Saint Pete

Eh? If he’s played every minute, how can others be ahead? According to those prem league stats the other outfield players currently to have played throughout are Tarkowski (Burnley have played 37) Baldock Coady Maguire Rice Van Dijk Six, as correctly stated by the OP. And apart from Rice, all the others are defenders. Pretty impressive feat from JWP, particularly given the amount of running he does and the frequency of games since lockdown.

Not sure why you are so confident Bournemouth will get a result against us given our excellent recent form and away record throughout the season? Bournemouth have played better in their last few games but if we play the way we can there’s every reason to think we will win this game. The question mark would be our level of motivation compared to them but we have certainly looked pretty motivated since the restart so not too worried on that score. 1-3.

To be fair it's a massive game for them, and virtually nothing riding on it for us. So fairly natural that they would be saying good luck to them really.

In fairness to Smallbone I thought he looked good when he came on at Old Trafford, looked comfortable up against good players and passed the ball well. Clearly far from the finished article though and likely to be inconsistent given his lack of experience at this level. To be honest I expected fringe players like him to have got more time on the pitch before now in this period where we knew we were safe so that Ralph could have a good look at him to decide if he thinks he can push on next season or whether we need to sign new CMs. Ralph seems to have prioritised trying to finish as high as possible though and not rested anyone from first 11 until tonight. I don’t have answers to your questions on what his strengths are yet but he clearly needs more time - will be interesting whether he gets another chance in the Bournemouth game to see if he’s learnt from tonight. It would certainly make more sense to play him than Hojbjerg who is off in the summer, and in my opinion Romeu who we already know what he can and can‘t do.

Grealish is a good player but he does like a dive. Penalty correctly reversed by VAR.

No effing way is that a penalty!

Yeah, I do worry a bit about us pushing some of our key players too hard and the potential of someone breaking down at some point. As tempting as it is to keep playing the same 11 when they are performing so well, I think there comes a point where it's common sense to rest a few, especially as we are safe now. Ings has played pretty much every minute since the restart and has put a prodigious amount of effort into those games. I'm certain he will never volunteer for a break especially with a chance of top scorer at stake but that doesn't mean it's not the right thing to give him one anyway. With the way he is now playing, it would be an absolute nightmare for us and him if he did push things too far and faced a lay off going into next season as a result. So regrettably I would start Long in this one, try to stick in the game and unleash Ings in the last half hour or so. Then he'll be fresher for Brighton and Bournemouth when logically you would expect him to have more opportunities to score anyway. Not expecting to get much support for this view though 😉

Indeed. Ralph has commented that all the players were looking tired in training, which is no surprise after the massive effort put in on Sunday night. Wouldn't be shocked to see Smallbone and maybe Hoj come back in for whoever is the most tired from the midfield. Armstrong may start on the bench given his previous struggles with injury and playing several games in a week. Adams also looked tired in second half but would think Ralph will want to see more of him on the pitch now he's got his goal.

Buendia is the only one on the Norwich side who looks like he may interest other Prem teams when they go down. Apparently he is 5th in the league for chances created.

Excellent performance today. 40 points, safety assured now (if it wasn’t already)! Amazing job from Ralph to achieve this given where we were earlier in the season. Massive well done to him 👍👍👍

Jeez!

He made that look easy but it’s not from that distance to get up and down. Superb!

Get the fuck in!

Now Adams on to break his duck.

What a man! Could end up prem top scorer at this rate!

Arsenal not looking great against Brighton so a good chance for us to get something in this one. Wouldn’t expect any changes to starting lineup - possibly KWP in for Valery if anything?

Most impressive thing for me was how much fitter and sharper we looked than Norwich after the sloppy start. Suggests that the players have knuckled down and worked hard at home during the break so well done to them for that 👍. In these opening few games, fitness levels are probably going to be more critical than anything else. Also, good to see Armstrong and Redmond looking impressive in second half, we look so much better going forward now when they are both on the pitch and fit.

Yep no surprises really in that line up. Bench looks a bit weak especially attacking wise without Djenepo and Long to call on. Must admit I don't know a lot about Tella though.

Yes, problem for him is that all the evidence is that he is NOT better than that! So maybe he should be more grateful that Antwerp have given him an opportunity to play and get his career back on track. Anyway, hope we can find a way to get him permanently off the books in the summer, as having him and his massive attitude back at the club is the last thing we need. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

That was the way I saw the game. Unfortunately, a lot on here can’t see beyond the result and their opinions on the performance are totally coloured by that. If Valery hadn’t made his error and we had come away with a point, a good proportion of those saying the players were terrible and a “disgrace” would be praising the exact same performance. As you say, second half Newcastle never looked a threat until Valery’s error and that was down to the hard work of the 10 players still out there.

Yeah, first half they missed chances granted. Penalty though was from a bizarre random piece of play by Boufal. Second half they really didn't threaten from where I was sitting. Obviously the howler from us gifted them the points. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

I honestly didn't think Newcastle were a threat in the second half even with the extra man. Not really sure what game you were watching if you thought they kept missing. Game was decided by the sending off and an individual error. Other than that I thought our players put in a very decent shift today and deserved a point for their efforts. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

I think it's the right decision to play a specialist RB and will be good to have JWP back in midfield. Valery situation is odd though. Hope Boufal can show a bit more today, and a Djenepo goal would be good to see after his last couple of weeks. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk

Hmmm, quite conflicted about this. Definitely don’t want Liverpool going the whole season undefeated as we’ll never hear the end of it. But on the other hand, would love to see West Ham go down....

I agree main problem with VAR implementation at present is the remit is far too wide, which is making it too disruptive to the overall flow of the game. They are trying to use it to solve everything when that will never be achieved to the satisfaction of everyone anyway because so many decisions are subjective in football and down to interpretation. It needs to be limited more, either just to specific events that can be accurately ruled on, eg offsides, or by introducing a referrals system where each team gets max of say 2 referrals to VAR, if they are successful they keep their reviews, if they are wrong they lose them. Then it wouldn't be compulsory for every goal to be reviewed (apart from offsides), only reviewed for other matters where managers think they have seen a clear error. That should make it more in the spirit I think it was intended which was to remove the clear howlers made by on field officials, not to pore endlessly over every minute occurrence in the game trying to find something to overturn. Sent from my moto g(7) play using Tapatalk