Elma

Brilliant Murph!

Sounds similar as I'm a Hebburn lad too, but left home at 18 and was only going back occasionally for home games as my dad kept two season tickets going. When we chucked the tickets I was living abroad so it didn't impact me so much. I went to Rafa's last game at Fulham and from that sense of positivity to Bruce just killed me.

Ours went under the Pardew era but would have done the same if we hadn't already. The Bruce appointment probably my lowest ebb with the club, after the highs of the last five months under Rafa. I'm in my fifties too and have been going since 1979, so that's quite a statement.

Listened to the presser this morning - I think only the second time I've done that. I'm not sure if they are all that good but today's was a thing of beauty. Bigged up Willock without a prompt, making sure he wasn't left out of the midfield conversation, whilst saying they are working to get him back to previous levels. Refused to get drawn into Slot's nonsense, and also refused to fall into the trap of saying Tonali is world class, whilst still making him feel special and loved. Also praised Bruno whilst subtly acknowledging that he doesn't get enough rest. I don't think there's a better manager for handling the media to get the right messages across, whilst keeping them at arms length where necessary/required.

If he ever plays against us at SJP. I'm thinking he might be injured.

I thought it was tight. Not sure how they'd work it out though if there's not a camera bang in line.

Ha ha… I just thought it weird as half the pitch is about 57 yards and it landed 6-7 yards inside their half. Obviously at the exact time I was jumping up and down celebrating the goal and not even thinking about that, but when they started saying 65 yards later it seemed off. However, as @Chris_R pointed out, if it's until Barnes' first touch and not first bounce it might be closer to 65 yards.

I loved that second goal but he never threw that 65 yards (as is being reported). If he'd thrown it that far it would have landed on the edge of the "D". I think whoever came up with that (TV comms?) forgot that he was on the edge of the box when he released it, not his goal line. More like 45 yards. Still impressive though.

Not sure about specific players, but I watched both UCL play-off games against (ironically) Mourinho's Fenerbahçe. The first game was 90 minutes of my life I'll never get back. In the home game they scored three early doors and swarmed all over Fener, but two of the goals were disallowed (one very unfairly in my opinion). After that, the game settled into a similar pattern to the first. They were solid defensively against an admittedly weak Fener, and comfortably kept them at arms length. Got a feeling this will be a bit like the Forest game. If they score first I'd worry a bit.

Dont know if you're in the UK or not but they've just advertised live commentary on Talksport (main channel) in the UK, if that's any use?

Nice comments but wouldn't want him near us as a manager. I hope the day Howe leaves is a long way off, but if it were in the near future I wouldn't be looking beyond Iraola or Glasner.

That's a fair comment. We seem to create our own problems against them. Didn't think we were that bad, particularly second half. The stats say we deserved at least a point and at 1-1 we were definitely looking the most likely. We never seemed fully in control though, especially at the back. All a bit last ditch at times. Felt like a conscious effort to push on and commit more forward than at Bournemouth, but the flip side was the openness on the break. Unless he's still got his achillies issue, I can't understand why Murphy didn't start in an international week. Elanga will probably get there with coaching, but I feel Murphy is more effective at the moment.

Was watching on TRT1 and thought that at the time. Really weird.

With Premier League goals per minute I think Nick is only behind Haaland and Chiesa (although Chiesa has a freakishly small sample size as he's scored two in 64 minutes playing time). Albeit early days.

My main gripe is for someone so quick and with such a low centre of gravity, is that he's always on his heels and regularly beaten to the ball when it's fed into him. It's bizarre - you'd think someone like him would be nipping in and stealing it rather than be left flat-footed.

"I can try and make as many excuses as I want but it's not in my nature to do it". Fuckin' hell.

Woohoo!

That's twice Chelsea have nicked the post.

Get in!

I'll be on Galatasaray v Beşiktaş. Probably with one eye on Chelsea v Liverpool.

Nearly a beachball goal.

Should be 1-1. DCL poor.

Poor touch from Longy there. 1-0 Spurs.

I looked at it a few weeks ago. If they'd won that game he got injured in they'd basically be there. If they are one of the four best runners-up they go into a CAF play-off. They are currently 3rd best ranked but will probably have to win their final two games to stay in the top four. They would have to win that four team play-off, to get to the inter-confederation play-off in Mexico (March 2026), which is six teams in two brackets of three. Each bracket winner qualifies. I think that game he got injured in was their chance. They blew a two goal lead and I don't see them making the world cup now.

Of course no one (on here anyway) knows the real reason. The pitch did look dodgy (I watched about an hour in between other stuff) but equally it could have been a fitness thing, as he'd not played competitively before those fixtures. If so, that's kind of on him. Isak also not really showing much at Liverpool yet. They were both stupid for downing tools and ruining their pre-season.