Crystal Palace - The Mighty Blues

callmebubbles wrote:Without Nana and Duke, just cant see it. DCL returning is a bonus but by the time he is fit (if that ever happens) we will probably be down. Leeds losing is great news but we need a shitload of luck from somewhere for a Houdini act.

Yankthattoffee wrote:

callmebubbles wrote:Without Nana and Duke, just cant see it. DCL returning is a bonus but by the time he is fit (if that ever happens) we will probably be down. Leeds losing is great news but we need a shitload of luck from somewhere for a Houdini act.

I knew as soon as I saw Holgate in the line up, your expectations would be limited.... and we have one midfielder on the bench. One of your favourites.

hairy cataract wrote:It's hard to single one particular player out from that first half, but Holgate is head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of how fucking terrible he is.  He makes Mykolenko look like a decent footballer.

I could cry watching this shit.  Jesus.

Made 4 Gwladys wrote:

hairy cataract wrote:It's hard to single one particular player out from that first half, but Holgate is head and shoulders above everyone else in terms of how fucking terrible he is.  He makes Mykolenko look like a decent footballer.

I could cry watching this shit.  Jesus.

he's just got worse... red card for Holgate.. Ayew has been ripping him apart

Rotterdam 1985 wrote:

Yankthattoffee wrote:It's quite clear that the midfield 5 which Dyche deployed for his opening 5 or 6 games, is the ONLY line up that has the potential to keep us in the Prem.
Anyone on the bench is simply not good enough to change a game, or fill in at times like these..
Let's hope DCL has come through this test well enough.
Is there a point when this group of players just go "Feck it, I've had enough of this emotional rollercoaster" ?

I think this is a really interesting point. I've often thought this when considering players who go down with a club but are good enough to stay in the Prem, so then move on to another team that also struggles against relegation. There are loads of these players. Tarko has only ever really known relegation battles save for Burnley's one or two top half finishes. He must feel crushed. Wouldn't he prefer Celtic or Rangers for a couple of seasons?

So I do wonder how much it gets to them. We want it to be painful for them the way it is for us. I suppose it comes down to how much of a shit they give. So when I watch Leeds, for instance, I see a bunch of players who really are hurt by their position and current form. It's not that they don't give a toss, more that they're not very good. I sort of think (hope) that it's the same for most of our players.

But then Pickford, Onana, one or two others will know that they'll go to another Prem club if they go down. So maybe there is a paradox here, in that those players who are genuinely fighting for their PL futures give more of a toss for that reason alone. So let's put McNeil in that category, and maybe Ayling at Leeds. The paradox being that they try harder for that reason, but only because they're mediocre enough to not be sure they can just move on to another Prem club. I know McNeil did when Burnley went down but I struggle to envisage him doing that again despite his recent improvement.

At the end of the day, they're paid well for the emotional stress. We do it for nothing.