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Totally agree with all of this. Hugely emotive subject which many close to the coal-face either can't, or refuse to see the alternative view point. I got asked by my other half what my sister does when it comes to public toilets. I actually don't know, but I assume she uses, where possible, gender-neutral disabled facilities. I do know she believes strongly that there should be the option for gender-neutral toilet facilties which people of both genders are permitted to use, but even then where does it stop? Male toilets for born-males only Male toilets for transitioned men Gender-neutral toilets for all to use Female toilets for born-females only Female toilets for transitioned women Where does the freedom of choice end? Perhaps the only answer is to phase out communal toilet facilities and move solely to self-contained cubicles. Who knows?

Howe's tactical acumen cannot be overstated. The potentially ruinous suspension of Gordon meant he changed plans for the final. We won it in midfield rather than out wide, which none of us saw coming. Nor did Slot either. Reflecting on that, we won last night by killing them both in midfield and down the flanks. Reminded me, in a very different way, of the 6-0 scudding we handed out to Barnsley In April 93.

That's your opinion. Others disagree and I see their point of view. This subject is an absolute can of worms which those who pedal a polar view, attempt to simplify.

I can totally understand women fearing the idea of this being used by creepy rapists etc. And you can say it's irrational based on the evidence, I'm sure it is, but then fear is irrational. And it's not like women have nothing to fear from creepy blokes. I keep out of it cos it's not really my place to say how any sides in this argument should be feeling. I do wish, in the most shitty, simplistic way imaginable that everyone could just get to be who they want to be without people being a cunt about it. It's why I still think the likes of Rowling are fucking reprehensible cos that was just a very famous woman with a massive platform who at times seemed to genuinely be enjoying punching down and instigating pile-ons. I think she's a nasty piece of work.

I was discussing Dan Boo-urn

I'm sorry but there does need to be evidence. You can't deny swathes of people to live their lives freely on the basis of 'what if'. Should we ban gay men from public toilets and changing facilities in case one of them assaults me? This is a reasonably new issue in the UK but there has to be evidence from other countries that have more established self-identity rights that show whether or not your fear is founded.

This fucking thread man, I thought we were discussing Tonali now

This is well put. I think real question is not whether XG is useful, it's how useful it is for supporters. In analysis of how your team is doing and how players (particularly strikers) are doing, I'm sure it's very useful. But showing it to the masses on a quick rundown alongside more traditional stats like possession and shots on target on MOTD or after the match on Sky doesn't really offer that much especially when it's clearly not even understood by the people who are using it. And of course when it comes up with results like last night, it is more likely to confuse than enlighten.

Everything aside, I think this version of NUFC is playing the most complete football I've every witnessed in 39 years. We talk fondly of the 94-97 and 01-04 squads but even the most biased NUFC fan has to admit those squads had their flaws - particularly in defence. This side feels complete and what's doubly impressive is it's not down to buying our success, it's mainly been coached. The likes of Man Utd and Spurs could learn a thing or two at looking at our model rather than buying from the likes of Palace / Wolves / Forest / etc. at ridiculously inflated prices. We really did land on our feet with Eddie and his team. It's tremendous.

I genuinely think the cup final has flipped a switch for the club. We went to Wembley and we battered the best team in the country and won comfortably, and now it looks like we're taking that into every game we play. Obviously you can't win every game, and we might even lose our next one, but I still think there's been a change somewhere. Last night was exactly the sort of game we usually either lose or win by 1 goal and it's nervy as fuck. We started like a train and were out of sight by half time. That's the sort of thing big, confident clubs do, and that isn't usually us.

Barnes?

False. Stick him on the edge of the box and he'll start a race immediately trying to find the grass before the opposition player's foot makes contact. He wins. Every time.

The two in the league cup vs Brentford were at the leazes end.

I thought the much-vaunted Wharton was shit when he came on last night. All he wanted to do was kick people. Very disappointing & even worse than the rancid Hughes. As for us, well what can you say? I've run out of superlatives for Tonali. Surely Player of the Season? Hosting, talk about getting the monkey off your back. The Cup win has changed the whole nature of our club & support. Sure Villa might do us at the weekend, but we've transformed forever into a happy club with happy fans. Imagine that 4 years ago? We were that good moaning twat from Ashganistan kept his mouth shut after early slagging of Isak for missing the first chance.

honestly, you should try it.

I have no problem believing this.

when I'm driving/been driven home I tend to ponder on whether or not I remembered to put some beers in the fridge. I generally have. I crack a few open and drink them while watching m.o.t.d. on the iplayer. then I go to bed. it's such a simple, uncomplicated life.

To the gold section you go!

Fucking hell that was in 2023! I forgot how quickly Taco went from "im sure we can take it" to "we really can't take it"

Put it this way, there's a therapist earning a tidy sum on the back of all this.

Bosh: Took me longer to post than intended as I ended up re-reading it

I think we have to agree to disagree on this in terms of the main thrust of it, which is fine. I would suggest that trans people being attacked and killed for being trans would indicate that it's not one sided though. Beyond that point I will say that I can well understand how confusing your own experience of this was, especially as a younger man who presumably looked up to his elder brother. I think such relationships are actually really important for young men so I honestly and completely do understand and empathise with the difficulty that situation would cause you. Especially with her now being quite a public figure. I acknowledge this would be hard for you man.

Neither does anyone else at the match. Nor do I when I'm watching. Nor am I suggesting you should be totting up xG at the game. That doesn't prevent me from understanding that there are people paid to do exactly that because it's incredibly valuable to people that understand statistics. And those people are now employed by football clubs. You're basically proudly being Howard Wilkinson in this discussion. This is precisely what I'm talking about when I reference stupidity being worn as a badge of honour.

It's interesting that apart from the missed penalty Crystal Palace's other two "big chances" did not actually appear that way in the match. 36th Minute: Penalty Chance (0.76 xG) 8th Minute: Chance from corner for Richards (0.45 xG). It was a big chance. Basically a free header from a corner right on the six yard box in the middle of the goal. However, Richards mistimed his jump and the header ballooned over the bar. Easily forgettable. 50th Minute: Chance for Mateta (0.59 xG). It was a big chance too given it is in a similar place to Richard's chance but with feet. However, Tino (I believe it was Tino from memory) basically blocked the shot at source in a 50/50 challenge. But technically it was a shot since Mateta got to the ball marginally before Tino. It's also perhaps a contributing factor to our recollection of this chance that it was already 5-0 at this point. So the game was over. That accounts for 1.8xG of their chances according to the understat page. The rest of their chances are basically potshots. It's just a statistical anomaly, lads. It happens. Doesn't mean the entire model is useless in my opinion. It just means that it is a stat, like every other stat, it needs to be taken in context and broken down and analysed to see how much it is representative of reality.

He scored from outside the D. It's the little blue star just in front of the D in the graphic below. Think of how many shots from there go in. It's a really low proportion man. Think of all that are blazed over, wide, are just terrible shots, or are saved. I have no problem believing that, on average, 4% of shots from there result in a goal. 1 in every 25 shots seems reasonable to me. It's why you don't see anywhere near as many long shots these days, and why Man City spend forever building up around the box. https://understat.com/match/26890 Visit that link and you can tap on all of our chances and all of Palace's and it'll tell you the xG for them. The two big circles are Isak chances.