midds

Gordon is frustrating. He's going down easily which I don't like but he's also just doing what others do regularly and they get rewarded for it too. I don't like the contact = collapse thing but you either give it every time or you ignore it every time. Atm some players always get it and some players never, it's that inconsistency thing again with refs

Vardygol

I'd honestly have him here for a year or 2. We are going to have a huge number of games and he's reliable enough to come in for a game or 2 to allow us to rotate Bruno, Tonali and Joelinton. No-one's saying he's exceptional or at the peak of his powers but he'd be a smart move imo. He'd never start in your best XI but he'd get plenty of minutes, we need to pad the squad out and on a free it would be a very pragmatic signing

Feels like the natural end to Everton's season this, not sure they'll be there mentally next week. Hope not anyway, early goal is crucial for us

Can't deny I'd be a bit disappointed if we fell out of the CL places at this stage, really, really want that CL football assured asap. However, the absolute worst case scenario for the end is looking like a major trophy and a place in the EL next year. That scenario still represents the best season's achievement I've ever known - the worst that can happen is still the best I've ever known. That's quite a large and shiny silver lining imo

We were always going to need to beat Everton on the final day if we were going to make it. Have to assume the other clubs will get their results whilst hoping they slip up at some point. It's easy now - WIN AND IN

Think it comes down to who needs CL more, they both want it but who would it hurt the most of one was to lose out. I think the answer is Spurs. Man U are a giant of a club and will still have huge amounts of money pouring into the club. We know there's a pretty good chance they waste a large chunk of it due the incompetence of those running the club but getting the CL means they will just have even more to spend. Spurs are a lot smaller and not getting that CL cash injection will have a much bigger negative impact on their finances. I genuinely think we've passed them regards the stuff on the pitch and a sustained length of time outside of the CL allows us a better chance to catch and pass them off the pitch too. For those reasons unfortunately I have to admit I'd prefer to see Man U win it. Ideally they'll kick the absolute fuck out of each other and they both somehow manage to disgrace themselves in the process. Also don't like Postecoglu either, much prefer to see that fat mess squirming in his postmatch interview. I'll hate watch it (at best)

And the trayurns marra!

Not a chance Grealish works hard enough to tick the huge boxes we need. He's not shit but he's not a Newcastle player based on what Howe needs and wants. It's a ridiculous link

In fact, they've only beaten 4 teams NOT in the relegation zone all season. City, Fulham (twice), Everton and Brentford. That's abysmal by any measures you care to use

Man U have only beaten 1 team outside of the relegation teams since the middle of December (Fulham away). They're losing their last 2 games, they're absolute pigshit

Absolute pigshit. If this is the way they go about things then even if they go up they'll struggle to get 15 points. Shutting up shop in the Championship is all well and good but the PL teams will inevitably score and they've got zero to fall back on. Hitting Championship teams on the break can get you some of the way, trying it against PL teams will mean they lose 3 or of every 4. They're just not good enough to keep clean sheets and not good enough to trouble teams at the other end. Couldn't give a fuck if they go up or not but if they do then they'll get absolutely fucking battered more often than not

Why? It's 2025

Howe's main problem will come in a couple of years time. That first raft of players we brought into the club in the first 2 windows will all be 4 or 5 years older and they too will need to be replaced, I'm thinking Trippier, Burn, Targett, Pope and Bruno (to a lesser extent). So not only will he need to continue to weed out the malingerers from the squad he inherited but he'll also need to start planning to replace the replacements. The youth teams don't appear to be churning out masses of talent and the younger players we've invested in are still a few years from developing into useful squad players. We're going to be constantly chasing for at least another 10 years yet imo. Players age and need upgrading and that includes who we have already brought in. We desperately need to get the youth system right and it needs to start producing very soon or I fear we'll never really bridge that gap. Seeing even a couple of players introduced each year would be huge, introducing players capable of even PL-squad level means more cash can go into the stars. This was the squad he inherited from the pig: That is a squad of players that was, literally, worthless. He had virtually nothing to build on and I think that gets ignored too often and makes what he's done even more impressive

Morons at work already giddy at the thought of "gerrin a tigget fur Wemboah". Just taken Coventry for granted it seems

Feels sly as fuck not giving player of the year to anyone other than the bloke who's got 24 goals but I honestly think Burn edges it this season. He's been an absolute mountain back there

PP have us as 1/50 to finish top 5 for the record. We're as low as 1/5 to go top 4. Doesn't mean it's going to happen but it'll take a ridiculous run of results for us not get at least top 5 now

No reason at all why the flag shouldn't have gone up immediately, he was about 3 or 4 yards offside. Marginal ones I'll accept but this was so obvious that it should have been flagged immediately

Nissan

Liverpool fans have always had that arrogance about their team. It's always been 'how dare anyone want to leave us to go somewhere else? Who's bigger than us?' It's even more pronounced when the player in question is a local lad obviously. They just have no concept of humility and understanding that other people may not hold them in the sky-high esteem they hold themselves in, they've always had this superiority complex about their team. They consider themselves as footballing gods, it's completely ingrained in their culture now. It's fucking rank tbph

Clear to see where the next step is to building the total up season on season. We've left lots of points on the table against mid-table teams this year, to take only 2 points from 18 from Brighton, Fulham and Bournemouth combined is something we can, and need, to correct next year. We're formidable at home and can match anyone up at SJP but we're still (understandably) struggling away to the best in the division too. No reason why we can't add to the squad depth and quality and tack another 10 points on next season - it's potentially there for us

And that's not even considering the times Caicedo fouled someone and the ref played advantage for us. I don't even blame Caicedo at this point, if the ref is stubbornly refusing to book him then why the fuck shouldn't he plough into the back of people? I'd do it. He's immune from punishment

That's management-speak for 'Please just get me the fuck out of here and be done with it' Pressured into taking the job earlier than he wanted by a leadership team who openly courted new managers this time last year only to see ten Hag win a Cup so they backtracked furiously, gave him a new contract only to sack him anyway a few months later. That club is a fucking circus and it doesn't surprise me one bit he's making noises himself about getting sacked and moving on. He knows he's made a huge mistake going into that shambles and wants to protect his reputation before it gets even worse in the next 12 months. Can't blame him but it's very very transparent at this stage

I know it's a complete intangible but seeing the Forest owner booting off on the pitch at FT would frighten the life out of me if I was a Forest fan. In isolation it means nothing but it does just reveal how much pressure they're under and how close to the edge they are of losing their collective shit now it's come down to the crunch. That was a massive tell imo and I think they'll really struggle to beat either West Ham or Chelsea now

This Arsenal side has all but thrown the towel in by the looks of it. We still need to finish the job off and win one more game but Arsenal (A) now seems like a legit bite of the cherry, I'd all but written the game off a few weeks ago but this isn't the Arsenal who looked so good earlier in the season, they're lacking so much. They're looking beaten, downtrodden and feeling sorry for themselves and we can profit from that next week, absolutely nothing to fear or lose next Sunday