Sunderland famously went down again, Stoke I don't think have even finished top half since getting relegated in 2018, Huddersfield battled relegation twice, then got to the play-off final in their final season of PPs before reverting back to battling relegation, can't think of any other teams in recent years who have finished their PPs in a worse position than us
My observations: I think it was important to win today so we don't start next season with the burden of no homes wins for ages as thee things can become self perpetuating Ironically we won with one of the lesser performances under TC Really pleased for Cleverley and want him to succeed whatever that means On about 75 minutes we got a free quick just outside the dugouts on the halfway line after we'd been undr some mild pressure from Sunderland. It looked like we were gonna cross/punt it into the box and attack. However, TC seemed to say something and instead it was passed backwards and we soon lost possession. I may be reading too much into this but I found it really disappointing and hope its not indicative of wider TC philosophy and positivity. I think we defended really well but we do give away possession stupidly at times which then invites further pressure. Frustrating. Another good performance from Bachman - God bless him
Kone as well?! I suppose that was after the final whistle when the players came back on to the pitch? I'd be disappointed if we sold both.
@Keighley you have 15,245 posts. I do wonder how many of them are correcting other poster's grammar...
Very good. In all respect, I've never understood that hyphen rule. As I remember it, if the word following the previous is in ownership of said word, it is hyphened. Example: Skyla's computer. But the accent of fans' in some cases I have never really understood in what context that alludes to?
Not too fussed by either. Asprilla is bang average most of the time. Loads of talent but dreadful decision making and not showing signs of improvement. Hopefully a move elsewhere will help him kick on.
Asprilla has been decent this season and we will miss him (frustrating at times, but he's still got more goals+assists than anyone in the whole squad), I'm sure wherever he goes next season he'll do well and improve further, but with our situation, he's as good as gone. Obviously the man himself will know more than me, but I wouldn't have thought Koné has done enough to earn a big move away. Think we'll get £10-15m for Asprilla, but I'd be surprised if we made our money back on Koné if we sell him this summer
Porteous was great and has been under Cleverley. I’d love to know how many of our clean sheets this season Pollock has been in the line up for.
He started away at Wednesday and Rotherham under Ismael, then at Brum and Ipswich (where he was immense) and then today. Think that shows two things, he's a perfectly reliable lower Championship defender, and that we have improved defensively under Clev. He'll get another game for sure in his hometown of Middlesbrough as Porto is being rested
Porteous has been very solid under Clev, showed signs of it under Ismael, but has calmed down a bit now
I did, but at 61, it was partly to avoid the mad dash fighting the cars to get across Thomas Sawyer Way. But I also felt the spirit shown in the last seven games from the players deserved a bit of support. In the end I learnt that Hoedt translates Portuguese to English for Asprilla. Whose words did not sound like a player wanting to leave. Cleverley spoke extremely well. I think he gets it. He might not be successfully at Watford, but I think he will have a decent managerial career ahead of him. cant believe a goal against QPR did win goal of the season. We have that lot to face again next year, what a woeful thought. Although I agree with the vote, a centre half (or a goalkeeper), winning player of the season, tells you all about the campaign. As to the match, I thought it was a poor performance against a Sunderland side even more inept in the final third than ourselves. Asprilla and Kone did their own walk round of applause at the end. Not sure if it was goodbye or an apology. Made me realise that neither are that important to maintaining second tier status. Both lost the ball a lot. Rarely won it back, not a lot of cover in midfield. No surprise that Sunderland had the majority of procession. Wont be sorry that Martins, Dennis and Lewis won’t be with us next year. Although to be fair Lewis was ok when he came on. Dad that we will have to fork out to ditch Ince. Pollock decided to adjust his woeful forward passing, by sending most passes backwards. If i was Sieralta I would be looking in the mirror and asking why I was playing second fiddle to him. Maybe he should sign up for an AAT level 2 course over the summer. I thought the young lad, Grieves did ok for a debut half. Good management to blood him in an important match. Anyway an interesting few months ahead of us. Will be significant to see who Cleverley brings in as his coaching team. Hopefully a bit of squad renewal too.
He has been quite good of late, but it's also worth keeping in mind his clean sheets in a back 4 were away at Rotherham and Sheffield Wednesday, while his other 3 have been as part of a 352 under Clevs where he's also got Porteous and Hoedt to help cover.
Why was Asprilla speaking Portuguese when he's from Colombia where they speak Spanish (and Hoedt has briefly spent time at Celta Vigo, but seemingly no Portuguese clubs)?
The kid might be happy here, but it matters not a jot when our parachute payments are coming to an end and he's one of the only players we can get any sort of decent money for
But I thought according to some that our club was a completely toxic cesspit where all young players stagnate and are desperate to get out of?!?!
My bad. Thought he was from Brazil. Anyway Hoedts translation made the point Asprilla was happy at the club. Which in itself might be a positive sign.
Sometimes you play well and don’t win. Sometimes you play ugly and take all three points. Great result, poor performance. Important to win so that we don’t have that poor record starting next season.
On point 4, I thought exactly the same at the time. Being an old traditionalist, my instinct is: you’ve been given a free kick - put the ball in the box and attack it. But when you think about it, we were 1-0 up, so we were not going to put defenders in the box and Rajovic had not come on yet. So there was no prospect at all of winning the ball if it had been put in. It’s entirely down to our lack of decent forwards.
The more I see that O'Nien handball.... If you're going to pull that sort of nonsense on a football field, I don't think you should be allowed to continue to play on it.
