midds

Could be a combination of both? Not sure. I do know UEFA got their knickers in a twist about the politics stuff players were getting involved with and wanted a way to crush it asap and the automatic booking was what they came up with. Sure the sponsors were delighted too

Sure it was a measure to combat the (then) increasingly prevalent political statements that players in the mid/late 90's were making when taking their shirts off to celebrate goals. Very draconian but sledgehammer to crack a nut stuff iirc.

With Wood as a CF then players like ASM are not going to flourish. Let's be kind and say Wood is static, ASM is very mobile and needs movement to mesh with and that's very low down on the list of Wood's skillset. He also has to cope with the fact the opposition know they need to double up and can afford to due to the lack of other options in the final third. Snuff out the threat asap by swamping and surrounding him and you don't need to worry about Wood and Fraser/Almiron as they'll not get the ball. Improve the CF, get a much better RF/RW and an additional AM and he'll look much better. He needs options and movement and a bit more space. He's fucking infuriating but there's context, it's not all his fault but it often appears that it is.

Works out as 58 points over the season. That should be the target next season, he's set the benchmark now go and buy 3/4 top quality first teamers and try and get about 60 points next year, fuck it.

Quietly impressed with the ref today, lots of niggly little fouls that I hate but the ref always gives. Did well overall though, honest enough to admit he go it wrong with the first goal too, that's a good thing, nothing wrong with admitting you got it wrong and changing it. I'd have said exactly the same had the game fizzled out into a draw too, not just saying this because we won.

Rope-a-dope stuff in that last 20 minutes but I'll take that all day long. Don't think we deserved the 3 points in all honesty but thank fuck we kept playing until the final kick, they all count. Might have a few shandies to celebrate tonight.

11 men behind the ball and completely cut open with 2 simple passes. Just not sharp enough

Scrappy half, they look dangerous on the break and we look blunt as fuck in the final third. Their quality off the bench might just pinch this unfortunately.

Surely if you get it right you end up going: promotion - survival - survival - survival - stability - stability?

They're getting good numbers of fans through the door which deserves some credit but it ultimately comes down to how much they're all paying to get in. An attendance of 40000 means little (other than to massage a few egos in the stands) if the average ticket price works out at something daft like £11.59 on average or whatever. It's revenue generated, not bodies through the turnstiles that pays the bills in the lower leagues.

At some point teams like Fulham, Watford, West Brom and Norwich need to decide if they're actually big enough to have a proper go at going up and staying up with a bit of proper investment. Constant promotions and relegations must wear the supporters out. That said, West Brom fans can forget about the promotions part of that until they fire the gormless cunt.

Have 2 very different lists depending on what criteria I'm using. Nice bloke vs football

Fucking cretin

Another late winner for them. I'll go 90+3

Keeping a lid on potential budgets and expectations is also 100% the right way to do it too. We're always going to have to pay through the nose for the players we want but advertising the fact we've got loads to spend would add even more to the price.

Now they've actually persevered and bought the club and thrown enough cash around in January to secure safety I think they'll have a right pop at it this summer. I get the impression they're not for fucking around and giving it a decade to start challenging, I think they'll go for it and make up as much distance as soon as possible and if that means a net spend of £150m+ then I think they'll do it. Why wouldn't they? Wait there, frustrated for 2 years to piss about with £60-80m windows? Don't think that's their style. They want it and they want it asap. And they'll pay to get it.

Cush. Could you expand on that a little? After away leg?

Does our league fixture work Liverpool fall between the semi final dates at all?

Yeah but the kid was leaning over though. Basically begging to be assaulted.

I assume Merino's homesickness has cleared up now?

7 points from those 3 would be superb, none of them will be a doddle but each one individually is very winnable.

To be that low in status that the only possible connection you've got with the PL is to imagine who would win in an imaginary fight involving your managers? I don't know like, but that's pretty much rock bottom. They've taken out the football completely and just gone pure caveman and decided hardness is the kicker after all. No surprise, they do the same to the players. Baally and Jonny Kay are revered for being hard despite being dreadful footballers. Being hard > being good. They'll never change. Thankfully.

Who would win in a fight: Alex Neil or Jurgen Klopp? Genuine thread on there

A lot rests on who we manage to get in and out of the squad this summer. Absolutely no reason we can't assemble a squad that can compete in that mini-league with Palace, Soton, Villa etc but if all goes well then we should be looking a few places up the league and mixing it up with Leicester, Wolves and West Ham. None of those teams are out of reach next year given a few starters coming in and improving things. We should be looking to haul a few teams in a year at a time, 3/4 starters brought in for the next few years will see us close that 20 point gap pdq.

Klopp needs to set off a rocket under their arses at HT