Derby Day: Can The Magpies Slay Sunderland in bid to Survive?

Sunday sees the most crucial Tyne-Wear derby in recent history take place at St. James’s Park. The game between Newcastle and Sunderland is the one every fan looks forward to anyway, but this match has so many subplots and elements to it that it has football fans all over the country talking about it.

Both teams are stuck desperately in the league’s relegation quagmire sinking deeper and deeper into trouble.

Newcastle have sacked their head coach and replaced him with a manager of genuine pedigree. The fixture is Benitez’s first game in charge at St James’s Park in front of his own fans. The managers of both teams infamously do not see eye-to-eye and have had very public spats in the past.

Sunderland’s manager was sacked by Newcastle owner Mike Ashley and subsequently ‘Big Sam’ claimed Newcastle weren’t ‘big’ enough for him!

The game is a new manager’s second fixture after being appointed, something Sunderland have done three times before, winning on each occasion. Sunderland have won the past six derbies. It is something of the like we have never seen before, but ultimately it all comes down to three measly points that could make or break either side’s bid for survival.

The win for Norwich means that even if Newcastle were to win the game, they would still not climb out of the relegation zone. But interestingly you could argue that the Norwich win actually puts a little more pressure on Sunderland to win the game whereas before Saturday, a draw would have seen the Mackems remain above the relegation zone.

For Newcastle it means that victory is absolutely crucial. With only eight games remaining after this one, we will be cut adrift if the unthinkable happens.

In many ways all the usual things we would be looking for in a new manager’s first few games; formation, selection, motivation, tactics, substitutions, performances etc are all rather irrelevant.

All that really matters is those three points. Three vital points, three pivotal points, three priceless points.

I fully expect Newcastle to come flying out the blocks, roared on by an electric crowd similar to the one which saw Newcastle register a vital win to stay up on the final day of last season against West Ham. Who was their manager that day? Oh yeah! Yes, a repeat of that would do very nicely indeed.

Whether at the game, in the pub or at home, enjoy the game folks; it’s going to be edge of your seat stuff!

249 thoughts on “Derby Day: Can The Magpies Slay Sunderland in bid to Survive?

  1. Being deluded is not my cup of tea Ice. We have been awful all season again. Today we were the 2nd best side at home against a relegation rival. Its just not good enough and you cant slag people off for being fed up with it. We are 3 points behind Norwich and simply must win against them to have any hope of survival. I’ll get excited when we start playing football consistently well throughout a football match.

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  2. That was fucking awful!!!.

    I am hoping the occasion just got to the players in the first half coz they looking woeful. Picked up in the 2nd half but was that Sunderland sitting back trying to protect their goal.

    I think we deserved our goal in the second half, but a draw is probably fair coz neither team were great.

    The job is still on, but we probably need points from the games we didn’t expect them now – Lpool/Spurs/City.

    He has to change the personnel though. Sissoko is not a left winger and Mitrovic & Perez don’t offer enough as a partnership.

    He’s got 2 weeks now to think of something coz if not, I think we are doomed.

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  3. Good come back. Cisse needs to start v Norwich

    We really are going to struggle without goals

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  4. SHAM what Ime saying give Rafa time it’s all we have to hope for,he’s got a time now to work with most of those who are not away,try not to give up hope Ime not

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  5. I have hope ice. We dont have strikers, Tht’s the problem

    If we can beat Norwich we’re right back in it but we need to play better than today. Still too many bottlers not getting stuck in. We could of been buried first half

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  6. Well Ive always found Derby games are never a true base to assess games on there’s eight to go,let’s see

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  7. GASH luckily Norwich are finding it very hard to score also plus they are not as good at defending as scum are,keep hoping

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  8. Well we avoided complete disaster but it wasn’t good enough was it? We didn’t start playing until the second half. Very disappointing. It all comes down to the Norwich game. If we lose that it becomes very nearly impossible with our team as it stands. Doumbia must be a complete write off. Why bring him in? I suspect he’s carried an injury all along.

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  9. Things must be desperate indeed to bring in an injured striker on loan. Who’s idea was it? Charnley’s or Carr’s?

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  10. I thought Elliot, Mbemba and Townsend were our best players today. Sissoko promises a lot but delivers very little. Wijnaldum seems to disappear for long stretches. Colback played right into the mackem’s hands with the fouls. A very difficult ask of Benitez considering the players he has to choose from.

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  11. Overall Shelvey has had far less impact than I thought he would. He’s had two very good games for us and the rest so far were quite average.

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  12. I thought Townsend was good today. Mitrovic isn’t quick enough. If Doumbia is fit we should try him before it’s too late. Perez was poor as you say. De Jong seemed to give us a lift. I would go with him in behind Doumbia with Townsend and Wijnaldum on the wings even though Wijnaldum has been disappointing. Sissoko is so unpredictable. We can’t afford that now. I’m probably the only one who hasn’t given up on Doumbia. 😳

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  13. I thought our centre back pairing did OK Lascelles needs to improve his distribution but that will come with more confidence and more game time. I agree with G2 on the best players. Ed’s blog got Mitrovic as man of the match. Were they at the game or was it because he scored. He’s as slow as a cart horse and lacks anticipation. Cisse had much better movement when he came on.

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  14. Gini, got MOTM, I thought Townsend was our best player today. Say what you will about Mitro but the lad works his **** off and has real passion for the cause. I am really hoping that goal sets him off on a run.

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  15. At this time I can think of four positives.
    1) We still have a 1 in 3 chance of staying up (against Norwich & Sunderland). They are just as bad as us and we have a chance to catch Norwich + extra game to them.
    2) I think our last three games are more winnable than theirs (Palace & Villa).
    3)We ended the shocking run of derby defeats.
    4) I doubt we’ll be playing Sunderland again for a while, I won’t miss the anxiety and disappointment if we lose.

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  16. We were really poor but how many time can Sunderland continue to play well and not win? It was a good point for us as we should have lost and SmTbeybwilk feel like they lost.

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  17. G2 I can only believe jabba must have given Penfold and Carr free rain to bring players in up to a certain amount of money without his OK they brought a nugget in last year supposed to be CL class that could score goals he struggled to train never mind play,now they brought another so called goal scorer that cannot train because he’s injured,right set of clowns in charge of transfers it beggars belief

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  18. I agree about Mitrovic, he’s a glorified target man who scored goals in a **** league (in a good team). That doesn’t mean he is a write off in the premier league (or championship) but he needs a good partner IMO. Perez has been disappointing in the last two games and I just wonder if he is nervous to impress Rafa.

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  19. Rafa is proving my years long theory that Carr is a **** scout correct. If he cannot get this going well, they are ****.

    More people need to rip this guy. He is a waster. **** Graham Carr.

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  20. DJG. There is another positive, Sunderland just cannot seem to see a game out, they have conceded lots of really late goals like today, I’m hoping that trend continues 😈

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  21. kimtoon:
    Gini, got MOTM, I thought Townsend was our best player today. Say what you will about Mitro but the lad works his **** off and has real passion for the cause. I am really hoping that goal sets him off on a run.

    Agree about Townsend. He was the only player who showed composure in the first half and went past a fair few Mackems like they were standing still. Good delivery also. Sissoko goes like a steam train and looks unstoppable at times and then ends up producing nowt. I think he’s my all time world number player for being able to flatter to deceive.

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  22. KIM unless they keep Defoe fit they will struggle to score like us ,if we can keep our present defenders fit we are in with a shout even Norwich struggle to score,maybe Mitro is coming into form got to keep those crosses coming into the box to help him

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  23. I think I prefer Lascelles to Coloccini now. He seems much stronger in the air and is quicker also. Definitely a change of the guard at the back. Taylor & Colo out, Mbemba, Lascelles & Dummet in. Taylor is well past his best like Colo.

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  24. Ice, I knew Defoe would score and I knew if they scored first Sam would get them to sit back, that was his downfall, he had to do it though cause they can’t defend a lead. I’m just glad that we found away through them, such a shame Norwich have found some form cause they are the real winners today. Who would of seen them get something from man city and WBA.

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  25. Yeah I am pleasantly surprised by Lascelles, actually looks better each game which I never saw coming tbh. Also is it me or do Lascelles and Riviere look like brothers?

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  26. I dont like having to scroll up to see if a new thread is up. It should be at the bottom of the comments.

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  27. Well, I stuck to my word and put a tenner on Mitro to score. Got 11/2 which I could not believe and snapped their arm off. Noticed on ticket they’d given me those odds for him to score first! Not what I’d asked for, but odds just to score were 5/4 so decided to stick with what I had and went with score first.
    Oh well.
    I’ll happily lose a tenner for a point.
    Next week is day of reckoning now though.
    Despite scoring today, we still don’t look like scoring for toffee.
    Concerned. 😐

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  28. Shamrock:
    I dont like having to scroll up to see if a new thread is up. It should be at the bottom of the comments.

    Sham it does my f ing head in, I have ended up sitting for hours on an old thread 3 times in the last couple of days 👿
    Kim I really hope that the goal will give Mitro a much needed boost in confidence, I think if he gets going he could be a real Toon hero as as you have said he gives everything for the team, and must be one of the hardest workers in the team.

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  29. Agree on townsend.
    He went past a few players with a simple step over or drop shoulder, none of this fancy multi step over a la ronaldo nonsense. Just a lack of end product still. Not him, the team as a whole.
    We lost a threat when we went off, as well as we gained a different one when he was replaced.
    We have potential options, just a very limited time to work them out.

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  30. Aye Dave, I’m still firmly behind Mitro.
    Everything he does on the pitch suggests he has the right ideas and attitude.
    He’s a striker, and needs the rest of the team to perform in able to do his job properly.
    Unfortunately it comes down to survival and keeping hold of Rafa again to be able to see that potential realised at SJP.
    We’ll see it somewhere, I have no doubt.

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  31. Shamrock:
    Lascelles gets my thumbs up too.

    SHAM where are quite a few bloggers on here now they said he would never make a PL player and at best a ccc player,talk about not giving players time to adjust plus he’s just a kid,talk about being hasty,some expect every player to be CL players the moment they step on the pitch,a example at the moment is Mitro,give the kid a chance he’s had the weight of every fan on his young shoulders he will come good

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  32. Would also like to point out that De Jong was good again when he came in, just as I said he should start. He must start against Norwich in lstead of Perez.

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  33. I must say i never had much hope for Lascelles, didnt write him off but I was worried about going into some crucial games with Lascelles as our main centerhalf. He’s impressed me as the games have progressed.

    I’m worried that we can’t win these home games v B’mouth, sunderland yet we insist we still might have enough in us to get through 😐 Cisse will play a big part but our away results are poor and home games are just as bad

    where are the points coming from?

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  34. I like Mitrovic’s passion. I liked the same when we had it from Joey Barton too. I like players with that edge to them. He seems similar to Diego Costa in that sense – the difference being Chelsea fans put up with it from Costa because he scores a lot more than Mitrovic.

    Mitrovic needs more goals to make the fist pumping, fight starting acceptable. It comes off as pandering and a mask to a lack of performance otherwise.

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  35. Despite today’s result and ignoring we can’t score for toffee and also can’t keep a clean sheet the fixtures are definately in our favour. Norwich might only get another 3 pts and Sunderland also have it tough apart from West brom at home

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  36. That’s why I am happy to big up Lascelles today, I was one of his doubters and more than happy to eat humble pie, hope he continues to improve.

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  37. Toon fixtures
    Norwich away
    saints away
    Swans home
    City home
    Pool away
    Palace home
    Villa away
    Spuds home

    Scum fixtures
    W.brom home
    Leicester home
    Norwich away
    Arsenal home
    Stoke away
    Chelsea home
    Everton home
    Watford away

    Norwich fixtures
    newc home
    Palace away
    Sunderland home
    Arsenal away
    Man utd home
    Watford home
    Everton away

    Reckon we have a better run in than them

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  38. I see sterling and hart will be out for a month, that’s handy with us having to play them.

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  39. If we can get good results in the Norwich, Swansea, Villa and Palace games, we might stay up.

    The priorities being the Villa and Norwich games.

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  40. Lol forever the optimists are toon fans. Struggle at home v B’mouth and Sunderland but we still expect to win half of our games remaining 😆

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  41. kimtoon:
    Toon fixtures
    Norwich away
    saints away
    Swans home
    City home
    Pool away
    Palace home
    Villa away
    Spuds home

    Scum fixtures
    W.brom home
    Leicester home
    Norwich away
    Arsenal home
    Stoke away
    Chelsea home
    Everton home
    Watford away

    Norwich fixtures
    newc home
    Palace away
    Sunderland home
    Arsenal away
    Man utd home
    Watford home
    Everton away

    Reckon we have a better run in than them

    KIM thanks for that saves me looking them all up,and I agree,Ime a lazy sod at times

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  42. Mark if we the Fans can’t have the belief that we can do it, then how can we expect the players to have the belief that we can do it 😉 .
    Unless it was mathmatically impossible I believe we can do it, same as last season when it went down to the last game.

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  43. Just out of interest did anyone else notice our assitant coach celebrating Mitro’s goal today.
    It seems that even aftersuch a short period of timehe has got behind the team.

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  44. So by the time we play norwich we could have haidara, Mbabu, Colo, tiote back with dummett returning a week later

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  45. An immediate problem from the fixtures posted above, is that after our game Norwich play Palace and Sunderland. So someone is getting points. Either Palace or Norwich, then either Norwich or Sunderland. We need to at least draw with Norwich, a defeat wouldn’t be fatal but it would be getting desperate. I think we have a chance at Norwich though, they could bottle it a bit, like we did in the first half today and the 6-2 could play on the minds of their players. I think the two week gap is fantastic for us also, gives Rafa more time and a chance for Dummet to get fit now Colback is suspended.

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  46. Big Dave:
    Mark if we the Fans can’t have the belief that we can do it, then how can we expect the players to have the belief that we can do it.
    Unless it was mathmatically impossible I believe we can do it, same as last season when it went down to the last game.

    DAVE I gave a reply to this earlier on and stick to it

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  47. Team v Norwich

    Elliott
    Jan – mbemba – Colo – Mbabu

    Gini – Anita – shelvey – townsend

    Cisse – Mitro

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  48. I would love nothing more than the club to stay up but I just can’t see it happening unless we start scoring goal’s. Mitrovic done us proud today and I’m glad we got a point because I didn’t think we would. We did have a couple of penalty’s disallowed due to shirt pulling but the ref just turned a blind eye to it. Why are we not getting penalty’s ? Do the refs have it in for us.

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  49. Whilst not mathematically impossible for us to stay up it does seem highly improbable. If we need 40 points to be safe then we still need 15 points from 8 games! Can you imagine us winning 5 of the next 8 games? I can’t. 3 of the 8 teams we still face are Man City, Liverpool and Tottenham. Since Benitez took over we have played one top team and one bottom team and out of a possible 6 points we got 1pt. I think we are screwed. Charnley has left it too late bringing in Rafa. He should have got rid of McClaren in the January. 🙁

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  50. Some words on Sissoko from Football365:

    “Against Sunderland, Sissoko was again poor. Playing as a wide midfielder on the left, he completed three passes in Sunderland’s half before the break. He lost possession on 13 occasions in the first half, six more times than any other Newcastle player. The ultimate indictment for Sissoko’s lack of attacking threat came in the second half, when he was chose as the stand-in left-back when Jack Colback’s ill-discipline necessitated his substitution. Sissoko’s passing accuracy of 63% was lower than any other Newcastle player.”

    I also thought Colback had a ‘mare but he could have let the occasion get the better of him. Perhaps it is good he is suspended for 2 games as he seems to be trying too hard and maybe even deserved a second yellow for constant fouling.

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  51. I thought we were lucky to get a point and it was due to Fat Sam sitting back. I will take it though as it keeps us alive for another week.

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  52. I am glad Lascelles is playing OK as Taylor is erratic and injury prone and Colo is slow. I remember saying that Lascelles was an accident waiting to happen because I had seen him twice for NUFC and both times he gave away a penalty (1 in pre-season).

    Glad we have a break to fix this mess.

    In a way, Sissoko being away with France may lose him his place in the team. Rafa now has time to work on formations that do not involve him.

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  53. Lascalles is a poor centre half who as long as you leave him alone with the ball looks ok. As soon as someone runs at him or turns him he is abysmal, plus he is poor in the air.
    As eric sykes pointed out the only reason we came back into the game is because allardyce made a massive mistake in retreating into defence and taking off Kirchoff. Thanks for that because our powder puff attack was going to get nothing from this game.
    Whereas I hope as much as anyone we can stay up, its naive to ignore the facts.
    The imbeciles running the club have finally been found out. Weve been **** for years, and installing an absolute failure in McClaren to try and sort it all out was an absolutely MASSIVE error by Charnley and the rest of his footballing experts.
    PATHETIC. Now we are left clutching at straws hoping massive clubs like Bournemouth, Swansea and Palace can do us a favour. The toon and the makkems are both going down..

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  54. MM: chill mate 🙂 We do have some decent players and with a good manager we could pull through. Think about when Robson was here, his central defense was Andy O’Brien, Nikos Dabizas and Aaron Hughes 🙂 Good managers can make a difference.

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  55. I’m surprisingly sanguine given the result and the performance. We can thank Elliot for keeping us in the game, but at least the lads forced Sunderland back in the 2nd half and showed some fight. I reckon De Jong should be in for Perez.

    It was a point. There are still a few to play for. It’s all still in our hands.

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  56. Eric, we have a bunch of average players mate, that is why we are where we are…
    They lack the extra quality which makes the difference.
    100% effort, running and commitment can be expected from all premier league clubs filled with top athletes.. apart from the toon that is …? We have the imbeciles to thank for that…
    What is good about Thauvin, Gouffron, Cabella, Obertan, Riviere, Lascalles, Alnwick mate ?

    Why are we relying on Aarons, Mbabu, Staylor, Collocini etc…young hopeful junior players / senior over the hill players who played a huge part in our last relegation ?

    They are not “decent” players mate…

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  57. Brisvegas, that fantastic Elliot save from Van Aarnholt was a game changer mate… absolutely brilliant from the lad.
    Now he really hasn’t let the side down this season.
    I reckon he should get player of the season tbh, because of his consistency and grit alone. He was written off as a weak link but has really came through and done the business !

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  58. Fantasy League: 4 games to play and it looks like a two-way fight, with Alestars well in command.

    The jockeying for positions in the top 8 is going to be cutthroat I reckon any of the top 12 could make it.

    And on a personal note: oh my, how the mighty have fallen; my guys might not even make it to the League Cup. They just can’t take a trick at the moment. I’m thinking of putting Norwich’s best players in the side for next game – that’d make sure they underperformed. And whoever I play next can look forward to having their best result for months. At least I didn’t lose by 1 point again.

    1 Alestars 67
    2 Balotellitubbies 63
    3 Shteves Shcitty 58
    4 Born Winner FC 54
    5 Puff Puff Pass 54
    6 Nik Nak Utd 54
    7 Newbriscastle Roar 52
    8 Natalie Sawyer Fan 52
    9 Dubai Toon United 51
    10 Macas Pony and Trap 50
    11 Aussie Mags 48
    12 Inter Yasista 47

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  59. yes, where theres a dose of hope theres also a bigger dose of reality.

    Sissoko needs dropping, he offers everything bad about Newcastle, individuals playing for themselves. drop him and play obertan / anita or Townsend with Perez / Aarons on the left.

    the team that stays up may stay up on 35-36pts, thats 3 wins and a draw. Possible but looking at some of the teams also battling, if we dont improve massively we’ll probably get a draw

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  60. MM: I’d vote for him as player of the season. He’s been the only consistent performer.

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  61. Pappis Cisse is arriving back just at the right time.
    His goals will give us a great chance of survival.
    We need to get Sissoko off the pitch, and move Wijnaldum further forward to support the strikers on the right hand side of attack..
    we need Townesned to give his all for 70 minutes, thats all he has in the tank
    Hopefully Janmaats injury isn’t too serious…
    what the heck is wrong with Tiote, 50 grand a week to sit at home with his harem of wives ?…..bizzare !!

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  62. truth is, we saw nothing different in the 1st half that we watched under SM…

    Not sure of Shelveys role, seems to be sitting too deep without making many tackles.

    By half time we could of been buried but Sams **** tactics have saved us.

    Hopefully 2 weeks of intense teaching under Rafa will give us a glimmer of hope.

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  63. Sissoko taking a lot of stick again this weekend I see.
    So we aren’t taking into account that he isn’t a left winger – and certainly not a left back as was asked to play yesterday.

    I’m not saying he had a great game yesterday, but maybe his poor performance was down to being asked to do a job he’s never done before.

    I posted through the week saying that Rafa needs to adopt a formation that either accommodates Sissoko & plays to his strengths, or one that drops him from the team altogether.

    If Rafa is sticking with 4-4-2 then for me you drop Sissoko, put Perez on the left and play either De Jong or Cisse (Cisse my choice) up front with Mitrovic.

    If he wants Sissoko on the pitch, then he has to switch him back to rightsided midfield – when he finished a season as 3rd highest chance creator, behind only Silva & Oscar.

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  64. Eric – that article on Sissoko isn’t all that well balanced to be fair.
    I mean, it refers to his first half performance – well who played well in the 1st half?!.
    Also, yesterday & against Leicester, Sissoko was put on the left (a position not natural to him) to provide cover and help out Colback.
    He wasn’t put on the left because Rafa thought he’d be at his most creative from that position.

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  65. Sharpy, sorry but Sissoko has been **** poor all season. He seriously thinks he should be playing CL. I think it’s time to play somebody else.

    De Jong must start the next game. He looked our best and most composed player when he came on and might give us some creativity and guile.

    But on reflection, we were poor – especially first half and we were outplayed by another poor side. I thought Lascelles played on and I think he will become a good defender. He’s having to learn in the deep end though… Mitro was good, took his goal well and led the line well.

    It’s still in our hands, but I’m concerned with yesterday’s first half performance to be honest. I think maybe the away matches might suit us with the way Rafa will set us up. If we can get 4 points from our next 2 games we will be doing ok. Big ask.

    But with Rafa having two full weeks with the players now that should come in handy. You can see clearly he is a brilliant manager. The way he changes things, little tactical changes here and there which have impacts on the game. Just wish he had a better balanced squad to work with.

    What does it say for Doumbia if he can’t get on the bench – he was signed to score the goals we needed!

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  66. What does it say for Doumbia if he can’t get on the bench – he was signed to score the goals we needed!

    Stu, exactly mate, very, very odd signing.
    I think Rafa really has his work cut out just as Steve before him did, hopefully he can get a few results to guide us to safety but I wouldn’t stake my home on it at the present time.
    confidence factor for staying up 30%

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  67. Stu – again though, most of them have been **** poor this season.

    I’m not defending him and I’ve said above, drop him. I just think if we are criticising the lad there should be perspective.

    I’d happily see De Jong come into the side. I don’t know if you remember, but I am one of the few who has recognised his talent from the day we signed him and have stuck by him through his injuries. I still think he’ll go on to show us all just how good he is. Rafa will give him that chance.

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  68. Its gotten to the point where I am suspecting Sissoko has a clause in his contract that states he must be played if fit. Its the only explanation as to why he doesn’t get dropped.
    Another pearl by the board.
    Unfortunately I am agreeing with Jill 🙄 (00:52)
    5 wins from 8 matches – don’t make me laugh.
    I can only see 2 wins -(swansea and villa) and
    2 draws -(norwich and palace). So another 8 points. Which will see us relegated.
    I saw nothing yesterday barring the final 10 mins effort to give any optimism whatsoever.
    The defence is pathetic the midfield were half asleep and the forwards are powder puff weak.
    Mitro’s goal was good. That’s it.
    I will bare my **** in fenwicks window if we survive. 😛

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