Abacus

For about two or three games he was superb. Don't think you can blame him for the time he was playing in and I'm also glad he enjoyed it here and also put the effort in when it would have been easier to have given up and hidden like a few did. Did like that article.

Taunting Enrique was one of the best bits of that day

She couldn't have stayed on the board for this, you'd have thunk.

Yeah, actually I did wonder about this one straight after I wrote it I'd just like to have heard him talk through a game, but probably co-commentator wouldn't have been his thing, I'd imagine you'd be going down all sorts of routes. OK, new idea, let's say you watch a full game again, like your favourite special edition film on DVD when those existed. He'd have been one of the ones you'd have picked for the directors commentary.

Get it televised, and I'll be VAR

Was trying to think who I'd like on co commentary during the match. It's a shame more decent managers don't do it - Bobby Robson would have been good value, I reckon. Mourinho also, Benitez too. Alex Ferguson might have been a laugh to hear from as well.

Sky Sports soccer Saturday. Some of the only matches you can't see then being commentated on by some of the least articulate men in sport.

Hoping he starts against Wimbledon, with Tonali starting the two PL games either side of that. He probably needs a goal too. I'd like to see Osula in that game too fwiw. Subbing him at HT is such a rare move for Howe, so I'd guess (no rash bets here) that this will be the case. I don't think he's a bad player - to my mind he was very good in the season before last. He seemed then to have an engine to gradually play his way into games and was maybe suited to the pressing system we used to use a lot more back then.

I'll wait and see what they're guilty of, if anything. Some of the allegations are serious, but I'm only reading what's been written in the press and who knows how accurate they are. It's a right mess for the league either way.

Just got round to watching MoTD2. They sounded a bit depressed afterwards in the studio that we'd won it Oh well, no club in crisis story for you today.

Whoever loses has to offer to shake hands and say they are very sorry but look like they mean it.

What a save

I'd really like one of our journos to ask why Tonali didn't start, post match. Edit, GBandit has more than just skin in the game on this

Was debating earlier with a Liverpool mate about which would be the least impressive city in the UK to take your partner away to for a surprise weekend. No prompting, it wasn't even close who topped that league.

On the upside, you'll be able to get more figure hugging clothes.

Times article today was saying that Howe told Mitchell that Palace were unlikely to sell Guehi anyway. No idea if that's true, obviously, but I wouldn't be putting this debacle squarely on Howe if it is.

In which case, Tino for Trips (fine), Hall for Kelly (fine), Schar for Krafth (fine), Longstaff for Tonali (dislike), Barnes for Murphy with Gordon on the left (dislike).

We'd be praising any other goalkeeper that saved us 10 points a season.

Martin Hardy in the Times also running with this talk of a rift. There's nothing really new in it, except one snippet which was that apparently Howe had warned Mitchell that Palace were unlikely to sell Guehi. If true, that puts a slightly different complexion on the saga. It does go on to say that it is not thought Howe wants to leave, though.

I overheard an older lady logging in to the Mail's prize wheel game on her tablet, but then wasn't sure about how to claim her free two for one meal, as it was all too complicated. So ask him about that, or house prices instead. It may be the start of a beautiful friendship.

Sadly, the article also quotes Andy Gray saying "I don't know", and then proceeding to talk like a man in the pub However, in a classic case of hypocrisy, and fully using my Andy Gray exemption, I might guess that if they have had some wins in the arbitration case, then this could roll into the 115 charges case, to see what the practical implications of those wins are when applied to other aspects of the rules. Hence, maybe why the silence on this until those charges are decided. And yes, I know what what you're thinking, you're probably better off sitting next to Andy Gray in the pub.

He was outstanding at Newcastle, and just very good at Man Utd is the way I look at him. At Newcastle, though, he was a big risk when we bought him for the ASTRONOMICAL sum of £1.75m at the time. But he had the perfect partner in Beardsley who actually brought the real magic and fed him the perfect passes almost every time, when he was just lethal. Isak needs a Beardsley, but they're rarer than hen's teeth. Football is a team game, yes, but it's also about telepathic partnerships as well. It's maybe not our system now, but I don't really feel like we have a true number 10.

I'd quite like to see what Osula can do and how he develops over the course of the season. Seemed decent in pre-season, so it's probably one last charge for Wilson this time round. Great player on his day, but I'm not even sure he fits that well with our style of play now. Get into Europe again and we'll definitely need another striker next time anyway. Financial rules dependent, I know, but even with Botman back, Schar will be a year older so a CB minimum, right winger and GK would be needed, assuming we get there.

I was wondering about this, as any victories here by Man City could significantly affect this case. I.e. if some of the rules they were alleged to have broken were subsequently shown to be illegal, it could undermine at least some of them, if not all. Initial reports iirc were that in arbitration City had won at least some of these legal points. Maybe the silence here is because the arbitration and therefore presumably the results of it were supposed to be private.