Fulham Vs Newcastle United – Championship Match Thread

Welcome to the season opener, where Fulham play host to Newcastle United. Rafa Benitez and his troops will be hoping to get off with a positive start to the campaign in an effort to build early momentum and live up to the tag of being favorites to go back up to the Premier League as Championship Champions.

This squad has seen significant change this summer, with much more change to come – so although a strong start would be great, realistically it will take a few weeks and maybe even months before the side is firing on all cylinders. There is no doubt we have the best manager on board since Sir Bobby Robson and he has made a big committment to the Geordie faithful by agreeing to stay on in the face of relegation. Lets continue to show him the same support we gave him at the end of last season, regardless of how the next couple of months go.

Fulham:
27 Button, 26 Kalas, 4 Odoi, 15 Madl, 3 Malone, 6 McDonald, 19 Tunnicliffe, 10 Cairney, 24 Aluko, 11 Ayité, 9 Smith, Substitutes: 5 Stearman, 8 Parker, 13 Ream, 16 Woodrow, 21 Christensen, 37 Edun, 41 Joronen.

Newcastle United:
28 Sels, 22 Janmaat, 6 Lascelles, 5 Hanley, 3 Dummett, 8 Anita, 14 Hayden, 4 Colback, 11 Ritchie, 17 Pérez, 9 Gayle, Substitutes: 12 Shelvey, 16 Aarons, 18 Mbemba, 26 Darlow, 27 Gámez, 32 Armstrong, 42 Sterry.

Interesting see new boys Grant Hanley and Mats Selz given the nod over Chancel Mbemba and Karl Darlow. A first game as Newcastle United Captain for Jamaal Lascelles and great to see youngsters Sterry and Armstrong in the match day squad. Also of note is Daryl Janmaat in the match day squad. This puts the rumoured move away form the club to bed.

HWTL.

About Shamrock

Like everyone here, support Newcastle United. Not the easiest side to feel good about at times, but it's our side!

186 thoughts on “Fulham Vs Newcastle United – Championship Match Thread

  1. Sels, Hanley, Hayden, Ritchie & Gayle – we were introducing a new spine to the team today.
    I’m not making excuses, coz I expected better as well – but maybe my expectations were unrealistic.

    I would have preferred to see Aarons start the game rather than 3 the 3 more defensive midfielders.
    It was too early for Diame, but maybe he would be a better offensive option – I think he’s a more realistic option than Sissoko as he wont be sticking round & Rafa knows that.

    I think tonight has just re-emphasised the fact that we need a better forward and more creative options in midfield.

    I think if he was going 4-3-3 tonight then Shelvey maybe should have been in midfield as his passing may have created more.

    Hindsight is a wonderful thing & Rafa knows far more than I. But it’s clearly a work in progress.

      (Quote)

  2. I was hoping for Shelvey to.come in and pass the ball with intent but instead he came in and just made several niggly fouls, killing any momentum. Really disappointed in him.

      (Quote)

  3. That was just awful tonight.
    But oh so typically NUFC
    Perez **** poor at set pieces over and over again. But never saw anyone else wanting to have a go.
    Flat footed all the way thru the match. Midfield as clueless as ever.
    tippy tappy **** making no progress followed by a hoof to lose posession.
    As soon as we are pressed, we cant play. We have no pace in the team whatsoever.
    No change from previous seasons if I’m honest.
    Colback God awful.
    The rest need to understand this ain’t gonna be no cake walk and man up to the job in hand.
    Steep learning curve for many of the pampered members of our squad.
    We really needed a Sissoko tonight. lol
    I said this match would be a reality check for those living in lala land.
    same **** different day
    onward and upwards
    TOON TOON

      (Quote)

  4. I think we started the game too negative, despite having Gayle and Perez upfront. There was not enough quality in midfield. Colback & Anita are not creative enough and Ritchie on the left didn’t work. With Aarons on left and Ritchie on right it worked better. I hope Diame can add attacking quality and goals looking at that performance, Shelvey is hit and miss. I was impressed by Armstrong when he came on. Gayle is not a centre forward, him and Perez will just get bullied without Mitrovic.

      (Quote)

  5. We didn’t play great but at least matched Fulham. I agree we didn’t need 2 holding midfielders but we deserved a point and would have got it if the Ref had a clue what handball is. We obviously need Mitro back as Perez AND Gayle upfront together is too lightweight. Should push out the boat to sign a goalscorer once we see what we get for Sissoko.

      (Quote)

  6. Poor result… Colback, Anita, Perez, were all hopeless. How Colback gets game baffles me, he adds nothing to the team other than being a pesky tackler..

    I had to laugh every time we lumped the ball into the box.. it would have been nice play if we had someone over 6′ in the box to head the bloody thing. We had two small players and we constantly put it in high…

    Was a dead set penalty for the hand ball. How was that guys hand in a natural position??? As a defender, when you stretch out like that to block a cross, your whole motivation is to stop the ball. So if it hits your arm in the process of throwing yourself in the way of a cross, then hand ball is the call. Can not believe the ref let that one go… what a joke..

      (Quote)

  7. Talk of us walking the league showed how we know nothing when it comes to 11v11.
    Just because we spend 45 mil plus means nothing.

    It’s virtually a new team…it will take at least 5 games for the players to get used to each other.
    Diame will make a difference as we had no middle threat. We still need a natural finisher.

    Lascelles was defo to blame. We looked poor at times at the back. We should of had a penalty, shocking decision from the ref

      (Quote)

  8. I stand by my assertion that we will win the league comfortably Gashley. As you said and I keep saying, it will take a fair few games until we are firing on all cylinders. Just because we lost at Fulham does not mean we won’t win the league.

      (Quote)

  9. Winning and walking are slightly different..
    I think we’ll be in the top 4, with a good chance of automatic promotion but we need more signings.
    We’ve replaced players sold and others likely to leave but we still don’t have a playmaker. Diame will make difference but 1 attack minded central midfielder??

    Was nice to see Arma get a game

      (Quote)

  10. hate to say i told you so about Lascelles.
    powder puff team of lightweights
    Rafa has wasted 45 mill on average Joe’s

      (Quote)

  11. Yup, definitely need an AM. We will win the league by a few points. That’s walking it. If we don’t do that, I’ll hold my hands up. We need a LB and winger too. And a big forward. Still an unbalanced squad imo.

      (Quote)

  12. There is an interview on sky sports with the Fulham Captain and goalscorer. Really refreshing. The Captain openly admits we should have had a penalty but rightly feels they deserved the win whereas the goalscorer spoke clearly, mai gaining eye contact without all the ‘erms’ you get these days. Fair play to them.

      (Quote)

  13. So everybody says the Championship is a slog, a marathon and not a sprint. Then after 1 loss the message boards of the tabloids and even the Guardian are saying they told us Geordies not to get ahead of ourselves and look what happened to Fulham, they finished 17th and 20th with a strong squad. If it is a marathon and not a sprint then why judge after 1 game?

    Actually, the vast majority of people on here were saying we might have to rein in our optimism. Even Shamrock who thinks we will win it easily in the end thinks we might not come out of the traps fast. I still think we will walk it, but then again I didn’t think we would get relegated 🙂

      (Quote)

  14. Eric Sykes:
    So everybody says the Championship is a slog, a marathon and not a sprint. Then after 1 loss the message boards of the tabloids and even the Guardian are saying they told us Geordies not to get ahead of ourselves and look what happened to Fulham, they finished 17th and 20th with a strong squad. If it is a marathon and not a sprint then why judge after 1 game?

    Actually, the vast majority of people on here were saying we might have to rein in our optimism. Even Shamrock who thinks we will win it easily in the end thinks we might not come out of the traps fast. I still think we will walk it, but then again I didn’t think we would get relegated

    Eric. You shouldn’t get ahead of yourself anyway. Fair enough, quietly confident but it’s cringe worthy hearing players etc saying we’re this and that. Talk is cheap, especially from a team newly relegated

      (Quote)

  15. we have a team filled with average championship players, and failed premier league subs. rafa mate, you can’t make a silk purse out of a sows ear.

      (Quote)

  16. MM: I think Rafa has shown that he is a pretty good judge of a player over the years so we should give him a chance. I am not one to blindly and blithely say “In Rafa we Trust” and I never bought the t-shirt from Ed’s site saying “In Carr we Trust” either. I do think we have to give him the benefit of the doubt based on his record of success. He himself has said that not all of his transfers will be a success but we can hope that he gets more right than wrong and has not just bought 8 Championship cloggers as that would go against his history.

      (Quote)

  17. Whats your thoughts on the new players?

    Hayden looked decent for the championship, faded a bit after their goal, head dropped a bit. Lost the ball a cpl of time but showed some skill

    Richie looked up for it, quick and mobile. Once the balance is right and he has a better understanding with our fullback, he’ll be good.

    Hanley looked unfit and ponderous. Far too early to say but may face an early battle with his toon career against mbemba and Clark

    Gayle will score goals. Looks a good link player. Not strong enough to play up front with Perez esp if we loft balls from the wing..Would do better with an attacking midfielder playing him off the defenders shoulder

      (Quote)

  18. Gashley I think you just summed up the new lads perfectly. Can’t argue with any of that.

    More from.Sissoko;

    “I still hope to have the chance to join a more exclusive club. Now we are negotiating with Newcastle.”

    “My agent has had discussions with the club. They are open to a departure,” “We are in discussions. We’ll see what happens.”

    “Yes, some clubs have come. A lot of clubs. Now, I expect and hope it will lead to something good. “

    “They discussed with the club, with my agent. We’ll see what happens.”

    “I know what I want. Where shall I go? I do not know yet. There are discussions that are ongoing with the leaders, with my agent. “

    “The best decision we take. All clubs are advanced. We’ll see.”

    “Who would not be flattered with that interest,” “Real Madrid is one or the best clubs in the world. “For now, I am still a Newcastle player.”

    “I wait. And if it’s Real Madrid, so much the better.”

    “It’s true that Real Madrid is hard to refuse. But as I said, there will be plenty of things that come into account.”

    “We will have to think about. I will take a decision with my agent.”

    I know we need more ‘umph’ from midfield. But he is not the answer. Get shot and get a replacement asap.

      (Quote)

  19. I think the Captaincy weighed on Lascelles a bit in his first game but that should change. We had 5 players who had not played under Rafa’s system and that will get better. He went too defensive but can you blame him given our away record?

    I hope that we see enough from Aarons and Armstrong that we keep them around. I would rather they train under Rafa and his team than loan them out.

    As everybody has said, we all know we need another goal-scoring and hold-up forward to press Mitro, play when he has one of his brain farts and make sure we are not too lightweight up front.

      (Quote)

  20. We only have 2 wingers when we need 4, so I’d be shocked if Aaron’s was loaned out. Was Anita on the left yesterday? Can’t quite get my head around that. Him, Colback and Hayden all in midfield at the same time. We need to being in width and thrust.

      (Quote)

  21. What shocked me was the fact we are still so slow in our build up play, how can we change the team and still be so slow? Fulham don’t have superstars yet they looked faster and far more threatening, they gave us zero time on the ball and broke really well. We should of had a pen possibly two, but you can’t begrudge them the win cause they were at it and we weren’t. We have to get a potent forward in and we desperately need a creative mf attacker to drive the ball at pace through the middle. On the positive side Arma looked rapid and fresh and I love how he plays , he was definitely giving them problems. Aarrons looks good, hope he stays fit, and I would love to see Arma up top with Mitro. Not impressed by Gayle as yet but has had been said he needs better service. Thought Richie was poor also, but they need time to gel, problem is do we have the luxury of time. Is Sels better than Darlow ?

      (Quote)

  22. Burley lost 5 last season, boro 9.
    Burnley had lost 2 by the end of September, they drew quite a bit but showed you must not lose..

      (Quote)

  23. Eric, I am also a good judge of a player.
    We have far too many players who are quite simply uncomfortable on the ball, and lacking pace and guile.
    Rafa filling his team with journeyman players will come unstuck. This team and squad will flounder.

    Throwing money at the problem doesn’t always solve the problem. I’d love to know where the likes of Fulham pick up these excellent young athletic unknown players. Compare our budget to Fulham’s, thre is no way that we should be outfought, but we are.

      (Quote)

  24. Somebody said Fulham had as many new faces as Newcastle yesterday. I checked it and it’s true. 8 new signings. I went through the list and of the first 4 signings, 3 were in the team. I did not bother checking the rest but they gelled faster than we did. To be fair though, their fans were in good voice and they were at home.

      (Quote)

  25. Lascelles was at fault for the goal but in general play I thought he did alright. Still don’t think Janmaat has any defensive ability to get excited about, good going forward though. Silly to get a yellow for slamming the ball down but can see why he was frustrated.

      (Quote)

  26. I am slightly concerned that in Lascelles and Hanley we had 2 vocal leaders and yet our defense had massive holes in it at times. Communication was not up scratch and I’m sorry but as good as Janmaat is at getting g crosses in, he is not an effective RB.

      (Quote)

  27. The only position I feel comfortable seeing Anita in, is right back. He should play there instead of Janmaat.

      (Quote)

  28. Shamrock:
    The only position I feel comfortable seeing Anita in, is right back. He should play there instead of Janmaat.

    Spot on Sham, I really like Anita at RB, he isn’t as effective in mf, and don’t like Janmaat at RB and have been saying it for yonks.

      (Quote)

  29. Sham, good teams have good players who are comfortable on the ball, can think quick and make the right decision…whilst retaining the ball.
    we give up possession way too easily, and are pondering and labourious to boot. thats why we will remain a n average championship side for the forseeable future.

      (Quote)

  30. Sooner that **** Sissoko departs the better, he’s incapable of keeping his gob shut. If he played well as often as he spouts off he’d be something else.
    Go now ffs so we can buy a couple of quality players for the team.

      (Quote)

  31. MM: you do know that Fulham finished 20th last year so using them as a blueprint for the way things should be done in The Championship might not be the ideal choice. They finished 17th the year before. I know they beat us yesterday with a much lower budget but we will see where the teams are come Christmas.

    Rafa also has a history on going on long and impressive unbeaten streaks. Once his teams get it right they are very hard to beat.

      (Quote)

  32. Munich Mag:
    Sham, good teams have good players who are comfortable on the ball, can think quick and make the right decision…whilst retaining the ball.
    we give up possession way too easily, and are pondering and labourious to boot. thats why we will remain a n average championship side for the forseeable future.

    MM, It’s getting the skill level mix right, we need championship players but we are still missing a couple of players who are that cut above class, who will win games for us. Hopefully when the big sulk is sold the cash will get that type of player in.

      (Quote)

  33. This is the same group that beat Spurs 5-1 on the last day save Townsend and Wignaldum.

      (Quote)

  34. Kimtoon: you just have to look at Leicester who were mid-table at best until Kante and Mahrez took them over the top. It helped that they caught lightning in a bottle with Vardy as well.

      (Quote)

  35. Eric me old cocker, dont go putting words into my mouth, i didnt suggest using fulham as a blueprint.

      (Quote)

  36. townsend, wijnaldum and sissoko were our “game changers”, now they are not there the quality is missing.
    we have one game changer in Mitro to come back, the rest are pedestrian journeymen.

      (Quote)

  37. I read that Mourinho had taken Basti Schweinsteigers peg from him in the changing room and sent him to train with the reserves. Thats a canny way to treat a world cup winning captain.

    would Rafa do the same with Sissoko…can’t see that happening, at the end of the day he’ll need him for our promotion push. Sissoko…see “delusions of glanduer”..

      (Quote)

  38. Missed the game last night at A&E. Very puzzled though at the midfield and not sold at all on Gayle as a through the middle CF. It’s just not him.
    Is Hanley an upgrade on Chancel? Is Sels better than Darlow? Will Perez ever lose his flakey edge?

    So we lost a game – onwards and upwards! HTL

    Anita is our best RB.

      (Quote)

  39. MM: didn’t mean to put words in your mouth but you did say to compare our budget to Fulham’s so you did put them up as a team to compare us to. Which I did.

      (Quote)

  40. MM: I have to give most of the players we have bought a few games because I have not seen a lot of them. I didn’t watch much of the Championship or Palace or Bournemouth. You can’t have it both ways with Gini and Sissoko though saying they didn’t turn up most of the time and now saying they were our game changers. Maybe you didn’t, but most said that about them.

    I am not trying to pick a fight as as I just said I haven’t seen enough of our new players to judge and have to go on Rafa’s reputation and history.

      (Quote)

  41. Agree about Schwini. That is a disgrace what Mourinho did. Bayern are showing much more class judging from what Rummenigge subsequently said.

      (Quote)

  42. Georgio:
    Missed the game last night at A&E. Very puzzled though at the midfield and not sold at all on Gayle as a through the middle CF. It’s just not him.
    Is Hanley an upgrade on Chancel? Is Sels better than Darlow? Will Perez ever lose his flakey edge?

    So we lost a game – onwards and upwards! HTL

    Anita is our best RB.

    Hope all is well mate after your trip to A&E

      (Quote)

  43. eric, no probs mate. all will be revealed, we all want the same at the end of the day.
    i hope that rafa doesnt get caught with his kegs down, sending out journeyman bog standard championship players with tactics which for more reasons that we know fail to grasp the concept. hence the silk purse reference..

      (Quote)

  44. To tell you the truth, if you had shown me pictures of the 8 players we have bought, before we bought them, Gayle would probably have been the only one I could identify. Maybe Ciaran Clark but I might have said he played for West Ham 🙂

      (Quote)

  45. eric, we”ll have Ulli Hoeness back at the helm at FCB soon, he’s nice and refreshed after his spell of porridge, and chomping at the bit for a new task.
    he’ll bring Basti back to Minga and mentor him as his replacement…hope Phillip Lahm doesn’t mind though, cos hes got his eye on the job too !

      (Quote)

  46. Eric, they are joureyman championship players, thats why you wouldnt recognise them ?

      (Quote)

  47. I think we’ve got a lot of new players who are going to take time to bed in. It is a ‘heavy’ shirt to wear for some players and I think some of them will realise that after last night, they are expected to win every game and have to have both ability and character. No away games are going to be easy this season and I think our home form is going to need to be spot on. I think we still need a centre forward, we saw last night that if Mitrovic is out the other options are all pretty lightweight. Mitrovic needs to stop the silly tackles and red cards when he comes back and Rafa needs to have a word, this is costing the club results now as he may have defended that corner. Also, why wasn’t Anita on the back post? They need to quickly work on the corners and set pieces as this is how championship teams score some of their goals.

      (Quote)

  48. Talking of home form, we’d of gotten that pen if we were at home I reckon.
    We just don’t travel well and haven’t for a few seasons no matter who plays or coaches us, it’s hard to fathom when we have huge away support cheering us on.

      (Quote)

  49. Gashley. I think it’s early to try and judge but we still need more signings Imo. Of the new lads, Hayden actual only played 15 games I think last season at Hull and wasn’t automatic, he’s still a bit raw but I prefered him to Colback, who after last night must surely be cover and a squad player at most. It’s a bit of a fall from grace after he was being talked about as a potential new capitan. Gayle, I haven’t actually seen much to get excited about yet, no doubt he is quick and a good finished, but he hasn’t been used in the right system yet and I not sure what else there is to his game beyond that. Ritchie is class and I think he will do, I’m now really glad that Janmaat looks to be staying and has the right attitude, as he will terrorise some championship teams. Hanley is a big strong centre half who knows the championship and he sort of replaced Coloccini last night, not the quickest and not quite as much ability on the ball but definitely stronger in the air than Colo. Some people have been a bit critical but he actually pulled us out of the shyte on at least 2-3 occasions where there were sloppy back passes etc. I think we need to remember that defenders get away with more in the championship before a pen is given and he is used to that. The defence needs time to gel and Lascelles I think will get better, he is blamed for the corner but they were actually zonal marking and I think in the season we went up Carroll would have been there (also our best defender of corners). Sels was decent enough although I’d like to see him just catch the ball instead of messing about and bouncing it. It will be interesting to see if he keeps him starting position when others come back. I think the defence is now fine though and our strongest area. Coloccini and Taylor both needed to go and freshen things up. I worry about quality in midfield, can Shelvey, Diame and Ritchie create enough chances? Perez, Mitro, Gayle and Armstrong all have potential but it’s a worry to rely on them to get us up.

      (Quote)

  50. Kim and MM – Concern like that is one of the best things about this blog! All is well with me. It was my 2 year old grandson with an infected wound to his knee. They kept him in on an intravenous drip but it was near ten when I got to drive back home. When I heard the result I was glad I missed it.

    I did express concern weeks ago that Rafa was building a new team, Did that need doing after those last 6 games? I didn’t think so. Did we need a new goalie? Is Hanley better than Chancel? Is Anita good enough to play wide left or right? He’ll bring Diame in next and that’s 6 new players – long gelling time needed. Time we don’t have.

      (Quote)

  51. Munich – you keep saying we are filling the team with average joes.

    Well I would say that Leicester were a team of well organised average joes last season – with one or two quality players thrown in.

    I think that’s all we are lacking at the moment – we need a quality LWF and a goal scoring forward.

    I don’t think we were overrun by Fulham at all, and he had our chances but didn’t put them away.

      (Quote)

  52. It’s the putting them away that counts Sharpy. I can’t decide what exactly Perez is. He doesn’t look a striker at all and he’s not a playmaker either. Somehow we’ve got to have a plan to deal with 10 man defences and even adding Diame won’t make much difference to that. If teams attack us it’s a different story.

      (Quote)

  53. Georgio:
    It’s the putting them away that counts Sharpy. I can’t decide what exactly Perez is. He doesn’t look a striker at all and he’s not a playmaker either. Somehow we’ve got to have a plan to deal with 10 man defences and even adding Diame won’t make much difference to that. If teams attack us it’s a different story.

    Georgio – I agree mate and that’s my point. We weren’t awful last night and we were creating chance, we just lacked that quality to put them away.
    Perez has a real quality about him, but he really needs to master 1 position now I think. He can score goals but he isn’t clinical enough to be an out n out CF for me.

      (Quote)

  54. One thing that puzzled me last night with their goal was why was there nobody on the posts?!.
    We have short arses like Anita & Ritchie – they aren’t getting the clearly head like!!! – stick at least one of them on the back post I say.

      (Quote)

  55. One thing I picked up on last night & it may be nothing – put after the game Rafa got hold of Janmaats arm and said something. Janmaat walked off & Rafa did that wipe your hands gesture.
    Might be nowt but if Janmaat leaves you heard it here first right ?

      (Quote)

  56. Looking at last nights game, Sels does not look better than Darlow. I don’t know what our best CB pairing is, Ithought Lescalles and MBemba would be fine of the EFL. Dummett was excellent last night on the left, but he needs a good winger in front of him. Janmaat & Ritchie are going to be awesome down the right. Hayden looks like he may have the DCM role, but I’d still rather have Tiote. We definately need a big man up front, and I’m still to be convinced that Mitrovitch is the finished article. But where is the creativity in the middle? Gayle and Perez,? maybe one of them with Diame, but who else, SDJ? Not impressed with Colback or Shelvey. Personally I like Anita, a neat and tidy player who keeps things moving around, not sure on his possession stats but one of those unsung hero types. NUFC MOTM was Dummett for me

      (Quote)

  57. Georgio, poor little mite, hope he’s on the mend soon mate. You didn’t miss much and the lad is far more important in the end.

    Sharpy, I am with Georgio a bit on this mate, we need goals and lots of them if we are to go back up, we don’t have the luxury of time to wait for them to gel sadly. I am desperate to see the great I am get sold to raise cash for a couple of quality players to address that issue.

      (Quote)

  58. Georgio:
    Kim and MM – Concern like that is one of the best things about this blog! All is well with me. It was my 2 year old grandson with an infected wound to his knee. They kept him in on an intravenous drip but it was near ten when I got to drive back home. When I heard the result I was glad I missed it.

    I did express concern weeks ago that Rafa was building a new team, Did that need doing after those last 6 games? I didn’t think so. Did we need a new goalie? Is Hanley better than Chancel? Is Anita good enough to play wide left or right? He’ll bring Diame in next and that’s 6 new players – long gelling time needed. Time we don’t have.

    Hope all goes well with the young un

      (Quote)

  59. Sharples, you comparing the toon to Leicester made me chuckle mate.
    We are light years away from Leicester bud.
    NONE of our first 11 would get into say, for example, Stokes first team. None.
    You’ve been reading the happy clappy Chronicle too much mate.??

      (Quote)

  60. I think Anita and Perez were uncharacteristically bad last night. Nothing they tried came off, which meant we lost the ball quite a few times. I agree we have to decide their best positions, but I am not sure if they have one. Anita is not a winger but is a good right back. I would only have him as 3rd or 4th choice in central midfield. I think it is his lot at NUFC to be cover and that is probably his best role as Rafa will do a lot of rotation. A useful squad player, but not first choice. I fear Perez might be in the same boat.

      (Quote)

  61. i know its only the first game but i dont see a 20 goal striker on the pitch,no height up front doesnt help,no good strikers finding space if you havent got anybody to find them lot of work to do in that area imo,nothing coming from midfield,a lapse or two in defence, all in all a bad day at the office

      (Quote)

  62. MM: not one of the 8 newcomers. I have had plenty of time to assess Anita and Perez.

    We have Hudderfield next, right. They were 19th last year so we drew a good start on paper. We better win or Rafa will start saying “judge me after 10 games” 🙂

    That’s a joke, I am behind Rafa unlike the last 3 morons we had.

      (Quote)

  63. 😆 I was actually really happy with Janmaat. When he was in to the box and the ref pulled it back he was right to be annoyed! Wtf was the ref doing, we had clear advantage and a chance to score! We could have played all night and not scored from a free kick, so the ref effectively killed the game for us. I’m not just blaming the ref though ( although he missed the handball) he let quite a lot go, within reason, and that’s what I would prefer to see from a ref.

      (Quote)

  64. I said a while back I was concerned Perez did not seem to have a natural position. He scored a few in the summer and I thought Rafa had cracked him, but he was poor yesterday when it mattered. If Barca offered £10m we should snap their hand off because I’m just not convinced he is going to be a long term hit with us. Would prefer an out and out striker in the squad tbh. His et pieces were awful. Is he really the best set piece player in the side?

    Shelvey though. So disappointed in his performances when he came in. Kept killing any momentum.with silly fouls and did nothing g positive of note.

      (Quote)

  65. Best team for me if everyone was fit

    Elliott
    Anita _ mbemba _ Lascelles _ Dummett
    richie_ Hayden _ Diame_ Aarons
    Mitro__gayle

    We needed cover for players sold. Hanley, Sels, Clark, are no better than what we have.
    So technically we’ve not improved the team massively but have lost Gini, Townsend and probably Sissoko and Janmaat…

      (Quote)

  66. Well after letting the dissapointment settle on our defeat before commenting on it , i now watched it again this morning and frankly i have too say our defence was **** poor. Their goal was shockingly bad defending ,at this level we will get beat more Often than win with that sort of defending dead ball situations . Midfield and upfront we lacked pressence , with Diame and Mitro too come in we can solve that problem . We need another winger for the left Side . I felt sorry for gayle ,he was full of running but needs Mitro upfront too play off. Darlow in goal next game and Mbemba too partner Lacelles should be the way too go next game up imo. Still its the first game and Ritchie Proved he is going too be a great buy and i do expect the level of performance too pick up now they who didnt know it , now know what too expect in this division.

      (Quote)

  67. I think last night showed why Perez is in a class just below the ‘top level’ players. He scored goals in preseason and can come off the bench to be a game changer (like at Tootingham) then in other games the ball doesn’t stick and he’s frustrating. Perez and Gayle didn’t work though, they are like two sidekicks and there was no main man. I think we need another CF, I would love to rely on Mitro but I think there are various reasons why we shouldn’t. We may be able to play 4-3-3 with Perez/Gayle/Armstrong/Ritchie playing wide of a CF. If the creativity in midfield doesn’t improve, I would go with that to solve the creation problems.

      (Quote)

Leave a Reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *