leffe186

Apparently Timber is now Arsenal’s only injured player and he’s not far from a return. They’ve been unbelievably lucky with injuries this year.

I don’t see us getting anything Sunday, but if I could be granted one wish it would be for Arteta to pull a Woody Hayes or Mike Tomlin on the touchline and get banned for ever.

Yeah it was magic. I lived on Muswell Hill Rd near the Church, on the bend in the road. Rented a room in a house with 10 others for £500pcm in the late 90s and early 00s. As time goes on it becomes clearer how lucky I was - was a terrific time to be in my 20s in London.

With the amount of money coming from the Premier League now the differential and importance of CL qualification - while still significant - is not as extreme as it used to be. That’s part of the reason why there’s more parity and fluidity at the top now. It’s just less critical to qualify. I do agree that all things being equal I’d love to finish 4th this year, but the specific question is whether we would stomach Arsenal winning the league to achieve that, and that’s where the balance is tipped.

Don’t think I knew that - whereabouts? I lived in Muswell Hill for years and my sister has been living there for ages. I miss it but could never afford a place there now.

It happened in 1999.

I don’t remember anything between Gazza and Martin Jol.

We’ve qualified for the CL a ton recently. Arsenal haven’t won the Premier League for twenty years. There are dozens, maybe even hundreds of Arsenal fans who have never ever seen their team won the League. It’s far more important to me that they do not feel that joy (hopefully ever) than we qualify for the CL over the Europa. I am genuinely blown away that you are even considering this . I think you need better rivals.

I’m pretty confident that we’re going to be challenging for CL places for a while - we’ve been in it most years recently. Financially it would help but not be as crucial as for - say - Villa. Arguably it would be more small-time to think missing out on the Cl would be disastrous. If we don’t have these rivalries then what’s the point tbh.

Detrimental to an extent, but not too much, as we’re financially stronger and rebuilding on the pitch. And being back in North London (my rightful home, unlike those plonkers) them winning would be significantly detrimental to my own well-being. I would suggest that if you were in our position the majority would agree with me.

Some debate over that, but I think in general if it’s a choice between Arsenal winning the league and us missing out on CL most Spurs fans would happily take the Europa. It helps that there’s a genuine perception that we’re improving in our rebuild and the CL might come too soon. Also we’ve been in the CL a ton and though the money is great there’s not the same need that Villa have. Most importantly though, and I cannot stress this enough, fuck Arsenal.

Oh no, people are generally agreed I think - across the podcasts too. The Fighting Cock suggested we kick off, run up our own end and smash it in. Then do that again 99 times. Crowd cheering every goal, everyone doing the Poznan etc etc

Not stupid iyam - thoughtful and morally upright.

I had no idea Palmer wasn't playing against Arsenal. The lucky fucking bastards.

Reddit says a different club, but this is the problem with releasing the details they have. Enough to spark a frenzy. Ironically, I suspect the one thing we could have a fair discussion on is who we'd want it to be . Any actual speculation is unfair to everyone.

Genuinely a good argument for VAR. An absolutely critical goal at a critical time and it shouldn’t have counted.

Was half-watching and thinking “why didn’t VAR rule it out?”

One goal closer lads. Five more years and we’ve got you.

The reason I responded was that you posted this: ”Because we have had half the squad injured all season. Do a little research prick.” Which quite clearly means you think he doesn’t know you’ve had a lot of injuries, and you’re very angry about that. Don’t be angry about that. He knows you have had a lot of injuries. It just came across a bit weird to me.

And as Jaqen and I pointed out, earlier this week he said Eddie was dealing with a ton of injuries. He knows. Do you seriously think the manager of a Premier League club who is playing you tomorrow is unaware that you’ve had a load of injuries?

And that’s great. It sounds like you think he doesn’t know all that though (“do your research, prick”) which just isn’t true.

I think he’s just saying qualifying for the CL in of itself shouldn’t be the goal. The cautionary tale isn’t that you did anything wrong - far from it - it’s just that it doesn’t always work out. He’s been saying for a while that the main thing is to progress and develop as a team so that you can challenge, properly challenge, to win things. If in doing that we qualify for the CL then great, but it’s not the important thing this year.

Yes it is. But it doesn’t also mean you’re “little Newcastle” or that you haven’t had a challenging season or that the CL isn’t a significant part of the reason why you’ve had a lot of injuries.

Also I think “for whatever reason” could just be interpreted as an acknowledgement that there have been a lot of different reasons for the challenges e.g. a guy bought arguably with the CL in mind who gets banned out of nowhere.

I genuinely think you’re being a bit weird here. It has been a really challenging season for you, and he’s already said you’ve had to deal with a ton of injuries. Before he even got to us he was having to defend his record of achievements with “small” sides in “small” leagues. He’s the last guy to be saying you’re “little Newcastle”. I think there’s definitely an argument to be made that he’s downplaying the CL in case we don’t get it this year (I think it’s wrong, but it can be made). I don’t think he’s taking the piss out of you.