BallBoy

Just watched this for about the 100th time! It cheers me up after the trauma of being expelled. The control and shot were mattyesque. Often forgotten are the brilliant tackle by Jander on the half way line, the vision of Scienza and the lung bursting run by Matsuki to lay on the goal. Absolutely great goal. A special memory.

Tuchel gets his tactics and substitutions right regardless of reputation. Much like Eckert.

My poor memory tells me that Mourinho froze out Schneiderlin at Man Utd. His career never recovered. When it happened I remember thinking "he does this wherever he goes". Likes to make an example of someone to demonstrate his authority.

I have interviewed people all my life but never understood this stuff about body language or seeing it in their eyes. I just don't get it. Detecting lies is about listening and identifying contradictions. This seemed like a more full account than we have heard before but it will never be complete or cover every point of view. I just want to move on now. We will need a huge slice of luck to repeat last seasons fairy tale up to the semi finals. There were some magic moments. Need to move forward now.

I accept that Tonda is a flawed character but he also represents our best chance of success next season. He has proven himself to be a very good coach. It is not unusual for successful managers to be flawed characters. 2 examples. Jose Maurinho was myopic and would usually pick one player to bully and make an example of. Just think Morgan Scheiderlin. The sainted Alex Ferguson was famous for his hair dryer treatment and harassment of referees and linesmen. They got away with it because they were successful. Tonda is going to have a really tough task next season. Minus 4 points and the likelihood of losing our match winning players. People are assuming we can just carry on where we left off last season but things are different now. Please don't start complaining if the miracle doesn't come straight away.

Really difficult to see where this is going. I claim no legal expertise but that is clearly a defensive legal statement to deal with any further fallout. I am going to guess that the club want keep Tonda and this is preparing the way. I would like Tonda to stay because he is an exceptional coach but he will need to be as fireproof as possible. A tall order. I have just been watching cup highlights to cheer myself up. Fantastic! The sadness is that what could have been one of our greatest seasons has now turned to dust because of our own stupidity.

An amazing day when he signed for us. Totally unexpected. Everyone walking around in a daze and not believing it until it was the first item on the 6 o'clock news. He was a force of nature on the pitch and turned us into a big time club. I was there for the bicycle kick goal that never was. I hope he can beat this awful disease that strikes at random.

I can't be bothered to go back through 6 pages so this may not be original. Pep is available and has experience of managing cheating clubs!!

This is the only thing left - to see Boro lose. It would give me a modicum of satisfaction. In my opinion Boro do not deserve to be there. We were wrong to do what we did but it had no effect on the semi final. Boro played the press and the public like a fiddle to gain an unfair advantage at the disciplinary hearing. I strongly suspect they used their network of contacts in high places equally effectively. I have some sympathy for their fans but not their hierarchy. Come on Hull.

For those of a certain vintage: what was worse? The 1983/84 season when we finished 2nd in the league and lost to Everton in the FA Cup semi-final - or this? So much hope turning to dust on both occasions. For me, this is the worst I have felt - ever! So much reason to hope all thrown away for stupidity. It's difficult enough to cope with losses on the field. This is in a whole new category. I now fear for the future of our club.

We are in a difficult position but Boro are now just taking advantage of their terrible misfortune to the point of "taking an unfair advantage". Trying to win an undeserved promotion in the courtroom.

Jander will have to work very hard. He always does but a lot to ask IMO.

The evidence is stacking up and it does not look good. I have been looking forward to these games but now it feels tainted. We have really made a big mistake and any good result will now be questioned. Our integrity has taken a massive hit. I firmly believe we are a better team than Boro but they are now the people's favourites. Understandably so. I want us to win but whoever is responsible for this have ket us down badly.

I don't know what bothers me the most. The fact that we did it or the fact that we made such a mess of it. Amateur.

I would find it difficult to believe that Tonda had anything to do with this nonsense. It is clearly being taken seriously though and the repercussions could be serious. What is certainly true is that we have already lost the neutral support because of this story. We have basked in the praise of the media recently. It will be sad to lose that.

Tonda will do his usual and rotate 3-4 players. The problem is that with injuries and suspensions he has fewer players available to him.

I am nervous about this one. More than usual! Will the crowd be really up for it? They need to be. Do the players have enough left in the tank after Saturday? Ipswich are a tough and dogged team. They will try to wear us down. They are masters of the dark arts but we cannot afford to let them frustrate us. We have better players and should win but we have to be at our best and impose ourselves. We need 11 players to stay on the pitch. I really want that 2nd leg at home and to keep our momentum. The stakes are high for both teams. Fingers and everything crossed.

Haaland on the bench!

Agree. Not sure I have seen a team fall over as much or foul as much as Ipswich.

Ipswich a lucky and unpleasant team.

Very simple. If they win all 3 we can't catch them.

Defying all the odds now. Who would have thought Archer to be our saviour. Eckert is getting the best out of every player.

I am as excited as anyone about our prospects of 2nd but it's not just Ipswich we need to worry about. Millwall have the easiest looking run in and are a point ahead of us. They are in a good position but we are the form side.

I thought this was a wind up! Someone said planets aligning. It's true!

This probably should be a separate topic but I just want to make a point: Our starting line up yesterday included these players- Bree, Stephens, Manning, Downes, Jander, Fellows and Azaz. All have, at various times, been in the category of "should never wear the shirt again". What a remarkable coach we have. Not only an astute tactician but also capable of transforming individual players. A brilliant coach.