Abacus

The post you quoted said Watford. Or at least it did when I read it. And it would only make sense that way when a 6 goal swing was referred to.

Hahahaha

Really don't think they should have dropped Maguire if it was just due to the bomb threats. That's just going to encourage even more lunatics online

Poor West Brom. While there's the odd fool on any forum, most of the fans there seem to have him rumbled. I particularly enjoyed this; However results and performances with a couple of exceptions have been terrible and worse still Bruce has been shown to be completely and utterly inept, he is damn near a 10 on the Pardew scale (the internationally recognised measurement for being bad at coaching football teams). I'd only quibble with the words "damn near".

I wouldn't count Leeds out of it altogether. Their run is as bad as Everton's - their last 3 home games are Man City, Chelsea and Brighton. They really need to win that Brighton game, because Palace, Arsenal and Brentford away are all tough games. Plus, their goal difference is -30, compared to -19 for Everton and -17 for Burnley.

If they can't afford any flags, surely they could at least all wave their empty crisp packets in the air before releasing them onto the pitch?

That approach would make sense. But here's a bit from that article which suggests it's not their thinking at all. (Obviously, I don't know if the Athletic are right or how good their sources are. But they're generally not bad.) "The understanding, though, is that the decision to remove Dyche was because of underperformance and by Friday, it felt like the only option left in their battle for survival. It is understood that any appointment made will not be with relegation in mind and the club is determined to keep fighting. Dyche would have remained in charge if they were resigned to playing in the Championship next season." So, already, that reads to me like a firefighting appointment rather than one to introduce a new style. You wouldn't introduce a new style with an interim appointment anyway. And the bit about keeping Dyche if they'd accepted the Championship next season suggests they haven't accepted that. Which sounds like muddled thinking when they still have / had a real fighting chance of staying up at Everton's expense given their fixtures. Also, here's the Athletic on the idea of appointing an interim; "The two-step plan discussed means Burnley will get to the end of the season before re-evaluating and exploring their options. However, should they find the right long-term candidate immediately, then that plan might change." Which sounds very much to me like they don't really know what they are doing. Maybe I'm reading it wrongly, but it's got a bit of a Venky's vibe.

On the Burnley situation, I read a snippet from an Ornstein article in the Athletic that they had been interviewing manager candidates last week and early this week. They were hopeful of getting someone in in time for the game tonight, but that might be too soon. Well, I'm guessing it was too soon in that case as it's all gone quiet and the U23 coach was giving the interviews. But more oddly, there was also a suggestion that they might go for an interim manager until the end of the season, and a permanent one in the summer. To me, that just makes the Dyche sacking and then lack of preparation at a crucial time in their season even more hard to explain.

I don't know why Warnock is allowed to go on about a throw in. There's no post match analysis at all, just an endless gripe about a decision when they were already out of it. I think that's what he was like as a manager as well, though. You wouldn't want to be sat next to him wittering on, on a night out.

Probably that they were 'a bit unfortunate' in some 'key moments', and that this happened 'up and down the pitch'. As it's 4-0, he might also mention the war in Ukraine.

At half time, instead of pointing out how bad West Brom had been, why was Neil Warnock waffling on and on about one throw in decision and how Bruce had therefore been hard done by? Either thick as mince, or part of the media Bruce fan club.

He'll have seen a few positive signs here. Yet even now the commentators are fawning over him! Unbelievable.

It's a critical game for Brucey's West Brom. And yet, there seem to be multiple flies buzzing around the Sky cameras. I can only imagine the great man has a leftover kebab in his coat pocket.

Hopefully a dog runs on the pitch soon to liven things up.

It's hard to tell who is outplaying who, the quality is so bad. Sky are ruining everyone's bank holiday with this shambles. NB I thought it was the TV chef Tom Kerridge on commentary.

Boro is a weird one. They're not really a rival, and I don't mind them. I'm not really sure they do have a rival. But it's usually a decent match-day atmosphere when we play them, and it's not that far for away fans to travel, so I'd be quite happy to see them promoted. In fact, there'd be extra fewm if they went above the Mackems on Look North coverage, so get them up.

But in seriousness, it should be a personal choice for all players. Thought Shelvey had an OK game yesterday. Drifted in and out of the game a bit, but a few telling balls and he's stopped being the liability I thought he was even a few months ago. See also: Emile Krafth.

It's good that our only skinhead didn't take the knee.

Bruno is a genuine superstar, isn't he?

The exciting thing, for me, is that any time we've ever had a good player or manager in the past, you'd suddenly start getting paranoid that they'd get poached by a bigger or more ambitious club. I think we should be able to give him whatever he wants here to make the most of his potential. Why would he go anywhere else?

Deflection off Kasper's bollocks for that goal

No, but having said that an official partnership with, say, Botox for £10m a year would probably raise a few eyebrows.

I liked the tale of how one of them was talking to a Shrewsbury fan in the pub, and they were embarrassed by the (totally made up) mags supporting them in the away end. You're a Shrewsbury fan who has come for a day out to support your team and have a few pints. And the first thing that happens is that you get accosted in the pub by some swivel-eyed obsessed madman with halitosis and are forced to talk about 'mags' and to talk how bad they are.

The owners and directors' test (and FFP for that matter) was supposed to have one main point - to stop clubs going bust. Yet this leveraged buyout was approved seemingly in days, whilst one of the richest organisations on the planet was held up for nearly 2 years. If you're a Burnley fan, I think you'd have a few hard questions of the PL right now. Because if they get relegated, do these owners have the funds and/or competence to bring them back up?

There's only one man for this job. The most important English manager of the last 100 years.