Cronky

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65690461 This is a joke. Pep is asking for the issue of City and FFP to be dealt with as soon as possible, but he must know that his club's entire strategy so far has been to delay, obstruct and fail to co-operate with any investigation. There's every indication that this will continue. Later on, he seems to hint that he might leave if City win the Champions League, despite also claiming loyalty to the club. It sounds like he might not fancy carrying on for another two seasons with the shadow of this investigation hanging over him in an ever more serious manner. There's just a hint here that he's breaking rank. Some will consider this not sufficiently NUFC-related, but it's very important from the point of view of our club that the competition is regulated fairly and consistently for all. And Pep leaving would do our prospects no harm at all, of course.

We do have difficulty in breaking down a packed defence / low block, and Maddison would be a very good signing with that in mind. He'd be my No1 choice. A good left back would be priority no 2, and that that Carlos Augusto from Monza has impressed me the most.

Interesting that so many of us thought that Spurs would do much better. In fact they were top four before old Conte decided to bring it all crashing down. They’re in a bit of trouble now.

I can’t remember feeling so emotional after a season. It’s not just the scale of the achievement but also how it’s been done. He hasn’t gone out and bought a load of elite players and I wouldn’t say he’s changed ordinary players into great ones. What he’s done is get ordinary players to play at their peak on a consistent basis, and get the team to hit their max as near on every game as you can expect. Football can be strange. We’ve all seen particular players and teams hit a purple patch but those periods are elusive and difficult to engineer. We call that good form and somehow our guy has generated it like it was on tap. The only parallel I can think of is Brian Clough’s Forest team of the late 70s. Very different management styles, but the same kind of effect.

Or the consideration that Klopp should have had a red and a lengthy ban for having previous. He celebrated in the fourth official’s face. How can we expect players to behave when managers act like brats?

Bet Mandy is glad she didn't buy LIverpool now

I've shed a couple of tears tonight. Thank you, Eddie, you're the best.

Several players have really stepped up to the mark, but Bruno has been central to all the progress we've made. Apart from anything else, he radiates confidence and that spreads to his team mates.

I think they're decent going forward, but it's the old adage about a team being strong from the back forwards, and the middle outwards. If you're weak in the triangle of keeper and centre back, then you're going to concede soft goals, and then the whole team gets dispirited and the effort flags. That's true at any level of football.

Yeah, it'll be a real contest. Leicester are capable of playing decent football and in Maddison, they have a player who can open up a defence. But their defending is poor, and Eddie will have devised ways of exploiting that.

Tin hat on here, but we do need back up in the striker position. We need to find someone who is prepared to struggle for his place, but who can do a decent job if and when required, and who isn't going to cost the Earth. We don't seem to have a striker coming up through the ranks. Patrick Bamford doesn't have a big reputation, but I never like seeing him on the opposing side. He can make things happen.

That's a good summary. It bothers me that City are still getting so many plaudits in the media, when there are so many question marks about how the success has been achieved. They declare that they have incontrovertible evidence of their innocence, but at the same time their reaction to investigation has been anything but open. They have been consistently obstructive, relying on all sorts of procedural issues to try and put off the scrutiny. If you're so confident of your position, you should be eager to clear your name at the first opportunity.

Whatever the biscuit, I bet he's focused on it.

I've no problem with it being hard. This season it looked impossible.

Judging by his surname and ginger hair, we must be very near to his ancestral home. This needs pointing out to him.

Leicester are capable of good football and I think Maddison at least will be well up for it. They shouldn’t be down there. Hopefully they’ll score first and the crowd will lift them. Go behind and the white flag will likely appear.

Arsenal play a bit of a knife-edge game, demanding a lot of confidence and precision. Their attacks have an air of improvisation about them, and they need to be at their peak to bring it off. It's felt like that little bit of pressure has derailed them. City can be not at their peak, but it's still difficult to score against them, or even get the ball off them. I'm exaggerating to make a point, but I can see the same thing happening unless City are brought into line by FFP.

I felt a bit sorry for Arsenal, who deserve more from this season. Yesterday's game ended in some humiliation really. Their football is great to watch, although I wonder no whether it's a bit too off the cuff to survive a long campaign. Much depends now on whether City get hauled in over FFP. The gap they've created between themselves and the rest seems to be growing. That's not just between them and the Premiership, but between them and Europe's elite as well.

Scoring first is likely to be key. Brighton trying to break down a defence and Brighton sitting on a lead and hitting on the break are very different propositions. Their 5-1 defeat to Everton and 3-0 win at Arsenal showed that. Arsenal were unlucky not to be ahead at half-time, but once Brighton took the lead it was all over. I know this is something that can be said for most teams and most matches, but once they were ahead, Brighton were very good at stifling Arsenal all over the pitch.

Wonder kid is putting it a bit strong, but he did stand out at Everton. He played with a lot of fire and freedom, and I did take notice of him at that earlier stage. I was pleased when we signed him. He did lose his regular starting spot at Everton this season, so I'm wondering a bit where this loss of form or confidence came in. Maybe he got disillusioned with all that was going on at Everton, and stopped enjoying his football. Getting that edge back may be quite difficult. It's not like flicking a switch. Fine margins. What if he'd been able to bury that chance in the final minute? He'd have got a last-gap winner in an important game and walked off a hero.

I'd agree that he looks a bit short of pace to be a wide player, but we don't seem able to give him the experience he needs further inside. With the pressure to get results in the elevated position that we're in, it's difficult to give such a young player the extra burden of responsibility that goes with that position. At the same time, it feels strange to be bringing in other players so that he can be loaned out. The competition for places would be even more fierce when he comes back. Just a facet of modern Premiership football, I suppose. With the clubs at the top, you need to be exceptional - a Saka or a Foden - to break through from the ranks.

No it isn't.

He looks a bit inhibited. I'd like to see a bit more of the angry, snarling tyke that I noticed in Everton blue. Just a teeny bit more.

I thought the draw was fair enough. I was surprised the second pen was given - it didn't look a clear and obvious error by the ref to me. As for the professional foul in the goalscoring position on Gordon at the end, it's long been my view that the correct punishment for that sort of offence is a penalty, regardless of whether it's inside or outside the area. Win our two home games now and we're home and hosed.

It didn't seem clear that he'd touched it. Anyway, I'm happy.