The Fish

Don't think it's the kind of transfer we can expect. He'd be too expensive, he's not that good away from dead ball situations and I don't want to have to try and Milinkovic-Savic is the only double barrelled name I want added to the squad.

Did you read the whole article? Lots of data driven fun things.

Read a piece in the Athletic about this very thing. We got so much joy in that little pocket of space between the lines of midfield and defence and between fullback and centre back positions. Bruno would take up that position and link with Trippier and Almiron to fashion a through ball for the cross or shot. Teams have gotten wise to it and are overloading that position to nullify the threat. Unfortunately we don't have the same balance of abilities on the left flank, so despite switching the play more than most we still focus on this as the main weapon in our arsenal. I think you're right that if we had an overlapping fullback on the left it would balance the threat out a bit. It'll also help when the team collectively find their shooting boots.

Spurs are such a weird side and have been for ages. Able to beat Man City away, then lose at home to Leicester. And this has been across a few managers and with loads of changes to their squad. Never put them in your acca.

How're your sheets these days? Piss wet through, or tenting?

I am deeply insecure. I'm also right almost all the time about football and deeply secure about that rightness.

Excellent, cheers. So I'm curious about the 'moves', and please please forgive me, but you know the stuff that Tom Cruise was doing in that opening sequence of one of the Mission Impossible movies, where he's got his back to the wall or he's leaping from one spot to another? a) It's entirely bullshit or b) yeah they're legit moves and would be highly graded?

I guessed it was something like that, was curious what each thing refers to. Like is 7a harder than 7b? Is 2a harder than 3a?

It's either this, or do work.... Mind you, boss just sent an email around saying his shifted his meetings about because he wants to go sledging with his daughter at 2ish, so clearly slacking off is the done thing.

If this board only permitted thoughtful or insightful contributions, it would have been abandoned long ago.

Aye but one is unlikely, and the other is very unlikely.

Imagine how much money I've saved for you all by preventing those pissed sheets. You're welcome. I have a paypal account, by the way.

Also means two possible routes to CL football in 24/25.

Standard football fan thinking, this. There's no guarantees Chelsea will improve. Owners seems to be out of his depth, so too does Potter. Liverpool have an ageing squad and look shonky as hell at the back. Spurs will probably lose Conte and who knows what new manager they'll fail to properly support in the transfer window. Ten Haag has done well, and Man Utd are a Behemoth, no doubt. Can Arsenal recreate this season? Has Guardiola got the cajones to go again?

What do the letter/number combinations mean? E11 7a etc?

apologies, I didn't read it properly and thought you said it was the gambling thing. Howay, then what's the goss.

Give over man, that's the same one we've heard about Pardew, Rio and all that.

I'm not sure that there was the finances available to us to get the kinds of players we'd need to grab Champions League football for next season. I'm not sure if there were the players available to us either. To really be assured of getting into the CL we'd have needed; a top class defensive midfielder who slotted straight in, a reliable goal scorer, depth at fullback on both flanks and maybe more. Conservatively, to get the quality we're talking about, you'd need to drop north of £100m in January. What DM, CF and FBs are available in January that aren't prohibitively expensive? We couldn't sign James Maddison because Leicester were asking for too much, same with Matheus Franca. Spurs are shit and in flux, same with Chelsea. Both clubs have bigger problems than just their current managers/current squad. There's a disorder to both clubs that's not going to fixed by firing Potter, or Conte. Liverpool destroyed Man Utd, that's true but anomalous. They're still playing with an ageing squad and stalwarts like Van Dijk and Salah are getting worse, not better. Their 15 players with the most minutes in the PL this season have an average age of 28 1/2yrs. Take 19yr old Harvey Elliot out and it's over 29yr on average. Now, this would be fine if it wasn't where that particular side needs the energy of youth. Their midfield is; Thiago, Henderson, Milner, and Fabinho. Average age - 32.25 dragged down by 29yr old Fabinho. We've gone toe to toe with every one of the 'big clubs' and only fallen short because we've lacked a little in terms of quality. Next season we'll be stronger still. Chill Winston.

I like partisan punditry. I do. Sure it's annoying when you're losing and Don Goodman is piping off the opposition, but hearing Gary Neville lose his mind because his beloved Manchester United just got bum fucked by Brentford, is fun. Seeing Roy Keane grow increasingly furious is entertaining. Plus, as long as we're not playing one of their teams, Neville and Carragher are usually fairly balanced about Newcastle. Enjoy them way more than Danny Murphy or whomever. To be honest, I'd prefer if the commentators and pundits eschewed impartiality entirely, wear their colours if they want.

A very good swing at it, but you forgot to go on a long rambling analogy that goes nowhere.

Ok, but explain that without using mathematics, appeals to authority, personal testimony or any kind of evidence.

Yeah, I can understand and Irish, or maybe even Scandinavian people choosing a Premier League side and, sure, if you want it easier go for one of the teams that wins all the time. Why not? But a kid from Surrey can choose any one of the London cunts, go be a fucking Chelsea fan or something.

It's because they did a real days job back then.

Check out Project Sunshine.

I think this is like a step towards understanding some conspiracy nuts. they cannot conceive of a mind capable of the level of understanding that leaves the rest of us in the weeds. I'm not having a go, by the way. You're saying it's so alien to you (us) that someone can have that ability that it's mind blowing. Conspiracy Nuts say that it's not possible. They are so arrogant that the refuse to believe that there are minds out there capable of thoughts beyond their own comprehension. You saw Wolfy's stuff. It was a resolute dismissal of anything outside his own little bubble. I'll never forget Rikko patiently explaining, as best he could, how a nuclear submarine works. And yet because Wolfy couldn't understand it, he fucking dismissed it. Anything more complicated than what he could understand, was by it's nature impossible.