cityexile

I don’t mind a team built around a defence that is rock solid. The closest we have got to that, and your results, is that GJ season. It’s not end to end, but being able to defend like demons is also enjoyable in its way. You come away believing you deserved the 1-0 because you gave the other team nothing. That is different to 1-0 wins where you give away too many chances the other team just misses. Sooner or later you will revert to the mean.

Stating the bloody obvious, but it would be quite the effort to not get 50 points when at the moment you are now 44 points off 31.

When people talk about ‘Manningball’ I assume they mean the possession based patient build up style, that takes a low risk approach to losing possession and getting caught in transition. More Man City, Leicester, Southampton than say Ipswich, Leeds, Liverpool. Its a scale of course, but when people talk about giving LM windows to get in his players to play his way, there is no universe in which we get in players of the cost of those with parachute payments. It’s a dead end, we will never out Southampton Southampton, given our budgets. We are more like to end up as Russell Martin’s Swansea. It seems to me, gut feel, that the teams that have broken the mold and had a real go with no parachute payments do not as a rule play this way. It’s more built around energy, physicality, athleticism. It is possible LM is starting to ‘get’ this. Let’s hope, and the summer window will give us an indication. The other aspect is even if played by great players, it can be somewhat dull. Played by average players it is mind numbingly tedious. It would be more interesting to see the analysis of the teams that have gone up over this period without parachute payments. Not sure the data above is saying much more than teams that go up generally create more chances and have most of the ball. It’s focussed on outcomes rather than different methods that lead to that. I also suspect in our case there is very little correlation between these stats and our results this season. Lots of managers fancy they could be Pep, if they only had his quality of players.

It is remarkable. Sign of a good team of course, but so many late late goals by them this season.

Agree totally. In fairness, it may be without VAR the Lino flags it straight away, they are now told to let it go if there is any doubt and let VAR check it, but either way it does kill moments like this.

Hate VAR for ever.

Can you actually believe it.

Jay to score the winner…

3-3!

Suffice to say, nice to be an observer, not a participant!

If they lose and Wed get a point they are relegated. Looks like it might need the fabled 50 points. Would rather see them win mind…

Wed started awfully, but clawed their way out and have seemed a result away from getting out the bottom three for a while now. Been a lower/ mid table side for most of the season, start not withstanding. If they stay up, fancy they will be ok next season. Birmingham just looking up from the bottom of the bowl for ages now, will they finally be flushed?,

Just as a postscript, appears he is banned from the next round first leg anyway. He got three yellows in the two matches (and pen shoot out) in the last round. No red, but totting up still counts, and three yellows = miss one match. edit: just seen above post which beat me to it!

For sure. Was a season holder for a good few years, and in fairness was ever thus for me and I am sure many others. It was as much meeting up with mates, the social side, at least as much as the football. And every couple of seasons a real high that kind of made it all worthwhile.

Agree with that. I am open minded actually as to if this is a good or bad idea. I am not open minded as to whether this is a decision that should be made purely by the FA and Premier League. Arrogant sods.