Paullow

Match Man Utd's result against Brighton to finish 7th.

Yeah, I suppose you do still need a point to confirm 5th, especially with chelsea hitting a bit of form and having reasonable remaining fixtures. You obviously should get something on the final day, but then I guess you have recently been burnt going away to an already relegated side on the final day.

I don't think there's a cat in hells chance of catching Spurs looking at the 3 fixtures after tonight, so I'd definitely like Spurs to get something tonight, probably a win to keep both the title and CL alive on the final day, and I'd rather Arsenal win the league. Must be weird for Spurs fan. A draw, while a good achievement, would be a horrible result for their fans.

Aye, I've barely left the couch all day. 3 games, 1 goal. At least the Arsenal match went the way we wanted. Don't mind shite games if we get the preferred outcome, and I guess both playoff matches are at least live, and better than someone 4-0 up ahead of the second leg.

Forgot about that. Tough ask, but aye.

Atalanta (5th) vs Roma (6th) is a big game in Italy starting now on TNT Sports 1 with Italy having 5 CL teams next season. Level on 60 points, Atlanta have 3 games left after today, Roma 2. They drew earlier in the season, so a Roma win would put them in the driving seat with the H2H record.

Without considering the Chelsea match, I'd be happy with a point here, even if it meant 6th wasn't in our hands heading into the final day.

Merson is right. Tomorrow is a big match for Arsenal. If Liverpool win like 2-0, then even a draw for Tottenham on Tuesday keeps then interested on the final day, and if they did pull off a shock win, they'd possibly even be faves for 4th judging by the final fixtures, but if Villa won at Anfield then Tottenham's season is pretty much over, and that Man City match looks much different from their persepctive.

I'd still be shitting myself watching the final though . Just takes an early red, or a shock set piece lead and City waste chance after chance. It's a different team now, but they did lose to Wigan in the final about 10 years ago, in another 'bet the house' fixture, plus we were burnt in 1995 by Everton shocking Man Utd in the FA Cup Final to knock us out of Europe after finishing 6th.

They'll know more on Monday night, but if Spurs could somehow get a result against Man City then they could have a decent chance of 4th place. Now, Villa away to a Liverpool side with nothing to play for is a far easier fixture on paper than at home to a rampant Man City side chasing the title, and they are clear favourites, but a big incentive for Spurs if Villa did lose (even if they would probably be handing the title to their arch rivals).

We wouldn't be. It would be very likely, but there would be a nervous wait until the FA Cup final on the 25th.

Yep, either get a draw at Old Trafford, or match their result on the final day, and we will finish above Man Utd for the first time in the PL eara.

Conference max, but potentially nothing if Man Utd finish lower, and win the FA Cup. In that scenario they would get Europa and Chelsea would get Conference by finishing 6th,

Worst thing is if Man Utd do equalise, then Arsenal will clearly be pushing for the winner as a point is no good to them, so they could bring Raya up for a late corner and end up losing, which would be awful for us.

And it's going to be a 7th season in a row in the 2nd tier for their city rivals. Crazy.

I can't remember specifics but I can just remember being in the far sitting room with a tiny portable telly and watching with my dad. I can also remember the Sun doing a big spread of the two George's.

It was looking like Vill would have taken the lead in the early stages, and if they got one back quickly then they might have been favourites to go through, but a long way back for them now.

I remember watching that match. Must have just been 8, but Ajax vs Panathinaikos in 1996. George Finidi (or Finidi George) vs George Donis.

I was kind of expecting 4 decent quality signings to push 4 regular starters to the bench, and then 4 or 5 squad players to naturally leave the club, and for the club to look to have a Blackburn / Sheff Utd season next year whereby they stay up comfortably, never in any relegation trouble, nor threaten the top 3 or 4 clubs, and then look for a promotion push the year after, and maybe achieving it that year, or the following year if they just missed out. That way, the majority of the starters of today could have had another 2 or 3 years at the club, most of those as a regular, but if they are looking for CL football as quickly as possibly then who in the regular 15/16 match day squad will think they have a future here beyond 2 years max - it surely can't be more than 2 or 3? I guess they'd always know there was a chance this would happen, but it must be pretty grim for the players seeing all the away fans at Burnley and Wolves, the big home crowds, especially vs Liverpool Feds and the bumper crowd vs Huddersfield, and of course the matches at SJP, and then a few weeks later seeing half the squad leave, and the majority of them knowing that they will likely be away themselves sooner rather than later.

It will be interesting to see the retained list, sounds like there'll be as many released as staying on. Olivia Watt was the Fans player of the year, Emma Kelly was the Players player, Hannah Greenwood was the Manager's Player, so while not guaranteed, you'd assume those would be kept on. Boddy has a good reputation and has generally impressed whenever she has played, and is still really young, so it would be a huge shock if she left (from a being deemed 'good enough' POV anyway), Cataldo and PBG were just signed in January, from the league above, almost certainly with the 2nd tier in mind, so it would be a surprise if they were to go. Potts always looked like she could play at a higher level, and just dropped so low because it was Newcastle. Stobbs was the captain, probably has another good 2-3 years in her, and has played at a higher level, so you'd assume she would be kept on, but if there's '9-10 released' including 'many first team regulars', then I'm not sure after that. You'd like to think some of the local players would still be there, especially Katie Barker with her still being young and improving, but if there are wholesale changes, I can see most of those who were in the 4th tier being released, especially if they are over 25. I might be missing someone obvious, but without wanting to name specific names and say 'so and so could be in trouble', I think anyone that I haven't named could be disappointed - there will be 5 or so others kept on as there's only 9 players I've named, so another 5, and then up to 9 new signings would make a 23 women squad. It is a shame, and the team has definitely become much more integrated with the wider club, more involved in promotional material, and of course every home game was streamed, so you feel you know more about them, but I guess if you want to push on and get to be where you eventually want to be, then it's not massively unexpected.

A few people on the RTG big 'Non League Football' thread (on the first page) reckon that Blue Star might get promoted regardless, but don't know how true that is? https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/non-league-football.1331316/page-531

Current top 6 are: Newcastle 2/5 Chelsea 9/4 Man Utd 8/1 Chelsea definitely look the biggest threat now and probably have the best fixtures on paper, but we do have the points advantage and GD (which shouldn't be overturned). I'd be fine with 7th, but while it would be nice to finally finish above Man Utd, it will make that FA Cup final a lot more important as it would either be Conference or nothing defending on the outcome of the final (this is assuming Man Utd came 8th).

Normally if a side went 3-0 up I'd be tempted to switch over as the game would effectively be over as a contest, but I'm enjoying this.

It will be weird for him if he did go to Man Utd next season. Them potentially not being in the Conference/Europa could mean he only starts like 20 matches instead of 30+ (if he went).

Olise!