Carabao Cup Semil Final NUFC vs Man City

[Jammy89]

Well that was a hammer blow at the end.

[Zippity]

We were...underwhelming.

And shite in front of goal.

[Ragatino]

We were...underwhelming.

And shite in front of goal.

Wissa snatching at chances and tense with the passing in the first half. Seriously trying too hard.

A square ball to Ramsey on the first attack would have been a tap in, a clever play. The Crowd would have gone mental for that and again would have been a totally different game.

Terrible ref'in. Nunes should have seen a 2nd Yellow, the ref played on as the lads were breaking down the left. It came to nothing the ref didnt' go back and send him off.

Silva should have had a first half Yellow card. His yellow in the 2nd half should have been his 2nd yellow too.

It is what it is.

Only the first lose at home in 13 10 wins 2 draws.

Beaten by a better team I guess. On to Wolves!

[Zippity]

Oh, aye, no problems saying we were beaten by a better team.

Injuries, especially in defence, are threatenning to derail the season.

And yep, the ref was shocking-ignoring absolutely blatant yellows.

But we lost, fair and square.

[Scott Kirkland]

Considering their confidence was sky high after scoring 10 in their last game, we got off lightly

[toonviking]

Another poor defensive display, and if were not scoring 3 or 4 we are not winning. Thats reality.

That said, we are not capable of putting 3 or 4 past the top teams, so thats the end of that story.

Just hope we dont go out to win it at Eithad. That would be just stupid.

[toptoon]

Last season we put away our chances against the good teams. Yesterday we didnt and in cup football you have to.
The tie is all but lost - rest our best players in the first half of the second game and hope its level when we bring on the big guns and go for the 2 goals.

[tinostongue]

Can?t see anything but a loss at the etihad so play the reserves and a few kids. At least we can concentrate on the league now. Part of me is not bothered about this result,and the FA cup draw hasn?t helped,so we might only have the CL and league to think about which might not be a bad thing considering our squad. We just aren?t equipped to compete on 4 fronts,squad not big, and good, enough for that. We need some signings in January or our season could crash and burn!

[Ragatino]

Can?t see anything but a loss at the etihad so play the reserves and a few kids. At least we can concentrate on the league now. Part of me is not bothered about this result,and the FA cup draw hasn?t helped,so we might only have the CL and league to think about which might not be a bad thing considering our squad. We just aren?t equipped to compete on 4 fronts,squad not big, and good, enough for that. We need some signings in January or our season could crash and burn!

There is a silver lining as you said.

Getting to play UCL football year after year will be a greater asset to the club than a 2nd Carabao cup in a row.

As much as that feeling of winning the trophy was unlike anything all of us as NUFC fans, save for a few more mature members among us have every felt, those victories and open bus top tours through the city will come down the line.

People have no patience. The club need to keep building. Bring in more talent, a phase 2 or 3 squad revolution. Finally see the replacement of Stalwart like Schar, Krafth, Lascelles, Pope and possibly even Burn to get that next level up of player in terms of squad Calibre.

Ramsey is that step up in squad quality but not that step up for the first team. He will no doubt during his time at NUFC be a great player for us but the club needs to invest in their own 'Agerooooooo', type players.

At present the ground work is done and we're not at the doorstep of the next stage. How the club achieve that, aside from the training, stadium and other infrastructure is removing the financial barriers of the SCR/PSR restrictions.

The swiftest way to do so is with Champions League participation money, revenue from strong finishes in the Premier League & the associated sponsorship deals that come with them.

I'm not too bothered about cups because I know that the club, manager and players are all doing their best. Previously this wasn't the case.