Chester Dontlie

11-20th place. Obviously Id rather if we finished 12th than 18th. I agree with you that initially the expectations werent high when Puel came in and he did great in his first couple months but he had a decent strong squad (I disagree with those who blame the players/lack of depth in the first place for our results, for me #1 factor is the gaffer) last seasons finish left many of us underwhelmed. But it's football the expectations always change, every month and week as we play, talk about it and evaluate- and naturally our expectations grow higher or lower. At the start of the season I said if we finish 7-8th that would be fantastic but 9-10th still not bad, depending how we play. See, I'm good with 10th as we speak, but why cant we give the likes of Palace a good game - thats my main issue with Puel and his philosophy.

If I remember correctly we were 7th richest club in the Prem last year? That's where the high expectations are coming from. According to the recent list we're 8th (but still in top 20 in Europe). https://www.forbes.com/soccer-valuations/list/ I'd call 8th place at the end of the season a success.

The thing with Puel is, he's making us lower our expectations time and again... Last seasons 9th place seemed a bit of disappointment at the time (Burnley were 7th, and that is within our reach, at last should be considering the budget). Now 9th place would be like last years 7th place! West Ham, Wolvalona, Bournemouth, Everton, Watford, Bournemouth, Brighton, not to mention all teams at the bottom which are flirting with relegation like Palace - when playing them we should set out to win yet Puel seems content with playing for a draw too often. I don't see us finishing top half of the table this season, unless teams around us will all be generous and drop more points that we do. There's a real danger of stagnation and going backwards under Puel. People say, we're slowly changing or progessing but I see more negative than positive signs. Give him another season people say... I heard that before! This is the season we were supposed to see the fruits of his labour here, and here we are, still trying to justify him and his "vision". Personally I don't mind our poor form and being bottom half that much. If we only werent so ****ing negative under Puel. It's criminally stubborn of him to persist with Ndidi & Mendy in the middle and lone striker upfront. I'm fed up with this. I think bearing in mind the tragedy Top should persist with him until the end of season, then get rid (unless we're in relegation battle which isnt impossible in the light of recent form) but should be lining up eventual successors already. It's always a gamble of course but so is Puel to me, in the long run. I'd fancy Jardim, it seems realistic enough and he's attacking oriented manager.

This was the final straw for me. I tried my best to be optimistic and wanted to give Puel time but what good does he really do? So far he only succeeded in making us painful to watch. We went there as we were some underdogs scrapping the bottom of the table for a single point... Puel got completely outwitted by Woy the dino, which is a feat in itself. He could be banging on and on about qualiteee and intensiteee for a hundred years but we'd still look just as gutless and clueless. Playing Ndidi and Mendy together week in week out regardless of their form is insane. Playing Vardy as a sole striker - the same. The guy has to go, surely. Forget about the 8th place, with our upcoming run of games we're going to be bottom 8 in January.

We're going to hypnotize them with passing sideways and then proceed to win on penalties... Wembley here we come!

It would probably be shorter to answer what are they doing right....

Shinji on at 89th min.. I think this is Puel's attempt at gallows humour

Well done agent Schlupp the one bright moment this half

how didnt it go in????? Unbelievable Jeff

Get Shinji on already ffs

What was the point of playing both Ndidi and Mendy again

oooooo fuchssakeeee

come on that wasn't a foul

Hope you saw a decent transformation scene! Here, same old, we're still waiting for the Fairy Godmother to find her magic stick

I won't comment on the rest of the post because I agree with your opinion in general, only underlining this part, because of this 'feel good' argument about how good it is to be so close to 7th place at this point of the season which more optimistic pro-Puel fans bring up every time someone voices his doubts over Puel... Yes, we are top half... NOW. Next up, Palace away, Man City, Chelsea, Cardiff, Everton. I hate to sound pessimistic guys but I just don't see us top half and this close to 7th at the end of the month.