shurlock

Fake blood capsule pal?

One too many visits to Smokey's pal.

We clearly deserved the win -the intensity and pressing across the pitch was outstanding. Still we're very much a work in progress. Its no coincidence that many of our chances came from countering quickly and capitalising on mistakes further up the pitch. When we were asked to control possession or build from the back, we looked pretty ragged and short of ideas at times. This is not the first time. It will be interesting to see how we fare against opponents that look to take away aspects of our game plan -whether it is by pressing us and exposing our limitations in possession, countering us (as West Ham did) or playing more direct so as to limit the number of mistakes and turnovers in dangerous areas. The good news is that while we still look a bit one dimensional in attack, we look much more compact at the back. Yes we look a bit exposed down the flanks but its night and day with the shower that passed for a defense under Hughes.

Adrian told us the squad that was easily good enough to challenge for the league positions that we did in our 2014-2016 purple patch. He’s been made to look a fool. The more levelheaded posters here said our woes were a combination of manager and squad - that replacing the manager would make a difference and improve results but would not completely overcome the limitations of our squad. Simple people like to think in black and white, unconditional either-ors. Those with a bit more nous accept the world is complex and problems have multiple causes.

Any more transfer info pal?

Silva’s a fraud and anyone who rates him has had their pants pulled down.

Much the better side but our play is deceptive -while we’ve created chances by capitalising on their errors and breaking quickly, we’ve lacked any real control and our buildup play has been scrappy.

You sound like you’re buzzing on fentanyl.

Yes and no. Lazy = no. He tracked backed and closed players down. Selfish = yes. He frequently ignored team mates when they were the better option and would hold the ball too long. I’d say that Tadic was lazier but less selfish. If anything, at times, he wasn’t selfish enough which is to say that selfishness isn’t a bad trait when you’re a creative player and need to impose yourself on a game. With Boufal, he was too selfish which was exacerbated by poor decision-making (Tadic was far more intelligent) and also inconsistency (as you’d expect from a flair player). Perhaps that selfishness was a sign of immaturity; perhaps he felt he had to overcompensate because of lack of game time and surrounding talent. Of course, all these things can be coached and would potentially benefit from a change of scenery (e.g. new manager) but it’s understandable why many became exasperated with him, especially when we were fighting for our lives.

Yes and no. There are certainly age effects e.g. how people change as they get older. But there are also cohort effects – the impact of being born in a particular time, region, period and/or sharing similar life experiences. In other words, it may be true that people become more conservative as they get older; but there may also be something special or different about being born in the UK or the South of England in the 1950s or 1960s and growing up thereafter that shapes political preferences and makes them more conservative. You just have to look at Les and LD who've lost their s**t and been waging war with the EU for nearly three decades. They were the future once

My apologies

So out of the ashes and disruption of no deal, we might see new behemoths emerge, led by Les, OldNick and Jihadi John? Easily the best argument I've heard for no deal.

No Les they want no deal removed from the table because it is the worst possible outcome for UK PLC and the millions it employs. "Protectionist cartel policies" - big words from you pal (next time you'll be telling me that you've finally worked out what productivity means). I will point out that the head of Amazon UK was on the conference call with Hammond, Clark and Barclay demanding "comfort that no deal can be ruled out". Are Amazon feather bedded by EU "protectionist cartel policies" Les? The same EU that has launched a preliminary investigation into Amazon's use of merchant data? The same EU that ordered Amazon to repay €250m in back taxes for gaining illegal tax advantages? The same EU that is trying to rein in tech companies more generally - whether its tax avoidance, regulatory arbitrage, monopolistic practices or abuse of personal data? Which is to say I wouldn't trust you (or OldNick) to run a sweet shop and negotiate the price of a jar of lemon bon bons or liquorice comfits. Lets see what Nick Boles and Dominic Grieve come back with on Monday. You might want to start cutting out letters from the newspaper headlines for these two traitors...

Les you wouldn't know a negotiation if it hit you in the face. Will you explain why the heads of the UK's biggest businesses who I assume have negotiating experience are desperate that no deal is taken off the table (see the DT's transcriptions of the Hammond, Barclay, Clark call)?

I don't understand this. As badly flawed as it is, the deal doesn't give us nothing and I am much more sympathetic to it as the least bad option than most. Danny Finkelstein (trigger warning Les) has been bang on the money here.

Their analysis was utter garbage pal. Why do claims of Armageddon mean that no deal or the WTO option could not be on a ballot paper? Aren't those claims just Project Fear MK II? Another projection, no different from claims of mass unemployment and punishment budgets made in the first referendum? On dopey Portillo and Johnson's logic, we shouldn't have had a referendum in the first place. Of course, its not hard to find those projecting a bright future on no deal/WTO terms -no wishy-washy half-in, half-out but full control of our laws, borders and money; extrication from a failing protectionist EU and opportunities to engage fully and freely with the rest of the world where future economic action is likely to be yada yada yada. Needless to say you have espoused one or all of these views in the past while dismissing project fear. So if you buy Johnson and Portillo's argument that no deal could not be on the ballot paper, you're either a bit thick or utterly disingenuous (though I suspect you're too thick to be disingenuous).

Because the EU used the threat of no deal to ensure its preferred sequencing. A threat is not credible when (i) you've already blinked once and (ii) it is going to hurt you significantly more than the other side.

Remind me how the EU managed to ensure that the sequencing of negotiations started with the withdrawal agreement (EU’s preference?) rather than talk of trade (UK’s preference)?

Still with the threats of violence Les. What are you going to do pal? Plough your mobility scooter into a crowd of remainers?

No deal preparation appears to be going well. All that leverage... https://www.ft.com/content/c44581c2-1a75-11e9-9e64-d150b3105d21

Thanks for this. I like Ralph H even more. Comes across as a straight-talker who doesn’t patronise fans with clichés but offers just enough detail to keep us all happy.

That’s what people who sniff glue and have watched too many episodes of the Apprentice think anyway.

No pal. I was at WHU when he made a costly error for a goal; similarly I remember his error at Newcastle. There’s a time and a place to take risks but he’s ironed out that part of his game and is taking risks further up the pitch. Where’s your evidence that he gets tackled nine times out of ten? Stats please. I see your English hasn’t improved much - are you still maintaining that you’re French and an Arab despite living in Northampton

Move in tight areas. Lemina pîsses all over JWP. JWP’s idea of moving in tight space is to pass the ball sideways 5 yards or back to the CB.

No it’s not pal. But those are the type of skills that separate ordinary or moderately good players from very good players and true game changers. The ability to exploit space, create an overload, drag an opponent out of position is the essence of the game. I thought you knew that pep