LiquidAK

Ok we've had the scare. Good to get that out of the way

Well fuck

Howay, let's go. One more push

Gol, honey, you're meant to be one of the positive ones. Don't leave me like this. I need you now more than ever

I think we've got more than enough to win this. Nerves are setting in though, would fucking love another run in Europe

Hope for his sake his injury doesn't affect him going to the Euros. He's more than earned it, would be gutted for him

Pope in, and Howe was brave enough to leave Trippier out after the calamity on Wednesday. Big decisions, love that. Gordon out is a huge blow, but Barnes is a great deputy. Let's do this

Aye Barnes is a very capable player. His form has been patchy since coming back from injury but he's hardly useless. Big game today, if AG is out I back him to step up

Play the way we played against Man Utd, with better finishing and Pope in goal and we win this comfortably. I understand people's nervousness that we'll miss our entirely, but we're more than capable of beating this lot if we play anywhere close to our best, and they have nothing to play for. We can absolutely do this

as if he would leave to work under an unknown quantity in Slot when by all accounts he's in love with Eddie Howe and the work he's done to improve his game.

Yeah if he's going it'll be because he wants to start somewhere and knows we're looking to upgrade. Only been here a couple of years but he's been class, one of my favourite keepers I've seen for us. Be one of those that we remember in years to come as a big part of the transition period into a team that's regularly competing for trophies imo

Ramsdale would be a massive let down tbh, the price and the wages would presumably impact other spending quite significantly too. That said, I think I felt Pope wasn't much of an upgrade on Dubs and the club was right there, so what the fuck do I know

Visited my friend a few weeks ago, his girlfriend's little brother is a City fan (because of course). Did get a good chuckle out of the interaction - Him: *points at my phone* Who's that? Me: Bruno G, he's class Him: Bruno G is mid. Me: Righto. *Google's original Ronaldo* what about him? Him: He's mid. Me: Do you know who that is? Him: No, but he's mid. Funny guy tbf

People would question Howe if the club announced our next kit would be black and white stripes

Yeah Tripps gets in purely because LB options are thin on the ground and he's a known quantity there. Based on form and fitness he shouldn't, but he will

That was class. Love Miggy man.

By all accounts we're completely at the limits of FFP. You can make an argument to say we should've prioritised differently what we spent in the summer, but I'm not sure just "doing some deals" in January was ever a viable option

Now it doesn't, but at the time it made more sense. Gordon was still bedding in, his rise has been meteoric. The intention imo was Barnes to be our main LW and Gordon getting minutes across the wings, or across the whole front 3 really. Barnes injury and Gordon turning out to be fucking mint on the left changed that calculus. Like a lot of our business last year Barnes was opportunistic - available at a price we were happy with. In an ideal world I suspect we'd have gone for a RW equivalent but for whatever reason that didn't materialise

Forgot about Bruno having a free header on their goal too. So many chances last night, so frustrating how it all fell. Thought I'd wake up happier

I think the thinking at the start of the season was likely that Gordon and Barnes would rotate for the LW spot, with Gordon able to pick up minutes on the RW as well as needed, with Miggy & Murphy primarily rotating for that spot. Barnes' injury and Gordon having such a good season has changed that, but the signing was generally quite a logical one at the time. I still think it will come good as well next season in a similar setup, but hopefully with a better RW as the main starter that side.

Pope has to start on Sunday, and if he's not fit enough to start, then Karius. I don't dislike the guy but he's flapped at every ball that's come near him for the last month, and he wasn't great before that. Did well for us for a few years when first brought in, thanks for the service, welcome back to visit after you've retired etc., but time to say goodbye

And on a more basic level, playing in Europe is fun as fuck. Getting to play a bunch of teams from around the continent we've never played before. It's class. CL is the absolute pinnacle of that but give me any form of it we can get tbh

Disagree with ECL not being worth it. It's European football which is inherently a step in the right direction, and it's a trophy that we could damn well win if we're not hobbled by insane numbers of injuries never season