gkmacca

Not really that much like too much different from any half, in any of these games, at any of these grounds, in any of these past decades. But let's not let that dilute the wailing and whining as if this is some kind of weird and entirely unexpected scenario.

A typed laugh of exasperation? Fucking hell. Grow the fuck up.

Ha ha, idiotic manc-like rants, "ha ha" - really???

And that broadcast from the Masochism Channel is available for all from now...

Pretty definitive from you, then. Off to your stable, no need to repeat.

Disgraceful dive. And some commentators pretend they don't realise..

If Slot brings his assistant with him, that bloke's already worked with our Dutch contingent, and Virge seems to really rate him, so that will be a decent transition. That's all I have.

Quite. The thralldom to nerds has grown tiresome.

And vice versa.

It's his bespoke mini socks. Once players get obsessed with that kind of thing, it's a problem. Not an insurmountable one, but it needs a word or two. He's drifting into the Beckham-esque world of edited achievement. Blast multiple free kicks over the bar, but score the odd one - "genius". A triumph of PR over data. Huge talent, but it's worrying that, at this stage in his career, he's acting like he's some kind of cultural phenomenon.

Mental fatigue. That's it more than anything. There's no need for fatalism because of that - you CAN fight against it - but some of these players are pretty stoical, it seems. I thought we were okay for much of the half. Fulham fans booing Elliott, yet again, as if he's some Figo-like superstar who abandoned them - christ, how classless can they be? Much more pace required, second half. It's all about the end result - if you arse around at the back for three minutes and then give the ball away, that's three minutes wasted - show some fecking conviction.

Probably just one of his tenants.

Yup, the sheer brilliance of the side last week and on Thursday definitely meant that there would be mass incredulity at five changes being made today. That's absolutely clear.

It's also stupid and counter-productive unless it's done with confidence and pace. The number of times we pass it slowly around at the back, then leave it to the keeper to kick it forward into a congested midfield area and we lose possession - it does my head in. And in the past few games we've also taken to passing the ball right back to the keeper from deep in the opposition's half. So much of this nonsense is excused because it's 'tactical'. Bollocks. Most of it recently has mainly been down to a mixture of fear and fatigue.

Yes, I remember that one. Crazy. I'm afraid I'm getting increasingly cynical about the supposed tactical nous of players for dead ball situations. Do players really have a range of corner kicks to choose from? Robbo seems to put up his hands in the same gesture no matter where he puts the ball these days. Same with the intense hand-over-mouth chats over the ball before free kicks ('I think I'll try to whip it over the wall and straight down into the left-hand corner'. 'I was thinking of doing the same for the other corner'. 'Let's compromise - I'll blast it straight at the wall, then you blast the rebound over the bar').