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.

Ref did in fairness. Watching it, a Villa player charges at him thinking he has sent him off. The ref waves that it is not a sending off and keeps indicating it’s a first yellow card, which is why I first thought he had revoked it. Keeper looked like he thought he was going as well. Well played the ref I guess, given it must be used very rarely. The logic is this it seems… “Kicks from the penalty mark are taken after the match has ended”. Laws. Therefore, according to the rules, the player cannot be sent off because he has not received more than one yellow card during the same match, as the match in which they got the first booking has finished.

Yep, just seen that! Something new I learned!

Not seen this before. Ref books Villa goalie in middle of penalty shoot out for dicking about. Then seems to realise it’s a second yellow and it is reversed! Not even sure what happens if it had been red. edit: every day is a learning day. Looks like it was a second yellow, but yellow cards reset before the shoot out. Who knew. If a goalie does get a red here, then an outfield player on the pitch has to go in goal.

Just as a rider on this one, Huddersfield manager claiming they got a letter from PGMOL that the decision was wrong. Surprised tbh as it looks one of those 50/50s

Thinking in hindsight it but might have been better to just let the buggers go to the super league and have been done with it.

Edit: wrong thread!

Just to focus for a second on the other bit of news in this. The FA Cup final will be the week before the final Premiership round of ties. There seems no need for this at all other than a bit of ego ‘we are the finish of the season, not you’. Charity Shieid starts the domestic season, FA Cup finishes it. No need for change at all.

Agree about the comment it will cost clubs the ‘money spinner’ replay. Not so sure it will lead to more bigger teams going through. It’s not uncommon for smaller clubs to get a replay they lose. If instead of that it’s a more evenly balanced penalty shoot out I would expect more bigger teams to go out. Need to hold them once, not twice?

…and told him he needed less time on the grass…

“Bloody get it forward and get in the top quartile for successful forward passes against peer group comparison for Christ sake!”