Football Special

We wont be in contention for automatic, top 8 has to be the aim

Did you miss Scienza being kicked out of the game for the first 15 mins? Time and time again, clearly a plan from Watford and it worked , few of them missed by the useless ref

Ref was a useless cunt wasn't he

Yeah, pre match vibes based on what I've seen pre season , nothing more than that

Wood can come on and move Stephens into CM

This game has the feel of a 1-1 draw to me , we'll concede a scrapy goal , possibly a scramble from a corner late on

Not only that, they had "the whistleblower" , they expected someone to be there and made sure they collected evidence and used it to THEIR advantage, no negative impact at all as they were prepared. Should we have sent someone up? Obviously no. Did they manipulate the whole scenario to ensure maximum benefit to Middlesborough, Obviously yes. Absolutely mental they are still portrayed as they are in recovery from some trauma.

The media coverage felt so coordinated and extreme and it still continues, always felt like Boro were controlling the narrative for their benefit. This has been sent to me from today's Sunday Times, mindboggling how they still are perceived as victims , wording such as "rehabilitation" ffs

Portuguese league has obviously decided the Championship is a good place to go shopping with this deal and Benfica bidding for THB, definite shift in the market there, previously we used to have to worry about players being poached by the call of the Premier League not so much foreign leagues

Colwill didnt go through our academy? Kids recruitment in football is now incredibly corrupt , and greedy parents will always take a quick windfall when offered , shame when some initial early scouting picks up some gems at primary school age only to see them walk out a few years later

I think Middlesbrough will be in the top 8, have made some excellent signings

We *should* of course, but surely we all know these games dont work like that

Ticket office has always felt very amatuer

"Manage his minutes"

What was the price for Leicester home 4th round of the FA Cup? I'm sure that was considerably cheaper

Who is putting these stories out there?

Within 30 seconds is my guess

I think your summary is spot on, it also feels like we could be disrupted by outgoing transfer speculation over the next few weeks

FAO FAB

Were we allowed to do that as it wasn't 72 hours before a game? Apparently an Elton John lookalike seen making notes

I think we have generally moved on other than a few chants which are fair enough, Middlesbrough on the other hand are fucking mentally ill thinking they were in any way negatively impacted by us last season and are desperate to carry a victim complex into this season

Genuinely hadnt realised until last May how fucking mental they are, saw a comment on the Vivek signing by a Boro fan saying squad coming together for an amazing season WHICH THEY DESERVE AFTER WHAT THEY WENT THROUGH LAST SEASON unless I'm missing something are they still continuing with this victim narrative?

Yeah its certainly designed to get as many big teams into the last 8 as possible, ensuring higher viewing figures = sell the rights for more. We should have won it in 2017 and came close in 2023 under Nate the Great

I agree and thats been my position for a long time, I do hate the fixed Carabao format though. I think this will be like the Leicester Cup game last season though, both sides playing reserves / u21s. West Ham have squad depth so tough game. Hope club make it £10 adults. £1 kids, going to be a tough sell even in school holidays with three home games in a week , saints will probably offer West Ham extra tickets if they think they can bring more than the standard 3k

And benefit from Azaz vision , nicely paired for his type of game. Hope he can pick up a bit from his Championship experience last season , hopefully more reliable fitness wise than Loch Ness Drogba , we'll need that with so many games to play