The College Dropout

He's well off it in Eddie's own regard too though. That's not going to help his development. He has the right team around him though. And a pre-season will do wonders. Hall learnt it quickly. Hall became an Eddie Howe player, Barnes too - by becoming that split second more aggressive in their play.

Man U last day of the season. But win or lose the Europa I can't see them turning up. Forget it. Villa 69 points.

He's one of the advantages of having a slightly older squad than most. We bring on seasoned pro's to close out games. You can tell he's a proper character behind the scenes. Good professional, supports the team, trains well, mentally prepared for battle even though he's unlikely to get many minutes. I don't think Chelsea have that type of culture in their club. Lack of leadership in management and above - most of these players have seen out 2-3 managers already. Too young. Too detached from the fans. Lack of leadership in the squad. I look at Krafth and I know "he gets it". It gives me faith that Miley will make the step up because he's surrounded by players that get it.

Nah it doesn't. It would be good for momentum though. I reckon we get a draw. I think the players are in line for massive bonuses if they qualify for the CL too. We get it done against Everton man, at the worst.

We just haven't been that side. We aren't that side. It's Chelsea and Forest that have been the poorest over the last 20 GW's or so and I think are most likely to have a twist go against them. Villa have been brilliant and have 2 of the best matches coming up. I expect Man U to win the Europa, so will have a hangover on the last day.... and they are shit. It's all coming up Villa.

Yep. I've got no reason to think we won't beat 1 of Arsenal or Everton. We should win and qualify for the CL. And this is with a fair few injuries now. As you say, if we get CL, we could add 2-4 players to take us to another level. We'll have had 2 seasons on 69-71 points and another 60-point season. Add another 2-4 quality players and we could be a 75-85 point team or a 70-80 point team + a deep CL run. That's another level from where we are and I think it keeps the Tonali's and Isak's long-term where we can add more of them. Could we start doubling our Saudi-sponsorship deals? And it helps keep the Saudi's super engaged. If Villa gets CL, they can continue to wheel and deal and keep a similar squad level. If they can maintain this level of squad, they have the potential to be an 80-point side. That is why I hope they miss out and need a selling summer.

Random players I think have done really well this season: Sels Aina VVD Gabriel Robinson/Hall Gravenberch Tonali Tielemans Salah/Mbeumo Isak/Wood/Wissa Rogers Lack of quality at LW these days. Once upon a time you had peak Sterling, Rashford, Mane etc.

???? We didn’t need anything against Villa which is why it will be in our hands in GW38 no matter what happens next week. Everton are still shit.

Or win against Arsenal. We’ll beat one of them at least.

It’s not complicated. 3 more points and we are in the CL. We have 2 shots at it. I don’t expect to capitalise on the first shot. But I do expect we will for the second shot. Pickford will be well up for it. That’s my only slight fear. Fortunately I expect the rest of the team to be on the beach and emotionally spent after the last Goodson game.

GD just turned 26. The super ball playing GK is utter woke nonsense. Arsenal would’ve won something by now if they kept Martinez.

It’s not though. Courtois and Donnarumma are among the worlds best neither is excellent with the ball at their feet. Pope is especially bad though aye.

Agreed. It’s less important than a CM for me

It would be a crying shame to miss out on CL. At some point we need higher ambitions than fighting for CL. That requires qualifying for the CL numerous times. My assumption is that CL will mean we can keep who we want and invest properly. Without it I fear we need to wheel and deal without a significant net spend (90m+ type)

Aye he did his bit off the ball. No complaints about graft. His touch and decisions have been poor for some time. Didn’t have any good efforts on goal.

Chelsea are the opposite. To their detriment. Think it’s impacting Palmer a lot. Very few transitions. Safe passing. They were fairly shut imo.

Been pap for some time.

Forest are playing like it’s the 89th minute. Rushing it.

Got Chris Wood as my FPL captain. I need something from ya lad.

Ah Forest are bottling it here

I’ve mentioned this before - we try a lot of low percentage forward passes under minimal pressure. That’s a tactical direction. I think if you’re getting caught on the counter against 10 men which happened a few times, you are forcing attacks.

Thought he was really sharp off the ball. On it he has a massive off day. It happens.

Big reason we can look bad against 10 men. Slow proving football is despised by our fans and it makes the players force it. Net positive mind.

What’s wrong with him?

I think in our midfield 3 setup you need to be more aggressive. Think his potential is massive. But I think we need another top option at CM for the CL next season. Or Miley needs a big step up next season. Longstaff, Willock and Miley are currently levels below the big 3. If Joe isn’t in there we look better in a back 5.