mrfahaji

I mean, we have. To pretend otherwise is ridiculous. We were 19th seemingly not getting points from anywhere and then we did something like win 5 and drawn 1 of or next 6 games. However, we were unfancied in pretty much all of those games and this is the first one where, despite Wolves being good, people thought we’d win. At 2-0 and nearly 3 maybe the players thought it was a formality too. Just as the West Ham result was a reality check that we were still in trouble, maybe this is the reality check that we should still be focused on the bottom end rather than the top end. And also that people shouldn’t be quite so quick to believe that certain players are all of a sudden brilliant or rubbish based on a run of 3 or 4 games.

Sounds like man of the moment Stephens is having a good day

I don't have a problem with changing to a second kit when it's not technically needed (for commercial reasons), but it does annoy me when we play in a kit that it more similar to the home team's strip than if we stayed in our home shirt.

4:50 - Hojbjerg, wtf is up with his shorts

Yeah exactly, he doesn't even say he wants to be like them, he just notes that those players also came through the academy. Not like newspapers (and particularly the DM) to come up with misleading headlines.

But that’s ok. Boufal is a talented player but if he’s not going to suit our style of play so be it. Personally I feel he COULD fit and be a good player for us, but equally he hasn’t shown enough to justify building a team round (which is what you’re asking if you think RH’s tactics should change) Equally, although I think his performances earlier in the season warranted a bit more time in the starting eleven, it’s a fair observation that recently he has struggled when starting and has done better coming on late. You do need players like Boufal in this league, but if the likes of Djenepo and Redmond can offer the creativity AND follow instructions better - which is debatable but maybe RH’s opinion - then you can’t blame the manager for his selection. You can’t expect Boufal to be scintillating every match, even though he seems to get criticism whenever he isn’t, but he probably has to do more to justify a starting berth atm.

Yep, was at the Emirates that day, he came on and immediately looked exciting. However I do also recall a game at Hull where he was pretty dreadful, and that was after several games of being poor. That was the first time I started to wonder if maybe he wasn't going to fulfil that initial promise. Definitely more similarities with Djenepo than Adams. I think Adams has some decent moments, a bit of fortune wouldn't go amiss for him right now, then see how he does when he has a bit more belief. While I'm not confident of him turning it around, I'm still hopeful. Carrillo has been the only recent signing that I've been prepared to write off after a short time!

I'm not saying we were good, just that it shouldn't be a huge surprise - given the things I listed - that it wasn't a great performance. A win and no injuries IS a good outcome to be honest, and the fact two youngsters got on the scoresheet and performed ok is a bonus. I am of course disappointed that one or two of our fringe/backup players didn't shine but just as we shouldn't use a 2-0 win against poor opposition as a sign of brilliance, we shouldn't be too quick to criticise and write off an entire line up based on an underwhelming display.

If it was a comfortable win it couldn't have been THAT awful, could it? Sometimes you do have to put it in perspective a little bit - an 11 thrown together who haven't had much game time full stop, never mind as a unit. If some of the players aren't great it will of course affect the whole team. Add to that a half empty stadium and an opposition who aren't very good but equally would likely play cautiously and you have a recipe for either an average game or an embarrassing defeat. Ok, fine, it might not have been a bunch of players showing how brilliant they are, but we barely get that from our best eleven nevermind our reserves. Equally had we been lucky to win and Huddersfield did everything but score, then fine. But then it wouldn't have been a 'comfortable win', would it?

double post

No I'm not sure about that bit... so who is drawing the yellow lines? Because those are the ones that made it look onside, and then eventually a red and a blue line were shown with the red being the offside one. I'm not saying it wasn't offside, just that it wasn't obvious, in much the same way that Zaha wasn't obviously offside.

You were looking at the defender on the far side, right? Because when the first line was drawn, Long's foot looked ONSIDE. The only thing that could have changed was if Long's chest/shoulder was also further forward than his foot and that part of the drawing wasn't shown. At the very least there was millimetres in it, so not sure how anyone can say it was "obvious". I'm not complaining that it was disallowed, just bemusing that people think it was clear!

It was pretty bloody close... I get it, "offside is offside", but it WASN'T clear where the lines had been drawn, and to me it looked possible that the defender's shoulder was closer to the goal than Long's foot.

The ridiculous part was that it showed drawing the lines and it appeared like Long was onside (shoulder of defender vs Long's foot) and then 2 more lines appeared on the screen and apparently he was offside. If it was offside then fine, but not really sure where they drew the lines to reach that conclusion!

Isn’t Smallbone a relative (nephew maybe?) of a poster on here? Saintzamboni? Apologies if I have that wrong, but if I’m right then a great day for him!

Thought he did ok, the whole team struggled and he was no worse than Redmond. Djenepo looks better than Boufal, Redmond and anyone else that plays in that position but he did benefit from Palace tiring and there being more space. Unfortunately Boufal is one of those players who will get criticised by certain fans as soon as he has an off day. Sure, he wasn’t great yesterday but hardly a performance that is evidence of him being a bad player.

Yeah I didn't think they were too bad, did some good things but also had a few things not come off. I didn't think any players stood out as playing particularly badly in the first hour, it's just the product of playing a team that sits back. Admittedly Djenepo really made a difference, so you could say "well that's what Boufal or Redmond should have done", but at that point Palace were tiring and Djenepo was fresh - we've seen lots of players come on as late subs and have an impact, including Boufal.

Apart from being outjumped/outthought by Tomkins for the goal?

Probably a stranger thing with this season's fixtures is that our return fixture against Crystal Palace is 21 January. Surely it must be quite unusual to play the same team twice within a month?

Open goal from 2 yards out... but ball bounced up to an awkward height and he was stretching for it. A left footed attacker might have scored it but wasn’t as easy as it first appeared.

Obviously the main idea behind rotation is managing the players' condition, but given that I think it makes more sense to play Armstrong away at Chelsea and Boufal at home to Palace because of the way the opposition set up. Armstrong is an asset playing on the counter because of his directness, but when teams sit deep and are happy to defend you often need a piece of individual skill to unlock them, which Boufal offers.

Because some people appreciate some insightful analysis or review of a game? Particularly if you didn’t get chance to watch the game it is good to get a useful assessment of how everyone played, not just “put them all on the banner!” or “they all deserve a public lynching!” based on the final scoreline.

I always liked him, thought his pace and directness was an asset. However it's also true that he had a habit of making poor decisions at crucial times (e.g. losing possession when we were short at the back etc) so I could see why others didn't rate him. Not sure he's quite ready to be put on the "shrewd business" pile yet, but good to see him getting some game time and doing well with it!

Although generally you tend to play different teams before having repeated match ups, I don't believe there's any strict rule about it. You would also think that the fixtures would be evenly spaced out, so that the team you play first is also the first team that you play twice, but the fixtures have never worked that way (even though you do generally find that you wouldn't play the same team in August and in April). There is often some overlap around this time of year where you might play teams a second time before you have played another team at all.

Oh great, in which case I hope he does well. Couldn't stand the bloke all the time I thought he didn't have any Britishness in him.