Has Mr Cooper runout of ideas?
Our midfield of Byers, Fulton and Grimes with Celina and Roberts close baking were dire. Flat footed, failed to read the game or anticipate passes, didn't move. Joke of a midfield.

0

Ralph is discovering that if you do strange things they really do have to work. I know the guy sees himself as an eccentric but if a RB is injured (or whatever) in warm-up and you have a guy you played as RB for most of last season on the bench there is one simple and obvious thing to do. Simple and obvious is often right Ralph - that's why it is simple and obvious.

Having said that I am surprised at the depth of the despair and criticism after this. We were alright for most of the game but long-standing problems over careless goals and lack of cutting-edge up front cost us again. We are still a much better side than the mess Ralph inherited from Hughes. Playing a back four is key for me - why play 3 CBs when we can't even find 2 that are good enough? We won't challenge for the top 6 this season but I am confident we can get close to the top ten.

5

Oh, and yes - I reckon JWP needs a 'rest'...

7

Oh dear... So many things not right:
- Rs off the pace from the start and never looked comfortable
- Failed to press WBA's defence or midfield
- Too many sloppy passes, giving ball away needlessly
- Lumley's distribution even worse than usual, but partially redeemed himself with some smart saves
- Barbet cannot play with just 1 central defender alongside; 2 penalties + 1 red card the evidence
- Unusually Warburton was slow to make changes when it was clear we were being overrun and needed more beef in midfield, Chair + Eze just not robust enough against this class of opposition
- Far too often Rs lost out in 1:1 challenges; WBA pressed + tackled much better; the team need intensive sessions on how to tackle/resist challenges
- Ref was awful - 21:10 foul count bizarre in a clean game; Rs got almost nothing from him, although when we did win a decision we usually wasted it
- Albion were good without being over-impressive; look certs for promotion
- Perhaps this defeat is helpful to bring us back down to earth after that winning run - but there's still a lot of potential in this team
- Best players today were Leistner + Chair

1

Build up play all too slow & ponderous. Don't create any real chances even against 10 men. Midfield of JWP, Romeo & Hojbjerg just doesn't work. What has JWP got to do to be dropped.

8

Spurs were there for the taking with 10 men. Instead of getting the ball in the box with good crosses and penetrating runs, we kept passing sideways and backwards.

6

Credit to Spurs for parking the bus and denying us any goals. We did have the chances and LLoris made up for his showbiz error with several quality saves. We didn't get enough crosses in but we didn't have the numbers or height in the box anyway and I never thoughta simple cross would be the answer. Our hopes rested on ball skills and penetrating passes, sadly lacking from both Hojbjerg and JWP.
What has Valery done wrong in the head of RH that he was not selected in the first place and not immediately selected when Cedric went lame. A change of system in the last few minutes prior to kick-off is quite incredible.
Their first goal was as a result of not having a proper right back, Hojbjerg leaving the eventual goalscorer unmarked and slow reactions from Gunn. The second, well it was Kane again!
The subs were strange, Ings removal baffling and did Obafami or Long have a touch of the ball?
I don't like over rection but if we dropped Gunn, JWP, Hojbjerg, Vestergaard I would not be disappointed.
Boufal and Redmond are trying hard, we just need others to join in. We will beat other sides, we are playing like a mid table team not a relegation candidate.

6

Credit to Spurs for parking the bus and denying us any goals. We did have the chances and LLoris made up for his showbiz error with several quality saves. We didn't get enough crosses in but we didn't have the numbers or height in the box anyway and I never thoughta simple cross would be the answer. Our hopes rested on ball skills and penetrating passes, sadly lacking from both Hojbjerg and JWP.
What has Valery done wrong in the head of RH that he was not selected in the first place and not immediately selected when Cedric went lame. A change of system in the last few minutes prior to kick-off is quite incredible.
Their first goal was as a result of not having a proper right back, Hojbjerg leaving the eventual goalscorer unmarked and slow reactions from Gunn. The second, well it was Kane again!
The subs were strange, Ings removal baffling and did Obafami or Long have a touch of the ball?
I don't like over rection but if we dropped Gunn, JWP, Hojbjerg, Vestergaard I would not be disappointed.
Boufal and Redmond are trying hard, we just need others to join in. We will beat other sides, we are playing like a mid table team not a relegation candidate.

2

Just caught up with MOD. Spurs are certainly not in form and had a man sent off as well as gifting us a goal. We still got nothing from the game and did not appear likely to score. No need to panic but we have not improved as much as I hoped we might have this season.

3

If we don't start scoring from open play soon we will be in trouble. It looks like we are going to have to outscore the opposition to win matches as it seem impossible for us to stop making individual defensive errors and giving away silly goals.

Too much of our play and running yesterday was horizontal and not vertical especially in transition from the middle to the attacking third. Spurs were so packed in defence that we couldn't find space between the lines so we needed more forward penetrating balls and fast runners.

Of course as always we don't seem to be flexible enough or bright enough to work that out during play. Maybe Hutch is so rigid in his control of his players that they are now scared to express themselves freely by doing something that has not already been proscribed as our tactics for the day.

3