Boey_Jarton

We would be higher due to away goals in head to head

This. And the goal difference is in our favour. We are in a very privileged position

This is the arsenal fan playbook all year.

There are a few reasons to dislike every club but the palace fans I know from working down in London are all decent football guys who love their club despite winning fk all for all these years

Palace are in the same bucket as Fulham for me - zero dislike for them whatsoever. Really pleased for them when you see what it means to their fans at full time compared to what it would have meant to City

Maguire's head size going to count against him here

Asensio wankfest on comms but can't disagree, the guy is quality.

Slot deserves the managers award. They've won the league at a cantor and many had him down as Ten Haag Mk II at the start of the season.Granted, those comparison were due to him being bald and Dutch, but they have been consistently the best team all season.

Definitely one for the unpopular opinions thread but I find Simon Jordan entertaining. Obviously, his role is to be a gobshite, often taking ludicrous positions to draw debate, but he talks a lot of sense on PSR and football finance. His interview with Eddie Howe was interesting as he did not do the usual sycophantic drivel and asked some challenging questions.

The Glazers and Ashley are both terrible football owners but in different ways. Ashley treated Newcastle as a subsidiary of Sports Direct and through mismanagement, hiring cronies and a lack of investment, he allowed the club to turn into a lower half PL team that regularly fights relegation and one has commercial revenues that are a fraction of previously comparable rivals. The Glazers took ownership of Man united through a leveraged buyout, putting the club into debt that is effectively secured on their future revenues. As an ownership group they have benefitted significantly (into the billions) from a combination of dividend payments, share sales and management contracts. They have overseen chronic financial mismanagement of the club that is only partly mitigated by their impressive commercial revenues, which are a function of man united's legacy rather than anything the Glazers have proactively done. Of course Man U have won trophies under the Glazer's tenure but their starting point was taking over one of the biggest clubs in the world 20 years ago.

Perfect thing for an ITK to have a wild guess at. It's perfectly plausible and you can claim credit if it happens. A broken clock is right twice a day.

Bruno F is a wonderful player. However, if Man U's talismanic captain midfielder can still get in a PL team of the year, in a season where they are 16th with 2 games to go, and on a points total low enough for relegation, then it really does hit home how truly dogshit the rest of the team must have been.

Very strange second half - reminded me of the last 15 mins of the Leicester home game that sealed champions league a few seasons ago. We flipped from being in total control to the playing the occasion and hanging on. Defending the lead was somewhat understandable but we were unable to string two passes together and had no outlet despite an extra man. Chelsea were excellent second half in fairness, probably buoyed by having nothing to lose. Credit to Howe for first half masterclass that allowed us to outclass a decent opponent despite adopting a new system to accommodate the injuries.

BBC haven't got a clue on formation

Bournemouth corner routines are honking like

I can understand people's concerns. The opta probability says 84 percent but that can swing significantly after just one game week. The Brighton game is an amazing opportunity. Win that and it feels nigh on impossible that we fail to qualify. We should go into that game with such mindset and should not think of it as a 'free hit'. That term gives me awful memories of Pardew's team going to Spurs in 2012 and getting pumped 5-0!!!

Rashford on a three year contract for a low fee could still be a £40m+ commitment. We would likely make him our highest earner, and the deal could potentially drive up wages for other squad members. It's still a significant risk, particularly for a guy that has questionable workrate and doesn't necessarily suit Eddie's style. Of course, if he could rekindle his 22/23 form it would be a no brainer, but that is questionable.

Man United's profit and loss account makes for interesting reading. Their healthy revenue somewhat mitigates their clusterfuck of decisions which have led to high wages/amortisation, bloated operating expenses and a need to service debt.

Anderson's's sale and subsequent success at Forest, rather than sitting on the bench with us, is arguably a demonstration of FFP working successfully.

Bloke has an arse the size of Ayers Rock

Was like the six nations. Ridiculous

They were piss poor but Barnes is quicker than many give him credit for. Probably because he is famous for being a one-two merchant rather than taking players on.

Shearer on the tangfastics

Whilst his presentation was a bit unpolished, Bellamy was an interesting pundit as he actually says what he thinks. I enjoyed hearing some of his insights and him talking about his playing career. I do think he was using the opportunity to push his credentials as a manager but who can blame him. However, I am unsure how genuine his new found fondness for Newcastle is. If you have read his autobiography he frequently talks disparagingly about Newcastle and a quick YouTube search will find you some videos of him during the Ashley era ridiculously claiming that Newcastle fans think they are a bigger club than Liverpool. A shame really, as he was an outstanding player for us, in terms of both technical ability, pace and workrate .

Flashbacks of the halcyon days of Shelvey versus Sheffield Wednesday