2 hours ago, Ukraine Bolt said:

Glad that’s done. Off to the pub, I’ll give my opinion tomorrow so I don’t say something I might regret.

I'm back.

Maresca is sh*te, worst human on the planet in the last 80 years.

Sanchez is awful.

Reece is the best RB in the world, play him at RB.

If you're playing Gusto, play him as a touchline full back.

Tosin is average, least of our worries though. Happy to have him as a squad player. Along the same lines as Chalobah.

Cucurella is a bang average footballer and the fact he's arguably one of our players of the year tells you all about the depth our club has reached.

Caicedo is genuinely world class. Love him to bits, would let him marry my daughter is i have one.

Enzo has improved recently. Not worth close to what we paid for him but that's not his fault. Hopefully continues his current trajectory.

KDH. I don't want to speak about him.

Madueke is an enigma. One game can look class, another look like he's never controlled a ball in his life. Still young, least of our worries again.

I don't understand how Enzo has managed to nullify Palmer so much and not change it. The talent is obvious, shame he;s shackled by a stubborn bellend.

Sancho doesn't really do anything. Would be good if we had a full overlap him but the thought of such a thing happening is terrifying for our manager. Goes back to Utd in summer.

Can't believe we spent what we did on Neto. Never been clinical and has seemed to continue that trend at Chelsea. More interested in doing a step over than scoring.

Nkunku. Please sell.

Jackson. His game is great, his finishing is awful. Needs genuine competition.

Stewart and Winstanley. The money they will have been paid to build this squad is staggering. Give me the funds and i could have made a squad to compete for a decade. The should be hunf for their crimes against the sport. A genuine cancer to the club.

Despite the poor result today think we are still in the top 4 race as think more up and downs to come for others not just us.

Due to tidying up late Dad's things have missed the prediction thread tohugh thought a win against Spurs and a draw today.

Manx derby today 0-0

London derby today 0-0

4 league matches in a row now where our forward line (wingers, 10 and "striker") have failed to score in...

Nkunku shouldn’t be starting games. It’s obvious he can’t be bothered. I’ve no idea why Maresca is persisting with him. George has shown more in games than Nkunku. Anyone from the academy would put in more effort. What’s that about?

No away win in PL since Sp**s in early December four months ago! Three points from the last 24 is totally unacceptable and I lay the blame entirely at Maresca's door. Scott Parker anyone?

43 minutes ago, Mister Loco said:

No away win in PL since Sp**s in early December four months ago! Three points from the last 24 is totally unacceptable and I lay the blame entirely at Maresca's door. Scott Parker anyone?

No

All I can add to todays match thread was really pleased I decided to 🛌 in rather than a 6am kick off. At least after ECL the games are at the Bridge where the form is the opposite of away.

I get that Nkunku is pissed off with not getting a move in January or not getting regular games but the way he’s downed tools is unforgivable.

f**k off and don’t let the door hit you on the way out.

Players we must get rid of no 1

If by some miracle we manage to end up 4th or 5th it will certainly not be down to the twat on the touchline. Can he be more negative in his line ups, substitutions and game plan, he makes Sean Dyche look like Pep. He has sucked the life out of all this talent within one season.; 40,000 fans can see it, yet our so called Directors of football and owners cannot. He needs to go before the next crop of talent comes in and has the life sucked out of it also.

The fact that we are sat in 4th place is only down to how poor the other 19 teams have been, any other season and we'd be languishing in the lower half of the table and perhaps the best thing of all to come out of that, would be that Maresca would not be in charge....and that suits me and a whole lot of other supporters.

Given our remaining fixture list and what we've seen of late 7th or 8th is likely where we will end up ....but knowing our managers luck the other teams around us will likely screw up and we'll end up 4th or 5th and give Maresca another season...sadly.

Missed the game but just watched extended 30 min highlights. Good grief - you could see from the highlights the lack of energy and intent. To be fair, probably evident from the team sheet.

To me that’s all on Maresca. He over complicates so many decisions, and has instilled such a passive brand of football that it will take months to coach out.

I just don’t think he is the right coach to take the club forward, and the players lack of effort is simply not good enough. They are not a champions league side. Far from it.

Another forgettable game, how are we still at the 4th spot is almost as puzzling as solving our scoring issues. Don't get me wrong, Brentford is a capable side, but just didn't see much of our intentions to force the result. I mean if Palmer scored a late goal, we'd call it a stroke of genius, rather than a deserved win. With the 5th spot almost assured of a CL spot, think Maresca may just get there and have another year of running this team.

The more I think about it the more it pisses me off...

WTF did Maresca think he was doing ?

Why change the team that just beat Spurs ?

He really is an arsehole.

How the Brentford player missed the goal with that free header... Jim would be dunking on nico for months for a sitter missed like that.

6 hours ago, Bebe1980 said:

The more I think about it the more it pisses me off...

WTF did Maresca think he was doing ?

Why change the team that just beat Spurs ?

He really is an arsehole.

It makes me wonder just how much sports scientists and medical teams influence selection. One thing is for sure - Maresca adheres to it more than most.

18 hours ago, petre ispirescu said:

I don't fully agree. I think that first the owners must understand that they now must take the next step and give this squad the final shape. The core has been created - Palmer, Caicedo, Enzo, Cucurella, Colwill, James and to some extent Jackson. From the loanies, Santos feels like the most valuable one to come back and add to that core.

You simply can't go ahead with wingers that don't even try or bother to find ways to score goals and have such a bad input. There is not a single big club in this world without at least one top winger. Madrid, Barcelona, City, Liverpool, Arsenal, Bayern, Paris, you name it. They all benefit from a lot of goals from the wing.

Milan will finish outside of Europe and needs cash. Leao is quality and proven on the big stage. Could be the perfect fit on the left. Mbuemo also PL proven on the right wing and a goalscorer. As we all know, Barcelona are skint and need cash the same way a prostitute with a fentanyl addiction needs it. Rumour is they would let Raphinha go in order to bring funds in. He is quality and perfect for the right wing. I mean there are very good option out there in order to take this team to the next level and add firepower, the owners must wake up and take the next step.

Personally, I don't think it matters who we sign because Maresca himself isn't good enough. We can sign players like Leao and Raphinha (I personally don't rate Leao and Raphinha will never take a step down and join us) but it won't matter because Maresca will nulify their abilities with his football. This type of football doesn't allow flair players to shine, it suffocates them.

3 hours ago, PhilH930 said:

It makes me wonder just how much sports scientists and medical teams influence selection. One thing is for sure - Maresca adheres to it more than most.

A lot, a hell of a lot more than it used to do. I remember the days when Ashley Cole said he rarely played without some sort of pain, that would never be allowed today. Cole would be classed as injury prone in todays game, they wouldn't let him play.