t00nt00n313

I honestly think 64 could even potentially be enough for 5th this season with how inconsistent everyone has been, but that obviously depends on whether or not Chelsea (and to a lesser extent bournemouth/villa) can pick up form. We were on exactly half of those points half way into the season (i.e. 19 games in) and were 5th. With that said mind, if we're to go with 68 being required for 5th, here's the most likely scenario where I could see that happening. Brentford h win Leicester a win Man U. H win Palace h win Villa a lose Ipswich h win Brighton a lose Chelsea h win Arsenal a lose Everton h win

I doubt this goes to pens but if it does who do you lot think takes them? Only player I feel comfortable taking pens is isak. Maybe Bruno as well if he wasn't having such a weird season. Id have added Gordon to at list also but he's suspended

I think, city, forest (they have a fairly easy run of games), arsenal and Liverpool are pretty much set for top four now. I think us and Chelsea have to be favourites for 5th place. Chelsea have a harder run of games than we do imo, but without botman and hall I'm not confident that well be able to keep getting results from lesser sides.

Hopefully we have enough headroom this summer to splash on a RW, GK, and CB. Ideally I'd have also liked to strengthen LB so we aren't overly reliant on hall staying fit, replaced trippier with someone younger at RB, and replace Wilson with a more reliable second choice striker but we won't definitely won't have the money for those things.

Loss against Liverpool was to be expected, we can still manage CL but we need to turn our performances around. Fortunately we have a break in PL games, and I'm hoping botman and Isak will be back next pl game. I reckon we can get 5th if we: Lose to Arsenal away - the hard game Get 2 wins and 2 losses out of Vila away, Everton at home, West ham away, and Brighton away - the games we have historically struggled with but are by no means unwinnable. Get draws from Chelsea at home, and Manu at home - games we could very well win but I don't feel comfortable enough calling. Beat Leicester away, Palace at home, Ipswich at home, and Brentford at home - games we should really in theory win. I think that's the most realistic course of events I can see and would land us on 64 points which I'm hoping would be enough for 5th but the issue is were so inconsistent.

Would also throw Brighton away in as a game where we will struggle to get points

Assuming 5th place is CL this year (I'm not entirely sure how likely this is at the moment, as I'll be honest I don't quite understand how that stuff works), I think we have a fair chance even with our recent disappointment in form. I think we will lose to L pool, and I personally think we will lose to Arsenal away as well as I think they will be out for blood this time. With that said, I think we need the following to secure 5th place: Get 2 wins out of Vila away, Everton at home, West ham away, and Brighton away. None of those will be easy games though, we struggle against Brighton and West ham home or away, we struggle to Villa away (thrash them at home but this is away), and we just have weird luck against Everton. Still I think winning half of these and losing the other half is doable. Get draws from Chelsea at home, and Manu at home. Some will say that we can easily win at least one of these (probs man u), and maybe they are right but I still think these will be tough games and if we get a win from either of these then all the better. Beat Leicester away, Palace at home, Ipswich at home, and Brentford at home. All games we should in theory be able to win. That would have us ending the league on 64 points which I think will be enough for 5th this season. It would have gotten us 5th last season, and is around double the number of points that got us 5th at the end of the first half of the season.

Honestly arsenal aside we've been pretty dire for quite a few games now. Not that I expected to win this one but make them work for it at least. All the people who think we've got a good chance against Liverpool in the final are in for a shock unfortunately

If Villa beats city...we might just go on to win this.

Fuck man just thought, now I'm gonna have to cheer for spurs tomorrow.

Does Bruno getting a yellow mean he might miss the final or does it need to be a red?

Here if they somehow manage to turn this around we'll be the laughing stock of football fans all around the world

Crazy how I still feel nervous about this. Maybe I'm just a pessimist.

Second screenshot has to be a bot surely, it just keeps repeating the same thing again and again. Dunno about the first. I'm not sure what Instagram is like, but on Facebook I've reported blatantly racist language before and they haven't done a single think about it.

The language is so odd it makes me think it's bots but then honestly most bots these days are more subtle than that. Really awful stuff I hope the true fans can show him support.

Remember when everyone was saying dubravka is better than Pope?

Just in terms of managers within my time I'd say Bobby Robson would remain the GOAT at least for me, then followed by howe and then Keegan (special shout out to benitez as well but not too 3)

Does anyone remember how low we were before we went on this win streak? Seem to recall being like 12th or something like that.

It does being an interesting point though, without the huge overseas fan bases that London and Manchester clubs have (a large part of which is probably down to the location of those clubs) can we ever have the finances to compete even if we do get another stadium? I'd have thought that most revenue comes from sponsorship deals but the new rules have stopped us there.

London has a lot of tourists from around the world who go on holiday to the UK (but only see London) and want to see a football match. It's one of the major advantages London clubs have.

One think that I will say is that we have some tough away games in the second half of the season. City away, Villa away, Brighton away (we never win against Brighton away), Liverpool away, and arsenal away. That's 5 games right there I genuinely can't see us winning.

I'm at the weirdly optimistic stage now where I think its unlikely we don't get top 6 this season. Question is whether we can get top 5 or even top 4 and well I guess we will see as its definitely possible.

I think people overate just how much players care about playing in the CL. Don't get me wrong, some players absolutely do want to play for a team like Real Madrid (if they think they'll actually be played) where they have a genuinely good chance of actually winning the CL and not just participating, but just getting to play in the CL itself isn't the draw people think it is. What I will say though is that if people overrate how much players care about CL football, they underated how much players in today's game care about having a very high salary and this is where I'm worried. We can't really pay isak the same amount that other clubs could due to FFP. I will also say, players want to be in a team where they are doing well as this directly affects their value and how much media attention they get. Thankfully isak is doing well with us at the moment so that's less of an issue.

Fair to see we're gonna have a really hard time catching forest up.

Nee to be wary on the counters if we over commit.