wormy

He's done his part but he's clearly past his best. Anyone with an ounce of reasoning about them knows it's time for Zidane.

I don't agree with toon25's assessment but i think it's been proven with evermore frequency that being a multi-millionaire doesn't mean someone can't still be a talentless wanker.

Change it to bottom10ometer. Its all over. It all means nothing anymore.

I'm not going to be mad at certain lineup changes not being made today. It's Man City. I'm fine with us not experimenting against arguably the best team in the league. League Cup final and today out of the way, I will admit I'll be starting to ask what exactly it will take if Howe is not experimenting to some extent next Sunday. At minimum giving Wilson a rest.

Isak has to come on at half time. Wilson looks utterly broken right now.

I know it's been barren but fuck that stat really hit it home for me.

Looking forward to whatever half-baked bullshit about how they've resolved their financial woes so the ban no longer applies.

The damn wimp shouldn't have even sent him to the reserves. A real man would've kept him in the first team and decked him at the start of every training session to show everyone what's what. Bring back Souness I say.

I can understand the calls for Targett to come in in theory, but considering how little he's played this season due to injuries, you have to assume it's going to take him time to get back up to speed. I dread to think how quickly we'd see 'idiotic decision to throw him in' if Howe did decide to start him in the near future and he looks off the pace.

I can't show any working for this opinion but am I to guess for FFP purposes, its better to spread out the cost of the deadwood by subsiding wages while on loan over paying them off to get them of our books immediately? Or does it not make much/any difference?

The really stupid thing about the whole 'too nice' argument is he's already been proven able to make tough decisions a lot of other managers wouldn't have done, such as shifting Lascelles to the bench first chance he got, seemingly shifting Fraser to the reserves due to some sort of bust up (I can't see him making that kind of move for the sake of it), everyone being terrified he'd rely on Ritchie due to their history yet reducing his minutes first chance he got. Hasn't it been well established one of Tindall's roles is being the nice guy for the players to counteract Howe's more stoic approach? It seems idiots love to throw 'too nice' around for no other reason than he's unfailingly polite and keeps his emotions in check in front of the public.

If he could've done better on both goals then he wouldn't be third choice for us. Put in a solid performance all things considered. No complaints.

Don't know what he's crying about tbh. It's not like he's been told he was useless, a fat waste of space, a tactically inept cabbage head.

Have an amazing time all. Gutted I couldn't be in the thick of it up north.

At the above. Seriously though, I hope all this coverage is helping him to see the support he has from all angles today and it doesn't raise any more nerves for him than necessary. Would love to hear our fans go nuts for him on his first touch today.

Like fuck would he be blowing the whistle if that was Liverpool getting another corner.

Maybe an insane take for a Cup final but considering the known, shit quantity that Darlow is, I'd much prefer to go with the unknown quantity that promised to be a good 'keeper if he could sort out his brainfarts.

Best I can do is

It's been fun to not really pay attention to the relegation battle outside of laughing at one or two of the candidates.

Been hovering around there most of the season, haven't they?

Personally I don't see it as much more significant unless it gets Europe and 7th doesn't, but I can see why people may think it is for the the reasons already mentioned. Firstly, you may feel like you're cracking that 'big six' and not just being 'best of the rest'. Secondly, without looking back I can imagine European qualification drops to 6th more often than it doesn't, so still feels like a likely chance of Europe compared to 7th being much more uncertain.

Nice to know our reputation precedes us.

Do you really think players that signed a year ago or less, for a team that was still worrying about relegation a year go, are going to look at this one transfer window/second half of the season and want out? Feels hyperbolic, to say the least. And I say this as someone that was disappointed with the January window and felt we left a fantastic opportunity on the table by not looking for an extra quality player or two to keep momentum going.

See you in a week, folks.