Match day thread - NUFC v Fulham

[TBC]

Sessegnon gets all the plaudits but Cairney ran the show. I know it's the Championship (and we were particularly poor) but he could be a decent signing for us in the summer, though not for anything near £20m.

He seems very similar to Shelvey from what I've seen. Not saying I wouldn't have him but a midfield of those two might not work.

We were dreadful without Shelvey in the Championship, we'd get tortured without him in the PL. Need more than one creative midfielder in the squad.

[Colly]

Very different players for me. Shelvey sits deep (often too deep) so he can ping long balls about, Cairney runs his midfield, he was everywhere yesterday. Like a functioning Siem de Jong.

[The Deluded Pablo Diego Jose Francisco]

I always wondered why Dummett doesn't use his right foot under any circumstances and now i see why. Absolutely abysmal clearance for the second goal

[ALF]

He seems very similar to Shelvey from what I've seen. Not saying I wouldn't have him but a midfield of those two might not work.

We were dreadful without Shelvey in the Championship, we'd get tortured without him in the PL. Need more than one creative midfielder in the squad.

Yet he's too inconsistent and too much of an idiot to build a team around.

[golasambi]

awful performance bt w2e will stil go up am tellin u. can see us losin a few more bt also see huddersfie;d doin same. every1 willl start brickin it soon nt jus us

[golasambi]

also id start playin murphy n bringin gayle off bench for a bit until gayle 100 percent fit cos he doesnt look it and a gayle who cnt run full pelt isnt the same. make him earn his place bk in team like murph and mitro hav had do

[Duke]

We were dreadful without Shelvey in the Championship, we'd get tortured without him in the PL. Need more than one creative midfielder in the squad.

Yet he's too inconsistent and too much of an idiot to build a team around.

He's been our best player this year (Gayle aside maybe) yet you always single him out for criticism

[Deleted User]

Yet he's too inconsistent and too much of an idiot to build a team around.

He's been our best player this year (Gayle aside maybe) yet you always single him out for criticism

he is our best player when teams let him play but they now neutralize him so easily to the extent i'd say Ritchie is quickly becoming our best player - the shift he put in against Brighton and Huddersfield was amazing. also as good as Shelvey is - he is an idiot, I honestly dont think any of his yellows were justified - all were him being an idiot.

Also when Shelvey is neutralized we may as well be playing with ten men.

[Colly]

It's bizarre how centred we are around him frankly, a manager like Rafa should have more to his tactics than "Shelvey drops very deep and plays long balls, and also takes set pieces. That is all". We certainly need to improve on that next season, particularly as his temperament is so tied to how well we're playing.

[Deleted User]

It's bizarre how centred we are around him frankly, a manager like Rafa should have more to his tactics than "Shelvey drops very deep and plays long balls, and also takes set pieces. That is all". We certainly need to improve on that next season, particularly as his temperament is so tied to how well we're playing.

that's probably what he wanted to address last transfer window, i could imagine having another attacking central midfielder and starting him a few games until other teams stop planning to neutralize him then bring him on from the bench or start him then to catch them unaware.

[Duke]

He's been our best player this year (Gayle aside maybe) yet you always single him out for criticism

he is our best player when teams let him play but they now neutralize him so easily to the extent i'd say Ritchie is quickly becoming our best player - the shift he put in against Brighton and Huddersfield was amazing. also as good as Shelvey is - he is an idiot, I honestly dont think any of his yellows were justified - all were him being an idiot.

Also when Shelvey is neutralized we may as well be playing with ten men.

Ritchie?! He's been one of the biggest let downs. If Shelvey is getting marked out of the game or teamed up on the that's the fault of his midfield partners and our tactics

[Deleted User]

he is our best player when teams let him play but they now neutralize him so easily to the extent i'd say Ritchie is quickly becoming our best player - the shift he put in against Brighton and Huddersfield was amazing. also as good as Shelvey is - he is an idiot, I honestly dont think any of his yellows were justified - all were him being an idiot.

Also when Shelvey is neutralized we may as well be playing with ten men.

Ritchie?! He's been one of the biggest let downs. If Shelvey is getting marked out of the game or teamed up on the that's the fault of his midfield partners and our tactics

And whose fault is it if he sulks, lets his head drop, gets wound up easily, doesn't back track and gets a silly yellow card for letting people get to him?

Ritche essential created our second against Brighton and he never left our box defending against Huddersfield.

[TBC]

Ritchie?! He's been one of the biggest let downs.

Second highest goalscorer and provided most assists.

[beatski]

So everyone's s**** again now we've lost a game. Good stuff.

We do need more creative players on the pitch though IMO, so if one is having a bad game were not nullified; AM and LW needed in the summer.

[Duke]

Ritchie?! He's been one of the biggest let downs. If Shelvey is getting marked out of the game or teamed up on the that's the fault of his midfield partners and our tactics

And whose fault is it if he sulks, lets his head drop, gets wound up easily, doesn't back track and gets a silly yellow card for letting people get to him?

Ritche essential created our second against Brighton and he never left our box defending against Huddersfield.

Could count on one hand the amount of times he's been like that this season. Unfortunately it gets picked up and analysed every time he does it whereas everyone else gets off scot free

[Deleted User]

So everyone's s**** again now we've lost a game. Good stuff.

We do need more creative players on the pitch though IMO, so if one is having a bad game were not nullified; AM and LW needed in the summer.

which (if you believe reports) is what Rafa wanted in January

[beatski]

We can get better players in the summer

[Deleted User]

We can get better players in the summer

only if we go up!!

[beatski]

I'd expect Rafa Benitez to be able to gain promotion having been given 50mil and 12 players of his choice

[Deleted User]

I'd expect Rafa Benitez to be able to gain promotion having been given 50mil and 12 players of his choice

100% agreed, I can see why Ashley said wait until the summer (if that's what he did) because as you say this squad should be more than good enough for Rafa to get us up and if it wasn't for stupid slip ups ie QPR, Blackburn, Wolves, Bristol City, Norwich, Notts Forrest and Sheff Wed we'd be there. I haven't counted Fulham in that list cos they beat us fair and square twice this season but all the others were had avoidable situations in them games that counted towards our dropped points.

Dont get me wrong - I know all teams are gonna lose some but I dont mind when we get outplayed and beaten but that wasn't the case in half of the games listed above.

Now in my opinion for the next home game at least Murphy needs to start and be given a more attacking set up to support him - if we're gonna drop points at home lets do it fighting.