RuffRob

Myko, and not for the first time this season. All bandaged up and making goal saving blocks. 

He must be pretty high on the MotM leaderboard now.  Has very much become a strong and reliable player.

problem with Gomes is you don;t know which Gomes will come on to the pitch - he can make the difference either way. I think safety first against a decent Villa outfit - look after the point.

I will also give Villa a bit of credit, they fucking battle as well.

second half I think we brought them down to our level a bit in the second half, which is what you have to do against teams who play well and in good form.

second clean sheet in a row helps build confidence, Doucs back with a game under his belt, goes on the board as a well earned point.

shy on quality, but they battled to the end. 

15 minutes ago, Gwlad said:

DCL confidence is shot at the moment.

he definitely needs a goal or two.

Villa the best team, but good chances wise we have matched them. Could go either way second half.

second half going to be a bit of a coin flip. A draw is not the worst result today.

that long ball in to Watkins look a big danger

can see why villa are near the top of the table. Need to be solid and frustrate them. 

hopefully get two or three chances and nick something. 

fuck me a VAR break for us. 

2 minutes ago, Matt said:

I guess we're keeping hold of Danjuma then? Hope he makes a case for himself 

I agree, got a start in the last game against Palace so starting a second consecutive game. So if you want to give the manager a selection headache then this is the game for him to show his capabilities. Villa are playing very well this season, so this is going to be tough afternoon out of possession. He will need to show what he can do when we don't have the ball as much as with the ball. He's been hear long enough to know exately what Dyche expects from him. Needs a performance.

such sad news - Rest in Peace, Bill

6 hours ago, Matt said:

Big 6 isn't based on the league standings dude, it's the money. Kopites, United, City, Arsenal, Spurs, Chelsea are the Sky "super"6

Agree, Villa and Newcastle are on a bit of the crest of a wave at this moment in time - FFP will catch up unless you get CL football regular or commercial section of the club goes in to overdrive. It all caught up with Leicester City. Chelsea should be looking over their shoulder they way they have spent and whilst football results wise have only been a middle of the table club this couple of seasons - not sustainable.

'Top 6' is a tough nut to crack over a consistent 4-5year period. 

I assume it will only be 20% sell on for profit we make and not the whole fee. 

We are already short in midfield, so can't see him sold in January unless a replacement brought in or if stupid money was bid. contract wise, we are not going to be strong armed.

for me he was always purchased as a means to hopefully generate a good profit, so you don't build around a player like this, when he goes it's about maximising the fee. destined only to be a 2-3 season player.

is it an opportunity to bring in a replacement loan player who might get more minutes?

I thought he might have got more minutes, but Dyche obviously feels others offer and give more on the pitch. Given how we have played difficult to argue that Danjuma should be starting ahead of anybody.

McNeils injury might change things a little, as up to know we have been more fortunate than usual on the injury front.

let him move on if we have an alternative to bring in

6 hours ago, Hafnia said:

Appeal, keep the spotlight on the pricks. 

I agree, red cards can get retracted. I feel we'd have a decent case.

Now what would be extremely unfair would be to penalised in one single season for two seperate years worth of breaches.

If a rolling 3 years, then it is also very difficult to turn something around in 12 months, and if you are being punished for a years financial breach - should over spend for that year be counted again in a rolling three year average.

To me a war breaking out, resulting in totally unexpectely sactions effecting your single biggest sponser has to be a massive considerations - this is the financial year we are now talking about being effected. Losing this revenue can not be considered forseeable in any way. 

15 hours ago, Cornish Steve said:

When you have a rather thin squad, you have no option but to build a strategy around specific players. There's no doubt that Doucoure is central to our approach right now, so it's not so surprising that we've struggled a little. Still, there were always going to be bumps in the road. What matters is the long haul.

I agree, up side is we have this season got used to good performances and winning points, so to have a game or two without either or both these elements is disappoiting. The last few years it was a job to see in what game points might come from. Our expectations have increased massivley - From day 1 Doucs in the team under Dyche has been a big element in this, so there is going to be a bit of a hole in the team when he's out. 

A bad day at the office. A lot of effort put into the Spurs and City game (with nothing to show for it) has kind of come back to haunt us today. 

dust oureleves down and go again in the league in the New Year.

Been enough good performances in the first half of the season to be optimistic for the second half. 

Wasn't expecting anything against either Spurs or City. The away win against Burnley was far more important than these two game.

Bit of a defensive howler for the the third - but to me that the best time to get one out of your system, in a game you have pretty much already lost. 

grabbing a point or so againts City is not what will define our season. 

It also says a lot when you lose a game, but the Match of the Day pundit analysis after the game only talks about how good Everton performed. 

Gomes. Where did that come from!!! A long time since he's effected a game so much.

The Dyche effect or simply a player with last few months of a contract? It would be nice to think it's Dyche getting performances out of another player.

I was so suprised by this performance - after the disappointment of a mid week cup exit, I would have understood if the team just didn't turn up today, I was really not expecting such a performance - especially after going 2-0 down. 

Given the circumstances, a lot of todays performance that was as good as we have seen this season. 

I do like Jack Harrison, but as a general comment on transfers I don't really want us to be returning to days of paying top transfer fees and wages to players over 25. Turning 28 in November means your usual 4-5 year contracts takes him to 32-33. So never getting a return on wages and the transfer fee invested. 

Another years loan might suit us better. With investment in a younger winger with similar attributes, 

1 hour ago, Romey 1878 said:

No one will pay £100m for him now, and that's the point of the price tag.

I think it was a great bit of business getting him to sign a new deal, when there was clubs already sniffing about - It gives us the progative to slap a huge price tag on him. This 21 year old is an important part of one of the meanest defences in the Premier League. 

If he continues in the same vain as he has this season - then it would not surprise me if he became the Premier Leagues most expensive defender. 

I am expecting a bit of a hang over from being knocked out of the cup this week. I also think Spurs havings mid week off will have a significant bearing on the game. I would not be a suprise if we saw a bit of a dip in what have become our normal away performances. 

I would snatch your hand off if you offered me an uneventful boring 0-0.