Paullow

Got to the stage, when it became obvious there was a strong interest, that I would have been disappointed if it didn't happen. Will have my full support and hope he does well.

Alex Crook live on Talksport has just said the clubs are (apparently) currently £5m apart on their valuation.

Fair enough, I was mainly just going off this - https://www.live-footballontv.com/ They have so many obscure channels on there now like Mola TV, and other dedicated club channels and competition channels (National League TV), but while there will of course be ways of seeing that match (I didn't realise it was on), it mustn't have any specific UK coverage. I was mainly meaning on the likes of Sky Sports, BT Sport, Amazon, ITV/BBC etc.

Feels like the first night in ages that there's not a significant / relevant match on TV. The last couple of Thursday's had big Premier League matches - Fulham vs Chelsea and then Man City vs Tottenham. Man City vs Arsenal on ITV tomorrow night in the FA Cup.

Hadn't a clue what you were on about there. Thought you meant we want extra time in our second leg and I was thinking WTF (especially with Rodney agreeing with you) , but just clicked that you were meaning the Europa tie.

Absolutely no intrigue whatsoever for the 2nd leg, and almost a night off for them. Even a 2nd minute red card won't make any difference. Forest were poor, but 0-3 at the City Ground is good going. I was kind of expecting a draw tonight and then that sort of score in the return leg.

Man Utd's forthcoming schedule is mad: 28/1 - Reading H - FA Cup 1/2 - Forest H - EFL Cup 4/2 - Palace H 8/2 - Leeds H 12/2 - Leeds A 16/2 - Barca A - Europa 19/2 - Leicester H 23/2 - Barca H - Europa Obviously they can rest players against Reading and the Forest match might be academic next week, and they can do what they want with the Europa, but that's another 8 matches to travel / prepare for before the EFL Cup final, whereas in the same period, we only have 4 matches.

100%. The semi finals last year (Roma, Marseille, Feyenoord, Leicester) looked far stronger than the Europa League. I'd obviously prefer to be in either of the other two competitions, but I'd definitely take the Conference it that's what it turned out to be. More games on TV, more chance for kids to go to SJP who miss out on league matches, another chance to win a trophy, away city trips for fans, just an improvement to the clubs general stature on the continent.

The European spot is definitely something to think about IMO. Assuming we get to the final, then losing to Man Utd will lock up a spot for the league, whereas if we did lose to Forest then Europe would only go down to 6th place in the league, and if Brighton or Leicester (or equivalent) were to go on and win the FA Cup then it would only be 5th place. I'm personally expecting us to finish 6th, hoping for better, obviously, but that's my hunch, and while there would be less distractions again, I'd personally be gutted if we finished in the top 6, for the first time in ages, and had no European at all football to show for it, so from a conservative / pessimistic mindset, there is a slight advantage there for a Man Utd win here.

Yeah, there are a few reasons why I'd want Man Utd to get through to the final as well. We're obviously not there yet, and of course, if we do, pure odds wise we'd be favourites to win the cup (against Forest) as opposed to slight underdogs (which will come with it's own pressures...), but just generally more chance on paper that we would return triumphant. However, if Man Utd won (and played us in the final) then that would lock up a European spot in the league - if Forest won the cup then it would only go down to 6th, and would just need take a Brighton or Leicester winning the FA Cup and then only 5th place would get Europe and not 6th. Newcastle vs Forest would be an interesting match with two big city teams with decent history, but Newcastle vs Man Utd would feel the bigger match generally, and would be brilliant to beat then in the final. We'd also be far better placed to win than in both the 98 or 99 finals when as a midtable side we met the newly crowned league champions, but if we did lose then it wouldn't feel as much of a missed opportunity than potentially losing to a team battling relegation for much of the season, which would sting for ages. Probably just about want Forest to win to increase our chances, but I'm not really fussed and see advantages / opportunities either way. That said, we obviously need to finish the job on Tuesday before worrying about potential final opponents. I would like tonight's match to still be live after 90 mins though. A Man Utd win, especially be 2+ goals and it will effectively be over.

Phew!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

GTFI!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1

Don't think I've ever seen such a frustrating match than this. Really poor last 10 mins or so. Can barely pass to each other.

Willock could definitely be upgraded IMO.

I know they beat Man City, but I'm not sure if there will be a better chance on paper to make a major final. They are as long as 9/2 even to win tonight's match at their place. Any Newcastle win and we are obviously massively in the driving seat. A draw and we'll be strong favourites to progress. A 1 goal defeat would be poor , but wouldn't be a disaster and I'd be reasonably confident of turning it around at home, a 2 goal defeat and they'll be favourites, but still doable, but a 3+ defeat and that will be a nightmare. I'm kind of relaxed about it, probably more so because it won't officially be decided tonight, and a chance to put things right if it does go wrong, but also even though a semi final is generally the worst time to exit a tournament as you don't even get to be part of a showpiece event and in the history books, I'm pretty sure there will be a fair few other semi finals in the coming season (especially if we do regularly qualify for the Europe, and all the CL / EL drop outs and stuff), so a bit less pressure from that perspective (from my POV). Still a massive night though, and hopefully we can make a first major final in a generation.

Decent win for Spurs to be fair.

Jim Cantbuyawin https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Jim_Goodwin

Lucky boy to survive a second yellow.

Camera is horrific here. It's like the old tower camera on the early Fifa's

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/live/football/64285652 Was watching during half time. Aberdeen putting a bit more pressure on, should have had a goal, but offside flag wrongly raised. Keeper just made a great save as well. I'd never heard of the town or the football club. They play in the West of Scotland League, one below the Lowland League.

Shit, just before half time. Their first period of sustained pressure as well.

Aberdeen still losing to a 6th tier side in the Scottish Cup. 55 mins gone (BBC platform).

There should probably be 5 English CL spots by the 2024/25 season, so that will help things a bit next season, but there will still be at least 7 serious contenders, possibly more, so some will obviously still miss out.

Mag

Snal! VAR permitting, of course.