Firmly disagree. We dominated almost the whole match other than a stretch 45-65 minutes. Stokes only chances were entirely of our own making. It is not surprising we looked panicky and nervous given we are a side out of form these last five games or so. We finally looked a bit more fluent going forward. It was just the bounce back we needed in what could have been a critical point psychologically, after losing that top spot which we’ve held for so long. No, it wasn’t perfect. Far from it. However, those silly mistakes - from McClean and Krul in particular - were largely uncharacteristic so we know they’re not symptomatic. I am a lot happier now though. We’ve got a full complement, Stiepermann aside, and we that felt like it could be the start to regathering confidence. I think we will look back and realise this was a bit of a turning point. Could be wrong, of course, but there was too much going on today for it not to be important for me.
Vrancic seems the kind of player who inspires very different reactions. I'm a big fan, but I admit this is probably because of my liking for stylish players who can make a killing pass rather than the sweat-blood, cover-every-blade-of-grass type of player who is everywhere on the park. (I recognise, though, that successful sides need both types.) In my opinion, if we can spaff money on I'm-doing-you-a-favour-by-even-being-here types like Naismith, we can certainly afford one more year for Mario. (If he wants one. He may prefer to go to a continental league with a slower pace of game where his talents could still be very productive.)
Agree with you, Thai. Not the reassuring performance we were looking for by any means, despite the scoreline. But you are reassuringly predictable..
I agree. Mario is smooth and silky rather than flashy, but he reads the game very well and like Emi and Todd, can make the killer pass effortlessly. It was his assist for the first crucial goal that settled us down and let us play with confidence. Yes there were mistakes and we need to lose those, but this was a comfortable win once the third goal went in. We gifted them their goal and apart from that they had two more shots on target. Let's enjoy the win and move on to four winnable games coming up before the big one against Brentford.
Will Mario get another contract? If we go up and get tons of money we should probably invest in someone younger the same as Tettey. If Mario starts scoring again and plays out of his skin he may earn another extension. If we don't go up and he's still had a good season then it would probably be cost effective to keep hold of him. Imho I like Mario he's a cool character that reads the game well but Farke has a production line of youth coming through the ranks and has no room for sentiment, he's ruthless with players that don't fit in or passed their best .
Just watched the goals on YouTube. Very good play by Cantwell for the first. The backheel from Vrancic shows how , if you have quality, you can do more in a moment than someone else who huffs and puffs for an hour. Oh my God, Giannoulis. That would have been a brilliant assist if he had made that pass as an attacker. But he made up for it with the assist for the Buendia goal. Emi a massive factor in the last three goals. How will we replace him when he's gone?
I'm not so irrational as to waste my money on buying lottery tickets. Nor, incidentally, have I bet on us getting promoted this season.
If you buy a lottery ticket after making a decision that the pleasure you get from the miniscule chance of winning is worth more to you than the price of a ticket, I'd personally call that rational.
A 4 - 1 victory...and over 150 responses on the thread. Been a while since we had either of those things. You're clearly a natural at tis MDT malarkey, ZK - keep it going, my old fruit
I think the ref made a mistake by allowing Skipp to stay on the field, as did our trainers. To me he was obviously concussed. If he wasn't concussed he gave a good impression of being so. Concussion subs are now allowed, but only in the EPL I think.
I notice, Robbie, that you chose not to pick up the argument about the complexities of assessing what constitutes rational behaviour. Instead you chose to make a vague comment about 'the psychology of football fanhood'. This diversion into the nature of an abstract entity, which it seems you see yourself as having the right to make without supplying any evidence or supporting arguments, doesn't seem a terribly rational response to me. This is one reason why I stopped posting on the stats thread. You don't debate with someone: you lecture and preach. And when it suits you, you are not above rhetorical tricks such as changing the subject and/or attacking a straw man.
