Tottenham (h)

[Mick]

[Mick]

Good to see Flash Gordon & Barnsey in the same team

[GhostfaceKillah]

The club have left Howe and the fans down this summer, a total and utter disaster in a window only rivalled in its complete and utter shittness by any previous Mike Ashley transfer window. Our elite players will have also been looking to see if this really is a club heading in the right direction, and instead we didn't get a single player to improve the starting 11, a total disgrace from PIF, Eales and Mitchell. Not only that, but touting Gordon to Liverpool and creating a unstable atmosphere behind the scenes, they have actively destabalised the squad, a baffling level of mismanagement.

That said, nothing can be done about that now and today is a chance to send everyone into the international break feeling like everything isn't doom and gloom. In both performance and result, 3 points today could be huge for the rest of our season.

I don't know what to expect though, Howe is low, the players are struggling to find any rhythm in games, and I fear for us if we concede first. On the flip side, great to see Barnes and Gordon starting, and we will no doubt see Tonali at some stage, hopefully from a winning position, and there is everything to play for here today.

Spurs will be our first proper challenge, and to stress again, a win would be massive, let's get at em!

[Mick]

Tonali will prob be introduced 2nd half

Presumably for Jolinton or Longstaff - who are both on yellow cards?

[KMK]

Sitting back as we are invites tackles. 
No out ball when we are all back defending in the box. 
We could be down to ten men if he doesn’t sub.
And they will score again if we don’t change the way we are playing.

[KMK]

Brilliant move for the goal which begs the question why are we defending so much when we can attack like that?

[Mick]

How we won that game is a feckin mystery!

We spent most of the match passing to Tottenham 

[GhostfaceKillah]

I don't understand what I have just watched. We were absolutely fucking awful again, truly dreadful, and yet we have 7 points from 9 and are through to the 3rd round of the league cup.

Can't remember feeling this deflated from a win before, which I accept makes no sense, 3 points is 3 points, but that performance was straight out of the Steve Bruce play book.

The off the field issues have had a significant impact on the squad and we are now seeing this translated into the performances, it's incredible really to have a decent points return considering how we have played so far.

You take it, and just hope that something will change during the international break to get us back playing some sort of watchable football again.

[KMK]

We were lucky. If they had been on target with their chances we would have lost heavily. 
I don’t enjoy watching us play with this system. 
Our best players are attackers, but we don’t play to their strengths in this set up. 
But obviously Howe knows best because WE WON!! 

[GhostfaceKillah]

We have too many good players to play like that, I can only hope Howe has looked at fitness and morale and figured that sitting in and playing on the counter is the best way to ride this period out, even though it is awful to watch.

Gordon needs to stop fucking sulking and start smiling again, his body language was appalling. I get he had a shit summer but that's gone now, he needs to get his head down and get on with it.

A lot for Howe to piece together behind the scenes, and he can do with the comfort of the league position very much in his favour.