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#349308 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#349305 The Lower League Thread
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Broadly speaking, I think there's some merits to think the team needs to bully other teams and assert more dominance. I think that's a fair argument we don't dominate teams, as we did at times in 2009/10, but we so far seem to have enough for results. We're broadly similar to the 09/10 team so far in terms of results, with 2 points off. Its a game management thing as much as anything - Villa have had more shots than us this season, but are more likely to fall asleep in defence, hence the late giving away of points to Sheffield Wednesday, Huddersfield, Brentford, and Barnsley. Incidentally, there's a rumour going around they might appoint Steve McClaren if RDM goes... geez.
Derby and Bristol City both did little against us, while Villa wasn't helped by Yedlin being injured and an off-the-pace Tiote having to be thrown in. But its a bit of a weird world we have a defence that, for the most part, has repelled other teams. Sure, there's been luck - like Rotherham hitting the woodwork 3 times yesterday - but no successful team has pulled it off without a degree of luck. We seem to have coped so far with most things, but I do think we should look to be more assertive, and such a test is next as Brentford do look like a team that like playing on the front-foot.
#349240 The Lower League Thread
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Has Diame actually done anything since joining?
#349011 The Lower League Thread
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Blimey... looked all over at 3-1, then an injury time comeback to send the Mags 3rd. Didn't see that coming.
#349003 The Lower League Thread
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#348883 The England National Team
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#348755 The Lower League Thread
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Still, could be worse. Could be Derby. I slagged them off after seeing they were shit against Newcastle 2 weeks ago, but to lose at home to Blackburn after scoring first with a squad that cost millions to assemble is one hell of an achievement.
#348717 The Lower League Thread
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Not sure what the fuck Sels was doing either.
#348675 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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They've had chances tbf - King should've scored and De Gea made a great save. But yeah, this was more or less done when Pogba made it 4-0.
#348656 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#348618 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#348333 The Lower League Thread
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To be fair, there are a lot of serial loanees out you could say that for from a variety of clubs.
Chalobah coming on for his Chelsea debut in the EFL Cup tonight after 432 different loan spells kinda helps set the tone on that one.
#348332 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#347919 The Lower League Thread
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Clearly more work is needed. Although tbh, given what happened on Tuesday, something felt inevitable about this.
#347493 The Lower League Thread
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#347374 The Lower League Thread
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Its a puzzling one, that one. I guess ultimately they've made a lot of bad buys since failing to get promoted in 2014, while having associated manager problems (McClaren getting distracted by Newcastle, whatever the fuck happened with Paul Clement, Darren Wassall being out of his depth, and now Pearson). Chris Martin leaving for Vydra is an oddity - flogging a proven scorer, attitude and form question or not, for Vydra, who was awful at Reading last year, seems like a backwards step.
Anya was probably their best player on Saturday (well, him or Olsson), but they looked very anemic on Saturday, like they could've played another 90 minutes on top of the game and still not troubled Sels.
#347134 The Lower League Thread
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#347031 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#346390 The England National Team
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Jammy 95th minute winner and Skrtel trying too hard to get sent off aside, not really.
#346367 The England National Team
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Could've been worse but must do better in future.
#346356 2016/17 Barclays Premier League Thread
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#346355 The Lower League Thread
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Been some decent highlights appear though. Even if its weird a bit to have Northampton v MK Dons & Gillingham v Sheffield United for a Super Sunday.
Tbf (only using a few examples) Ameobi was always limited, if sounded like a good off-field character, Williamson was crap more often than not after 2011-12, Gosling was frequently injured to the point of invisibility, and Routledge - at the point he left in 2011 - had looked like he was not cut out for BPL. Well until Swansea managed it. Each player has reasons that, at the time, might've warranted criticism or justified an exit. Although Perch was an error in removal (I'm not sure people were that critical of him as they were with others - limited, perhaps, but a better squad player than others). Maybe on reflection Simpson was too, but out of contract and wanted first team, so that probably couldn't have been avoided.
I'm aware its hardly a pioneering new strategy. Just something different from a policy that failed. In any case there's a continual expectation shift, as at various points, Carr's view still looked rosy following that then-relatively useful success of 2011-12, but then his powers began gradually waning. I doubt the likes of Southampton, Stoke or Swansea don't sell their team as a stepping stone to younger imports, but it hardly worked out well, even if at the time, it probably seemed like it might work. I don't think we've done that badly anyway, considering demotion makes us a less attractive proposition by default. This downer makes it sound like we bought the Charlton, MK Dons and Bolton squads that found the Championship too much last year.
To some degree, there probably has to be some arrogance to get promotion in this division. Everyone else is presumably gonna see the Mags games an opportunity to win and have their historic upset, so being a bunch of bastards has to be done, and it wasn't in the opening 2 games. But if its in reference to a long-standing thing among fans, there's plenty of clubs whose fans behave like berks with ideas above their station. That and expectations have to shift to any given scenario - in Christmas 2013, with the team in with a shout of top 6, it was right to expect more than a sleepwalking drift to the finish line. It was also right not to expect a similar drift after, albeit from a less firm position that lead to some shit your pants moments.
#346346 Transfer Rumours 2016/17
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Henderson is a puzzling one - seems to have really dropped in form of late. Yet he's playing today too.
#346170 The Lower League Thread
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#345922 The Lower League Thread
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He'd have been good tbf for this level, regardless of how much Karanka seems to be pouting about the fact he wanted McCormack instead. But nope he's still at Middlesbrough.
#345866 The Lower League Thread
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#345827 Transfer Rumours 2016/17
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Seems to be a theme.
Its very hard to feel sorry for Sissoko. After years of acting like a whiny little bitch, he's got his reward and gets to make up shit that he actually regularly tried in black & white in his "Welcome to Spurs" interviews, while pretending he never said Arsenal were the club of his heart.
Maybe its naivety, but I swear if you wanted a move to a top team once upon a time, you had to play on a regular basis like one worthy of the top teams. Least Cabaye did a bit in 2013 before PSG turned up and JFK accepted a ludicrously low fee. Given HBA seemed genuinely annoyed not to be playing when Pardew made him his scapegoat, I'm not sure why that's mentioned, although I don't think Remy is that well liked among NUFC fans given how much of a bellend he acted both when joining QPR, and when he allegedly got out of games to preserve himself for a World Cup squad spot that never came.
It could well be a perception trick - spend long enough publicly selling yourself and boasting how poor little you isn't in the UCL, and sooner or later, people might think of you as a bit of a dick. It may not help the club was sold for 2-3 years as a stepping stone, but even so, not everyone has to behave as whiny and going all "Oh woe is me, why am I not an Arsenal player?", or at least to this utterly ludicrous extent.
#345500 Transfer Rumours 2016/17
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#345384 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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Aw isn't that's nice of them to send courtesy they're about to commit a big ecological catastrophe?
In terms of scale that forest burning is substantially worse. Though the other thing is a curious pasttime, that. If they have to burn something at least its relatively small scale.
#345375 The Night Thread Mk. IX
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I'm pretty sure its not the first time they've done this. But regardless its fucked up. Also doesn't help my current theory its too late to stop climate change destroying the world if someone's going to do stupid shit like this.