Ok, where do we go from here?

[Cannylad]

I remember back in the dinosaur days we had two full backs, three half backs, three forwards and two speedster wingers. With the coach's orders ringing in our ears "When in doubt, attack"
Halcyon days !

[Zippity]

Hearing Eddie say our plan in the first half was to keep it solid and compact, i.e sit back and try to break. is a big worry for me,

That's not us, it's certainly not been us under Eddie so why is he changing? Our best performances under Eddie have been on the front foot, pressing high, winning the ball, forcing the opposition to make mistakes...but none of that was evident on Sunday.

We treated them like they were Arsenal or prime Man City, It's what Rafa used to do and it's shit.

I haven't spoken to a fan who wasn't either embarrassed or appalled-or both-by our approach and I'm afraid that's down to Eddie and how he set us up, the instructions he gave to the players, his in-game management.

He got this one wrong-badly wrong-and I'm fucking seething with him for the first time.

BUT...it'll pass and I don't want to change managers. Not only does he have plenty of credit left in the bank, he's the man to take us forward, imo. Just doesn't mean he's immune from criticism.

[toonviking]

I dont want to change the manager either. But I want the old Eddie. Not this sit back Eddie.

Eventually, it HAS to change, otherwise he will be changed.

[toptoon]

Hehe. And yet there were plenty folk calling for him to change our way of playing at the end of last season as we were too predictable.

Fair enough to be compact and break but we didnt break and had zero shots on goal in the first half. Elanga playing sh?*t plus our abysmal transitional play meant we offered no offensive threat whatsoever in the first half.
With our lack of pace in the middle, teams are closing us down on the flanks and shutting off our attacks. Hopefully Wissa can give us options.

[HughieG]

I see real potential in Wissa and Woltemade playing up front together for a long stretch of time. Curb the numbnuts Gordon and Elanga for a while, find space for Barnes instead.

Ideally we could switch between the 433 and some kind og 532 / 352 formation. Like against the scummers, so when it wasn't working out, we play two strikers up front instead of taking off Wolte.

But then again, currently it's not the formation what's the problem, it's the approach and philosophy to playing the matches, it seems.

[toptoon]

Were not far away from doing a Spurs/Man U of last season and the cups are getting to be more and more important to save our season.
I dont think well get CL football next season and, the way things are going Id be happy if we could just make the Europa.
Villa are ripping up trees at the moment after being hampered by playing in the CL last season.

[Ragatino]

Right so two days after the honking Derby performance. I'm still fuming at the performance.

However, all the Howe Out noise is just ridiculous.

- Have we gone backwards?

Yes, after 16 games we're in 12 on 22 points.
24/25 after 16 games we were in 12 on 23 points.

So we're 1 point behind last season.

When I hear people compare us with Villa or Eddie with Emery I just smile and know I'm listening to a clown.

Are performances stinking away from home? Yes. No defence what so ever. Need to improve.

Currently 4 points off 5th & 6 points off Chelsea in 4th, who, we host at SJP on Saturday.

Date Opponent Competition Result
Dec 6, 2025 Burnley Premier League 2-1 Win
Dec 2, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur Premier League 2-2 Tie
Nov 5, 2025 Athletic Club Champions League 2-0 Win
Oct 29, 2025 Tottenham Hotspur EFL Cup 2-0 Win
Oct 25, 2025 Fulham Premier League 2-1 Win
Oct 21, 2025 Benfica Champions League 3-0 Win

Last 6 at home 5w, 1d.

As it stands Newcastle United are still on for the Quadruple if we're gonna go full delusional glue sniffer mode!

Of course it is infuriating to see. The Mackems certainly didn't beat Newcastle United the team beat ourselves at the stadium of sh!te. it was a meek and pitiful performance.

If this isn't rock bottom and we don't see a bounce back, I'll be astonished.

After that, there has to be a reaction.

In short, the result and performance is unacceptable but is it the end of the world? Not in my opinion.

[Zippity]

No, it's not at all, Raga, and I agree about the 'Howe out' e-fans.

However, I don't necessarily think we've hit the bottom and the only way is up.

Various players made rallying calls after the West Ham and Brentford games and they couldn;t have rung more hollow given our derby 'performance'.

A loss tomorrow would see a toxic atmosphere return. Unwarranted, in my opinion after what this team and manager have done for the club and the City in recent months and years, but patience is almost non-existent in the immediate aftermath of a derby loss such as last weekend's and a cup defeat would see quite a few folk openly turn, especially if we're as conservative in our approach as we have been recently.

Follow that up with a lame performance against Chelsea (depends which Chelsea turn up, too) and it'll get ugly.

Funny thing is, this team are equally capable of winning both games well and things would look a bit brighter.

Mind, when not even our manager knows which team is going to turn up, the rest of us have absolutely no ****ing chance of working it out.

[Ragatino]

No, it's not at all, Raga, and I agree about the 'Howe out' e-fans.

However, I don't necessarily think we've hit the bottom and the only way is up.

Various players made rallying calls after the West Ham and Brentford games and they couldn;t have rung more hollow given our derby 'performance'.

A loss tomorrow would see a toxic atmosphere return. Unwarranted, in my opinion after what this team and manager have done for the club and the City in recent months and years, but patience is almost non-existent in the immediate aftermath of a derby loss such as last weekend's and a cup defeat would see quite a few folk openly turn, especially if we're as conservative in our approach as we have been recently.

Follow that up with a lame performance against Chelsea (depends which Chelsea turn up, too) and it'll get ugly.

Funny thing is, this team are equally capable of winning both games well and things would look a bit brighter.

Mind, when not even our manager knows which team is going to turn up, the rest of us have absolutely no ****ing chance of working it out.

Sadly this is the reality of current social media, dying trad media, hysteria machinery combined with armies of delusional computer game playing muppets who think clicking buttons is exactly the same as real life.

All that being said, football is the pinnacle of Performance related business. Don't perform, don't keep job.

Whilst the reality is that things aren't great but they're certainly not as bad as the current hysteria machine is making out, losing to Fulham at home and a home loss to Chelsea would indeed be the spark for major unrest in the fan base.

The match to the gasolina. Let's hope that the player grow a pair and Eddie gets the team selection recipe right over the next week.