LaurentRobert

But teams look like scoring everyone time there's a cross. He doesn't command his box and all

Peter Banks is dogshit. No surprises there

The price hike this year for membership tickets has definitely been prohibitive for me. I live abroad and can't really justify paying these prices on my budget. Normally I'd attend 5-6 matches per season but this season I'll probably end up going to 1 or 2. Despite the price hike it seems to be FAR more difficult obtaining tickets this season compared to last.

Walking out to Hey Jude is fucking tinpot. That needs to be nipped in the bud ASAP. Local Hero must be reinstated. It's a unique anthem and the crescendo at the end just before kick off is perfection. If we're really going to change the music then let's please try something different. Surely with Brian Johnson being a Geordie a banger out of the AC/DC catalogue would be more apt

Frustration has subsided somewhat after looking at the table. Yes we are 12th but this season is proving to be incredibly tight with only 4 points separating the top 5 and 14th place. Beat Burnley and we'll be back in the mix for those European spots. Maybe just have to accept how super competitive the Prem is this season.

Why? He was never expected to be in today's squad. He's penciled in for another behind closed doors friendly later this week I believe. Earliest we'll see him is Leverkusen

We haven't won away in the PL in nearly 8 months. We certainly don't feel like favourites

Their downfall has been glorious after their antics in the summer transfer window. At the beginning of the season I was inclined to avoid watching Liverpool altogether because I was certain Isak would be scoring for fun and it would be a disgusting spectacle. Now I can't get enough of watching these lot get pumped every weekend.

It was all about the money. The fact he was willing to skip pre season knowing that Sweden had two crucial World Cup qualifiers in September says everything about his priorities. Now he's signed his lucrative 6 year deal which will end when he's 32. In other words there's very little motivation now for him to try and earn another contract as he'll be at the end of his career by then. Got the bag, and doesn't give a fuck anymore

Afcon group games are indeed a grind. Often scrappy low scoring matches which makes it such a hard watch. Just checked the betting odds and DR Congo are 10th favourites to win at 50-1. So you'd expect them to navigate the group stage but it is unlikely they'll go any further.

Hoe strong are DR Congo relative to their Afcon group? Is it inconceivable that they get knocked out in the group stage? In which case Wissa would only be away for 10 days.

Think we'll look a far better outfit with Tino and Hall on the overlap. The wingers are really struggling with Trippier and Burn offering very little going forward. Also think Woltemade needs to drop deep behind Wissa to play his best football. I think we should therefore shift to a 4411 Pope Tino Thiaw Botman Hall Murphy Tonali Bruno Gordon Wolltemade Wissa

The same people banging the Eddie Howe out drum after the Brentford away game last season have perked up today. Imagine if we listened to them last season and sacked him then? It would have been a disaster! Everyone take a deep breath. We're 6th in the Champions League, have a striker who scored 19 goals from open play last season returning soon , and Englands two best full backs also returning which should help with the balance of the team. Yes, Eddie Howe has had a shocker today, but his track record with us has been incredible. He deserves the rest of the season to try and sort this mess out. Keep the faith

If I was a Chelsea fan I'd bin my season ticket and watch it at home. More "atmosphere" in my living room than in their stadium. Chelsea are the quintessential example of the enshittification of the English game. Makes me fucking sick

Modern football is shite. Just a bunch of silent cunts with mobile phones🤦

I'm not questioning the sustainability, I'm just making the point that wages have increased sharply in a short amount of time.

All I'm suggesting is that Roman's money caused wages to inflate exponentially across the league. It's hardly a wild take when you look at the data. It was definitely a sliding doors moment for the league. I'm in no way supporting PSR, but in an ideal world I do wish the authorities better regulated the game and clamped down on the likes of Roman and the Nation state takeovers of PSG and Man City. It has been disastrous for the game.

Roman's money did however cause wages in the Premier League to spiral out of control. The by-product of this wage inflation within the league, has been the acceleration of the Prem hoovering up the best talent across the globe. You are right though, the marketing strategy of the PL has been far superior to other competitions. Nonetheless, when you have the best talent and best football, a sharp widening in the value of it's TV deal relative to other leagues is somewhat inevitable. Long gone are the days where a PSV could afford to have a Ronaldo or Romario on the books for a few seasons. It's simply not possible, as they know they can quadruple their wages playing for Brentford. Evanilson, a Brazilian international even rejected AC Milan because he could earn more playing for Bournemouth, it's absurd really.

The whole point of the new format is to reduce jeopardy and increase revenues for the entitled and ever more demanding "super clubs". It served that purpose well last season by allowing 15th placed PSG a pathway to winning the tournament. Even 22nd placed Man City were given a second chance via the play-offs. I agree the old format was stale, but that was largely down to the gross disparities in finances that the Premier League and UEFA have allowed to flourish due to an absence of proper governance. If UEFA had decided to distribute the Champions League money equally across the leagues instead of to individual clubs back in 1992, and had the Premier League clamped down on Roman Abramovich's unbridled spending spree in 2003 then I think modern football would be in far more healthier place.

Getting into the top 8 does give you the advantage of playing the 2nd leg at home, which considering our honking away form, could be very important.

Format does blow. Especially if you find yourself in no man's land (9th-24th) with 3 games to go. Not a lot to play for Seems like a lot of games for very little jeopardy. After this bloated group stage of 144 matches a mere 12 teams will be knocked out. That's a lot of huffing and puffing for very little consequence. Sport is about jeopardy and fine margins, but that clearly doesn't apply to the new CL group stage when you can lose 4 matches and still have a decent chance of progressing. I personally was far more invested in the group matches we had 2 seasons ago in our Group of Death. Every match felt crucial, now it just seems like a load of exhibition matches before the actual tournament begins in the new year. When we get into proper knockout football it will be unreal mind! Can't wait for that

Maybe a couple of weeks out the team while recovering from that hip issue might be good for him. He needs a buzz cut and to get back to basics. I miss the old Gordon who was a pest for defenders all game due to his fanatical pressing game. It all just seems a bit lackadaisical lately. Maybe the red cards he's picked up have gotten to him, and it's a conscious decision to tone down his aggressiveness. We desperately need to see that aggressive Gordon back.

I think we'll need to get at least 4 points from the two upcoming away games in Marseille and Leverkusen if we're to have aspirations of finishing in the top 8.