Thracian

Ummmm - not very convinced by much of that - passes completed from deep, defensive situations being altogether more easily completed than probing passes into massed defences from more forward positions for a start. Minutes played and the level of opposition/degree of pressure during those minutes might also be important and even the time a player comes on and the instuctions they've been given etc, etc.

Get any more negative and you'll turn us into a minus sign, Makes me wonder if anyone's gone a whole season without scoring an away goal. If not, maybe it's a new record we might contest.

I'd be 100% delighted if Musa somehow emerged as an asset - and would happily acknowledge it - but I'd far rather it were someone else's money invested in him than mine. Sounds as if he needs to sort his home life out as much as his football. Perhaps we should have a Care Bear as Walsh's assistant.

Can't imagine anyone "enjoys" it. There are always failures in football. Some focus on the job and make every effort but it just doesn't work out. Others have no chance of focusing due to their character or the various baggage they carry around with them and are a complete waste of time, effort , money and points.

No-one stopped him demonstrating those qualities when selected. Seems to me he's only had part of his mind on the job some of the time but I'd doubt he'd be happy to pick up part of his wages.

You'd said it all as soon as you wrote 100%. The bloke was a gem for this club and far better value than I ever expect Musa to be.

Unless you're joking, since when did Lloyd deserve that?

Gray is promising but not yet "nailed on" as a Premier League regular. As ever, it is up to individuals to take their chances when they come along. Gray has had some wonderful moments but needs to have a more consistent impact yet

The tube wasn't an option and was clearly not the choice/option of thousands of fans who used the coaches,perhaps for the same reason we did. .

Fascinating fight - well worth its billing - but Wembley was utterly exposed for its lousy location as a national stadium. Thousands of fans were delayed for hours afterwards due to an accident which left a long line of coaches at a standstill for two hours just outside the arena car park.. In the end, a succession of lengthy vehicles ended up reversing towards what were still sizeable groups of walking fans, as drivers tried to find an alternative getaway through Neasden. The knock-on was considerable with fans having to ring and call-off their arranged "lift home" and instead get a taxi either from the journey's end coach drop or from service-stations en route. Others found they vehicles locked in non-24-hour car parks. Altogether it showed the folly of having a national arena in a densely populated area rather than somewhere where there's instant multi-lane access to the motorway network. It's a horrible location anyway and not a great stadium for a fight night - most seats being way too far from the action and the big screens being altogether inadequate...among various other things. We took binoculars and wish they'd let us take a van load so we could have hired them out to all the punters who seemed keen to borrow them.

Boxing was one of my frontline responsibilities when I worked for EMAP. Andy Smith's stable in St Ives was full of talent and they were hot news - especially Bugner and Dave "Boy" Green. Joe had the best car number plate I ever came across on his gold roller .... 1 ON U. Big boxing nights were a regular occurence. They were terrific times and the team at EMAP were absolutely brilliant to work with. People always talked of Bugner as a gentle giant but the man was immense as his record so clearly shows. Mostly Bugner boxed with restraint (one opponent Ulric Regis died from brain injuries after a bout in the early stages of his career and it did seem to affect him) but I remember him telling me to get to the Richard Dunne fight early or else I'd miss it. There was no love lost between the two and I've rarely seen anyone hammered so comprehensively as Dunne that night. Blood everywhere. Dave "Boy" Green was different altogether - non-stop entertainment. His "muckraker" punches were legendary. They started somewhere close to his ankles and when they landed they sure looked spectacular. Dave hailed from Chatteris, the same Fenland town as another boxing notable, Eric Boon, and attracted the same sort of following at his peak. He was all heart and action, things that made the crowd buzz. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Joe_Bugner

Going to this - my seat will seem almost as far away from the ring as I am now. Used to love watching fight nights in the days of Joe Bugner, Alan Minter, Dave "Boy" Green and company but my last trip to see a programme up in Bolton was appalling. I was even amazed some had a licence to suggest they were capable of defending themselves at all. I'm so far away from the boxing world now I'd honestly never heard of the main protagonists on Saturday, let alone seen them. Not sure I'll see much "live" even now. Ringside seats in the 70s always made for a terrific evening whether at Wembley or the much more atmospheric Royal Albert Hall. This time I expect the big screens will make it more of less like watching on television at home. You never know - might be exciting though.

It's not something I'm going to get used to!

The definition of an enemy is: "a person who is actively opposed or hostile to someone or something". There are all sorts on here who actively oppose and are hostile to things I say. Can't imagine it changing. As for your being right or wrong it depends on your outlook. Me, I think a debating forum depends on argument, disagreement and controversy rather as the body needs blood and oxygen. As soon as everyone agrees the forum dies. .

Not sure Shaky's acknowledgement of Schlupp's inconsistency equates to his "not rating him". It wasn't quite the impression I got from that interview and, in any case, those comments might have been tempered by the way Schlupp reacted to his disappointment this season which didn't do him any favours any more than Ulloa. .

Ummmmm - maybe but I'm not convinced it was that simple. A potential wage rise might have come into it for a start, bearing some relation to the monies being paid to unproven new signings who were sometimes being accommodated without showing any signs of being worth it.

Totally different place and style of football. There's no way Hernandez would have been successful in The Premiership. He was an Inler type. Suited to nice warm countries where the ball has to do the work. He wasn't fast enough, brave enough or vigorous enough for Premiership football. Nothing against him - I'd have liked that kind of football too. I've just no idea why he was thought right for England, from what I saw of him.

It's amazing how many people didn't rate him when he became cheesed off at the way he was treated after helping us win The Premiership (rather like Ulloa). My guess is that was Ranieri's doing too. It's staggering how dramatically the mood seems to have changed at Leicester since he's gone. And how Schlupp has quickly become good enough to be first choice in another apparently upcoming Premiership team and good enough for an ex-England manager.

Ignore how poor he's been in some other games, why not, and how his form compares this year with last season. Even in the Champions League his decent contribution hasn't always been as part of a memorable game himself or from the team and I've already, and often, acknowledged his individual value. Overall he's not been the same since last close season. There might be various reasons/excuses/ for that but, as with others, I don't really give a toss what they are. What matters is his effort, focus and contribution on behalf of the team week in/week out (not just in selective matches, and I just don't believe he's been anything like his best in terms of commitment or effect. Comparisons with Gray are an aside. Gray's a trainee first teamer as far as I'm concerned and may or may not have a future here depending on all sorts of factors including his rate of improvement which needs to be considerable.

Maybe my defnition of "good", or, more accurately "good enough" and yours, are different.

I don't see Gray as being the answer necessarily. Not at this stage. Promising is how I see him. And Mahrez wasn't creative last night. He wasn't anything but anonymous and our managing a 1-1 draw all the more commendable given that we really weren't functioning in Mahrez's sector. But we agree on one thing. I hope he leaves too. Because he doesn't give the impression of wanting to be here and hasn't done since last close season really.

My point is that they didn't have much to defend in terms of real threat. We didn't have anyone getting round the back with pace or skill. There wasn't enough off-the-ball and fast-passing to conjure some space through the middle nor sufficient goal threat in numbers because it just doesn't exist. I accept that even good crosses might have struggled to find a target against a well-balanced defence but we never found out and never quite asked enough questions in other ways. It was night's like last night when you count on people like Mahrez to fashion the two or three openings that might make a difference and, if he had done, his other shortcomings would likely have been overlooked. But he might as well not have been there and when that's the case the bloke becomes a liability rather than an asset and one that should probably have been replaced by half-time at the latest.

My son wanted Gray used and we all agreed that Mahrez was ineffectual. The point was that Gray asks questions and might somehow have helped find a bit more space for others. But we can all be brilliant in hindsight and, but for conceding the sloppiest and totally unnecessary goal (much like one against Palace), we might well have earned the AET draw that would have sent us into penalties and perhaps onto a famous victory with a two-leg effort we'd have all been praising to the rafters. . Even as it is, the result was an injustice but beneath any gloss it did show how much room there is for improvement. And, although he didn't play, that includes Gray.

There's nothing "churlish" about rating him 7/10 which also acknowledges his hand in our goal. But his performance was encouraging more than "fantastic" and so too our team's efforts in general. Yes, Atletico showed themselves determined to defend their advantage but I wouldn't say there was anything desperate or "for their lives" about it. I certainly can't recall many memorable saves or desperate blocks from positions where we'd broken them down or pressured a mistake. They just seemed well organised and well disciplined most of the time rather than under great pressure. It became clear we didn't quite have the keys to unlock them - all we could do was knock on the door occasionally - and that reflected the limitations of our depleted squad to some extent.