The9

We do. We do still have a stronger squad, but the starting XI isn't as good. I don't think anyone thought it would be, with us losing Alderweireld and Schneiderlin. Our main problem is that we sell players, some of whom have taken years to develop, and keep replacing them with players we want to develop. That usually takes a bit of time, and somewhere down the line there's a shortfall and it doesn't work. It was VERY obvious at the start of this season in the Newcastle and Everton matches that we had unplugged gaps in the team and we wasted some points working out how to deal with that (eg 9 at the back at Watford got us a point). I can't help but think we expected more from Juanmi in terms of development, and we're probably happy with how Romeu, Ward-Prowse, Martina and Targett have come along - but few if any of them are guaranteed starters at the moment so we should probably focus on getting in starters who improve the first XI, especially if we lose more starters this summer (but with the new money I'm not sure why we wouldn't just up our deals).

TBH I said 8th in January, it's entirely unsurprising. I've booked something else other than a US Tour and we're not likely to make Europe, so it'll be alright to get a summer where the only football is going to the Euros. As long as we're better than most sides in the Prem I'm pretty satisfied, no-one else is getting a run at the title like Leicester have had in the next 15 years unless the new money changes the balance between the big clubs and the rest completely, and being better than bad is still a novel change. We'll still need the odd excitement here and there like a good start or a run of goals or clean sheets to keep it fresh, but overall, it's decent. It would be nice to win a cup though, and it's getting easier for anyone who really wants to focus on that as clubs are rotating their squads for longer and longer in the competitions.

Well, I'm glad you found it for the sake of discussion, but I literally can't think of a less reliable source than Talksh111te. However, for once they might be right... Bit more detail: Fourth place in the Premier League will definitely provide Europa League qualification if... Manchester City win the Champions League but finish outside the Premier League top four (unless Liverpool finish fourth and win the Europa League) Fifth place in the Premier League will definitely provide Europa League qualification if... Manchester City don't win the Champions League Sixth place in the Premier League will definitely provide Europa League qualification if... Manchester City finish in the Premier League top four Seventh place in the Premier League will definitely provide Europa League qualification if... Manchester United win the FA Cup and finish in the top six, and Manchester City finish in the top five Eighth place in the Premier League will definitely provide Europa League qualification if... Liverpool win the Europa League and finish seventh in the Premier League AND Manchester United win the FA Cup and finish in the top six in the Premier League AND Manchester City qualify for the Champions League (either finishing top four or winning the Champions League itself) Clubs definitely CANNOT qualify for the Europa League by... Finishing as runners up in the FA Cup final or via the 'Fair Play' league. Read more at http://talksport.com/football/europa-league-and-champions-league-qualification-what-finishing-fourth-fifth-sixth-seventh#y6gOGm42Y10iLrX3.99

I suspect the complete failure to even attempt to clear at least 2 of their goals might have had something to do with it.

PS For the sake of an MLG moment, I'd say Spurs were probably the bigger club from the early 1920s until the mid 1930s...

And Spurs will be able to match any offer.

Also, there's this: http://www.forbes.com/soccer-valuations/list/ - Saints and the rest of the Prem are in the next 20. Man U aren't top, and everyone else in the Prem getting an extra £90-£100m reduces the significance of the gap. Rank Team [b]Current Value ($mil)[/b] 1-Yr Value Change (%) Debt/Value(%) Revenue ($mil) Operating Income ($mil) 1 Real Madrid [b]3,263[/b] -5 4 746 170 2 Barcelona [b]3,163 [/b]-1 3 657 174 3 Manchester United [b]3,104 [/b]10 20 703 211 4 Bayern Munich [b]2,347 [/b]27 0 661 78 5 Manchester City [b]1,375 [/b]59 0 562 122 6 Chelsea [b]1,370 [/b]58 0 526 83 7 Arsenal [b]1,307 [/b]-2 30 487 101 8 Liverpool [b]982[/b] 42 10 415 86 9 Juventus [b]837[/b] -2 9 379 50 10 AC Milan [b]775[/b] -10 44 339 54 11 Bor. Dortmund [b] 700 [/b]17 6 355 55 12 PSG [b] 634 [/b]53 0 643 -1 13 Spurs [b]600[/b] 17 9 293 63 14 Schalke [b]572[/b] -1 0 290 57 15 Inter [b]439[/b] -9 56 222 -41 16 Atl. Madrid [b]436[/b] 33 53 231 47 17 Napoli [b]353[/b] 19 0 224 43 18 Newcastle [b]349[/b] 33 0 210 44 19 West Ham [b]309[/b] 33 12 186 54 20 Galatasaray [b]294[/b] -15 17 220 -37

I think you underestimate how much of a change the new money is going to bring. The gap between the haves and have nots is significantly reduced, and everyone's FFP thresholds will be much higher, reducing the impact that "having much more money" can deliver. There's also the question whether Man City and Chelsea's lack of performances this season have shown that signing the "best" players doesn't guarantee their motivation any more, and whether there's now a level of income beyond which some of the more entitled players don't think they need to deliver. Man U have a bigger ground and more titles in their past, and a much bigger fanbase. But Spurs have done better than them this season, can match anything United want to pay if they choose to, and the United set up is a bit of a basket case at the moment - Pochettino has things exactly how he wants them at Spurs and has barely had the chance to deliver success yet, I think it's unlikely he'd leave this summer.

Yes, a month too late.

No, I think he was probably thinking "ooh, Spurs will pay me more than Saints, and now I have someone there who's been trying to sign me".

You might want to talk to Batman about how his style isn't suited to Barcelona...

Good advert for a publication numerous people would otherwise be unaware of, this...

Only you can read "we're in a slightly worse position whilst being slightly worse overall" and think it means someone is saying "we are at least as good as last season".

Our worst case scenario is that despite having more money than the club has ever had before, and more money than 959% of football clubs in the world (albeit not more than 10 or so of our immediate rivals), we somehow contrive to not be able to attract any of the best 500 footballers in the world to the club to replace the ones who have Prem experience and move elsewhere. My main concern this summer is that we don't lose at least some of the players who've been linked with moves and underperformed this season and stagnate instead of continuing to strengthen. I'd quite like Wanyama to go if his heart's not in it, I want us to sign someone from a top European side who can't compete with us on wages who can do his job and pass. I'd like us to sign a new CB as a future replacement for Fonte who is better than Gardos and Yoshida, and a number 10 with some defensive ability to replace Davis, and Stekelenburg permanently as he still seems the best fit for his current role. Afaic, we can sell or let Gardos (too slow in possession), Isgrove and Ramirez go, will also be interesting to see if the likes of Gallagher, Stephens and McCarthy have a future now they've had a run out. Not sure who's out of contract tbh. I'd keep Yoshida, he's still ok as backup and usually against bottom half sides. Juanmi is a tricky one, not sure what's happening there but it'll take an impressive change in him for him to have a future after this season's lack of impact - no reason why he shouldn't be afforded some more time to make an impact though.

I assure you the only tactical change in the first match which made any difference was us removing our defence during the second half.

The Sun spent YEARS bragging about how they said stuff first, even when it was basically just a lie and other papers had reported things long before they did. I'm not sure they'll be trumpeting this one though:

To do that they'd have to finish at least 5th though, where they currently are they're home in the first leg. I think I'd prefer them to lose that one heavily though.

Hartlepool have hit a decent run of form under Craig Hignett as well.

Does a red card count?

Last year it was most definitely Fonte getting all the plaudits, whilst Alderweireld was being better than any defender in years and barely getting a mention...

Leicester have been remarkably spawny with injuries and suspensions. They have a very good first XI which is effective at what it does and they absolutely bust a gut every match - but their team with anything like the injuries most other teams have had loses a whole heap of the 1-0 wins and is nowhere near "the real deal". If they win it, they're the best team, but there's no doubt that they've had heaps of vital factors to help them get to that point, and there's no way sports science alone is delivering their luck with injuries.

This week SHOULD be both the top two winning, it's the match after when things might happen - Leicester at Old Trafford, Spurs away to Chelsea. Then Leicester are home to Everton whilst Spurs are home to Saints, which should be two home wins - but Spurs' game is harder. It'll be over by the final whistle at WHL of the Saints game if not the kick off as Leicester play on the Saturday night, but every chance we'll cost them the title.

Still not as bad as the one City scored against us when Silva was nearly 5 yards offside a couple of seasons ago...

Depends which of these two diametrically opposing arguments you want to use to debunk your theory, but: 1) Last season we lost 5 games in a row at one point and only won 4 of our last 13, losing 7 of them, so we were not really that good last season either. OR 2) Last season we were in the top 4 for most of the season, and won 11 of 12 games (inc Cups) at one point so claiming the standard of the league is low THIS year rather than last year is ridiculous when we've gone nowhere near that kind of run. Personally I think the "we're in a slightly worse position whilst being slightly worse overall" argument captures the fact you're talking a load of arse quite nicely.

Yeah, Bananaman, aka the Banana Factor. I knew I might be able to sneak one past him having seen him ship 10 against The Bittern when the Saints IFC team turned up with 8 men...