Fulham v Preston Review: Wake Me Up When November Ends

I'm not going to make jokes, or try and make you laugh tonight. I'm pissed off. I'm pissed off for a variety of reasons, so let's just dive right in. To the people who were chanting Rigg Out in the Second Half, please- for both our sakes stop coming. There were a number of ridiculous things today, the Rigg Out stuff was definitely up there. What would possibly be accomplished by sacking Mike Rigg? Along with the Mike Rigg stuff they (I'm assuming it was the same people) were chanting "We Want a Manager", firstly guys- it's "Head Coach". Secondly, if you want a Manager- why exactly do you want to delay the process of getting said Manager by sacking the person who is in charge of appointing one? STUPID. If you were chanting the Rigg Out stuff, you're stupid. Was I happy with the performance today? No, of course I wasn't. But, I'm not going to start chanting "We Want our Fulham Back" and all that other stuff that's frankly cringe-worthy.

Second point of annoyance today, the Referee. Let me just start this section off by saying I wish Stevie May the best- it was just really unfortunate for both him and Stearman, and this isn't me in an "I Told You So" sort of situation. The primary job of a Referee is to protect the Players, I'm not blaming the Ref for the Stevie May injury- but he completely lost control of the game in the 2nd Half. The first point of contention was the possible foul on Ryan Fredericks in the box, me sitting where I do I had a pretty clear view of the whole thing- it was a Penalty. Had Fredericks not have tried to stay on his feet and sort of stumble over I think the Ref would have given the Penalty. I think it's one of those weird ones where you don't want Players to dive, and go over "theatrically" but sometimes they need to- as evidenced today. 

What followed wasn't pretty, I don't know if the Ref was overwhelmed by the game or whatever- but he just completely lost any sort of control. He was pulling us up for the stupidest "fouls", and then not giving us anything. Then, shockingly- our Players got frustrated and it led to some pretty dangerous tackles on both teams part. I was thinking around the time Scott Parker had clattered into (I think) Johnson someone's going to get a serious injury- and someone did. It was all nicely capped off by a good ol' fashioned ruckus after James Husband went down in the box. I thought it would have been a soft one had the Ref given it, but sometimes- and with the earlier decision in the Ref's mind they can be given. 

The Ref was abysmal without a doubt, but in a weird way he also helped us out. In the First-Half we were absolutely dire, nobody looked up for it. Once Fredericks went down in the box and the Penalty wasn't given it created almost a siege mentality of "It's us against everyone" with both the Crowd and the Players. Before the Rigg Out stuff, there was a noticeable shift in atmosphere with everyone's anger being directed toward the Ref rather than the team. It reminded me a lot of the Reading game back in January, except we didn't have Bryan Ruiz to get a Winner this time around. 

Third point of annoyance. HOW CAN WE NOT DEFEND A FUCKING CORNER?! We had the warning shot a few minutes before when a Preston corner went through everyone and we'd switched off at the back post- luckily that time a Preston player wasn't there. So, for nobody to be alert enough after (I think) Dembele missed the Header is just not on. I think conceding a goal from a Corner, but also only getting an Equaliser through a moment of quality sums us up today. We didn't look like a "coached" team today, especially in the First-Half the players looked either not up for it- or completely unsure of what they were actually meant to be doing. I didn't think McCormack was going to score the Free-Kick, I'll happily admit that. I thought it was too close for McCormack to get it over the Wall without putting it over. Thankfully I was wrong on that front, because we didn't look like scoring in any other way. 

The Preston goal wasn't in any way Joe Lewis' fault, and apart from making one good save in the First-Half- he had quite a quiet game all in all. Preston were definitely the more "threatening" team in the First-Half, and once again when we scored- but neither team really showed any real quality in their play today. As a result neither Keeper was ever put under any significant amount of pressure. 

As far as Yellow Cards go, the Ryan Fredericks one is definitely one I'm happy to accept. Was it a bit petty to sarcastically clap the Ref? Yes. Doesn't mean I didn't love it when he did. Fredericks was a weird one today, and it goes back to Players looking unsure of themselves today. Without being in Fredericks' head it's impossible to say what he was thinking, but to me- especially late on he was worried about getting another "niggle" because he slowed down a lot. It wasn't Fredericks' best game, nor was it anyone's really- but I thought Fredericks did give us a good attacking outlet in the 2nd Half which should have been more fruitful than it was. James Husband was quite frustrating today, the same can said of Fredericks- but especially in Husband's case we know they're capable of so much more. Especially going forward in the Second-Half Husband just didn't really "click" today, especially when considering he's set the benchmark for himself in-terms of Wing-Back performances against Bristol City about a Month ago. 

I thought Stearman played pretty well today, as with Ream. It was nobodies best game- and as already said everyone looked quite uncertain of themselves in the First-Half. With all that said, in the Second Half I thought Stearman was great at the back. Between him and Hutchinson in particular they were mopping up everything at the back and helping to keep Preston about as pinned back as our relatively one-dimensional Midfield would allow. Tim Ream performs infinitely better when he's not "responsible" for an entire side. With Husband being as attack-minded as he is, Ream isn't really suited be the Left Centre-Back. As soon as we shifted Ream to being 1 of a 3, he looked so much more assured with the extra cover that Hutchinson provided. 

Fourth point of annoyance, Sean Kavanagh's selection. There's not much to say about Peter Grant and his Coaching Ability, you can always say "he should motivate them more" or whatever- but that's not a solution to a problem. It's just empty words, one thing Grant can do is to not start Sean Kavanagh- ever again. I'm just praying for the sake of my sanity that Alex Kacaniklic is injured. He must be, I can't imagine a scenario where Peter Grant looks at Kavanagh and Kacaniklic next to each other and decides Kavanagh should be starting. Even as I'm writing this I'm not sure how harsh I'm going to be on Jamie O'Hara today. It wasn't for a lack of effort on his part, but he just didn't really get going today. Again, the reason I debating how harsh I want to be is because from what Grant said he was preparing for today in a different role to the one he ended up playing as a result of Mattila pulling out. 

A definite positive of today was seeing Scott Parker back on the pitch, even if the circumstances of his return weren't ideal. Parker's return was a last minute thing, so again on this front I'm not going to get too worked up about the Selection. However, in the future it really needs to be O'Hara OR Parker as opposed to both. Both as a result of having Parker and O'Hara, and having Tunnicliffe injured there just wasn't any energy in the Midfield until Cairney came inside. Speaking of Cairney, he was so much better than anyone on the pitch today- both in White and in Yellow (and Blue). If Cairney had a proper outlet today and a team complementing him- he would have made an even bigger impact on the game. Cairney's performance in contrast to the rest of the team can be summed up when he started a Counter-Attack by doing Three Players with a Roulette, bombing forward- before passing to Husband who ran it into the Corner and killed the Counter-Attack dead. 

I can't remember if I said it in my Cardiff Preview, but I definitely remember thinking to do so at the time. Before the season started I thought McCormack would score more than he did last season, but also NOT get our Player of the Season. The reason I thought that was because I thought we'd be creating a lot more chances with the Players we were bringing in. That probably is true if you looked at the Statistics, but above all else- Ross McCormack is just a quality player. I said it last week, I'm starting to question what McCormack's best is- because it's becoming repetitive to say he "wasn't at his best". Even with McCormack largely not being at his "best", he's the 2nd Top Scorer in the Division now. Moussa Dembele was isolated for a large part of the game today, the only half chance he really had all game today was a deflected shot in the First-Half. The thing with Dembele, and I don't blame him for this- he can't create his own chances or at least rarely does. That means in games where our Midfield and just team in general is as static as it was- Dembele was risking catching a cold today. 

I said heading into I believe the Burnley game that I wanted to us try Ream, Stearman and Hutchinson as a Three at the Back. As far as first outings go, I thought it worked quite well today. I was saying back in August that Hutchinson was our best Centre-Back, but as demonstrated perfectly in the Brighton game we couldn't rely on him. I don't doubt Hutchinson's defensive ability, but he just has a "wild lunge" in him that can cost us a game. He's not "there" yet as a Defender- but he's definitely close, and it was funny because the Stearman tackle was timed perfectly on Stevie May for his injury- and that highlighted the quality difference with Hutchinson's Brighton tackle in mind. Also, Hutchinson's Yellow Card was ridiculous in the context of the game. He did get turned, but the Preston player turned into him as much as anything else- and given some of the fouls the Ref was letting go on our Players the Yellow was just stupid. Matt Smith didn't necessarily have a direct impact on the game when he came on, but just his presence instantly gave the Preston Defenders something to think about. Pringle came on, really too late to have any significant impact on the game- but it was needed in my opinion with Husband on a Yellow.  

The result was far from ideal today, but it was definitely a fair one in my opinion. Preston DEFINITELY didn't deserve to leave with 0 Points, they came here with a Game-Plan- and almost had the perfect Away performance. At the same time, I thought our play in the Second-Half did merit us getting a Point from the game. 

Thanks for reading always. November's now officially over, and it can't end soon enough with the Month we've had. Anyway, we're now heading into December and of course the Christmas Schedule- so hopefully you'll keep coming back for the Previews and Reviews throughout the Month (and beyond). With us having no Midweek game, the attentions will be back on Mike Rigg and the Managerial Hunt again this week. I'm not saying don't "get into" rumours, but always take them with a grain of salt. Until we've actually announced someone, it's all speculative at the end of the day. Thanks again for reading, as I said last week- there may be a Post coming out in the Week should we appoint a new Manager. If not I'll be back here next Friday for the Forest Preview. Thanks again and I hope you have a good week. 

Fulham v Preston Preview: The Uncertainty Effect

Everything is going horribly wrong. Since last Saturday it's not really improved much has it? I wasn't necessarily expecting a new Manager to be appointed for tomorrow's game, but I was at least expecting something resembling "progress". I think the story that Nigel Pearson was officially out of the running came out after the MK Dons game, either way- yup that happened. Had we have won at MK Dons I think I'd have been a lot more positive for this Preview, but as is- we (and I realise there was an International Break) haven't won in nearly a Month and quite frankly our overall situation is getting a bit depressing.

The latest Manager in the cross-hairs is supposedly Gary Rowett. I can't see it happening, it's not an impossibility though. The fact Birmingham are still a mess off the field may factor into Rowett's decision should we give him one to make, but still I can't see it. Rowett is someone who I rate ridiculously highly, and I would absolutely love it if he came on board- but basing it off Rowett's Press-Conference from yesterday it doesn't seem likely. The thing with the Rowett link, and it's something that I don't think should be legal in all honesty- for want of a better term it's "Betting Market and Consumer manipulation". I don't have any "insider knowledge" and I don't claim to, with that said- and especially in the case of SkyBet with their obvious media reach I think they're guilty of doing "Betting Market Manipulation".

To try and describe this, media outlets create a story to create interest- it's the same thing that happens with the Papers over the International Break where everyone is suddenly buying Messi. With "New Manager" markets, and one that doesn't have an obvious market leader at this stage in our case- they basically manipulate people into backing in this case Gary Rowett in the Market by reporting on a "story". Then when there's an obvious shift in odds as a result, and as result more people pile on and it's the blind leading the blind and the Odds are greatly shortened as a result. There's your Conspiracy Theory for the day.

Anyway, back to the Manager situation. Supposedly should we fail with Gary Rowett, which we will- the report is that our "back-up" option is Mark Warburton. The only situation where I'd want Mark Warburton would be if he came in just in time for the Brentford game in a few weeks. I don't really "trust" Mark Warburton. He knew the Brentford system like the back of his hand, and it's similar to the Eddie Howe situation where I'm not sure how good he'd be outside of the Bournemouth dugout. Even though Warburton's stepped outside of his "comfort zone" now, Rangers is hardly the hardest job in the world- and again I don't know why he'd come to us in the first place.

So now that I've successfully ruled out two more Managers on the ever dwindling list, we get back to the drawing board. I still want Oscar Garcia, especially now Pearson's out of the running I'm even more "interested" in us getting him. If not Oscar Garcia, I want (and I realise this is somewhat contradictory to what I've said about "comfort zones) us to at least take a look Karl Robinson. I wanted us to go after him when we sacked Magath, and I think Robinson's starting to realise there's a ceiling at MK Dons. He's not really that dissimilar to Gary Rowett, except Rowett's already taken the "next step" by leaving Burton Albion and going to a "bigger" Club to expand his horizons.

I don't know if you can call this Season a write-off already, while it's 99% not likely we get Playoffs- it's not an impossibility. If we can get on a run under whoever we put in charge who knows what's possible? Momentum is such a key factor in the Championship, even to the point where I'd argue it's more important than having the Squad. Obviously the Squad supplements the momentum, but a team greater than the sum of it's parts can be Top 6 material. With that in mind it basically comes down to the sort of Manager we want, a "builder" or a "catalyst". If we wanted a catalyst, I don't think there'd have been a much better choice than Nigel Pearson- which is why I'm now leaning more toward a "builder" now.

Right then, Conspiracy Theories and Manager angst out of the way once again. EVERYONE IS INJURED. Literally everyone; McCormack? Injured. Stearman? Injured. Tunnicliffe? Injured. Billy the Badger? Culled. Ivan? Injured. Obviously I'm exaggerating somewhat, but the fact so many people are even in the "doubtful" bracket for tomorrow so soon after an International Break is quite frankly ridiculous.

Annoyingly, one player that wasn't mentioned in the "round-up" of injuries was Andy Lonergan. In some cases "no news" is good news, in others it's bad news- and sometimes "no news" is no news. The fact there hasn't been an update on Andy Lonergan leads me to believe that he isn't going to be back to face one of his Former Clubs tomorrow. In Andy Lonergan's absence it's obvious Joe Lewis will continue. As I've said a number of times, in Lonergan's absence I'm happy for Lewis to continue in goal.

At least in one case from Peter Grant's Press Conference an Injury situation has been properly cleared up. We now know Jazz Richards isn't fit and available as Kit had said he would be prior to the Internationals, which is quite annoying really. The fact Grant highlighted Tunnicliffe as the one most likely not to "make it" to tomorrow means I'm expecting Ryan Fredericks to be starting tomorrow. It's definitely not an ideal situation, we may well be risking aggravating whatever nagging injuries Fredericks has- but I don't really see an alternative. I'm praying to multiple gods that Tim Ream's recovered properly from his illness. I just can't even suggest Dan Burn start any more after the Month he's had. I've been one of Ream's biggest critics this season, and without a doubt I want us to sign a Centre-Back in January (if we can)- but I'd take Ream over Burn any day. Obviously partnering Ream would be Stearman, who's another one of the "doubtful" ones for tomorrow. With Garbutt's lack of anything resembling a convincing performance last Saturday, it falls back to James Husband coming back from Suspension. As I've said a number of times at this point, even when Husband goes back in a few weeks time I don't really want Garbutt starting. I'm happy for Garbutt to be starting up until January, but then I want us to sign a Centre-Back (which is necessary anyway) and start Tim Ream at Left-Back.

We saw the return of the Diamond last weekend, proving that Diamonds are indeed forever. It's not my first choice, but I'm not as against it as I was last season- because we've got players better suited to a Diamond this season. You'll know if you were reading these last season that I wanted Tim Hoogland to be played as a proper DM, and in Sakari Mattila I think we've gotten one. I don't want him to become a regular starter, but in the current situation I'd be all for him starting. That current situation is of course in relation to the Ryan Tunnicliffe injury. I said it before, and it's worth repeating now. Ryan Tunnicliffe is necessary to the overall team dynamic, and he balances the team quite a lot. I'm just hoping that his Injury doesn't hit us quite as hard as I think it might.

While we're only playing on the Weekends I'm happy for O'Hara to retain his place, Mattila coming in will push O'Hara a bit further up the pitch- which can only be a good thing knowing what O'Hara's strengths are. I'm going to keep suggesting this until it actually happens, I want Alex Kacaniklic to at least get in the Squad this Weekend- but hopefully also start and get a run in the team. The fact Sean Kavanagh got into the team when to my best knowledge Kacaniklic wasn't injured is just crazy to me. Kavanagh did nothing to suggest he should be starting over Kacaniklic last weekend, and I'm just hoping Kacaniklic gets the chance he really deserves tomorrow. The only proper option we've got for the top of the Diamond is Tom Cairney, and that's perfectly fine by me given it's without a doubt his best role.

The Striker Selection is pretty simple, as is the case for the next few weeks heading into the Christmas Fixtures. There's even more supposed interest in Dembele over the course of the week, and it's just really annoying at this stage. I'm hoping for Dembele's sake if he doesn't sign a Contract he moves to a Club that'll help nurture his talent as opposed to "stockpiling" him like most "big" Clubs do with Young Players. I don't doubt Dembele has the ability to make it at the very top level with the rate at which he's developing, but stalling him at this stage of his development is going to kill him. I obviously want Dembele to stay, but if he goes for Free heads will roll. McCormack's another of the doubtful ones for tomorrow, but I hope he's fine for obvious reasons. If he isn't I don't have a big issue with Matt Smith coming in, I don't have high hopes- but if Grant can play Smith without turning us into a completely Route One team I'm over the moon.

Team for Preston

I said it in my MK Dons Review, and I think with the further criticism there's been of the Managerial Appointment process over this week- I'm not going to get on Mike Rigg's back yet. In an ideal world we'd have had a Manager in place for the MK Dons game, but the fact is we didn't. If we take all this time to just give Peter Grant until the End of the Season (or something similar) then I'll obviously get annoyed about the whole thing. However, I'm willing to wait for the "right" appointment, whatever that appointment may be. Whether it's Rowett, Warburton, Robinson, Garcia- whatever it is unless it's someone like Harry Redknapp I'll be happy to give them a proper chance.

Thanks for reading as always, the game tomorrow is definitely going to be an interesting one- but it's one that even without a permanent "Head Coach" we really need to be winning. Whether we actually do win or not is a completely separate matter, and one that I'm not at all confident in. Anyway, that's for tomorrow and the Review- in the meantime we can only hope for the best. Thanks again for reading, as always the Review will be up tomorrow so hopefully you'll stay tuned for that and the Review tomorrow is a positive one.

RAW Review: 23rd November

Hello! Well, the last two days have definitely been days where Wrestling has happened. I can't really go much further than that. If it wasn't already obvious, I didn't bring out a Survivor Series Review yesterday. Unlike some other times I've missed out on doing a Review, it wasn't for a health reason or anything like that- there just wasn't any good talking points from the PPV. Genuinely, at a stretch I could have gotten about two talking points out of the PPV last night. That's the dangers of predictability. Anyway, we're back here now for the RAW Review- and I'll try and incorporate some Survivor Series thoughts where appropriate.

The Authority, Sheamus & Roman Reigns Promo
I suppose I'll get the Sheamus Cash-In thoughts out of the way now. I liked it, genuinely. As soon as we got (at a push) a 10 Minute Main Event- with 20 Minutes left on the PPV literally everyone knew Sheamus was cashing in. When it happened it wasn't a surprise, but it definitely worked- and I was happy(ish) with the outcome so more power to them. The only thing that they should have done differently in respect of a Cash-In in my opinion would have been to not have Reigns win the Title. He didn't need to, to be blunt. They should have had Reigns' first Title win actually mean something, and really build up to it- if it were up to me at Mania. The same thing happened with Bryan at Summerslam, I'm not saying the "Wrestlemania Moment" wasn't great- but if it was the first time he'd got his hands on the Title it would have been even better in my opinion. Speaking of Bryan, you lot will want to see Daniel Bryan v Sheamus at Mania now won't you? The long-con.

The actual segment was pretty standard, I like Sheamus- and to a point I actually like Roman but I can't say I'm looking forward to these two Triple H and Stephanie in the Opening Segment for the foreseeable future. I'll talk about the Rusev stuff more a bit later, but for now all I can say is that it was a pretty good return.

The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt & Luke Harper) v The Dudleys
I think it's a pretty safe bet to say the angle they did after the match was a way to write The Dudleys off of TV. They might be working toward Wyatts/Dudleys at TLC, and I'd be in favour of that just to see Harper to crazy shit like he did last year with Dolph- but I don't really see any point in all of it. I've loved Bray/The Wyatts since their incarnation- but even I've got the point now where I just can't really give a fuck about them. I knew I was wrong to predict the Wyatts would win once Harper was in the match at Survivor Series instead of Strowman- but it still annoyed me a bit. The whole thing about The Wyatts is simply that they're just a bit shit. He/They win what I'd call "second tier" feuds, and as soon as they move up to the "top tier" they immediately drop back down.

Sasha Banks v Becky Lynch
This was a pretty standard match, which is a shame because we obviously know they're capable of a lot more. There's genuinely not much else to say, apart from the fact it seems they've dropped the Natalya angle with Team BAD- which is annoying but not exactly a surprise.

Paige Backstage Interview
This little segment was some weird one where Michael Cole can communicate with the outside world via magic. Once I got over the fact Cole could talk to Paige in the Backstage Area through some Black Magic fuckery, it was a pretty standard Promo. I got pissed at the time because Paige instead of attempting to go for the Ropes actually moved further into the Ring at Survivor Series- but at least that was by design. It was a stupid design, but designed it was.

The New Day's First Anniversary Country Music Jamboree & WWE Tag Team Title Open Challenge
Have I mentioned at any point over the last 6-7 Months that I love New Day? Because I love New Day. This segment wasn't necessarily the best content wise, but New Day were so fucking amazing in the segment. Everything from Kofi's fucking Unicorn Horn Hair to the Unicorn's on Sticks it was all just amazing on the part of the New Day. New Day can genuinely make anything work, if literally anyone else on the current roster came out dressed like New Day and we had the sort of segment we had it would have been "Worst Segment of the Year" in the Sammy's next month. With New Day it was as good as it really could be. I'm assuming this segment is setting up a Triple Threat Tag-Team match at TLC with The Usos and The Lucha Dragons, and I'm perfectly happy with that.

Charlotte Backstage Promo
As with the Paige one it was a pretty standard Promo, except not delivered as well because Charlotte. It was also completely devoid of Black Magic fuckery, so really what was the point?

Neville v Mark Henry
This is the sort of match that when you get it on RAW, you know there's a bit of an injury crisis. The WWE are scrambling for literally anyone with a shred of credibility left and are trying to build them a bit with the number of people they've got out injured. One of them is Neville, who it looks as though he's going to feud with The Miz- it could definitely be worse. The match was pretty standard, it feels wrong to be criticising Mark Henry in-terms of his athleticism when the last time we saw him he was getting up for a Pop-Up Powerbomb- but still. Mark's 44, with not even a sniff of doing anything other than more jobs- he might as well just retire.

Stardust Backstage Promo
I know The Ascension aren't booked the best they could be. With that said, THEY'RE THE WORST. HENCHMEN. EVER! They just let Titus into the 5th Dimension/Stardust's Evil Lair. What good are they?! I'd also love it if this sort of thing became Titus' gimmick, Bray's doing one of his spooky Promos and then Titus just shows up in the background and starts barking etc. We've had worse gimmicks, and at least Bray would get a win under his belt with that feud.

Goldust & The Primetime Players v The Cosmic Wasteland
I believe it was around this point where I commented on the ridiculous number of aimless Tag Teams in the WWE at present. The Goldust Return was a genuine surprise at Survivor Series, I'll give them that one. It of course makes sense, we're on the verge of Wrestlemania Season- so that of course means they have to start teasing Stardust/Cody Rhodes v Goldust again. The match itself was again pretty standard (it's almost as if this RAW didn't have much going for it) Titus' Hot-Tag is still equal parts fun and hilarious- and Goldust looked like he was having fun. Considering the lack of direction for everyone involved it was about as good as it could have been.

Alberto Del Rio, Zeb Colter & Jack Swagger Promo
In-terms of gimmicks that make absolutely no sense, MexAmerica is definitely up there with the best(or perhaps worst) of them. The gimmick before tonight, as far as I could work out was Del Rio and Zeb were preaching equality- but at the same time deemed nobody good enough to join MexAmerica. Now, given what happened last night- I'm back to being confused. I think Zeb's Promo was essentially "closing the borders" of MexAmerica. So now they're... I don't fucking know. I'd say ask Del Rio/Zeb, but even they don't probably know. I'm happy that Swagger's actually got on RAW, their match could steal the show at TLC if they're given time (and the right gimmick).

Charlotte v Paige- Divas Title
The problem I had with this match, and the Survivor Series one- is really quite a simple one. I don't really give a fuck about either of these two. I don't know if it's because of the injuries, or they remembered that there's supposed to be a "Divas Revolution"- but they're actually pushing the Divas at the moment. The problem with that, they're positioning and booking the Divas as if they've actually been built up- at all. That's their first mistake. A month ago, Charlotte was being booked like complete shit- and Paige wasn't anyone significant. Now, in the last two weeks they've Main Evented a RAW, got the longest match on a PPV and now they've got a Title match on RAW. Common theme throughout all of this? The crowd haven't given a single fuck, and really why should they? It's the same with a variety of angles I've been assuming the WWE would be doing/pitching- now they've got somewhat of an injury crisis they're trying to fix months, if not years worth of shit booking that they shouldn't have done in the first place.

It's still bothering me how people can't see the significance of Paige doing the PTO AT ALTITUDE!!!!1!!!1! but I can get over it.

Proof that Ryback is a dick. 
Heath Slater, the generous fellow that he is decides "You Know What? We're in Nashville, I'll give them a Concert for free!". Then, Ryback being the dick that he is decides to wreck it for everyone by interrupting and attacking Slater.

Dolph Ziggler & Dean Ambrose v Tyler Breeze & Kevin Owens
So, in my Survivor Series Predictions I said there was no good reason for Breeze to be beaten by Ziggler. At least in that respect they didn't, but really what was the point when they beat Breeze the next night? I'm not saying Ambrose shouldn't have won last night- I'm saying Breeze shouldn't have been taking the Pin. Worst of all, SUMMER FUCKING RAE STILL DOESN'T HAVE FLUFFY BOOTS. I'M TEMPTED TO START A GOFUNDME.

Advertising Acid Trip
I genuinely have no clue what they were advertising. I suppose that isn't helped by the fact I'm in the UK and I'm not really familiar with American Products- but still. With that said, I did get a laugh out of "JBL-Torito". I'm deeply ashamed of myself.

Roman Reigns v Rusev
This was really as good as it could have been. Roman Reigns v Rusev is proof, if proof was needed that Vince is absolutely loving it at the moment. You've got the muscular, "super" Babyface wrestling a Foreign Heel as the Main Event of RAW. It's definitely a weird situation we're in now, because they haven't scrapped the "European Faction" with Sheamus joining The Authority. It's definitely interesting in that respect, because it could mean Rusev and/or Barrett turning Babyface. While I don't think that's likely, it's a possibility- and one that's interesting. With the number of people out injured, I'm just looking for any reason to invest in the Main Event scene at present really.

The match was (shockingly) pretty standard, the problem this match had was such a basic one it was stupid. Neither could afford to lose. Roman Reigns wasn't losing after what happened at Survivor Series, and it was what happened at Survivor Series that meant Rusev couldn't lose either. If you're counting the Cross-Armbreaker as a Finish, Reigns took I believe 4 Finishers at Survivor Series- and wrestled two matches. Had a returning Rusev lost to Reigns after that he'd have been dead in his first day back. I've got no clue what they're going to be doing going forward, but I didn't mind this whole segment.

This RAW was almost too standard. It didn't have anything "bad" really, other than some stupid booking decisions- and at the same time there wasn't anything that can be described as anything other than average. I know that Post-Tournament they're trying to get as many angles on the "board" as possible, and I do think we'll see some improvement in the next few weeks- but for now it was just so "meh".

Thanks for reading as always, as I said there really was no point in doing a Survivor Series Review when there wasn't much to say. I'd rather skip a Review than deliver a short one, or just one where I've padded it out with bullshit. I mean, a lot of what I say is bullshit- but I at least believe it. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a good week- this if the last Wrestling Post of November- and as we head into December it's Sammy Season. I hope you're looking forward to all of that with a busy December on here- as well as the small matter of Christmas.

Survivor Series Predictions

It's been a nice, quiet build up to tonight's PPV this week. There's nothing that significant that's happened throughout the week. Unless, of course I've missed something. Actually, it's all coming back to me now- Adam Rose and Brad Maddox teamed up on Main Event. But seriously, this week has been fucked up- there's not many other ways to say it.

I suppose now it's a much clearer picture I'll talk a bit more about the Charlotte and Reid Flair stuff. Do I think it's fucked up what they did? Absolutely. Does it surprise me in any way? Nope. Firstly, I do agree up to a point with people freaking out over the angle and then saying they want the Attitude Era back- up to a point. The angle whatever else you may say definitely had an edge to it, but I don't deny it wasn't the "right" kind of edge. The WWE putting it all on Charlotte, well firstly I don't buy it- but it's about as much as far as damage control they can do. Ric got in-front of it all and washed his hands of the whole thing early, so they pretty much had to put it on Charlotte to save any face from the whole thing. I said it in my RAW Review as well, it's not my place to get offended by it- so instead I'm just going to laugh at WWE's stupidity. On top of it all, as a result of the Charlotte stuff the WWE are basically putting an embargo on their Talent talking to "unapproved" journalists. So basically, as a result of the Charlotte/Paige angle the WWE have resorted to becoming a dictatorship.

Now there's the small matter of a possible ISIS attack. When I started this Blog about a Year and a Half ago I never thought I'd be talking about a possible Terrorist Attack. Do I believe there's going to be one? No. The fact is when Anonymous didn't give out their "sources" it may as well have been confirmed it was just a load of people on Message-Boards scrolling through Twitter looking for something threatening. The thing I've found in the aftermath of things like what happened in Paris, people are jumpy for a long time. In that respect it annoys me that there's constant news coverage of things like what happened in Paris. I acknowledge it's a news story, but as long as it remains the "big" news story it's impossible to move on. Intelligence Agencies will be working overtime at the minute to prevent another Paris, if there's another threat you can fucking guarantee they'll be all over it. The furore over "Where will ISIS attack next?" is just fearmongering and generates panic- and that's exactly what Terrorists of any kind want.

Now let's get down to the serious business, and annoyingly there's not a match booked for the Pre-Show. It's annoying because it factors into any Prediction I may be doing for the Survivor Series match on the Main Card and who's involved. If I had to make a Prediction for the Pre-Show Match I'd say it would be Sasha Banks v Natalya, but it can just as easily be a million other things. Such as Adam Rose & Brad Maddox wrestling.

Roman Reigns v Alberto Del Rio- WWE Title Tournament
This one's a tricky one. This match could truly go either way, we've got two wrestlers who both are- ah fuck it. Roman will win. It goes without saying that Roman's going to win, unless of course they go for the scenario I wanted on Monday with Reigns losing to Cesaro and then taking Triple H's offer before inserting himself into the Final and winning the Title. I love this idea, because it can genuinely set-up the entire Non-Part Timer Main Event scene between now and Mania. The whole thing would be centred around if Reigns is good enough to win the "big one" on his own. In an attempt to prove that he's "the man" he'd be taking on all sorts of challenges with wacky stipulations against "the best" and winning with shenanigans every time. Then at Wrestlemania, as a Heel he beats one of Cena, Undertaker or Lesnar clean as a sheet- proving that he is "good enough" before transitioning back into a Babyface Juggernaut.

The only actual prediction in this section is the placement on the Card. For pretty much endless reasons I think Reigns is going to be wrestling first, although if I'm The Authority I'd be putting Reigns' match just before the Final. I guess that'll be one of life's mysteries. Good Guy Authority.
Winner: Roman Reigns

Dean Ambrose v Kevin Owens- WWE Title Tournament
There's at least slightly more debate when it comes to the outcome of this one. Actually, I take that back there's less. Because once Vince inevitably reads the scenario I've booked for Reigns as a result of losing he's going to be rewriting the whole show. There's about a 1 in a Million chance we don't get a Reigns/Ambrose Final, but I'd have probably said the same about Gable & Jordan not being in the Final had I have done Predictions for the last Takeover. If nothing else, this match should be pretty fucking good.
Winner: Dean Ambrose

Survivor Series 5v5 Match
There's literally a million intangibles when even attempting to Predict this match. As I said, I'm working on the basis of the Pre-Show match being Natalya v Sasha Banks- not involving New Day, The Usos etc.

If I had to guess the teams I'd say it's The Usos, Ryback and The Dudleys v New Day and The Ascension. The reason I'm not saying Sheamus and Barrett to partner New Day is I believe Barrett's got an injury. Working on the basis of those Teams, and as I've said those Teams may well be wrong- I think the Babyfaces will win. I'm not going to predict a "clean sweep", I do think Xavier will somehow lose in 2 Seconds- but it won't be a clean sweep. The Ascension and Xavier will be killed pretty quickly, then Big E & Kofi will "unicorn up" and through a variety of shenanigans pin D-Von and one of the Usos. They might even get rid of Bubba by DQ as a result of doing a Tables Spot, but given how they've built it up I think Kofi and Big E will be taking a Shellshocked and Splash each.
Winner: The Usos, Ryback & The Dudleys

Tyler Breeze v Dolph Ziggler
Firstly, SUMMER FUCKING RAE HAD BETTER HAVE GOTTEN SOME FLUFFY FUCKING BOOTS. Thinking back to it all, I think Sasha Banks had some for a night- so it can't be that hard to get a hold of them. Oh yeah, there's a match that's happening. It's way too soon to be beating Breeze, and a win for Ziggler against Breeze would mean absolutely nothing- and it's for that exact reason that they might just end up doing it. Perhaps against my better judgement, I'm going to give them the benefit of the doubt when it comes to doing something stupid.
Winner: Tyler Breeze

The Wyatts (Bray Wyatt & Braun Strowman) v The Brothers of Destruction
If you've either read previous Predictions Posts, or have simply worked out how I lay them out in this one- you'll know I'm predicting a possibly shocking outcome here. That's right, on the 25th Anniversary of The Undertaker I'm predicting a loss on the part of The Brothers of Destruction. This is the one where I'm most likely going to be wrong, but the fact is Strowman's never been Pinned- and Bray is in a much higher position than Kane as far as standings go. I'm not suggesting for one second that Taker will be pinned, but I can easily see either Strowman choking out Kane or Bray Abigailing him to get the win for the Wyatts. It all depends on how much Taker's pushing himself for what is most likely his "retirement tour". If Taker's doing TLC, then it's even more obvious that The Wyatts will win setting up a Taker/Bray match at TLC. Even then, if he isn't Taker doesn't need to take the Pin- and The Wyatts need the win.
Winner: The Wyatts

Charlotte v Paige- Divas Title
The Reid Flair situation has definitely been a big talking point, and I genuinely believe it's changed the outcome of this match. If they take the Title off of Charlotte now I can see a lot of people "Backstage" getting pissed at the whole thing. Their line of thought being "They had Reid Flair brought up, and then she loses the Belt less than week later". Before the Reid Flair stuff I genuinely believed Paige was going to win, and she may still do so- but I highly doubt it.
Winner: Charlotte

Roman Reigns v Dean Ambrose- WWE Title Tournament Final
Going back to my "Roman wondering whether he's good enough to win the Title" angle, another way they could go about it is to have Sheamus cash-in during the match in a repeat of the Rollins match and win the Title. The reason I'm not going to predict that, is because while it's more likely than it was before the Rollins injury- I still believe Sheamus isn't cashing in until Ninja Turtles 2 time. Another angle I discussed was the Ambrose injury one they teased in his first Tournament match, and that could have come into play with a "natural" turn within the match- with Reigns just beating the shit out of Ambrose's shoulder for 15 Minutes. Especially with Ambrose facing Owens, the chances of there being Post-Match shenanigans involving Owens and possibly an Apron Powerbomb- that door is still somewhat open.

It may be just because I don't want to set myself up for disappointment, but I genuinely believe that Roman Reigns is walking in as a Babyface, and is leaving as a Babyface with the WWE Title. He'll be (I think) the first to kick out of Dirty Deeds, it'll take a couple of Spears- Reigns will win the Title and Ambrose will congratulate him before leaving to let him have his moment. There is a chance Ambrose wins tonight or turns on him after, because he wasn't shown beating backstage with Triple H when Cesaro, Del Rio and Owens were on RAW- but that can be taken in a number of ways.
Winner: Roman Reigns

I've realised the longer I've gone on in these Predictions that well, they aren't Predictions. Consider this the return of the Booking Blogs- and with the Royal Rumble, and my booking of the Royal Rumble match on the horizon that's a good thing. I don't know what I'm expecting in-terms of show quality tonight. I thought we'd get a really good show at Hell in a Cell and I was proven right, but I'm genuinely not sure tonight. There's definitely potential in the card, and Reigns and Ambrose is definitely a Main Event worthy match- but at the same time there's not one that jumps out to me. There's a lot of matches that could go either way in short.

Thanks for reading as always. These Predictions are of course entirely my opinion so feel free to disagree with me on any of them. It goes without saying that, even if you don't want Reigns to win- the important thing tonight is everyone goes to and leaves the venue safely and without incident. The riots as a result of Roman winning can take place during RAW. Thanks again for reading, the Review is obviously following the Predictions- and hopefully you'll be back here tomorrow for them. In the meantime I hope you'll be tagging along on Twitter for more aimless musings- but confined to 140 Characters or less.

MK Dons v Fulham Review: Missed Chances and Manager Woes

Well, that was all very underwhelming really. If Peter Grant wants the job full-time that wasn't exactly a good first impression today. I think I said in my Preview that unless Nigel Pearson was demanding a pet Unicorn we should just give him what he wants. Well, does anyone have a Unicorn going spare? It's not even that we were horrifically bad today, I'm not saying there weren't bad points in our game today- but there we some definite good ones as well. Overall I'd say a point was the fair result on balance, neither team can say they deserved to win with a straight face- let's put it that way.

After the result today, and with no mid-week game this week the attentions will be firmly back on the Managerial Situation before the Preston game next weekend. I did see something Nigel Pearson related that came out last night that is the apparent stumbling block in us appointing him- his Assistants. Supposedly Pearson won't come on board without his Assistants that he had at Leicester, the problem with that of course being they're still at Leicester. I'm not even considering the compensation angle to the whole thing- although that is of course an issue. Ranieri clearly likes them enough to keep them on board, so why would they leave Leicester who are currently top of the Premier League in order to join Fulham where our ridiculously ambitious aspirations at present are to get 6th in the Championship. As I also said in my Preview, if not Nigel Pearson then I want Oscar Garcia. If we don't get a new Manager in soon, it's not the end of the world to me- however if we can appoint someone soon and capitalise on the good run of fixtures we've got to generate some momentum then who knows where we'll end up as a result of it.

Right then, onto the goals. Not for the first time this month Dan Burn's had a hand in a goal we've conceded. I can't exactly say it's surprising that he did so, at least Peter Grant saw enough sense to not want to start him prior to the game and it was only because of Ream being ill that he did so. In fairness to Bowditch it was a pretty good finish all things considered, and within the context of the game MK Dons did deserve the goal at the time. I'm not quite sure how Dembele didn't already have a goal when he put the ball in the back of the net for the equaliser. With that said, he made up for without a doubt a contender for the "Miss of the Season" by getting the goal- however fortunate it may have been to get through to him.

I thought Joe Lewis was pretty decent today. He couldn't have done much for the Bowditch goal, which has been the main criticism of him as a result of a handful of the goals we conceded against Burnley and Birmingham. Lewis made a number of decent saves throughout the game, not necessarily any outstanding ones- but he did his job when called upon for the most part.

Dan Burn is a complete liability. As I already said, thankfully it appears as though Peter Grant wasn't actually going to play him today- therefore we don't have to send the Men in White Coats to Motspur Park. That's a positive. It wasn't even just the goal today, he was the worst player on the pitch. It's genuinely baffling to me how some people rate Dan Burn- but Haters Gonna Hate, right Dan? Stearman was better, but that isn't necessarily saying much. The thing I've noticed with Stearman is as far as performances go he usually performs to the level of the players surrounding him- but in general he's just that bit better than said players because of his ability. Garbutt had another shocker today, I'm genuinely thinking the whole Garbutt coming in thing was just an excuse for Roberto Martinez to fast-track Galloway without annoying Garbutt. Garbutt is supposedly the next Leighton Baines, but at the rate he's going he's going to end up at Leyton Orient. He's done absolutely nothing to make himself be considered above James Husband. Once Husband's gone back- and hopefully without a Transfer Embargo I'd be getting a Centre-Back in January to partner Stearman and then be starting Ream at Left-Back. I said in my Preview that Ryan Fredericks had to be managed carefully when it came to Injuries, and I don't think it's been confirmed yet- but I can't see Grant wanting to inflict Kay Voser on us unless he had to.

Jamie O'Hara wasn't the best he's been this season, but the fact he improved as much as he did from the last few games before the Internationals to today means it was his fitness that was causing the problems for him. Of the three options up for the Man of the Match today I'd be going for O'Hara, but it's not as if we're spoilt for choice on that front off the back of the game today. The Tunnicliffe injury is a really unfortunate one. I said it at the end of last season, some people won't realise how crucial Tunnicliffe is to the balance of the team until he gets injured- and while I obviously hope I'm wrong I think it'll hit us quite hard. Tom Cairney was quite indifferent today, it's annoying because in the sort of game we were in today a player with Cairney's ability may have been able to provide the extra bit of quality we needed to turn the 1 Point into all three. I'm willing to give Peter Grant some leeway, because he's simply not a Manager. However, what on earth possessed him to start Sean Kavanagh today? Going back to what I was saying in my Preview yesterday, there must be some reason we're not aware of as to why Kacaniklic isn't starting. He wasn't even on the Bench today, and we were starting Sean Kavanagh! Kavanagh proved himself to be a complete lightweight last season, and he didn't do much to get rid of that label today. I can get my head around, and rationalise a lot of what happened today- but the Kavanagh selection is just truly baffling.

Speaking of things I'm strugging to get my head around, I genuinely have absolutely no clue how Dembele missed the chance he did. You've got Dembele, who's just been given the "Young Player of the Month" for October at most 3 or 4 Yards out with an Open Goal- how he managed to miss it is beyond me. However, as already said he did make up for it with the goal he later scored. Dembele's still young, and he will make mistakes like the one he did today as he develops. Thankfully, he's also got enough ability and the mental strength at the age he's at to not let it become "one of those days" and get the goal he did. McCormack had a weird game, I'm starting to question what his "best" is- because I seemingly say McCormack wasn't at his best in every game this season. On another day McCormack would have had another Assist and possibly a Goal to add to the Assist he got between Dembele's miss and his shot that was cleared off the line.

The Subs Grant made were quite good all things considered. I'm working on the basis that both of the Subs were enforced- and with that in mind I thought they acquitted themselves well enough when called upon. Neither Voser or Mattila are going to set the world alight, but especially in Mattila's case they look like good enough players to play a part when called upon. It may just be because Voser's Voser, but I never quite trusted him when he was on the ball- but on the whole he do anything to cost us the game- so by Voser standards that's at least an 8/10.

Depending on when we make the Managerial Appointment, I may well be doing a separate post where I'll expand on this. I fundamentally believe despite the good work Mike Rigg did in the Summer we're still a bit short in some areas of the squad- and a new Manager/Head Coach will have to address those before we even start thinking about the Top 6. Depending on what Formation we want to play we perhaps need another Winger, especially with Alex Kacaniklic seemingly being Satan. But, the key area where we need to improve is at Centre-Back. I genuinely believe that if we paired Stearman up with a genuinely quality Centre-Back they'd both get the best out of each other. Tim Ream isn't a Centre-Back and Dan Burn is- well Dan Burn. We don't have any depth at Centre-Back, it's one thing to say "we need to build a proper defensive foundation"- but we really only have one Centre-Back who's Championship Quality. Especially if a Transfer Embargo's likely, which nobody who doesn't know the Clubs Finances will be able to tell you- and we can't get a Centre-Back in this season may as well be written off now.

It goes without saying that we need to appoint a new "Head Coach" as soon as possible, but just because we've drawn with MK Dons it doesn't mean we should be panicking and potentially make an appointment we'll regret later. I'd genuinely rather we spent a bit more time sounding out Managers and getting in the "right" selection, than go in for someone who's appointed because it's convenient. Would I like a new Manager in by Monday or Tuesday? Absolutely. Will I be getting on Mike Rigg's back and demanding the sacrifice of his first born child if we haven't done so? Absolutely not.

Thanks for reading as always, as I've made reference to- depending on when we make the new appointment there may well be a separate post going up. So, perhaps keep an eye out for that one- and if there isn't one I'll be back here on Friday for the Preston Preview. It goes without saying that regardless of who's in charge we really need to be winning our Home Games especially against the teams below us. So hopefully we'll be more fortunate on that front, in the meantime let's not hope for a new Manager- let's hope that those in charge make the right decisions for the Club. If that means not panic-appointing a new Manager I can live with that. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a good week- and hey! It could have been worse.

MK Dons v Fulham: The Manager Merry Go Round

Hello! Well, since my last Fulham Post there's not been much going on has there? Where to begin then? I didn't do a Birmingham Review, because to be blunt I was way too tired to actually care after the game a few weekends ago. There wasn't really much to say that I hadn't already said a million times this season with regard to Kit, and even in my Preview for the game I said Kit would be gone if we had a negative result. I was of course right, and Kit was gone pretty soon after the 5th Goal went in. I genuinely believe that Kit Symons will be looked back on as a (relative) success. It may sound weird coming from me, but I genuinely believe it. When Kit came in we were a complete mess, and however unsatisfying it was- he did keep us up last season. When he left a few weeks ago, he left us with a Squad infinitely better than the one he took over with- and while not in an ideal position a decent(ish) platform to challenge for the Top 6 should we get the right Manager in. In that respect I'd genuinely like to thank Kit, and now we have to move on quickly.

I was quite sceptical when the Steve Clarke stuff was practically a done deal according to the Papers. I'm not saying there wasn't any validity to the Steve Clarke rumours, but until I see a Player/Manager posing with their new Clubs Scarf/Shirt I don't believe anything. Especially with Fulham it's the only way to stay sane over the last few seasons. I'm not sure who's going to be taking over now, but I'm genuinely happy it isn't Steve Clarke. I just don't rate him that much. Apart from the season where he had Romelu Lukaku on Loan, he's never proven himself to be a consistent manager. Even at Reading he's not been that good in my opinion, he actually managed to finish below us last season- and even for the run they went on this season they're only 4 Points better off than us. Putting it simply, Steve Clarke would have been another hot and cold Manager- apart from costing us more to get him on board and most likely in the Wages. Apart from the Reading FA Cup run and their run directly after the Transfer Window closed when their squad had a "new toy" freshness, Reading really haven't been that good under him.

Now we get onto who'll actually be our new Manager. Firstly, as I've already said with regard to Paper Talk- I'm not buying into the "Talks Broke Down" angle with Nigel Pearson. Even if they have broken down I'm expecting us to re-go after him now Steve Clarke has turned us down. The varying reactions to the Nigel Pearson rumour has been quite entertaining- and to those who point blank don't want him. Well, you're Ostriches. I'm not saying Nigel Pearson will be sunshine and rainbows 24/7, but he'll get results. The season Leicester went up they had the second most amount of Goals Scored, of which we're already on course to do as a minimum this season- but crucially the third lowest amount of Goals Conceded. I'm not saying I'd not even necessarily be expecting us to get Playoffs this season, and Pearson did need a few cracks and some significant investment to get it "right". However, when he did- well you know where Leicester are now with largely the same squad Pearson put together. In short, unless Pearson is demanding something like a pet Unicorn- let's just pay what we need to get him in.

If not Pearson then there's very limited options, I don't want Jimmy Floyd Hasselbaink. I'd liken him in a few ways to Paul Ince in that they looked quite promising at lower levels and then they "moved up" too soon should we get him. I point blank don't want Curbishley or Grant. There's no chance we get Rodgers or Moyes, I wouldn't be too keen on Paul Tisdale or Uwe Rosler. In fact, the only Manager other than Pearson who I (realistically) would want (Rowett isn't impossible, but 99.9% not likely) is Oscar Garcia. The only problem I can foresee should we appoint Oscar Garcia is we'd be putting someone in charge of Fulham with documented Chest Problems. That's a death in the dugout waiting to happen.

I've seen a lot of criticism coming in over the last week with regard to not appointing a new Manager before this game, some of it justified. But some of the stuff that's been said with regard to Mike Rigg is frankly ridiculous. He's just overseen one of the best Transfer Windows we've had in recent memory, I'm willing to give him the benefit of the doubt when it comes to him not finding a new Manager yet. Should Rigg have had someone lined up given Kit's precarious position? Absolutely. However, that's obviously not been the case- all we can do is swiftly move on and hope that we get someone in before Preston. Preferably at the latest next Monday/Tuesday.

Moving onto tomorrows game, it's definitely going to be an interesting one. I genuinely feel sorry for those of you reading these from abroad because that Peter Grant Interview put up on Youtube must have been near impossible to understand for you. Don't worry too much though, Grant didn't really say much- and annoyingly given some of the injuries we had prior to the International Break there wasn't any specific Team News. In that regard I'm flying somewhat blind for the Team Selection, but I'll do my best.

Andy Lonergan's Injury was supposedly putting him out for "4 to 6 Weeks" back when it happened about 3 Weeks ago, so I'm assuming that he isn't ready to return yet. Of course, with Andy Lonergan's absence it means Joe Lewis will continue in goal. All we can really hope for is for Joe Lewis' "Goals Conceded" column to remain as low as possible after he's conceded 8 in his last two games.

The Defensive Selection is interesting in regard to who's actually going to be available, and deploying those available options in the best way possible. It's quite hard to say what the selection will be not really knowing what Formation Peter Grant will favour. With that in mind I'm just going to entirely do "my" selection for tomorrow's game. I remember Kit saying that Jazz Richards will be back after the Internationals- I think I'm rightfully a bit wary when it comes to Ryan Fredericks and his nagging injuries. When it comes to Fredericks, especially with the busy Christmas Schedule coming up very quickly I'd rather we alternated between the two for now. Obviously with James Husband being suspended tomorrow his stupid Red Card against Birmingham, Luke Garbutt will come in- and hopefully he'll put in a performance to properly stake a claim on the position to try and keep Husband out of the team up until he goes back to Boro after the Brentford game. When it comes to Centre-Backs, I don't think I need to tell you who'd be dropping out as a result of going back to a 4. If I were the new Manager, and assuming the Transfer Embargo stuff is just rumour- I'd be looking at signing another Centre-Back in January to get a proper partner for Stearman. But for now I'm happy for Tim Ream to be his partner, just keep him away from Right-Back.

As far as the Midfield goes, I'd be expecting a few changes from Kit's last selection- of which Kit really should have done. If I were fully in charge I'd be playing 4-3-3 for tomorrow's game. Similar to the Reading game where we ironically got the best of Steve Clarke. As far as the selection for tomorrow's game goes I'd be definitely expecting Tom Cairney and Ryan Tunnicliffe to continue in the Midfield and be the two more attacking Midfield options. With Jamie O'Hara, I'm not really sure what to make of him at present. The only explanation I can really think of to explain his drop in form is a fitness issue, so coming off the International Break that may well have been remedied. However, similar to the Ryan Fredericks situation I want us start alternating between O'Hara and Parker. This is especially important for me heading into tomorrow's game with no new Manager in place, having a
proper leader on the pitch in Scott Parker would be invaluable for me.

When it comes to attacking options, If Alex Kacaniklic doesn't start starting under the new Manager I'm going to start thinking he's got an attitude problem in training or something. There really is no good reason for Kacaniklic not to be starting given the attacking threat he's been providing in recent times. Genuinely, if someone can give me a valid reason for why Kacaniklic shouldn't be starting I'd LOVE to hear it. It's not going to take a PhD to guess who the other two attacking options will be in the rotating 4-3-3. I did see Dembele's Interview in the Break where he basically said "talk to my agents" with regard to his Fulham Future. For now I'm not that worried about him in that regard, I'm more thinking about Dembele from an on-the-pitch standpoint heading into the Christmas Schedule that of course completely derailed Christensen last season. Especially now we've got multiple attacking options and the ability to play multiple systems it isn't worth starting Dembele in every game over the next Month/Month and a half.

Team for MK Dons

I'd said at the time of Kit's sacking on Twitter that I had a weird feeling that we'd end up doing an appointment similar to Alex Neil coming in at Norwich. In that, well they were hardly known by anyone before they came in. I've made my Nigel Pearson preference clear, but really unless it's someone like Harry Redknapp I'd be willing to give whoever get in charge a go. I think I said back in August that we'd end up sacking Kit when it was too late and Allardyce would already be at Sunderland- and well, yeah. I'm not going to revise my Pre-Season Prediction yet with regard to High Mid-Table and pushing the Playoffs before collapsing around March yet- it all comes down to the appointment.

Thanks for reading as usual. These next few weeks are going to be the calm before the storm as far as Posts go. Heading into the Christmas Period these posts will obviously be coming out quite frequently so I hope you keep coming back for them. It's definitely good for attentions to be back on the pitch (at least for now) for the game tomorrow after the International Break before we inevitably get back to the Rumour Mill from Sunday up until either we appoint someone or the Preston game. We can only hope for the best heading into tomorrow's game, and really a very winnable run of games coming up. Thanks again for reading, as I said let's just hope for the best tomorrow- and that the Review tomorrow will be a positive one.

RAW Review: 16th November

Hello! Yes, the Reviews are finally back- it's been way too long. I wasn't anticipating having such a big gap this Month, but a combination of the International Break and me being way too tired to do a RAW Review last week- and well, here we are. Last Weeks RAW wasn't great, it was just a load of stuff that happened, but it was a Taped Show which took away any ounce of unpredictability that there still is in the WWE (more later). The Ratings/Viewership for last weeks show definitely reflected the general state of the product for last week, but with last night being the Go-Home for Survivor Series you had to hope there'd be an upswing.

The Brothers of Destruction & The Wyatts Promo
I didn't mind this segment. As far as Opening Segments go it's far from the worst one we've had this year, that almost goes without saying. Especially in the case of Taker and Bray's Promos they're so "out there" in the build for this match that they can be quite hit and miss. With that said I thought they both did a good enough job to sell the match. The Druids stuff was a bit weird, there'll inevitably be a "Did You Know?" "X" was a Druid and now he's Main Eventing Wrestlemania in 6 or 7 Years- but I'm convinced the Druids were actually children given their size. It's stupid that pretty much everything Bray does is make him look a bit shit.

The idea that they DIDN'T do a Survivor Series match between The Wyatts, The Brothers of Destruction and others is ridiculous. Instead we're getting a standard Tag Match where Bray may not even be involved. Not only that, it's The Undertaker and Kane- neither exactly work an "up tempo" style and a Survivor Series match will have given the opportunity to balance that out. I'm not saying the match will be bad on Sunday, but the idea of Kane wrestling Strowman/Rowan doesn't exactly excite me.

Kevin Owens v Neville- WWE Title Tournament
I don't think saying this match was good would surprise anyone. I know I say this a lot when it's "Good Worker A v Good Worker B" but it genuinely would be more of a surprise if they delivered a bad match.

It was arguably the main talking point from RAW along with the stuff they said in the Main Event, but the stuff with Owens being called "lazy" by Sabrina the Teenage Witch was quite funny. I'm not saying it's funny and she doesn't know what she's talking about, because to an extent I agree with her. I've made reference to it, without making it a big thing- but Owens isn't getting "lazy" but he's regressing slightly. When Owens debuted against Cena he was the leanest he's probably ever been as a Wrestler. Since then he's put a noticeable amount of weight back on- and while I don't care, he's just begging for Vince to take a disliking to him. That more than anything else is what's annoyed me about Owens over the last few months.

Tyler Breeze v R-Truth
They're really pissing me off with this Summer Rae/Tyler Breeze pairing. It is literally the easiest thing in the world to make these two seem like a "proper" pairing. FLUFFY STUFF. GET SUMMER RAE A PAIR OF FLUFFY BOOTS, GIVE HER A FLUFFY SLEEVELESS HOODIE AND HAVE SUMMER AND TYLER COLOUR COORDINATE. Of all the things I thought I'd be doing when I started this Blog about a Year and a Half ago- I didn't think I'd have to give Wardrobe Advice. Oh Yeah, there was a match- it was standard really.

Dean Ambrose v Dolph Ziggler- WWE Title Tournament
I liked this match, without ever getting close to any sort of "big" reaction/feeling toward it. The crowd weren't into much last night, but this match being Babyface v Babyface in-front of the crowd they had last night wasn't the best idea. They didn't know who they wanted to win, so they just randomly cheered stuff and never got that invested into the match. There isn't really much to talk about for this match, there was a load of moves, Dolph didn't nearly kill himself with a Headbutt this time- and Ambrose won. That's pretty much it.

The Ambrose Promo after was unnecessary. I rarely like After-Match Promos because they're usually quite "breathy" and the Ambrose Promo wasn't an exception. It just annoyed me more than anything else, and the "Ambrose Asylum" line was horrendous.

New Day v Ryback & The Usos
Can someone, anyone explain the logic of having Ryback being the focal point of this match? While it's not been announced I think it's accepted we're getting New Day v The Usos this Sunday. Then we've got Ryback who isn't even going to be on the card and just lost to Kalisto. Logic would have been to have New Day win with shenanigans/The Usos win by pinning Xavier. Instead the guy who isn't even on the card for Survivor Series ON THE GO-HOME SHOW destroying the Tag Champs. Sometimes I hate this show.

Triple H & Cesaro Backstage
The little Backstage things they did with Cesaro, Del Rio and Owens were pretty good all things considered. I'll talk about it more in the next segment, but the idea that Triple H needs "a guy" is an interesting angle and one they should/could still act upon with Roman.

Roman Reigns v Cesaro- WWE Title Tournament
The match was good, I'll start with that. The thing is, with these two in terms of a number of fans if it hadn't have been good all the blame would have been on Roman- and if it was then Cesaro "carried" him. But, it was a good match- and one that was quite fun. The problem with this match- and the tournament in general is it's just way too predictable. If anyone didn't have the four Semi-Finalists as the four Semi-Finalists when they predicted it then there's something wrong with them.

The thing is, they could easily have made this Tournament infinitely more interesting in an instant if Cesaro had won here. Every Tournament needs either an Underdog Story or an Upset to increase interest. Recent example being Japan beating South Africa in the Rugby World Cup. This Tournament hasn't had anything like that, and as already said it's been ridiculously predictable.

It's not even like Cesaro winning here meant Roman couldn't get the Title. It would have been such a simple angle to do, Roman loses and panics thinking he's lost his chance at the Title (again), takes Triple H's offer and gets inserted into the Final of the Tournament late on in the match (fucking over Ambrose in the process) and gets the Title. Then he says it was fair game seeing as the same thing happened to him at Mania, and it all goes from there. I don't like "short-term" booking designed to spike interest usually- but this is a case where I'd not only have encouraged it, but begged for it.

The Dudleys v The Ascension
To be blunt, why are The Dudleys still on the road? It's New Day and The Usos for presumably Survivor Series and TLC at the absolute minimum- although it may be The Dudleys, New Day and The Usos as a TLC Triple Threat next month thinking about it. The problem in that scenario is The Dudleys have lost so much momentum since they've been back- and New Day are as good as they are it's not even worth putting the Titles on The Dudleys at this point. One thing I'm certain about, having The Dudleys squash The Ascension again isn't going to change my mind about that.

Alberto Del Rio v Kalisto- WWE Title Tournament
The match was fun, but again it was way too predictable. They could have easily had Kalisto win this- again they need an upset in this Tournament, if nothing else than to shake the predictable feel of the Tournament. Del Rio's already back to his Pre-Return levels in-terms of interest because of this awful MexAmerica angle. I'm not saying they should be beating Del Rio left, right and centre- but seeing as they've abandoned the Swagger angle they could easily turn Kalisto and Del Rio into an angle. Then later down the road have Sin Cara turn on Kalisto and join Del Rio and Zeb and go from there. Again, this is not hard to do- so why WWE don't do it is beyond me.

Paige & Charlotte Contract Signing
Right then, this is going to be interesting. Firstly, this segment shouldn't have been the Main Event segment. I even said that before what happened, happened. The Divas have to be built to the point where they fit into a Main Event segment- they can't just be shoe-horned in as they were last night. It's stupid, nothing about the build for this match has indicated that it should be anywhere near the Main Event of RAW. I refuse to accept them being put in the Main Event, it's like that weird time-period last year where Mark Henry "rallying America" against fucking Rusev was in the Main Event. It just doesn't "fit".

Now onto what actually happened in the segment. I've seen varying reactions when it comes to the Reid comments. Call this a cop out, but I'm genuinely on the fence about it. For people saying how Charlotte and Ric must have agreed to it, I direct you to the Paul Bearer stuff where his Kids consented to Punk and Taker doing the angle. Then Punk did the urn stuff with Bearer's "ashes" which they knew about- and then hated in execution. Also, Charlotte's been on the Main Roster for around about 6 Months- she wasn't saying "no" to anything the writers suggested once they said she was Main Eventing. At the end of the day, it's Wrestling- there isn't much room for personal feelings and if it convinced one person to either buy the PPV or sign up for the WWE Network then it did it's job. I didn't like it, not for the Reid comments- but it was just a generally shit angle with bad execution.

Overall this RAW wasn't great. It might be because I've been a bit under the weather recently- but I just struggled to really engage in the show last night. There was just a load of stuff happening with varying degrees of stupidity. With that said, we can only hope for the best from Survivor Series where we've got another two Reigns matches to look forward to! Oh the joy!

Thanks for reading as always, I'm sorry for missing last weeks Review- but there really wasn't much to be said about it and it would have been rushed because I was tired to the point where I slept right through until about an Hour before I try and put these up. Anyway, they're back now- and hopefully here to stay. November was always going to be a bit of a slow month, but December promises to be a busy one- and you'll see the return of The Sammy Awards. So that's something to look forward to.Thanks again for reading, I'll be back with the Survivor Series Predictions on Sunday- in the mean time have a good week AND SOMEONE GET SUMMER RAE SOME FLUFFY BOOTS FOR FUCK SAKE.

Fulham v Birmingham Preview: A Big Test

Hello! We're back already. It's been a quick turnaround of games in the last week, but with the International Break just around the corner and Kit's job not exactly being secure at the moment a result tomorrow is an absolute must. The positive on that front is Birmingham, however good they are- they're in the middle of a "blip" at the moment. In that respect it's a good time to be playing them, or at least it is on paper. In the respect of a "blip" it's similar to the Reading and Boro games in that they're really good teams, but we caught them at a good time.

Despite the Bristol City and Reading games, Kit's job is still far from secure- and should we lose tomorrow the questions will most definitely start to be asked again with regard to his future. I'm not saying the Reading (2nd Half) and Bristol City games weren't good performances, but they haven't cancelled out the vast majority of 2015. A negative result tomorrow and I genuinely wouldn't rule out Kit getting sacked in spite of the two games prior to Burnley. I'm not saying Birmingham should be a game where we win, but if we're serious about the Playoffs as Khan has stated we should be (as has Kit) we need to be trying to make up the gap between us and the teams above us ASAP.

It's funny, not so long ago I was praising us for having good strength in depth- but a few games later and we're looking pretty bare in some areas. It's definitely going to be interesting to see how we patch them up, specifically in one position. One position where we're missing a few players is Goalkeeper, but as I said in my Burnley Review I'm perfectly happy for Joe Lewis to be playing in Goal in Andy Lonergan's absence. Even though Lewis hasn't kept a Clean Sheet for us, it's not been for the lack of trying and in general I thought he's played decent when he's been given the opportunity.

Right then, the Right-Back problem. We've got Ryan Fredericks out injured after Wednesday's game. I said it in the Burnley Review, Fredericks is a very capable player- but he's gotten injured three times in just over 2 Months that he's been at the Club. Then we've got Jazz Richards who according to Kit won't be back until the MK Dons game, this of course leaves us without our two main Right-Backs- a situation that I'll admit I didn't actually see coming. The problem for us now is, with Jack Grimmer nowhere near being ready after the Wycombe game and Kay Voser not being with the squad at the moment we're ridiculously thin at Right-Back now.

The way I see it we've got three potential options for the Right-Back role tomorrow, and really none of them are ideal. A lot of it comes down to the Formation Kit uses, because we're already struggling when it comes to "normal" Right-Backs let alone Wing-Backs. I think our problems at Right-Back necessitate moving back to a 4-at-the-Back Formation for tomorrow, and the likely option I think is Liam Donnelly making his debut. Without knowing how long Kay Voser's been out with his "family problem" I think Kit recalled Donnelly from Crawley with this scenario in mind. It's not ideal for Donnelly to be making his debut in the way in which he may well end up doing so- but that's Football sometimes. The other likely option is using Richard Stearman in a role he used to play for Wolves a while ago. I'd personally be against this, because for me we can't afford to sacrifice Stearman in the heart of the defence however short we may be at Right-Back. Then the third option is keeping to Kit's new formation and playing a Wing-Back, most likely Christensen- which I'd be against just on the basic reason of form.

I've seen some people suggesting simply playing Garbutt and Husband, with one of them at Right-Back- but that doesn't work for me. It's very rare that a Left-Back, especially in someone like Garbutt's case who's as one-footed as he is can convert to the other side of the defence. With that in mind it's a lot more likely Garbutt and Husband will be fighting it out for one spot again, and nothing's changed with regard to my preference with Husband an Garbutt- and it won't until Husband does something to make that change. Should we be playing Stearman at Right-Back it'll open up a Centre-Back spot, and as it's on the Right-Hand side of the defence it's likely we bring in Shaun Hutchinson. However, as I've already said I don't want/think that'll happen either way. One thing I'd like to see explored if Kit's intent on playing this new formation would be to have Stearman as the Central Centre-Back with Ream and Hutchinson either side- but for now I'll leave that one because all signs point to 4-at-the-back tomorrow with Stearman and Ream in the middle.

Returning to a 4-at-the-back also means the return to "conventional" wingers in Midfield. As I've said a number of times at this point, I want Kacaniklic to get a run in the team. I'm not guaranteeing Kacaniklic getting a run in the team will be fruitful, but he earned a chance at doing so with his performance against Reading. A player who I'm starting to be unsure about really is Jamie O'Hara, and I didn't think I'd be saying that not so long ago. His performance levels are definitely dipping at the moment, I'm not sure if he's playing with a few knocks- or his fitness levels are a problem but there's been a noticeable dip. I'm not going to suggest dropping him, but it wouldn't surprise me if Parker starts starting in place of him for some games in the pretty close future. The other side of the Midfield is business as usual with Tom Cairney and Ryan Tunnicliffe continuing. We just have to hope- especially in Cairney's case that they can make an impact we know they're capable of making.

Reverting to a 4-4-2, or a variation on it will also hopefully mean Ross McCormack playing in his "proper" position. The First-Half at Burnley was so frustrating with regard to McCormack because he was playing so deep it in turn completely isolated Dembele. But hopefully that won't be a problem tomorrow, especially when considering Birmingham's general robustness. We're not any clearer at this stage when it come to Moussa Dembele and a potential new contract. I think that it'll be going on for a while this season, so while it's obviously something we need to be keeping an eye on- I think putting it firmly in the back of our minds will be ideal for the sake of our own sanity. I've already spoken multiple times over with regard to Matt Smith and how he's best used coming off the Bench, and I'll maintain that view until either Dembele or McCormack are injured, dead (although that may be classed as an injury) or ridiculously out of form.

Team for Birmingham

Games like tomorrow are interesting games, and even more interesting tests of the team. I've always said the Playoffs aren't attainable this season, but I'm willing to play along for now and as such we really need a win tomorrow to close the gap on Birmingham to 2 Points. I highly doubt Birmingham would remain in 6th should we win tomorrow, but if we can remain within touching distance of the teams who are likely to be fighting it out for those Playoffs spots there's always a chance. The game tomorrow is a massive test for us, because while Birmingham did get a Point on Tuesday Night- they're currently in their bad phase, of which every team has at one stage of the season. The job we need to do is get stuck into Birmingham early and not let them settle into the match. Much in the way of the Bristol City game, but obviously it's going to be a lot harder to do so given the standard of players difference. 

Losing tomorrow really isn't an option, I know that usually goes without saying- but it's especially true here. I said heading into the Bristol City game that if we lose all three or two out of our next three then I'd be sacking Kit- and however great the Bristol City game turned out to be, it was still just three points on the board. A return of 9 Points out of a possible 21 (24 if we lose tomorrow) since the QPR game simply isn't good enough if we want the Playoffs, especially considering among that run and dropped points were Charlton and Leeds. I'll cross the bridge of who I'd have come in to replace Kit should we lose tomorrow, but if we lose that bridge will definitely be crossed by me- and hopefully those in decision making positions at the Club. 

Thanks for reading as always, the Review will be up tomorrow as usual. Where hopefully I'll be celebrating a great performance and a win as opposed to making a Managerial Shortlist. If nothing else I'm desperate for us to actually perform to a high-level for two halves of the same game. If by chance Kit and the Players are reading this YES, THERE'S TWO HALVES! I KNOW RIGHT? Thanks again for reading, hopefully we can head into the Internationals with a win- it'll make watching England so much more bearable. 

Burnley v Fulham Review: Returning to Normality

That's more like it! We don't want 4 Goals per Game and happiness, we want to be losing 3-1 away to Burnley on a Tuesday in November. I wasn't expecting much in fairness, so my expectations were definitely matched- and in a way it's a good thing. We're Fulham, we can't let ourselves get carried away with this winning thing- if you win too much it loses meaning. On a more serious note, I think my lack of expectations going into the game today has made the loss sort of just "happen" as opposed to getting too worked up about it. The game tonight didn't tell us anything we don't already know, let's put it that way. It's definitely a return to earth after the last two games, but heading into the Birmingham that could be a good thing- because they seem to be losing pace at the minute and if we properly go for them we may well be heading into the Internationals with a win.

Right then, onto the goals. Unless I'm wrong, I don't think Andre Gray scored against us last season- so in that regard at least it could have been worse. When Andre Gray was rumoured to be going to Bristol City people were throwing stats about his conversion rate and all of that stuff. I've said it before, I don't like stats in general because they're used as the basis of an argument- but seeing as we're going with them he's the Top Scorer in the Championship now. You don't get there by accident, and up against Dan Burn tonight it wasn't pretty. I'll have to watch the first Andre Gray goal back, but I think Joe Lewis may have been able to do better for it. As I said, I'm not saying that with 100% certainty, but that's the impression I got. What Dan Burn's doing for Andre Gray's second I just don't know. The ball is played through with the intention of going through to Gray and Burn didn't go with it in favour of pushing up and I think trying to play offside- god knows why. I'm not putting it 100% on Burn because Tim Ream should have covered the run better- but he wouldn't have had to if Burn had defended it better. 

Then the 2nd Half happened. Ross McCormack scores goals, it's mental to think he hadn't even scored for nearly the whole first month of the season. Now I think he's (joint) 3rd Top Goalscorer in the Division. It was a quality finish, and it's just a shame we couldn't get another one with all the pressure we had in the 2nd Half. Burnley's 3rd was against the run of play in the 2nd Half, so in a way it was completely going to happen- because we're Fulham. I think it was Arfield who gave Christensen a bit of a run around before he put the ball in and Taylor finished it off. 

I don't have any objection to Joe Lewis starting, it caught me a bit off guard- but with Andy Lonergan being revealed to be out for "4-6 weeks" it makes a lot more sense and I'm fine with it. As I said, my first impression was Lewis should have done better for Andre Gray's first goal- but on the whole I'm fine with his performance today. There was definitely a lot worse. 

We're not going to be playing against Andre Gray every week, I'll open with that. With that said, if we're serious about the Playoffs as Kit keeps insisting we have to be playing players who are capable of going toe to toe with the best players in the Division. Dan Burn simply isn't. Andre Gray must have thought it was Christmas when he saw Burn in the line-up, and sure enough he destroyed him. He did make a good goal-line clearance at 2-1, I'll give him that- but when we properly went for the Formation change bringing on Kacaniklic I'd have taken off Burn instead of Ream. Also, I've just seen Dan Burn's "Haters" tweet- is it really so hard to admit you should have done better and move on? If you're a Professional Footballer and you play badly do you really think you won't get criticism? 

It wasn't the best night from a defensive standpoint, I think this was much better indicator as to how Kit's new formation will work against proper quality opposition- of which we should be taking points off if the Playoffs are our goal as Kit has kept saying. I've already had my say with regard to Ream doing better for Andre Gray's second, but I do think it was harsh for him to be taken off instead of Burn. Before people talk about Ream and Burn, and Ream getting more leniency because he's a new signing (an argument I've seen on Forums)- I've criticised Tim Ream a lot since we signed him. In fact I've criticised Tim Ream to the point where he blocked me on Twitter. I just need Stearman and all Three Centre-Backs from today will have done so. 

James Husband was pretty much a non-entity in today's game, he got down the line well but he was shut down pretty well for the most part- so credit to Burnley on that front. Ryan Fredericks has shown what he's capable of on the pitch, but his body seemingly doesn't like doing it that often. I make that three injuries in around 2 Months. This is the first time it may properly come back to bite us though with Jazz Richards out until after the International Break as well. SEND FOR KAY! 

The Midfield was almost non-existent in the First-Half. That's really all that can be said about it, in the 2nd Half when we switched to a 4-4-2 we immediately got more into the game, and that allowed us to put a substantial amount of pressure on Burnley. Tunnicliffe did "ok" today, he was by no means the worst player on the pitch today- and in general I thought he did fine. The thing with Tunnicliffe, a lot of the work he does goes unnoticed. I was talking about it when he first came back into the team, his role as an individual is almost secondary to the role he plays in balancing the team and doing the leg-work that others may not necessarily be doing. Cairney got the Assist for McCormack, and in the 2nd Half I thought he did pretty well as we tried to press them and get back into the game. Jamie O'Hara was another pretty neutral party in the game today. His performances are definitely dropping a bit as of late, which is one of the primary reasons I didn't want him playing today because I don't think his fitness levels are great. 

Ross McCormack's such a weird player for us to have. We were effectively playing 5-4-1 in the First-Half as a result of McCormack dropping too deep and that in turn isolated Dembele. He's obviously being asked to play that role, which is fine when we're on the front foot- but the First-Half showed the other side of that and it isn't a good one. As I've already said, Dembele was completely isolated in the First-Half. In the 2nd Half he definitely got into the game more and looked a lot more dangerous, he just couldn't quite get a break. 

Matt Smith coming on and giving us another option up-front was a good move from Kit. Smith's the sort of player where the direct impact he has on the game can vary a lot, but he ALWAYS gives Defenders something to think about which is why he's best coming off the Bench and changing the Striker dynamic. Kacaniklic came on and I thought did fine, unfortunately he didn't have the impact he did coming off the Bench against Reading- but I'm still quite Pro-Kacaniklic getting a run in the team and tonight hasn't dissuaded me from that point of view. As I've already said, Christensen should have done better for the 3rd Goal- and apart from that there wasn't much of note from his performance. 

I've been a lot more critical than I thought I'd be to be perfectly honest. Despite what I've said, we definitely weren't awful- and playing against almost any other team we'd have gotten another goal in the 2nd Half. We also showed in the 2nd Half we can compete with the best teams in the Division, the problem being it was just the 2nd Half. You just have to give credit to Burnley for remaining as defensively sound as they did. I'm willing to give Kit's new formation some more time, but as I said at the time during my Bristol City Review- it really wasn't a good indicator. If we are serious about getting the Playoffs we need to turn our pressure into goals in the sort of situation we found ourselves in during the 2nd Half. 

Thanks for reading as always, we've got the quick turnaround of games- and the Birmingham Preview's going up on Friday. I said it in the Preview as well, the Birmingham game is much more winnable- especially considering the current run they're in the middle of. Similar in many ways to Reading and Boro- and if we don't at least get a point off of them the questions over Kit have to be asked. Thanks again for reading, I hope you have a good rest of your week and come back again on Friday. WE GET TO DO IT ALL AGAIN! 

RAW Review: 2nd November

Hello! It's another RAW Review, so far we're 1 out of 1 for November. As we're getting closer to Survivor Series there obviously needs to be a good build for it- and with the limited time there's been to develop a number of new feuds these last couple of RAW's have definitely been interesting. With there just being last night's RAW and then next week (EDIT: There's actually two RAW's left) before Survivor Series I had reasonably high expectations from a storyline progression standpoint. So the question is, did it deliver?

Roman Reigns, Seth Rollins, Authority Promo
I believe last week I started my campaign to STOP FUCKING GIVING ROMAN REIGNS SCRIPTS/BULLSHIT DIALOGUE. The campaign has not started on the right foot. I'll be perfectly honest, I was only half paying attention during the Reigns Promo- until he just decides to go "fuck it" one day and rip up the script his Promos are never really going to be worth watching. The annoying thing is, I'm 99% sure if they just told Reigns to go out and sell a match with Rollins he'd be able to do it a million times better than their scripts allow him to. The Rollins Promo was, well a Rollins Promo- as was the Authority Promo an Authority Promo. There isn't really a necessary descriptive word for them now, they're just what they are.

I was torn when they announced the Survivor Series match for the Main Event. On the one hand they blew one of the main Survivor Series selling points, but on the other the way they treat the show as if new people are watching every week if anyone new signed up for the Network then job done.

Kevin Owens v Dolph Ziggler
The match wasn't as good a match between these two as it could be. I think that was a lot to do with the fact Owens was wrestling twice, combine that with the fact the crowd were pretty flat throughout and a pretty shaky shenanigans finish it wasn't the best. This isn't anyone's fault other than Kevin Dunn, but they pretty much blew the finish by cutting to Breeze too quickly and that took away from what was already a pretty standard match.

Seth Rollins & Kevin Owens Backstage
In the fantasy world where the WWE actually follow through on all of the things they set a premise for- the "Rollins owing Owens one" angle could potentially be a really good one. Then again, it's WWE and I doubt the angle will even be a thing by December.

Becky Lynch & Brie Bella Backstage
They're really trying their best to make us hate Becky aren't they? All of the NXT vignettes she got made her come off as a genuine, driven character. Then on the Main Roster every time Becky does an Interview it just comes off as so fake. I don't want Becky being all wacky and acting like she's drank 47 Cans of Red Bull, is that too much to ask for? By the time Brie showed up I was just done with this segment. Seeing as this whole thing was about "B"s- here's a one word Review, BAD.

Cesaro v The Miz
While I want Cesaro higher up the card, in some ways I don't- because Cesaro was just a ridiculous amount of fun in this match. He was legitimately having fun in this match, and Miz was really the perfect foil for him and sold all of his stuff impeccably. I picked up on this on Twitter as well, Miz sold the Swing the "right" way by just keeping his arms out as opposed to flailing or holding his head- and it just made it look so much better. I'm not quite sure when they're going to progress from the Stardust Section to a fully-fledged feud, but I'm enjoying it on the whole.

Bray Wyatt Promo
I loved this Promo. It's not necessarily the first thing you'd show someone who's new to wrestling, especially if they're coming in with the "you know it's fake, right?" mentality. With that said, as far as pre-existing Wrestling fans go this Promo was just great. It was cheesy, ridiculous, laughably fake- and I just loved it. It was the best Bray Wyatt Promo for a while, because crucially he's actually got something he can properly sink his teeth into both Promo and Character wise at the moment. This isn't exclusive to Bray, if the WWE played to the performers strengths and gave them proper motivations the show would be so much better. The only thing that I didn't like about this segment was the fucking "What?" chants. Can those just die now? I was sick of them ages ago. Especially when people are doing the "What?" stuff during a segment that's actually good, it just makes it even more annoying.

The Lucha Dragons v Sheamus & King Barrett
This segment was good on the whole. I'm not quite sure where The Lucha Dragons fit into the Tag Team dynamic now between the returning Usos and The Dudleys- although The Dudleys may have finished their current run. The fact we got our first Lucha Dragons vignette 6 Months after they made their debut was a bit hilarious, and them seemingly finally getting on the Lucha Dragons train just as they've re-hired Del Rio for mega money is infuriating. The match was good though- if not a bit too long, and for a match with hardly any direction story-wise that's all that can really be asked of it.

Zeb Colter, Jack Swagger & Alberto Del Rio Backstage
This was the obvious feud upon Del Rio's alignment with Zeb, and on the whole I'm fine with it. As pretty much a place-holder two PPV feud before Cena's back at the end of December the feud's good. It has a solid enough base for it to actually make sense, and crucially the matches should be really good.

Alberto Del Rio v R-Truth
I didn't watch the Smackdown version of this, but I can't imagine it was much different. It was basically just a pretty standard RAW match, the only thing that may be considered a bit "out there" is Truth getting in as much offence as he did on Del Rio. I don't like the fact they're appearing to settle on the Corner Stomp thing as Del Rio's finish, because there's way too much set-up required and it looks awkward really. Hopefully he'll be using the Kick or the Cross Armbreaker alongside/instead of the Corner Stomp soon.

Seth Rollins & The New Day Backstage
I really liked this segment. Everything involving New Day is just great, and the Rollins and New Day dynamic is a really fun one. The idea that New Day seemingly believe they're kindred spirits with Rollins, all while Rollins can't stand the only people other than The Authority who want to be "friends" with Seth is just great. I thought Xavier was missing another week at first, but as soon as Rollins said "there needs to be a fifth" and Kofi and Big E started smiling I also started smiling and it was all great.

Sasha Banks Backstage Promo
SASHA WAS IN-FRONT OF A MIRROR, SHE'S TURNING.

Paige v Becky Lynch v Brie Bella v Sasha Banks- #1 Contender 4-Way
This was a match. It was most definitely a match, the less said about the match the better- but it was a match. I had no idea what was going on half the time, no clue who I should have been wanting to win. In many ways this match summed up the Divas Division, a match that was a bit of a mess and not having any clue who the Babyfaces and Heels were apart from Paige. I suppose in that regard at least the right person won, in that the only one who actually has a clear character/motivation is the one to be wrestling for the Title.

Charlotte Backstage Promo
I was out of the room for this Promo, but I can pretty much guess what she said. Something about her Dad and how Paige is good but she's a Flair- which makes her better. Am I close?

The Reigniacs v Team "We're the only good things about RAW"
This wasn't great, I wasn't expecting a 5 Star amazing match- especially when Team Reigns was revealed to be Ryback, The Usos and Dean Ambrose (that one shocked me), but I was still expecting more than what we got. On the whole it was a pretty standard multi-man Main Event. Especially with the speed at which Kofi, Xavier and The Usos got eliminated they may as well have made it a 6-Man Tag. The finish was probably the best one they could have gone for once they decided on doing the Survivor Series match. In their minds the Survivor Series match will have been so much fun, but ruined by Seth that they'll HAVE to sign up to watch Survivor Series and get a decisive finish from one. I'm not saying that'll work, but that's what they were thinking.

The finish was a bit annoying, they tried to have a "balanced" finish- when really with having the RAW last night and the go-home (EDIT: There's next week as well) I'd have preferred if they just decided to go for it and get the heat firmly on Rollins. They didn't even have to have Seth kill Reigns necessarily, for example Seth could have handcuffed Reigns and then beat the shit out of Ambrose with the Chair. You know why? BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.

Overall this RAW wasn't the best. Especially in the first Hour or so it felt like there was a lot of stuff happening way too quickly and none of it really being able to sink in. There was some storyline progression last night, but not nearly enough given the tight turnaround between Hell in a Cell and Survivor Series.

Thanks for reading as always, as already said we've only got next weeks Go-Home Show (EDIT: We've got two RAW's left) before Survivor Series- so hopefully you'll be coming back for the Reviews and Predictions next week. Thanks again for reading, as I said hopefully you'll be staying tuned for the Survivor Series Review and more- BECAUSE AMBROSE IS FUCKING TURNING.