Paullow

Still 7th. Nothing positive has happened in the 4 matches that affected us this weekend thus far.

I was just about to say the same as Carra, gonna be barely 5 mins between this finishing and ours starting.

It stands to reason that you would want favourable results in matches involving teams in and around us. The whole 'if we don't beat xxx, then we don't deserve xxx' argument is lame as well. If Villa lost Man Utd would they not deserve it? Likewise if Chelsea lost to Forest? The league is over 38 games not 1 or 2, and if we get more points than 15 other teams we would deserve it, and it that means rivals dropping points to increase our chances, then that's great.

I agree that a Forest loss is better than a win, as it would guarantee top 6, but there is also the perspective that if Forest won today they would be more motivated on the final day with something concrete to play for (vs Chelsea), whereas if they lose today they are guaranteed 7th and Conference no matter what, so may give some kids a run out. If they win today and draw Chelsea on the final day then we'd still have a chance of top 5 if we only gained one point from the final 2 matches. Draw is definitely the best outcome though.

Worst case scenario is still 7th and conference, which would still be a memorable season given the cup win, but it would feel like a damp squib knowing that 2nd place was still up for grabs 7 days before the end of the season.

5-0 due to goals scored, so that's extremely unlikely, but they would know that if they win Man Utd could maybe surprise a few folk on their final home match of the season with Villa, whereas if they lose they are guaranteed 7th. A draw would definitely be best from our perspective, but I'd still rather they lost than won today to at least guarantee a top 6 finish and Europa.

No. In a normal season, 1-4 get CL, 5 get EL, 6 get nothing, 1 of the 2 EL spots goes to the FA Cup winners, the Conf League spot goes to the LC winners. If, like most seasons, those comps are won by teams who have already qualified then European spots would go down to 6th and 7th, just 6th last year as Man Utd won the FA Cup, as we found out. This year, there was a bonus CL spot, so 1-5 get CL, 6 gets Europa, 7 would have got nothing (depending on the cups). Palace get the 2nd EL spot via winning the FA Cup and our conf spot for winning the LC would go to 7th place, which still could be us anyway, but more likely to be Forest. Had say Wolves won the LC, then Forest wouldn't have gotten anything for finishing 7th.

Yep, guaranteed Europa if Forest lose, and we'll be pretty much there if they draw. Not impossible with 3 games to play, but hard to see an effective 12 goal difference being overturned with 1 Forest win and 2 Newcastle defeats.

Yep, 1-5 Champs League + Man Utd or Tottenham, Palace and 6th in Europa, 7th will be in the Conference, which looks like Forest at this stage. They'll still enjoy it no doubt having been out of Europe for a generation, but being 3rd for most of the season, a bonus CL spot emerges, and they don't even end up with the Europa consolation will be a bit grim. Thursday night in Shrewsbury or Larne is not quite the Allianz.

I'm a natural pessimist, but I wouldn't really say Everton are in form, they had only won one of 10 before beating Fulham last week. Plenty of draws in there I guess, which wouldn't be a great result if it happened next week, but they're certainly not in superb form. Still, it looks like it could be a Leicester type game from a couple of years ago, assuming we don't get the job done tomorrow.

On a side note, on the recent 'United' for Man Utd, I am quite guilty with referring to Man City and just City, and had to amend it twice in the above passage before hitting send, because it's the same principles, but can easily see why many neutrals would refer to Man Utd as just United.

I'm definitely wanting Man City to win. That would secure Europa League, even if it's very likely we will get at least that, it's still not guaranteed. Plus it would give Bmouth and Fulham something to play for when they do play Man City in the final 2 matches, and also, while it shouldn't matter, and wouldn't take away the great moment, it would still feel a bit weird, us ending our long trophy drought, the massive celebrations, masses on the streets, only for Crystal Palace to win a bigger trophy barely 2 months later, so yeah, come on Man City.

I guess at least the GD advantage is something. Had Chelsea won 3-0 tonight and we lost 0-2 on Sunday, two perfectly possible outcomes, then they would be above us, but we can lose up to 3-0 on Sunday and still be above them, which could come in handy should we both draw our final matches.

No, never been in the same league. Town were just formed in 1995, but there was talk about it becoming a reserve side for Spartans, which led to a breakaway Blyth AFC side, who initially did well in the Northern League, but then folded, and the original club were in the Northern Alliance third tier (step 9) in 2018, so they have now had 5 promotions in the past 8 seasons to get up to step 4, Spartans obviously having back to back relegations to meet them there. https://www.fchd.info/BLYTHT.HTM

Step 5 Just 20 teams in this league next season with 2 going up and none coming down from the NPL East. Horden and Thornaby both promoted. Hopefully Blue Star can go one step further this season as they do look well placed to go higher up the pyramid. Step 6 Durham United and AFC Newbiggin making the step up from the Wearside and Alliance league respectively. I believe CLS Utd are, or were, changing their name to Park View. A reprieve for Grangetown as well, Bedlington presumably playing in the Alliance next season.

Leagues for steps 3-6 confirmed for next season Step 3 Hebburn,Morpeth, Stockton and then Whitby and Workington if you want to include them. All 5 would have been bolded in the Sunday Sun back in the day (not seen that paper for about 20 years), although Workington is obviously a long way away for most in the North East Step 4 A shame Dunston just fell short, but Ashington, Bishops, Blyth S, Blyth T, Consett, Dunston, Heaton, Newton A and Redcar all in the same league will be great for travel and transport and getting a few more on the gate. 9 out of 22 is incredible. I was browsing on my phone earlier and had to do a 2nd take as I thought it said Shildon instead on Silsden. I see Brighouse must have had a reprieve as they were meant to get relegated.

If we beat Everton (or Arsenal) then it 99.9% doesn't matter what the others do, unless Villa went suspiciously goal crazy, so I assumed the person I was quoting had doubts of this by wanting Forest to win this weekend to keep them competitive heading into the Chelsea match. A draw in the final 2 matches would guarantee top 6 and at least Europa, but if we lose Arsenal, which I suspect we will, and that Everton match kind of mirrors the Leicester match of 2 years ago where we can't score, and then give the opponent a glorious chance out of nowhere, then at that stage we'd probably have hoped Forest dropped points at the earliest opportunity, but we'll of course know one part of the sequence before we and Forest both next play.

We can still finish 7th quite feasibily and if Palace were to win the FA Cup, that would mean conference football next season, which would be very disappointing. Forest do play after the cup final though, so we will know if we have at least Europa secured by the time they play. If Palace do win the cup then I'll be wanting Forest to drop points, just to be on the safe side.

Ajax followed this form up with a 2-2 draw against Groningen tonight. PSV won again to go a point clear ahead of the final match, an absolute collapse by Ajax. The hosts were down to 10 men, but equalised in the 99th minute

I was thinking of going to this with Wednesday being one of my office days, but completely forgot, but Stan have beaten Morpeth on pens (after a 0-0 draw) to win the Senior Cup.

Best Sunderland have played all 110 mins

It's 4/1 at Bet365 and some other random place. I wish there was a 'to finish outside the top 5' odds at a normal bookie (not exchange). PP have us 1/50 to finish top 5, so we'd probably be around 14/1 if they were offering that market.

I didn't see the Chesterfield match, but the Wycombe-Charlton match was the worst all the first legs. 6 play off matches and not one home win - those who feel the team just missing out on automatic should go up will be pleased.

Whoosh?

If Villa lose, then they are out of the equation (from our perspective), but then if Forest won their 2 remaining matches (obviously one would include Chelsea) and Chelsea beat Man Utd then we could, and very likely will, finish 6th with 2 losses.