We could have re-employed him as a player liaison officer. He is not a very good player, but in terms of a goal scorer (what he's part of the squad to do) he is diabolical and always has been. One good season in the Champ for Reading, but other than that he's missed more sitters than scored actual goals. No problems with loyalty, but what are we keeping him around for? It's certainly not footballing ability or what he can offer us at the top end.

They fell apart once he came on.

Probably something like Palace at home, Burnley away or Newcastle.

Yeah, without a doubt. Long is a player who needs games to get up to speed, and even up to speed he doesn't score very many goals. If he's just going on as a sub here and there he's going to be as effective as Jermaine Wright coming out of retirement. So, on the basis of how we are using him, then yes - a total mistake and a real waste of 2 years wages. We should have let him go and invested in a young replacement, there are many players in L1/L2 who would do better than Long.

We beat Everton with a 2-0, same against Newcastle and West Brom. It's been our 'go to score line' at home this year. The problem is that up against quality we just buckle eventually, whilst our CB's are decent I still don't believe they are top, top quality. The backline seems to lack leadership when the going gets tough, but it looks pretty tidy when we are on the front foot and they have the time to pass it around. If they are put under any real pressure they do seem to melt a bit.

Brighton are a funny side, they look to play with quality between the lines, but they're a bit blunt. Lots of nice passing, but very little impact - and that's born out by the results they've got so far, lots of draws, defeats where they've 'played well' etc. Fans are getting fidgety with the manager because I think they're seeing it as a tippy tappy approach with no real end product. It will be a tough game though, we should have more of an end product I'd hope.

Thought Wolves looked really handy tonight, Arsenal are full of rubbish nowadays though aren't they? I remember the days you used to fear them - Henry, Viera, Gallas, Sanchez, Petit, Bergkamp, Pires, Van Persie etc - they always had superstars, but they don't seem to have anything anymore and it's a game that you now earmark as a chance for 3 points. They have a few 'decent' young players from their academy who are now thrust into first team action, and a selection of 'experienced' crap to beef out the side. Not sure where they're going atm, their fans wanted Wenger out for years but it's clear to me that the reason for their regression is squad quality. (or lack of) The injury to Jimenez looked a shocker - reminded me of the Petr Cech one 10 years or so ago, can't imagine he's got away without a skull fracture of sorts?

I think most people have moved on and gotten over it. It's a forum, so all about airing opinions and views on 'why' we let it slip in the way we did. Not seeing anyone 'bedwetting'. No doubting the quality we came up against, but in any situation it's not good to throw away leads like that.

He doesn't score when he starts or when he's a sub, so no real surprise. He just doesn't score goals and never really has. He runs a lot though.

McCarthy - 7 - Seemed like he wanted to give them a goal, but for his saves alone I have to give him a 7. KWP - 5 - Thought he was poor today. Too loose in possession and didn't offer enough threat. Bednarek - 7 - ok, nothing special - gets a 7 for the goal. Vestergaard - 6 - Seems to be getting cocky again with the ball. He simplified his game, now he's complicating it again. Bertrand - 6 - Better than KWP. More sound in defence. Romeo- 5 - Had a poor one, he was picked off too often in midfield and got bullied on multiple occasions. JWP - 8 - Can't fault his contribution, but he can't do it all on his own. Armstrong - 4 - Thought he was rubbish today. Didn't keep the ball well enough, didn't make the right decisions when he had the ball, got bullied off the ball. Generally rubbish. Djenepo - 7 - Our most dangerous attacking player. Walcott - 5 - Pretty poor. Ran into players, ran into blind ally's, didn't pass when he needed to. Typical Theo really. Adams - 6 - Bit too loose, didn't stick with him and Utd had him for dinner really.

Nah, don't think we did. We were poor for the majority of the game and we gave Utd the handle multiple times. I don't think we ever had any control over that game, mainly because we were so flaming loose in possession. Armstrong in particular had a shocker in that sense.

Utd deserved that, we were pretty awful today in most parts. Got a lead totally against the run of play, had a couple of near chances (and a 2nd) but Utd were always a threat, we kept giving them space and they kept picking us off in midfield. Eventually their pressure told and that was that. Felt like our worst performance since Spurs 2nd half, they played around us and found space too easily. We were weak on the 2nd balls and poor in retaining possession. Adams didn't have a great game today as our focal point and it wasn't sticking well enough. Moussa was our biggest attacking threat imo, bringing Long on just kind of kills the game from our point of view. Is he really as good as we can do? Obafami or Dan L'dunlunlu should be before him now days. The subs tell you all you need to know really - they bring on Cavani, we bring on Long. Never mind, we were going to lose eventually. I felt we saw quite a few weaknesses in our game today though, we need to be a lot tighter in the coming weeks or we will slide down the league quicker than a hooker on a pole.

There has always been too much chat from DaGrossa and about DaGrossa, and absolutely no action. Usually the hallmarks of total charlatans.

West Brom somehow won that one, but christ, two utterly diabolical teams who are already all but gone.

I think Wilder is a bit of a c**t.

He's trying to find another angle to cover up their awful form and obvious decline. They have been nothing but average since February really, scuffing the odd win here and there to get them over the line at the back end of the season. They are no where near their heights of 2019, they've lost that.

Leeds were all over Everton. I thought Everton looked very flat and one dimensional. It does go to show though - how quickly things can swing around in this league. They were untouchable at the end of October, now they look awful. Less said about Burnley the better, they do not belong in this league. The next game should be a humdinger..

Nah, can't see that ever happening. He's no where near the thoughts of the national team. In front of him you've got Saul, Koke, Lorente, Merino, Rodri, Thiago, Busquets, Pajerjo, Fabien, Ceballos - and some others! So much quality in their midfield, probably the place they've got the most. Romeu is a decent player for us and fits the system we play perfectly, but he's not anywhere near the level of some of those above.

If the international break had any benefit to us, it's this - and the fact he won't have missed as many games.

I think there are times you need to credit the opposition for stopping us. They closed all the avenues, condensed the middle of the pitch and were on us as quick as we are on teams....not many teams will execute such a tight game through the middle, it stopped our ways out really. We tried to move it quickly, but they were on it. So credit to Wolves, the fact we still came away with a win is a good sign for me.

They made the game very compact from the off. They shut down the channels that Vestergaard has been using to pass forward, he had no where to go. It was a very tough game in that sense. Not much space and a very intense central midfield area.

It was a good point in a very tight game. Two very similar sides in terms of quality, no reasons why we both shouldn't be there or there around each other come the end of the season. We look very evenly matched. We had our chances, they had their chances, although I think their chances were better and our GK was worked much more - so for that reason alone, I'll take the point. Fair result.