OhForAGreavsie

Agree with your overall points but I'd say it was way more than ten minutes.

Have people been blaming Kepa for the goal? I haven't seen video yet, but live I was cursing Saul.

Couldn't believe what I was watching. Strange, strange decision.

Pure guesswork here but I wonder if the club have a plan to exercise their reported buyback clause in the summer of 2023? The intention being that Tino would then replace Azpi in the squad and share minutes with Reece as Dave does now. A potential fly in that ointment however is the possibility of Tino attracting the attention of attention of other big clubs who might make him offers we can't, or won't, match. Saints' fans love him. I've read ranging from, "Enjoy him while you can, he'll be gone at the end of the season", to, "This kid is as good as Gareth Bale was." Anyone who's read my posts knows I like Tino and have championed his CFC first team prospects but, even so, I think those supporters are going overboard.

Especially Dave against Malmo. The phrase that came to mind time and again was, "Where the heck is Azpi playing?" He frequently received the ball around the D of their box with his back to goal. Amazing.

I agree that, thinking about Kai's situation only, it would make sense for him to play. I was just speculating that TT might be cautious about his options for Newcastle if Kai should be injured tomorrow night. In his Norwich press conference the manager ruled Lukaku and Werner definitely out for two games only. They must surely also be doubts for The Magpies however. If it was a league game Kai would undoubtedly play but, given that southampton will probably also rotate, TT may be thinking about keeping number 29 out of the firing line tomorrow.

Ruben as a false false 9? 🙂

Tuchel does not put a foot wrong. Quality individual. I also thought Kai was OK today. Certainly better than his cameo on Wednesday. A start against Southampton would give him an opportunity to build some momentum but I expect TT will be juggling that with the competing priority of protecting Kai for next weekend.

Just looking to spark the discussion. All timescales valid.

Leave Southampton aside but what implications, if any, does this performance have for team selection going forward?

I still can't believe but, every extra clean sheet notched up shortens the odds. Here's hoping you've been right all along.

Amazing how frequently it's like that isn't it? When a side gets thumped it's very often the case that the keeper is their POM.

What a good question.

Well done them.

Well I always believed that Torres was signed by Roman until Butch Wilkins stated publicly, and stated adamantly, that it was Carlo who was pushing for Nando. I don't see any reason why Ray would not have known the truth or would have lied about it, so that settled the matter for me. Shame on Carlo. I knew Nando was not a good footballer, and said so frequently before he was signed. There is no excuse for Carlo. In Rom's case I feel that someone in the club hierarchy wanted to prove a point from all those years ago. Wanted, in effect, to say, "See we were right about this bloke all along." This is just gut, not based on any evidence or indications.

I was also in The Shed (Upper) last night, block 3 so nearest to the Malmo fans. I didn't think we were on great form. Certainly less good than the last time I was in The Shed (Villa). There were long periods of quiet yesterday. P.S. Since I'm criticising others I have to admit, as I've done before, that I'm not great at the old chanting myself. I'll follow along if someone else gets it going, as long as it's a chant I approve of, but I seldom, very seldom, attempt to get one going myself. It's just not my personality so I'm as much to blame as anyone.

100% this. All we can do, and the least we must do. To be fair The Bridge is very supportive of Rom.

I enjoyed the fact that Atalanta's first goal was made in Cobham; sort of. Zappacosta to Pasalic, one-nil.

Non entity again I'm afraid. I'm hoping he'll start against Saints but he needs to give TT some encouragement.

He did though put both pens in exactly the same spot. Obviously being random includes repeating yourself sometimes but goalkeeping eyes are watching.

It's a Champions League thing. It'll be back vs Norwich. Speaking of annoying things from last night the all too quiet Shed jeering at Malmo fans for their brilliant backing of their team. I mean the Sweeds produced outstanding support. There was one chant that they kept up for maybe ten minutes at full volume and there weren't really that many of them. It was a call and response type thing and Stamford Bridge was not able to respond until some Shed enders figured out that one part of it scanned with "f*&^ off Malmo" and so were interjecting with that. There is a selfishness about football fans. The F-off reply obviously made them feel good but it did nothing to encourage or energise our team and that's the point isn't it?

Yes that was annoying. Could have shown highlights of the women at Juve for example. Take every opportunity to promote Chelsea teams.

In truth I doubt any of us ever thought the ship was headed to Chelsea harbour anyway. It's clear Haaland wants to play for some other club, not Chelsea. The board did the right thing by accepting that reality. Meanwhile, I still believe that Rom can make a contribution. Just not one worth £97m. If we can find a taker for Rom I would consider letting him go on condition of course that we're able to sign a striker who is a better fit. That of course is two ifs and, for even the best laid transfer plans, one if is usually enough to rip them apart.

I hadn't thought of that. Maybe he might even make signing Rom a condition for taking the job. This would be a win-win-win. Newcastle getting Antonio would be almost beyond their dreams and Antonio would certainly make best use of Rom.

I was at that stage in autumn 2011, almost exactly ten years ago, when I posted on CFCNet to say, "He [Rom] shouldn't be here." I then went on to defend my opinion by explaining that footballers cannot improve their basic talent level. They can only learn to make better use of what they have. He could work on his strengths but he was stuck with his weaknesses. To be fair to me, and Rom, I also said then that he definitely would learn to use his tools well because he's a bright guy. His intelligence was glaringly obvious in his interviews at the time and he has indeed made a contribution to all of his teams. In truth, though I'd like Newcastle to make an attempt, I fear they won't. That leaves us having to rely on TT's intelligence helping him to also learn to make the best use of Rom's gifts within this squad. The lad is a useful contributor. We must plan for what he's good at. Nothing else makes any sense.