ian__marshall

I agree. I think we need to go full on Forest mode. Splash the cash in Jan on genuine quality that will keep us in the league comfortably for the next 2 seasons. Spend little next season to reset PSR and go again in 26/27. Only issue with that is you need to ensure those you bring in will keep you in the league otherwise relegation finishes you. Very risky given our recent recruitment but if done right can work.

Would explain the reason for the wall as BBC are reporting that the plane was granted authority to land in the opposite direction. Looking at the video footage what does seem odd is the speed the plane is travelling at across the tarmac. Either it touched down towards the end of the runway, the pilot hadn't engaged systems to slow the plane, or there was a catastrophic failure of said systems. However, it seems unlikely that all of systems would fail at the same time unless there was a serious electrical fault. Tragic series of events regardless and my thoughts are with the families who have lost loved ones.

Much improved performance. Hats off to Ruud, looked more organised. As per the match thread, a couple of decent additions and play like that more frequently and I can see us picking up enough points to stay up.

Hopefully Haaland is tapping up Daka

Gutted for the lads. Been by far the better team 2nd half. That said if we can strengthen in January and play like this for the rest of the season I think we'll pick up enough points to stay up.

Missed the first 30 mins, but last 15 of 1st half we've looked pretty decent. Think there's at least a point in this game so long as we don't concede an early 2nd half goal.

Merry Christmas everyone. Have a fantastic day! 🎄🎅🎁🎉🥂

Really sad to hear that especially on the Eve of Christmas. I know exactly how you're feeling as I felt similar around this time last year, things just kept piling up with no end in sight. Not going to try and lecture you on what to do as I don't know your circumstances and besides everyone is different. Only thing I will say is reach out for support to anyone willing to listen; friends, family, colleagues, medics, trained professionals, etc. to get you through this moment and you will eventually come out the other side. Of course, it feels like crap whilst you're experiencing it but if you can pause for a moment and reflect, you may realise that a) you're amplifying the situation in your mind beyond others interpretation of the same issues, b) you can work your way out of the situation if you give yourself some room to manoeuvre, and c) there's plenty of people willing to support/help you to find the solutions you need. I hope things start to get better for you soon, and I wish you the very best Christmas despite whatever challenges you may be facing.

Depends how you see it I suppose. My expectation of any new manager that came in was for 7 points from those first 7 games; wins versus relegation rivals West Ham and Wolves (given they were both home fixtures and struggling), with a point from one of Brighton or Newcastle. Sadly he messed up yesterday so consequently in-order to achieve that points return he needs either a win or three draws from those fixtures. I'm not saying it's a) realistic, or b) achieveable, but he's created that situation for himself with that ridiculous team selection. Whilst clearly Man City are far superior to us, given their recent form (worse than ours) you'd have to say at home we should be targeting 3 points. Big ask of course, but again that fixture would have been a free hit had we done what was needed yesterday. I really hope I'm proven wrong. As mentioned stability is key in my view so I don't want change, but without a proper backroom team around him with fresh ideas I don't see how he's going to change the situation and I'm not convinced from what we've seen so far that he has enough about him to turn it around on his own. The only way I can see him keeping us up is if he is massively backed in January and uses his reputation to bring in players who are levels above a relegation battle (similar to what Howe did at Newcastle when he joined). That's a very risky strategy though what with PSR and isn't a guarantee for success. Time will tell I suppose so let's see what happens.

Danny, this is how you make a save.

Out of interest has that actually happened previously, and if so have threads actually been pulled? Surely living in a democratic society people have a right to express an opinion so long as it isn't libellous/illegal. Just wondering why threads would be pulled if they are legitimate in nature and don't cross any lines.

All appear to have adopted strong statistical modelling for their player recruitment. Add in the fact that aside from Fulham who seem to be going down the route of becoming an Arsenal B Team; because the signings are based on identifying talent in markets others aren't fishing in, typically their signings initially are relatively low key/low cost until they make a name for themselves. Therefore, whilst they are inevitably seeing good returns, there will be many that don't make the grade but because of their low profile you'll never hear of them and from the outside looking in they appear to have a high success rate.

It's a new day and I should really have let it go by now and jumped back on the optimistic bus, but quite frankly I'm even more angry today than I was yesterday. Reflecting on it I've not seen even the slightest indication he can have a positive impact on the squad. The appointment feels hollow, a figurehead without any presence. On one hand this season is reminiscent of the infamous Martin Allen season, on the other I'm getting Paulo Sousa vibes. I know it's harsh but I'd give him the next 3 games with a remit of a minimum of 3 points. Partly because you wouldn't want any new guy facing getting off to such a tough start but also if he fails, a new appointment has the transfer window. This viewpoint is so out of character for me, I'm a big believer in stability, however there's too much at stake this season and we aren't out of it yet so the board may need to be ruthless to survive. The ramifications for getting it wrong are too big, the EFL will absolutely hammer us next season if we go down and at best we'll be looking at the lottery of the playoffs.

Early days so will afford him some time, but initial impressions aren't very positive. Today was very worrying. Horrendous lineup in such a crucial game, no idea what was going through his head. The inclusion of Ward alone is baffling, but to have two of your best players sat on the bench was also very odd given the importance of the game. I get the argument about him having to work with a poor squad but what's concerning me is that there seems to be no plan/philosophy. Shape wise we're all over the place. The one thing I hoped for and expected of any new manager was that they addressed the defensive situation and whilst I acknowledge that the players at his disposal are very limited, I'd have expected him to address this tactically and at least set us up to be organised and well drilled. Unfortunately, I feel like we're even more porous at the back. That's rather concerning given all the talk he made early doors about focusing on the defensive side of the game. Yes, it's only been 4 weeks, but you can't even see any work in progress. It's literally Cooperball MKII but worse. Thinking back to the early days under Enzo, specifically that Liverpool friendly, we took a hammering and were outclassed, however we could all see there were positives to take from the game and with more time could go on to be a dangerous outfit. I'm not seeing that under Ruud. He doesn't seem to have a clue tactically, the training videos on the website look like very generic drills. There's no clips of him pausing play and explaining to individuals what he wants them to do. It all feels a bit too laid back with little attention to the detail. I'm not one for being reactive and changing managers every 5 minutes, all clubs need stability to be successful in my view and I do think he'd benefit having his own team around him, however I'm not sure he's the right man that we need in this situation. The dilemma we have is do we give him the transfer window to turn it around? Part of me thinks regardless of his ability the one area he should excel in is having the pulling power to attract decent talent if backed, which with the right players could allow us to kick the can down the road. The other part of me worries about what happens if he gets it wrong and the board then appoint someone else after the window who has to work with a squad that doesn't fit their style of play. There's some big decisions to be made that's for sure. Just hope Top has the necessary judgment and acumen to make the right calls.

The resale platform works a treat. Some poor soul (really sorry if you're on this forum) bought my ticket this morning within a day of listing.

Wow 😲 Ward actually made a save!

This should be 0-5!!! Let that sink in for a moment. At home to Wolves!

This Wolves team could collectively head off down the pub for the next 25 minutes and we still wouldn't score a goal. We look abysmal today in the final third.

Suspect it's out of our hands. Likely Brighton have asked him not to play, though it does raise a question as to why he is on the bench.

Probably begging Rudkin to send him back. I think I would if I was him.

0-3 at home to Wolves with Buonanotte and Daka on the bench and he's brings on Hamza and Reid 🤯

That's the spirit Ruud, bring on another clown. Really not sure what the game plan is here.

3-0 at home against this shower. All the goals completely avoidable. Not going to pile in on Ruud yet but he's got today very wrong indeed.

Literally put a traffic cone in the middle of the goal and we only go into half time 0-1 down. Ward is a £#&@&%! disgrace.

Please enlighten me...