Does anyone really give a **** about that Cambridge game? I wanted to get out of that competition at the first opportunity anyway, the league is all that matters right now.
Nobody cares that's not the point. It's about lacelles being rested which indicates Howe sees him as a key player.. He's also said so.
Yes, me. A good cup run is always good for morale. I don't buy the thought that it has to be league OR cup. You can do both - and a cup run boosts the team spirit, as well as the support. I genuinely hope that (if we stay up) we give it all in the cup competitions from next season, without the worry about "focus on the league" that always seems to hold us back.
Yeah but like.... When our position is as feckin precarious as it is, the extra cup games give huge propensity for injuries to first team players, and also mean we'll be more tired than without them. In a mid table meh season it obviously gives us something to be excited about, but right now league position is all I care about, especially with the potential huge signings in the summer if we stay in the Prem.
We are maybe defending it because: a) he has a good scoring record at both his previous clubs. 49 in 144 games at Burnley is amazing as they only scored 150 total during that period b) he has some qualities that our other main striker doesn't have: he holds the ball up and brings others into play, puts a lot of pressure on the two central defenders, he stays fit (in his last 4 seasons with Burnley he only missed 11 games) c) he has only played two Premier League games for us. We gave Joelinton two seasons to finally show what he has got. I am surprised that anyone is attacking him, particularly at this stage of his career with us. I would much rather have him than an unproven 20 year old from the French League, in our ongoing relegation battle.
I always defended Joelinton, he always put in more effort than most of the other wasters, and his talent was clear, it was just obviously he wasn't a striker.
I actually meant the club/managers. We were all slagging him after the first season. We definitely gave him more than 2 games though, probably because he scored that goal against Spurs early on, that made it looked like he might be able to finish.
Yes it became clear to me he was suited to a role in the middle around a year ago. It was easy to see he was good at winning the ball and finding passes.
Just to be clear, I'm ALWAYS wrong. You should all know that. So me bitching about Wood is irrelevant. He'll be MoM vs Everton.
Ah, the old reverse psychology tactics. Hmm, yeah, in that case Wood is useless, so is ASM, so is Guimaraes, so is Joelinton, so is Fraser, Almiron & Willock. Useless, the lot of them. Hopefully we'll score a few now.
I honestly don't care who plays. Winning games is all I care about this season. I wouldn't play the likes of Clark, Lascelles, Shelvey, Ritchie or Hayden personally. My opinion is irrelevant, the manager has to live by the decisions he makes. If we stay up Howe has done an excellent job, end of story.
Aye but then he tried to replace Clark and him with Botman and Carlos first chance he got. I don't think Eddie is the Mr Nice Guy everyone thinks. I think he doesn't give a **** if he has to backtrack on something he says publicly. I think he says the right thing to say to get the best from everyone but I suspect he's learnt from Bournemouth being too loyal is foolhardy. I think he is very much aware he isn't in control of personnel, just the management of them. That's the way it should be in my opinion. He should have input but I think the whole club should have an ethos everyone is aware of. I think once the executives are in place, players will bought or that ethos and the coach will coach. We won't make the mistake we made with Rafa previously where you get stuck with players. These guys are too smart. I don't believe Eddie came up with Botman and Carlos personally. I don't think Eddie had the links to Trippier and Woods agency. It just doesn't seem realistic to me. Nickson seems to be still the main man but I think he will find his role changing too. Howe will big up Lascelles now because with Fernandez/Dummett struggling for fitness, Burn, Schar and Lascelles will play a lot of games. Its just common sense from him really for all I think Lascelles is a liability. Look at Clark, he used him, but then once Burn signed, he tried to ship him.
