Paullow

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023–24_Women's_Championship#Table The top of the Women's Championship is crazy this season. Almost half the teams are separated by just two points. Durham did beat Southampton earlier, so do close in a bit on that pack of 5. Sunderland currently losing 0-1 at home to in form Birmingham, who are jumping from 5th to 1st in the live table

It's obviously not nice for Fylde, but hopefully they don't take their foot off the gas. There's a few of these players that don't often start, so they'll be looking to impress and not ease off, but more importantly, we won the league on GD last year, and Forest won this league on GD, and with only 22 matches, more chance it will come down to GD. Fylde scored as I was typing that , a cracker, but hopefully we score a few more as the game progresses.

Looking forward to the East Anglian derby tomorrow at 12.30, especially with no PL match on TNT at the same time. The last one was was in Feb 2019, so less than 5 years, but to me it feels so much longer with Ipswich having a few years in the 3rd tier and Norwich yo-yo between the top leagues. I guess Ipswich doing so well adds a bit more intrigue and interest this season and if it was just day 17th vs 8th then it wouldn't feel as big to the casual viewer.

I'm getting Error 500 when I click the link, and see someone on Twitter has as well. Could someone please post the statement, if they can still access it?

I thought that might happen, so stuck £20 on Milan at 9/2 about 5 mins ago. Still hope we get at least a draw out of it.

Came off the bench and just equalised vs Celtic in their dead rubber.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/2023–24_UEFA_Youth_League#Group_F Dortmund beat PSG so we ended up finishing 3rd, which is a great return considering we lost our first game 4-0, and then the next two which were both at home. 7 points from 3 games is good going.

Sunderland coming on stronger now vs Leeds. That French keeper just made a really good save before, and they missed a glorious chance from a free kick just before that.

Quite confusing what I'd want from these Championship fixtures tonight . I'd ideally like Ipswich promoted, and Sunderland not in the playoffs, and probably Leeds not to go up as well, but if it ended up Leeds vs Sunderland in the payoff final, then I'd obviously want Leeds to go up. I reckon Leeds would be more of a threat than Ipswich in the playoffs, and Watford are probably one of the most likely to knock Sunderland out of the playoffs from those around 6th to 11th, but if Leeds and Watford won, then Leeds would only be 4 points off automatic. Watford currently a goal up on Ipswich. Edit, 1-1 now.

We could win 8-0 again tomorrow and still not qualify. If, hypothetically, Dortmund get a red card after 5 mins and give away a pen in the same incident and find themselves 0-2 or 0-3 down after 15 mins, then a draw will effectively be as good as a win as far as we are concerned. I of course want a win, and probably wouldn't take one if offered, but, especially when qualifying is not in our hands, and given our injuries and very recent form and a loss will be by no means a shock result, I could certainly understand those who say they would take a draw, and at least have something to look forward to in the new year outside of the usual calendar. It's not simply a case of win or bust, as the consolation prize is still one definitely worth having, if that's what we do end up with. Eddie isn't saying he would take a draw, and specifically mentions trying to win at the end of the same quote, but by saying 'European football is in our hands', he is at least acknowledging the Europa League as something to play for, and that's it's certainly not all or nothing as far as far as the Champions League and Europe is concerned.

Lens winner, 2-1. The place and manager look buzzing that they are staying in Europe after a 15 year exit, even if just in 3rd place. They of course couldn't qualify for the CL today. Sevilla out completely.

Drama in the Lens-Sevilla game. 1-0 Lens, Ramos has his pen saved for Sevilla by ex Forest keeper Samba, great save, but he was off his line. Retaken and scored with a risky chip, 1-1 with 11 mins to go - they need to find a winner to stay in Europe, and then potentially defend their title.

Just looking at the FA Cup last year, and there are no replays. In this equivalent round, Man Utd drew Sunderland away and won 1-2, and in the next round (the last 16), they were at home to Durham and won 5-0 at Leigh, but only in front of 1,700 despite it being a round further on, against a higher tier team than us, and I guess later in the year (Feb 26th) when it will generally be a bit less colder / Wintery than in mid January. That said, you'd think there'd be far more going down from Newcastle than Durham took, and it will also likely feel more higher profile for Man Utd fans as well against a big city team, so hopefully the crowd number will be more higher 4 figures.

That's a completely different situation to the one you've quoted. Throwing the game would be playing a bunch of kids, be happy if we lost, get out of Europe completely to concentrate elsewhere. Whereas those saying they'd take a draw realise it's not the best situation, but it's not the worst either, a bit like saying they'd take a point at a fairly tough away game - could be a lot worse, so they'd settle to at least get something from the match and avoid the worst possible scenario (a loss). Even Eddie was alluding to the prospect of Europa League in his press conference., and that we've got something in our hands. "Being under the lights here, in the UEFA Champions League, is always very special. We have something to play for, something to gain. To be here with some kind of destiny in our hands, European football still in our hands, I think we would have taken that at the start of the group. We can control our performance tomorrow and we will make sure we give everything we can to try and win." Finishing 3rd in this group is certainly nothing to be sniffed at. I'd be gutted if we lost tomorrow, whereas at least we would have some sort of reward if we were to draw. even if not the ultimate prize.

Not a massive amount on the line from a neutral perspective in the 5.45pm games - PSV vs Arsenal is a complete dead rubber, with nothing at all on the line. Lens vs Sevilla is a shootout for the Europa, so decent enough from their perspective, and a chance for Sevilla to defend their title and they must win, but it's effectively a UEFA Cup last 64 match in old money. I might actually watch Sunderland vs Leeds tonight instead of the Champions League, although will be keeping an eye on how Man Utd's group unfolds. Probably the best scenario would be for Man Utd to win, but there also be a winner in the other match meaning 3rd for MU, helping the PL co-efficient and extra matches for MU (a bit like us potentially, but the Europa League would clearly mean more to us as a club and fanbase as we've barely been in Europe these past 10 years). It would be really annoying if Man Utd limped through a weak group in 2nd with only 7 points, and we ended up 3rd with 8 points in the 'Group of Death', but I could actually see that happening.

Great draw, arguably the tie of the round, likely to be on TV, but it would have been far better if it was at home, and potentially at SJP'. It's not like a 3rd tier side going to Man Utd in the 3rd round of the men's event and a trip to Old Trafford and a money spinning tie for the club because it will likely be at Leigh and the ground isn't really any bigger / prestigious than Kingston Park, and it's not like the club will really need the money either that say a fellow third tier side like Halifax, Stourbridge, or Liverpool Feds would, but hopefully there's a good crowd there generally, and plenty in the away end. That all said, it's still a very high profile match for the lasses, one they will very likely lose, but a chance to give a good account of themselves, test themselves against better players, and hopefully be a rehearsal for things to come more regularly for club in the next 3 or 4 years, and should they go out, then they can obviously concentrate elsewhere, on the League Cup, but more importantly, another potential promotion. I assume it will be decided on the day, and no chance of bringing them back to Newcastle if they did manage to hold them to a draw?

Good news if he is back, but it does seem very early - just over 5 weeks. Obviously injuries can vary in severity, plus the sport could be taken into account, but my favourite tennis player suffered a 'lower back stress fracture' in mid May, missed the French Open, came back at Wimbledon in early July, so like 7 weeks, retired during a match and hasn't played since, so just hope he isn't coming back too soon, but you'd hope the medical staff would know what they are doing.

It hasn't half put a downer on the season in what should have been the club's best and most exciting for years heading into it. We are still reasonably placed in the league, still in Europe with a more than 50% chance of still being involved in some capacity in February, and still in the League Cup, and a million miles away from where we were just 2 years ago, but at the same time, the season does kind of feel a bit of a write off, and it's very easy to feel sorry for yourself, which I'm sure, at least behind the scenes, the club will be. Never seen anything like this before. To have 12/13 out for at least a month, some longer and missing 5/6/7+ matches all at the same time is unheard of. I'm sure we will continue to get injuries in early 2024, and going forward, due to our style, but hopefully not missing this many at the same time. Plus, going forward, the likes of Ritchie and Dummett, mainly there for their character, won't be around and there will be better options among the 25 in case of crisis, plus there will likely be a lot of good young'uns around who don't need be registered, like 20m Brazil or Argentina 19 year olds, and not local lads on the bench who will more than likely end up at the likes of Hartlepool, if they're lucky. It really is easy to sometimes forget that this time 26 months ago, just over two years, we still had Ashley and Bruce.

If there's nobody due back for Milan then, while it's a shame it's against a Euro rival, I'd consider starting the likes of Hall, Ritchie, Dummett, Krafth, maybe one or two young'uns like Murphy, and save some of the better ones for Milan. We'd probably lose to Spurs regardless given the situation, so may as well give ourselves the best chance possible of getting something vs Milan.

Poor defending for Spurs, and it is 1-2 West Ham.

Many will be turning on the Spurs match hoping West Ham can nick a winner, but with the injuries, away form, fixture congestion etc. we could well be battling more with West Ham for league position than Spurs.

Yep, I know he wasn't great vs Dortmund away and Bournemouth, but it doesn't say much for him if he can't get any minutes in a congested fixture list and knackered players.

Obviously a few poor draws last season, but assuming we don't score in the final 10 or so mins, we'll have lost as many league games after 15 games this season as we did in the whole of last season.

Lucy Ward. Usually does the BT/ TNT Saturday 12.30pm matches.

Those overseas will be about 20/30 seconds ahead of the UK Amazon viewer, so that could be quite interesting regarding this thread. Nothing unusual for those who usually watch via dodgy streams though.