aimaad22

Isn't a big reason for the delay on this the implication that top City officials i.e. Abu Dhabi government have committed fraud? The political/diplomatic connections makes it very difficult for the PL or anyone else to simply reach that conclusion. I think that's ultimately why they'll be cleared, the PL will need to have an extremely strong beyond shadow of doubt type of evidence to be able to stand their ground. Time will tell if they do. But it wont necessarily mean very dodgy stuff hasnt gone on.

That was some watch and hard to decide at time who you'd want to lose but I think it fits in nicely at the end. Buys Ten Hag more time hopefully and nothing better than seeing Klopp's face at the end. Come on City for the league now!

As infuriating as this is all is it's entirely predictable. From Tino being out to the ref being an utter asshole. Can we just end the season and give the players a rest.

Some of the responses on the thread include Darren Bent and Henderson Ok I need to get out of there, can't be spending the whole afternoon laughing at me screen.

I remember Malbranque having some class games for Fulham, was mainly shite by the time he played for the mackems wasn't he and nobody else would have wanted him? Still makes it to the top of their list

It's just difficult to fathom anything positive in terms of results could happen this season. We could beat City here and then go on to lose in the semi or final to some freak error or inexplicable refereeing decision. Tuck the sausages away till the summer imo.

Congratulations to the Fish family! And sorry to hear of your troubles Gloomy and Strawb, really hope there is some good news around the corner for both of you.

Orlando Bloom has just bought his son the complete Lego collection, and by complete I mean EVERYTHING they make. Rooms upon rooms of little bricks. He just never wants the lad to be legoless.

Aye they finished 8th twice under Arteta before splunking 400M odd over 2 seasons and lo and behold suddenly they are challenging. Bit of perspective for the miserable twats questioning Howe right now. It took Arteta 4-5 years just to get into the CL and with a MUCH better foundation than what Howe and Nufc had 2 years ago.

Well you can always hope their extended CL run ends up in tears and impacts the league form enough for them to bottle it again Didnt use to mind Arsenal so much but Arteta really is an insufferable prick.

That was my main takeaway from that tweet as well That and getting 25M for Almiron from Saudi and stuffing him in a taxi.

Yes because Longstaff has been absolutely throwing himself about really getting into people's faces eh?

It's easy to point to something like the high press and say that's why we're struggling. I mean I understand it, maybe it is. But so much else has gone on and who can say for sure what's at the root of our problems. Just look at the unusually large amount of individual errors this season. Tripper, Burn, now Botman. Dubravka ffs. Almiron and Longstaff have reverted to type and are largely passengers. Whether that's down to confidence, injuries and fatigue etc I don't know but you've got to trust Howe has a handle on it. We've all speculated having Joe or Tonali available would have reduced these errors but then that's just the cards we've been dealt this season aye? I think his objective now would be to maintain some sort of confidence and spirit in the dressing room and target a well within reach 7th place finish. It would mean a very decent season under the circumstances and probably fair given we've got a first time still half full of Bruce players. Anything above 7th/6th is punching above our weight which we did last season. That is key. If the club wants progress next season you've got to upgrade 3-4 players. Then demand a top 5 finish and a cup run. It's just not a realistic target otherwise.

Probably more mental fatigue and lack of confidence at this point I'd think than being physically knackered. And there's been a reality check for a handful of players who did really well and rode the wave last year but are really just mid table at best in the end. As someone said earlier, football doesnt stand still. You can get overcome lack of quality with intensity and passion for a certain amount of time, but the teams that consistently do well just have better players than others.

Yeah can't argue with that.

Not sure what he can do about the level of defending right now mind. We can't even use the Miley excuse tonight. They're just all over the place. And you just can't understate the drop off in quality between Pope and Dubravka. I know he was great against Blackburn like but I just have zero confidence in the man and much more importantly it doesnt seem like his defenders do either.

Oh well..

Bad luck as well as reality check. But yes, in the end if we don't upgrade 3-4 positions in the summer it will be more of the same next season.

Wow just feck off. We shouldnt even bother for Saturday I think

Tino again one of the few bright spots today.

Even Schar's not himself tonight. Really disappointing how poor we've been given how rubbish Chelsea are.

For upteenth time I'm absolutely at a loss as to what Longstaff adds to the team.

A whole ton of pressure resulted from Miggy making a couple of absolutely shit passess btw. We are just shite