Time To Get Ticking by giving the Muff a good Dicking! (A Match thread)

Their number 19 did a cynical foul just after the one he got booked for and Oliver let three go entirely in the first half

I’m not here to defend VAR, which should be scrapped, but it can’t overturn bookings either way - that was why the Boly thing happened in the same fixture last year.

Dislocations are often worse in terms of the permanent damage to ligaments and tendons, which has to be compensated for by building up surrounding muscles. Chic will know far more, but I remember when I dislocated my knee caps (separate injuries, thank goodness) I was told by the physio that breaks are often preferable when it comes to recovery.

Wow. Everyone got a medical degree in pre-season.

Nor was I. Just recalling a conversation with my physio.

I think Guru is feeling left out. If we switch to shoes he’s going to shine!

We can all agree though that we all feel for the lad and hope we have a plan to fill that position. I sensed that this was going to be his season. Football is cruel. This is why we love it so..

Soton next who lost to 10 man Newcastle. I think we should unleash Taiwo in this game. That’ll learn ‘Em.

Chicago: Moving on.

First news about a serious injury tends to err on the side of positivity - you want to give the player as much hope as possible. Three months seems really optimistic for a player whose foot was pointing in the wrong direction on Saturday afternoon.

I wonder how much Nuno's thinking on subs was determined by the possibility of players (primarily Moreira and Jota) going out on loan. Maybe if he knew Moreira was sticking around until January, he'd have put him on to support Neco but didn't want to limit options for the rest of the season when the players he had should have been enough to close out the game. Probably not much, being realistic, as Dominguez and Anderson are just higher up the pecking order.

I thought the subs seemed round holes in square pegs with two wingers (wide players) left on the bench. If they are on the bench then we should use them. If they are up for loans and that's a consideration then don't piss them about.

We are desperately short of full backs now as Forest like Richards but feel that he is physically probably not up to it. Which is shit. Tricky is right we probably do have to go to 3 at the back as we don't have any full backs if Aina and Williams are crocked. For the record I still like Toffs but his lack of pace could end up killing him.

Let's hope we get recruits in for Soton as being caught short during winnable(?) games would be sub optimal.

Chicago: Strategizing.

That formation that we ended up in was one Nuno has been working on through pre season. Not as wide and more bodies in midfield. It wasn't an after thought or accident, it's a specific plan

It's just a plan I don't terribly like.