A'Villan

I went and checked because I remember how many chances went begging that were destined for goal because Tammy missed the target last season. Tammy Abraham leads the league in big chances missed, he's scored only one more goal than he's missed all season. He's got 10 goals 9 big chances missed. Guess what? Wes has 4 goals and 3 big chances missed. The same conversion rate as a player who is a league leader in scoring who we all should know is quality. How many did Tammy score at Swansea? Not many. Wes is 22 and just got here, basically the same story for our starting eleven. Smith's only been here a year.. I'm not saying wait and see because Wes will be the striker we all hope he will be, I don't know, I just think it's a bit premature and harsh to call him out like some are.

They cost that around a decade ago. Shevchenko went for double that fee well over a decade ago, 9 goals in two seasons. Darren Bent went for 24m about a decade ago and he was good to put them away for, what? Two seasons. Fernando Torres just under a decade ago went for, was it 50m? Surely he would come good? Nah, except maybe in the CL when it mattered.. Christian Benteke, he'd put them away right? Well he'll cost you 30m, and even he'll fade into obscurity after 2-3 years. Andy Carroll better part of a decade ago cost 35m. So many expensive transfers don't work out. Personally I'm not saying Wes is a good player just yet, I think he's doing okay is all, and I'll give the whole system a bit more time before I decide it's not gonna get there.

My mistake, I wrote that poorly. I meant to insinuate that for the most part delivery wasn't receivable to Wes, which meant he didn't threaten goal. The example I used with El Ghazi was used in comparison to Tammy Abraham, who people said would not cut it at PL level because he missed too many easy chances. Wes missed one, but he only got one. Abraham would miss sitters in abundance, just like every good striker in a good team does. When have you ever seen a team have more attempts on target than there were attempts? You haven't. A lot of the time conversion rates are low. Football is uniquely difficult to score in for a team ball sport, especially considering the time allocated for every match.

We need a quality winger for me. What's a striker meant to do when midfield can't string together 3 passes and our wide men play him one quality ball to finish all game? The jury is still out on big Wes but I don't believe he's had ample opportunity to settle in, same as Smith, same as everyone.

Dean has to wear this loss in my opinion. It can't all be about desire, you have to have a functional game plan that allows you to compete.

Riddle me this, if I throw you a bad ball and you can't catch it, are you bad at playing catch? Wes missed a very good chance provided by El Ghazi who created a moment of quality, our first glaringly obvious threat. ONE chance at goal. Can I remind SOME of you, that you were crapping on about how Tammy Abraham is not PL quality because of the easy finishes he missed for us. I'm of the opinion that had the team been better prepared today, we would've seen a greater focus from all of our players. We were almost in a lullaby, and you know what it's like to do things when you're half asleep, me personally all I can do is find the toilet or the fridge. Wes was used to poor service all game up to that point, everything he was to receive was either a poor delivery or a contest. The moment probably caught him off guard.

You guys think Newcastle is massive? Me too. However, I wouldn't be surprised if our expectations don't mean anything in determining the outcome of the game. Newcastle are doing okay, they were actually really good against West Ham, honestly, I'm not predicting it, but wouldn't be surprised if they got the victory against us. Our outcomes this season won't be decided by fans expectations as to which teams we require points from, losing to Bruce won't make us sh*t all season necessarily. It will be decided by the quality of approach and preparation Smith does, and how the players apply themselves and execute on each and every game day. Wolves was a very poor first half and it cost us the game. We still only lost by a goal.

I actually voted him MOTM for us. Marvelous put in a shift defensively for us, but Luiz won some good contested balls as well, undermined by the more costly and obvious errors, of course. I thought he was one of the only players to have multiple moments of quality on the ball for us. It's not his fault we lacked chemistry and organisation and nothing came of it.

I wasn't. The 2nd half was better and we managed to get forward and put some pressure on Wolves. In the minutes leading up to their 2nd, I was hopeful we'd pull one back, and then ride the momentum to a second and a win. Not to be. First half cost us the game really.

Agree with all of that. However, I do not believe for a moment that because Wolves have a superior front 3, that our team should be incapable of stringing a few passes together. The second half shows that we can compete with Wolves, because we did at times. Before it went 2-0 you thought we had a chance to draw the game.

I think the difference was, as I said in the pre-match thread, they have had a system that works implemented far longer than we have even been together. I think Smith has to take responsibility for today's performance. I don't think the players we had on the pitch were prepared well enough for what was coming. I thought we had as much talent as them out there, and had our assembly and approach been better, we might of had a bit more life and purpose in that first half. I'm a huge fan of Smith, and it's been disappointing to drop results because of players making individual errors. Today I think Smith needs to put his hand up.

I like that sub. We are lacking creativity.

It's very poor mate. We actually can't string more than 2-3 passes together and we just concede possession.

Better. Good play by El Ghazi, if only Wes was more focused and ready to finish.

Did Nuno and Smith not setup these two teams?

Thankfully we're only one down, with a bit of the quality so many of these players have shown in previous matches, we can take something here. If what we saw just then continues, this one could be embarrassing and raises some questions across the whole team, Smith most so.

Cheer up people, we're 10 minutes in.

I don't know why people are so worried. Yes, those three exclusions are all players we want on the pitch. However our players that do take the pitch are still very capable.

They've got talent in the squad, and Steve Bruce while uninspiring is not as bad as a lot like to think. Very pacy forwards could really cause us some issues in transition when they break, I know we have good defenders, but Newcastle's two wide forwards are lightening fast. I'm guessing they will try and play as many direct long balls to play one of them in behind our final defensive line, for every one they receive, they're a good chance to finish.

Next two games are not necessarily season defining, however they are a good indicator of where we fit in among the Premier League. As for Wolves in particular, I think the biggest difference between us and them is that they have implemented a system that works and had it in place far longer. That's okay. I rate our chances here. I really hope I'm right in thinking we''ll take the three points here, provided we don't go behind and leave it too late.

Considering buying another Subaru. Probably a hatchback. Without doubt the best car I've ever owned was a Liberty. I like the WRX but not looking to spend money I don't have! Always liked Nissan too, think they started off as Datsuns, which were cool too. Skyline, 180sx, 240sx, 240z. All a hybrid of beauty and beast. Great cars. That's only talking about cars outside of economy and practicality I've never really been interested in owning a Ferrari. I did like the Mazda rotary cars too though. They f*ckin' flew! RX7 and RX4 in particular.

Some more news. I doubt it will but could twist my arm. University of Melbourne, which is ranked #1for universities in Australia and I'm guessing pretty high worldwide. Have offered me a coaching apprenticeship as assistant coach to their Men's basketball team. I've had so many days and nights where the feeling and feedback was that basketball might never be more than a pastime that I love. It will never be enough to live off while I work in Australia, unless I do end up making it to the NBL, but that's not really a concern. I hope VT don't mind me sharing this again, but in 2016 I was diagnosed with Schizophrenia and the prognosis was permanent. Things looked pretty bleak. 3 years on and I am realising my basketball dreams. What's more important, but the two are so related, is that I have my health and independence back. Tomorrow I will apply for social housing so I can get a one bedroom apartment of my own and move out of my Mother's. Good times.

Wisdom!