Ted Bates Statue

If only in 2017, after our 1-4 defeat to Leicester, we approached the free agent Bielsa. Instead we decided to wait ages so we could hand the reins to Hughes. Not that Bielsa would've stuck around with us for long, but I can dream, can't I?

Your mate forgot to mention the detail where everyone in the supermarket stopped and applauded. Without including a key line like that, many are likely to believe it never happened.

We are all pony. Pony. Pony pony pony

I could see them missing out on Champions League again, despite their position (although Liverpool have been doing their best to throw it away themselves). Only takes one step from the sublime to the ridiculous, starting with a John Cleese style lunge on Tuesday at the rematch. Not that their fans will be all that bothered. Four trophies in the last 25 years, despite being fodder for large periods. Every single club in the Midlands must be looking at them with envy.

The next Tim Sparv, then. We can check back here in ten years' time to review our clairvoyant abilities when he helps his team knock us out of the qualifying round to the Europa Conference.

Never in doubt. We will walk this dead rubber

A walk in the park for those who can't bear to watch another load of dross, preferring to stretch their legs and get some fresh air.

Before my time, but Chris Nicholl might be a better comparison... went top of the league with him and had some horrendously dry spells also. We decided we could do better, and indeed I hear his replacement was an excellent appointment who was in many ways much better than our current manager.

So you can basically get arrested for being mildly annoying. Not that this will bother the mildly annoying on here, who for now would prefer to obsess over how the moon landings were faked. But you can bet that once this gets passed, the police will use this at will to interfere with the lives of football fans who might be guilty of nothing more offensive than singing OWTS in public. It will be low hanging fruit for them.

Maybe I'm being a bit harsh. Once Gabbiadini signed, we looked like a different side, like we could beat anyone. Unfortunately we didn't win the League Cup Final, and apart from that our best run of form meant getting two wins in a row, twice. If we can get someone better, great, but I'd be keen to know who. I would probably accept BFS by that point as I'm pretty sure he will be available with West Brom getting close but no cigar (They hired him way too late - as I write, Villa equalise 😂). What stops me from losing my patience with Hasenhuttl just yet is that every side, without exceptions has had the occasional dip in form this season which is surely related to Covid. Of course it's up to us to be at the top end rather than where we are, but I'd like to see him have a go, and get to November before we decide on the axe.

Agreed. Even under Koeman we had the odd poor spell, and with a stronger group. The difference is that with Koeman and Hasenhuttl we also had extended excellent runs of good form, whereas Puel, Pellegrino and Hughes would bob along with the occasional win to stave off the inevitable. On that basis I'd give Hasenhuttl a dozen games to show we've had a reset to this season, and if he doesn't succeed, then I'm sure we can fulfil the needs of the ever-growing, increasingly baying mob and get BFS or Marco Silva or whatever imaginary chump saviour happens to be available meet the requirements of the black box around Halloween as we slide further down the table.

Best case scenario we pick up a draw plus a couple of wins against Palace and Fulham between now and the end of the season. After last night however, I would happily downgrade that target to a draw and a win against one of those two to scrape 40 points. Sadly my optimism is dwindling away. We may be safe now but this does not bode well for next season and at this rate, Hasenhuttl will be lucky to reach three years here. He has turned it around before so I very much hope he will do it again. Can she play in midfield ahead of Diallo or Jankewitz?

We will walk this European Super League

At the start of the season there was a thread on the expectations for the season, and 7th-12th or 8th-12th was the clear consensus then. Can't seem to find it but it would help a bit now, for perspective. That 12th place trophy is still within our grasp.

It doesn't look great, but not sure it tells the full story. For all the talent we've produced, we haven't exactly won many FA Youth Cups. As a club we tend to promote young players early so they're playing in much higher year groups. If we lost all our season's games for a youth side, but one graduate made it through to the first team and was able to contribute well, I'm not sure we'd be that bothered about the defeats. Unfortunately we're in a fallow period. What I'm wondering is when did that begin...? If academy players like JWP join at the age of 8, that would have been with us pre-administration, so have we actually produced anyone of note in the Liebherr era and beyond? Maybe the situation isn't just something we can blame on Reed/Jaidi/Dodd et al.

Kill two birds with one stone, get Rodgers in and destabilise Leicester like they did with us and Pochettino. You can see how highly they value the League Cup as an indicator. They clearly couldn't contemplate a future with Mourinho getting the sack with him claiming immortality as Tottenham's greatest manager since Juande Ramos.

Expunged from history in 1992 unfortunately! I thought the Champions League reforms were enough to destroy football on their own - 'wildcard' qualification so teams like Arsenal can finish 11th and still be guaranteed CL football. Suspect this is a power play and the closed shop will happen on the quiet anyway. Pleasantly surprised at the depth of feeling even from supporters of the 'big six'. Feels like they finally see the writing on the wall - it's an MK Dons moment en masse, although not sure how effective it will be if there are enough overseas 'fans' to fill the void.

We have a chance of winning that game. Therefore it doesn't count.

I'd agree with this except we should keep Forster in goal.

Expecting Comfortable Win My rule for following Saints these days is that you may only pick one of the above words to describe a match.

I could be wrong but I thought that the margin of defeat basically killed our confidence before the final began.

He's had his howler. Maybe if Leicester have a pen at the weekend he could just stay put as everyone hits it down the middle against him. Christ. We could be 5-0 down here.

Not to worry. We will get another chance to call for Hasenhuttl's sacking very soon. West Brom can still overtake us.

Like the seven sides they were unbeaten against before today? Like Everton? Like Leicester? Arsenal?

Yep, the noble folk of Chelseaweb will be asking serious questions of him. He's only as good as his last game, guys! On that note, "Poch out" is trending on twitter. Something to do with Jose Fonte's Lille (TM) going top of Ligue 1.