Mason 47

This did wind me up yesterday. Booking the keeper, sure, but how many times have you see a keeper sent off for a second yellow for time wasting? At best it's an acknowledgement of the issue but then a free pass to do it until full time. I did wonder if a 5-10 minute automatic sin bin for timewasting would sort the issue very quickly in most cases- but as with most decisions, this can be very subjective I think the outrage over 'incorrect' instances would far outweigh the gain. One thing I would get shot of is the allowance for a goalkeeper to take an easy catch then happily tumble to the floor for 10-15 seconds. Never understood that one.

At this point I assume I lose an awful lot of weight, only to put it back on so I can come on here and talk about it. Here we go again. You can keep your running though, I don't know where my ancestry lies exactlty but I don't think there were a lot of wide open spaces.

What an interesting and unique take on our current situation.

Absolutely not unless my understanding of the saying is wrong. This would suggest to me that despite the obvious problems, the perception is that everything is great now. Haven't seen anyone suggesting we've been much more than very fortunate and cautiously hoping this might be the spark that gets us up and running properly again. That's certainly where I'm at with it.

There was a moment earlier in the game, an offside by a country mile, which was left until the move concluded for the flag to go up. The incident with Grealish looks mighty intentional to me, with that in mind. It's a very, very suspicious moment- I look forward to the PGMOL statement.

The sort of celebration that really makes you want to believe. At this point I'd say it's probably still a bridge too far, but who knows. Maybe that was the moment that clicks some confidence into place- the reactions certainly seemed genuine to me.

I thought we looked 5/10 average before the goal, useless after. When you take it at face value we have a midfielder at CB, 4 in midfield of which none are really midfielders and yet another midfielder up front. Everything is on the wonk and nobody seems to be playing a role they're comfortable in. It's such a shame to see Nunez, once a bubbly and entertaining attacking midfielder, sitting in his own defensive third recycling the ball.

We looked functional for a little while there but the goal came through the lack in midfield again. The most worrying thing for me, watching on a stream which at Bristol has a very lofty angle, our shape totally fell to bits after the goal. The difference was so, so clear. Not even sure I can see an obvious (on-pitch) change that would make a decent difference at this point. Not without altering the approach entirely.

Can't tell if this is just normal Buh tongue-in-cheek nonsense or a serious post. 'Ego is key' in particular so thick with irony it almost needs to be moved to its own messageboard to prevent network collapse.

Not that it affects us massively, but I notice 'worst team in the league' QPR have gone on to beat Stoke & Preston making us their only loss in the past 5. Two ways of looking at that I suppose. One, maybe our result wasn't as terrible as many made out; Two, it's taken a change in manager to start getting performances from them.

I don't wish any ill on him, but I do know his situation with us was at least in part self-made. A second high-profile case of him falling out of favour won't do his future prospects much good. In his defence I understand he was being played as a winger in the game he got hooked, which he is not. But, if the manager is playing you there & asking you to keep wide to stretch the pitch, that's your job.

I guess it's a matter of perspective. I've seen Knapper called weak, a clown, a joke, a yes man and a poor hire based on the whims of the previous despised incumbent- because he hasn't yet fired Wagner. For sure it seems that the majority of the fanbase anticipates his sacking with excited fervour. Is it weak to remove yourself from the situation, not immediately give in to the demands of frustrated & passionate fans and give yourself time to make the decision? We all know it isn't working with Wagner, believing Knapper is sat there thinking all is well is silly. But a Sporting Director who just does whatever the loudest fan voice says without thinking will not be a good Sporting Director. That would be the real weakness. The people spoke. Webber left and Knapper came in. There's no point in immediately crucifying the guy for not acting like a Norwich fan.

Similar to what I just posted in the Statistical Domination thread. We keep going with the double false 9 concept despite it only being viable when very specific players are available. Nunez does fine for Chile in attacking midfield. Gibbs I thought had a real future as a Leitner-type midfielder but his development has stalled after developing Sorenson syndrome. Neither are suitable as strikers and the former hasn't looked the same since Dean Smith tried to turn him into a Championship central midfielder.

A lot of our midfield issues come about because we are married to this 'double false 9' system. Was great when we had the specific players for it early on, but since then we've seen Idah, Hwang, Gibbs, Nunez & Sara all try to play the second striker role and do absolutely nothing with it. It's a very niche system I'd be playing Sara as the furthest forward of a 3 in midfield for the time being. Available to get back and help out, which he is capable of, but not have him playing a primary defensive role.

In my experience at local league level, most of the time when a sin bin is issued the player will continue to yap at the ref on the way off the pitch anyway and get a yellow regardless. At professional level I think that word 'subjective' is what matters. Remember how we got a fine for 'failing to control our players' protesting Barnes handball against Burnley last year? Personally I think you see worse in the PL every single game near enough; however would that have been enough to bin 1-2 of our players for dissent?