There's a few who just do well for Scotland like McTominay and Tierney who are probably just at the wrong club for them these days, think if McTominay was at Newcastle, Villa or the likes he'd be able to just play the way he wants and not have all the pressure.
Tonight's probably the first time we've done well in a while, we've had a decent enough team of late, but managed to always be the bridesmaid in terms of crunch matches, still not done anything though, so more work required, but happy to see us actually win a crunch game!
You mean apart from the crunch match to qualify for the last Euros? Or topping our last Nations League group? This has been building since Clarke took charge. There's been a few wobbles on the way but he's creating something promising, we have strength in depth without any superstars and some really good young players. And we've got super John McGinn.
Yeah, we qualified after an average group and winning two penalty shootouts in the playoffs!
We've had a decent squad, as stated already, we have the likes of Robertson, Tierney, McGinn, McTominay, McGregor and Adams who are all pretty much established at a good level, then you have the likes of Hickey, Patterson, Ramsay and Gilmour who are coming up, but Gilmour and Ramsay need games and form.
I just think that we've been pretty average of late, we've beat Spain, but need to keep progressing, both in our form and developing youth players.
I'm a Brighton supporter and feel a bit sorry for Billy Gilmour. He's had very few opportunities and certainly not had a run of games. In the few games he's played he looks a tidy player and the 2 deeper pivot midfielders in our system have to be very brave and accept/play passes under pressure and he has slotted straight in when given a chance. The problem he's had is that we've got some very very good central midfielders and up until now they've missed very few games. Maybe if 1 or 2 go in the summer he might get a chance to step up and be first choice, but I'm not yet convinced he's at a similar level to Caicedo and Mac Allister who are the most likely to leave. I would be very happy to be proved wrong on that one though.
Yeah, it’s crunch time for Gilmour. Very unlucky that the manager who signed him left a week later to join his previous club! I worry about his lack of size and physicality, although that’s not held Modric back (not saying Gilmour is this class!)
Scotland have a lot of good players and some really average ones, square pegs in round holes to a certain extent. For example, three really good left backs but it’s meant playing Tierney as the left of a back three and Hickey at right wing back to get them all in the starting line up. Could really do with a better centre forward, willing as Dykes and Adams are, and some more pace out wide, but I guess all sides want this!
Very unlucky that the manager who signed him left a week later to join his previous club!
I wouldn't read too much into that. Most of the buying is handled by the recruitment team who are constantly looking for players of a certain profile to fit into the system. If Potter was still here Gilmour would still be competing with the same players he is now. If anything a player like Gilmour will have more chance to shine playing in the way we do now than how we did under Potter. And who knows maybe next season he'll get more minutes as we have to rotate the starting line up a bit more often to cope with playing in Europe!
With Tierney and Robertson for example Steve Clarke has found a way of playing them both and making it a strength, Tierney was involved in both goals yesterday despite playing centre back. I'm pretty sure Craig Lieven, who has known Hickey for years, said he has played both sides of defence so that's hardly putting a square peg in a round hole. With the quality of our wing backs I don't look at the team and think, oh we could really do with a pacy winger. We're not exactly missing Ryan Fraser or James Forrest. Sure a more prolific striker would be great but those types of players have often been sacrificed when we have had them. Kenny Miller wasn't exactly prolific and this team seems to find a way of scoring goals. With Scotland it's more about the sum of the parts, it's good that we've not missed Billy Gilmour in the last two games. We've got a ways to go but this doesn't feel like a team that will drop points against the lesser teams.
if McTominay was at Newcastle, Villa or the likes
..... he wouldn't get in the side ahead of Kamara, McGinn, Ramsey or Luiz
The proper football is back!
That was a pretty comprehensive demolition in the second half. Did Liverpool manage to get more than two passes together at any point? The title race still looks very much on, though you’d expect Arsenal to see Leeds off.
Grealish will get the headlines but John Stones' Lothar Matthaus impression was impressive
After watching Ted Lasso, every time there’s a close up of Grealish, Mrs Binners starts singing ‘Jamie Tartt….”
Two weeks ago re Palace
5 draws and 6 losses in 2023, no shot on target in the three games previous to last night, xG’s consistently below 0.5 – says to me something’s wrong in the style or intensity of play
20 shots in the first half this week.
Haha....have just heard their goal this week is an og
And suddenly the dream of automatic promotion for Ipswich is looking achievable again....🙏
City way too good for Liverpool. What a decline - summed I think by the midfield which included Elliot and Henderson. And Grealish catching Salah to make a crucial block at 1-0 - Salah would’ve been uncatchable in previous years.
They seemed to do what we did against Liverpool in the second half and just gave up, stopped playing and just let City do what they liked. I don’t think they touched the ball for the last 25 minutes. Just sat back and watched City play
Watching Chelsea at the moment and doing the maths, you look at what they’ve spent, look at how the team actually play and the two things just don’t add up
They look like what they are… a mediocre mid-table side, except they’ve just spent 600 million quid on players 😳
They’re like a more expensive Everton
Enjoyable afternoon at the John Smiths for a change.
In other Championship news a 1-1 draw against Bristol I fear won't be enough, especially with a 6 points deduction imminent.
Imagine paying over the odds for crap players and also getting a fine and points deduction. Triple whammy.
Liverpool have always been punching over the last few years, they got some good deals, and built a team with it, Coutinho's sale brought in a few, they just haven't been able to do the wholesale changes required, and probably won't for a while.
It's only going to get harder for them now, Newcastle are spending, Arsenal are back up and running, ManU have spent big and playing to the level they should be, and of course ManC are just enviable with their squad. Chelsea are weird, they have a squad of great players but no team, again like ManU last year, this'll change rapid i think, meaning Liverpool could be back in the chasing pack for top 4, rather than challenging for a while.
Some pretty big, well established clubs at real risk of going down. Everton, Leeds, West Ham, Southampton, Leicester all in the mire.
You can see that relegation scrap going down to the last minute of the final game. There is absolutely nothing separating a lot of teams at the bottom
Chelsea booed off at Stamford Bridge and down to 11th.
Villa looked good though, to be fair. Ollie Watkins is banging them in for fun at the moment
How much did Chelsea pay for João Félix? 100 million? He did absolutely nothing today apart from fall over a couple of times, then moan to the ref.
They paid £9m for Felix on loan - so even more laughable.
Funny what difference a decent, proven manager like Unai Emery can make to a decent squad.
João Félix, there’s a player who flatters to deceive.
Villa.
We’re back.
🦁 💜💙
There was a brutal comment at the end of the Chelsea game by one of the commentators..
“They expected to competing for the title, but right now they’re the fifth best team in London” 😂
Anyway… it's a big day today. Long-suffering Bolton fan and passionate ABU, Mrs Binners, might actually finally have something to cheer about.
Bolton v Plymouth in the EFL final then United go to St James’ Park for a tough match
As an update to cup final day, let’s reflect on the true joy of the beautiful game…
my mates 18 year old son is on his way to Wembley. He’s just texted to say he’s 2 Maccy D’s breakfasts and 8 pints in already.
We reckon he’s going to be asleep before KO 😂
Brenden Rogers is gone, just in time for Spurs?
Viera to Leicester?
I suspect Rogers hung on for so long because of a lack of available options to replace him. While Leicester sold quite a few of their best players in his time, they have also spent but recruitment hasn't been good, how much of that is down to him is debatable.
Rodger’s post-match interview yesterday was surreal. It’s like he was a pundit, rather than the manager. As if another woeful performance was nothing to do with him. Bizarre. He looked as completely disinterested as his players had looked for the previous 90 minutes
Anyway… with Bolton winning, I now have a very happy wife who’s day will be complete if we lose to Newcastle, which could quite likely be on the cards as we haven’t actually turned up yet
Can someone please explain how Man U are in the top four? One of the worst teams I’ve seen us play all season. Having said that this is the best I’ve seen us play all season.
We were awful today. Never even showed up. Played off the park for 90 minutes. I can’t believe it was only 2-0. Could have been far, far worse.
In answer to your question of how we’re still in the top 4… like Spurs league position.. a reflection of how bad everyone else is this season. Did you watch Liverpool get absolutely spanked by Citeh yesterday? And they absolutely turned us over!
Newcastle have looked solid all season. A club getting progressively better. Everyone else (bar Arsenal and Citeh) are up and down like yo-yos. You’ve absolutely no idea what you’re going to get from one week to the next
What worries me about the last few United performances is that it looks like we’ve seen for the last couple of managers where this squad has now decided it can’t be arsed playing football. There really needs to be a huge clear out in the summer of all the overpaid passengers
This is a building season for both united and Newcastle though. IMO if it finishes with this top four at the end of the season, it will be a hard path back for Liverpool, I can see these 4 separating from the pack for a few years.
Potter to Leicester, now Chelsea have done the inevitable?
Once you get the vocal backing from the clubs owners, you really are doomed
Rodgers and Potter both sacked on the same day - owners are getting desperate.
I guess it’s the Chelsea way but it’s very muddled thinking. Sign a coach who’s worked well with a smallish group of players, buy loads of players that he probably didn’t have much say in buying, then sack him a few weeks later. Tuchel must have a wry smile on his face tonight.
It looks like Chelsea are looking at the Glazers/Ed Woodward model of club ownership - spaffing huge amounts of money on players with no apparent coherent strategy - and saying ‘that looks like it went well, so let’s go with that’
It's just a weird old season, think there's a few one offs this year, you won't have Chelsea as bad next season, Man City will be business as usual and Arsenal will probably strengthen again, ManU are a team with a huge squad, and will add again i dare say, i think if they got someone like Osihmen in they'd be challenging again, they've sorted out most of the team, but like Chelsea, they're a bit short of an actual forward who can just focus on getting the goals.
Will/can chelsea steal two brighton managers in one season.
It has been apparent for months that Rodgers has been hanging on waiting to be sacked to pick up the compensation. As for Chelsea… there is that saying that money can’t buy you taste, and in the world of football it has long been the case of simply throwing money at players doesn’t work unless there is a cohesive plan; so glad that that the new rich kid on the block has flopped at the first time of asking.
The US owner or Manager?
Chelsea’s new owner has the same input in team selection as the last one. I doubt Potter had much say (if any) in the players that were bought at absolutely enormous cost
Whichever mug they get in next will be in the same boat and probably last about as long, before his huge payoff
Didn’t Maureen famously make 25 million from Chelsea with his repeated sackings?
Tough gig!
I wonder what Potters contract entitles him too. Wasn’t it a 6 year deal he signed?
Edit: just googled it and he’ll apparently walk away with 50 million. That’s on top of the 22 million they paid Brighton to buy out his contract 😳
Not surprised it hasn’t worked for Potter. It was definitely the worst fit of any of the “big 6”. He was never going to get the time to build a team that he was given at Brighton.
He was with us for 3 and a bit seasons and it only really clicked for us at the back end of last season.
The only good thing for him is that things not working out at Chelsea doesn’t harm his chances of getting another mid-lower premier league club and he’s probably pretty high up on the list of any of the clubs below Chelsea in the bottom half that are looking for a long term replacement for their current manager.
Wouldn’t even be surprised to see someone like West Ham sack Moyes now to try and beat the other clubs that might be interested.
Come on the Villa!
El Shalimo - the buys were obviously the US owner’s choice, underlined by the ridiculous contracts which enabled them to get round fair play rules.
