east lower

But…..they were scheming bu**ers and one of them would definitely throw the other under the bus 🚌.

Drinking in the afternoon…….always seems such a good idea at the time! 🥴 🥳🤪🤢💤

It was a little lively in the town centre, I noticed 😂🤣. Row A, great for when the ball was down our end but not so good for t’other end. Glorious afternoon down there though, not a cloud in the sky and pleasant temperatures. A few seats to the left was a chap with lots of tattoos, doing the zigger-zagger. Were you near him?

Arkansas Chugabug. Although Todd with his swanky new haircut has got a kind of Peter Perfect style square jawed thing going on. But surely, Dick Dastardly & Muttley is a better option?

Quelle surprise!!! Even when they do get a wrong decision, it swings the other way for the remainder of the season - And do they and their media friends, ever not let everyone know how badly ‘wronged’ they were. BBC Sport website are running a public poll to keep or scrap VAR. Simple Yes/No vote - 4:1 ratio to get rid thus far.

Their goal was partly down to him. He’s got a tendency to let the attacker run from behind him and get that vital yard. Needs to be aware and concentrate.

Just to put us in our place. Can we sing 🎶 are you Taylor in disguise 🎶 to him?

Needed the rubber for the full hazy simulation.

Couple of dodgy moments yesterday though, but broadly speaking we’ve looked better with him in the defence.

Glad to be at our game and miss the nausea inducing Klopp/Scouse love in. Lovely photo of the Northern Lights below, as witnessed on Merseyside

He wasn’t when he ‘avoided’ tackling Foden on Tuesday!! Double cough

Wasn't there always before VAR, there still is and always will be? - It's just how it is. When it was first muted, it was going to be used for cases of mistaken identity. VAR in itself has become the monster. They roll out stats to support VAR, apparently it's improved decision making by about 6% - How the heck do they judge that, with offsides for one example? I swear that first Villa goal on Monday night looked two feet onside, but it got disallowed - too much guesswork still going on, such as which picture frame do we use for when the ball was kicked? When we are taking in terms of inches that a players' foot is offside then it matters.

Anything that's fully automated and doesn't rely on subjective human opinion, is fine. For example look at the James sending off. In today's game and with the rules he deserved to be sent off. But, do people recall Romero kicking out at one of our players in exactly the same way at our away game with them earlier in the season and NOT getting sent-off. That's why it's no good. If it's to be used it has to be consistent 100% and fast. As soon as you involve opinions, it won't be.

Interesting developments as regards Wolves tabling a motion (or something like that) to get a vote on getting rid of VAR. All the 'establishment' now coming together to say 'Nay', but! Or, it'll demean the PL offering A number of ex-players who do punditry (but not the Neville's or Garragher's) saying things like 'Good', 'Yes, Please' - Match-going fans in the majority don't want it - but TV Companies and authorities do. So is it about the game or is it about cash? I think the answer to that question becomes clearer as time goes by.

I get people equate his 'value' to the size of his wages, but what did we all expect when he arrived from Man City. He wasn't a leader there or Liverpool, he scores goals and has always operated best in the last third of the pitch. He got on the end of the crosses/pull-backs that City specialised in and worked off Suarez at Liverpool. And always scored goals such as the one versus Forest at the weekend. He can be effective and he can be frustrating, but that's what he's been all his career and it probably wasn't changing here. Use him to his strengths and have a system where he can play that part in and he's fine. Ask him to work in our last third, you're asking him to do something he's just not very good at. He's still very quick over that first 0-10 yards and use that wisely, he's an asset. Would I pay him the reported £300+k per week to do that - No chance, but that's not his fault.

We will see what happens when the coach has a 'choice' to make again. There's not too much doubt in my mind that he lucked upon the Caicedo/Gallagher partnership. He played Gallagher out wide to accommodate Enzo, Caicedo and Conor - That was a Ranieri style balls-up of the type that saw him play Lampard wide left. Happy for the team and although most won't probably believe me, I'm also happy to see us look like a bit of a team again and that will be down to the players and the coach. Will the coach ever be good enough to win something significant like a PL, no chance - but we have improved. Still shaky at the back and give away control of midfield areas. We let Brighton almost cross the ball from their full-backs and winger almost at will because we are set up to defend so narrow. Really liked the look of the lad Barcoe, who came on at left-back for Brighton - He looks about 14 years old but influenced the game in a really positive way for them.

The League Cup Final & Liverpool say hi.

In the ‘Boulder Mobile’. And the owners might be the Ant Hill Mob in the ‘Bullet Proof Bomb’

Never went anywhere near there, honest!

Quick comment before bed. The two full-backs did ok tonight, the two centre-halves were ropey. Badiashile caught out by blind-side runs twice and cost us the goal against. James - just dopey and could have cost us dearly. Petulant nonsense. Did Palmer give the ball away in the 90 minutes? Didn’t feel like he did.

I’d agree with that, but at our place it doesn’t compute. Never seen a home team get less decisions. Mikel’s allegations against that two-Bob ego-maniac Clattenberg changed that for us and it’s still effecting things now.

Even that loud-mouthed gobs***e has been very quiet recently. So my suspicion is that there’s a reason and that being a deal is being brokered somewhere for him and even he knows it’s best to stay quiet?

Agreed, the gruesome-twosome in their Creepy-Coup (one for the Wacky-Races oeficionado’s) need to do their jobs and find a reasonably priced 15+ goal a year striker.

Would you bet your own money on Nkunku staying fit for most of a season or DDF being a viable option - I wouldn’t currently.

He’ll be the scapegoat in all likelihood, whether they get one or more ‘shots at the title’ is in the laps of the ownership. There’ll most likely be a striker and a centre half. We have to hope that they have the sense to tie-up Gallagher to a deal. That’s not because I believe he’s a world class talent, but because he’s the glue that holds a functionally effective together with the attributes he does possess.