Kid Icarus

Just looking here it's between about 5 and 10 debutants each year since he's been England manager. https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/england/trainerdebuetanten/verein/3299

Longstaff's second in the Southampton semi final.

That mentality is more endemic amongst that club, it's managers, staff, ex-pros, and fans than with any other club. Each club has things about it that people don't like - that's their's. Just relentless, insufferable arrogance about who they are. Anyone beating them has done so because it was their cup final, they won because they wanted it more not because they're better, they did a lap of honour because beating us - the mighty Man United - is a huge deal to them and probably the biggest accolade in football. It's been the same mentality from them for decades and it's why no fucker likes them and their sterotypically Terry Christian-like fans.

Seems funny to say this considering the massive difference in positions, but we've now gone past last season's total with 11 games to go. Remarkable that we even ended last season on 49 points as well considering where we were.

I'd snap your hand off for 5 points from these 3 away games like.

Wouldn't say any of them we're incredible, but Martinez and De Gea are the only two who can say they did their jobs.

Watched it again last night and it was more or less as I experienced it the first time tbh - probably because we were so in control and dominant throughout that there wasn't loads to worry about beyond our own missed chances. Trippier was outstanding man, everything he did was more or less perfect. He is a seriously special player - Maybe calling his style British or English isn't quite right, but he has a part of his game that I remember Shearer or even Lampard having, where he doesn't look like he's doing anything fancy, but he does what look like the basics to the absolute highest level. The greatest RB this club has had in my lifetime, no contest. ASM wasn't far off and should have had a hattrick of assists - watching it the first time I kept thinking he should mix it up a bit and take Darlot down the outside, but nah, every time he was going inside he was either putting it on a plate for someone, or playing someone into a great position having dragged a Man United player out of position. His decision making was excellent and his header back is underrated as well, he had to get that spot on and his execution was flawless. Not a negative, but no idea how Bruno got MOTM tbh - what he did on the ball was great, but he was quite quiet compared to the other contenders on second viewing and would be behind Trippier, ASM, Schar, Willock, Botman, Isak as MOTM for me. What a brilliant position to be in though - Bruno puts in probably around an 8/10 performance and I'm sat here thinking there are 6 players who deserve the MOTM award ahead of him.

I think the trepidation about Howe was fair tbh. We were all fearful of going down, there was an expectation of Rafa coming as part of the takeover who we had experience of as a safe pair of hands playing pragmatic, hard-working, tactically astute football. Then we had just missed out on Emary who is imo the modern equivilent of Rafa. Howe was the club's next choice and at the exact opposite end of the scale to those other two in terms of football philosophy™ so that alone was a worry. The expectation from fans with Howe was that we would probably be good going forward but leaky at the back. Of course the devil is in the details and I think once fans looked into what he'd done, watching documentaries, talking with Bournemouth fans etc, those fears turned to excitement and we were for the most part all on board. I always say this, but for me he had me at 'a lot of you are stood still. Standing still's no good, you've got to move' during that first training session video. There was also the sense of the unknown - no one, not even Howe, knew that the time he'd spent working on his weaknesses would work out so incredibly well. Literally becoming one of the best defences in Europe over the past season and a half. I don't think Howe was in the wilderness though, he was constantly being linked with jobs and (just as Potter should have done with Chelsea imo) he turned down the Celtic job because it wasn't right. He wasn't allowed his own backroom staff and that for him was a dealbreaker. Meanwhile Potter walks away from a job where his stock is high into a job where the owner is playing Football Manager above his head. I get people not blaming him, but for me it was always a completely insane decision tbh.

Yeah for some reason that seems to have passed everyone by, but on Reddit a really big deal was made of it.

Even if that's true, which I'm canny dubious about tbh, how is 'not suffering' for inevitable failure a selling point? I don't think his reputation is really untouched by this either. He's gone to a job at the top level and failed, with some now saying he's not cut out for that level. Do you think that he's got as much chance of the Spurs job now as he would have had if he'd just stayed at Brighton? I don't get how anyone can think it was ever a good decision by him like. It completely flipped my opinion on his decision making for me.

https://vm.tiktok.com/ZMYb8dea7/

I think if we're still in a good position by the time we play Spurs and then we beat them, it's on.

I'd say he'd have more about him if he didn't care with how he was tagged or had the confidence to think his ability would be seen by clubs less insane than Chelsea. If he'd continued as he was at Brighton he still would have had the option of other clubs imo, or could have succeeded at Brighton maybe. It's going to Chelsea specifically that makes him daft imo. They're a complete basket case with a revolving door of managers and an owner who thought Tuchel wasn't good enough and thinks he's playing Football Manager. I honestly don't know what Potter was expecting.

Have no sympathy whatsoever for Potter mind. This is one of the most obvious turn of events you could predict in world football and he's a complete fool for leaving the situation he was in to go to fucking Chelsea.

His feet write poems to the stars

fucks sake

Really looking forward to my second watch of this with no tension.

Delighted to see him repeat his Villa goal. Hopefully that's him back and out of his funk.

Potter potted, but Rodgers not rogered?

What a weekend of FA Premier League football

I felt like he was quality over quantity today. Not used as much but when he was his quality shone through.

I see Genesis have asked Peter Gabriel to come back.

He's a shoo in for Ronaldo's league of extraordinary gentlemen

Pass the bucket, Jesus wept. Back to enjoying a thoroughly deserved Newcastle win.