Unai Emery

[eye digress]

I might be wrong, but was last night the first time Unai has ever complained about a decision made in a match?  I like that he said something, as it was clearly a bottle-job, but interesting that it was THIS decision that made him vocal, when he's been so calm about decisions going the wrong way for us previously?

Is this a sign of pressure on him personally, or is this simply him knowing how European competitions/organisations work, and he thinks complaining about such a high-profile error might give us a fraction more benefit of the doubt if something contentious happens in the second leg?

Either way, I thought it was an interesting deviation from the norm for him!

My interpretation of his comments was that having couched it in terms of player safety, he was speaking out to protect his players. That in turn suggests there are some very pissed off fellas in our dressing room (as Ollie demonstrated by giving out a few sneaky kicks to Anderson) who needed to hear themselves stood up for by the boss.

[eamonn]

If Forest win with a 0-0 park the bus next week I'm jacking this shit in, life's too short!

Preach, brother!

[Rudy Can't Fail]

I might be wrong, but was last night the first time Unai has ever complained about a decision made in a match?  I like that he said something, as it was clearly a bottle-job, but interesting that it was THIS decision that made him vocal, when he's been so calm about decisions going the wrong way for us previously?

Is this a sign of pressure on him personally, or is this simply him knowing how European competitions/organisations work, and he thinks complaining about such a high-profile error might give us a fraction more benefit of the doubt if something contentious happens in the second leg?

Either way, I thought it was an interesting deviation from the norm for him!

My interpretation of his comments was that having couched it in terms of player safety, he was speaking out to protect his players. That in turn suggests there are some very pissed off fellas in our dressing room (as Ollie demonstrated by giving out a few sneaky kicks to Anderson) who needed to hear themselves stood up for by the boss.

Interesting that less than a month ago, Barcelona officially called for an UEFA investigation against the Portuguese VAR official Tiago Martins and demanded copies of all the communication, videos, etc.

"Barcelona understands that this decision, together with the serious lack of VAR intervention, represents a major error. Therefore, the club has requested the opening of an investigation, access to refereeing communications and, where applicable, official recognition of errors and adoption of relevant measures."

He's not very popular as a referee with Benficistas either, so he's not all bad. But seriously, credit to Unai for calling out the utter stupidity of the decision. Here the TV commentators squealed at the challenge as did the Chinese commentators (don't ask).

[eamonn]

Surely you remember Unai having a bitch-fit on the sidelines at Old Traffor last May? It was horrible to watch such a gent in torment.

[Monty]

He does have to answer the question of why, at this time of year, we go to shit, why our underlying numbers are so poor, why when we're bad we're relegation bad.

[Sexual Ealing]

The answer to that question is that's why he's a fucking God-level manager for Aston Villa, but he's a Gordon Brown-level manager for serious teams.

[PaulWinch again]

He does have to answer the question of why, at this time of year, we go to shit, why our underlying numbers are so poor, why when we're bad we're relegation bad.

Yup short of an epic turnaround- this has been a disgrace, and a surrender.

[Somniloquism]

He does have to answer the question of why, at this time of year, we go to shit, why our underlying numbers are so poor, why when we're bad we're relegation bad.

This time last year we were on a roll, the same as the season we got Conference. As soon as the year becomes even we shit the bed for most of the 12 months, and piss on everyone else as soon as it is an odd one.

[Monty]

He does have to answer the question of why, at this time of year, we go to shit, why our underlying numbers are so poor, why when we're bad we're relegation bad.

This time last year we were on a roll, the same as the season we got Conference. As soon as the year becomes even we shit the bed for most of the 12 months, and piss on everyone else as soon as it is an odd one.

And yet the Palace semifinal, the Old Trafford debacle...

[PeterWithesShin]

Spending so much of the season playing slowly slowly was meant to mean we were able to go full pelt at the tail end. Even allowing for injuries we are horrendously passive.

[Somniloquism]

He does have to answer the question of why, at this time of year, we go to shit, why our underlying numbers are so poor, why when we're bad we're relegation bad.

This time last year we were on a roll, the same as the season we got Conference. As soon as the year becomes even we shit the bed for most of the 12 months, and piss on everyone else as soon as it is an odd one.

And yet the Palace semifinal, the Old Trafford debacle...

I was talking about general form, even last summer we had a bad start. One off games when the pressure is truly on is a different kettle of fish.

[Villan82]

I am absolutely livid.

One of the scum 6 getting relegated would be massive for us. On a strategic level this was a huge game for us and he does that.

I have defended him to the hilt for 3 and a half years but I am so angry right now.

[Monty]

He got 0xG from that half. Zero point zero zero. I'd love to learn the strategy here, and why he's so good on random Saturdays in February and so absolutely awful when it matters.

[Toronto Villa]

He got 0xG from that half. Zero point zero zero. I'd love to learn the strategy here, and why he's so good on random Saturdays in February and so absolutely awful when it matters.

If this was Gerrard, TSM2, Bruce, Garde etc and we apparently worked all week only to have those stats against a side in the bottom 3 playing at home, you'd rightly come to the conclusion we did not work at all.

[Sexual Ealing]

Those managers might have liked to point out the league table to their critics. They couldn't.