trousers

Oh, go on then.... for old time's sake...

Very astute. For a bear

With my psychobabble hat on, could it be argued that it would be better to go into the 2nd leg a goal down rather than a goal up? If we go into the 2nd leg a goal up, I assume Puel will be tempted to set up the team to protect the lead rather than extend it (and we all know how that will end up...), whereas, if we go into the game a goal down we'll have no choice but to set ourselves up to attack. Hmm, on reflection, I probably ought to be locked up for thinking out loud and spouting such nonsense...

This

Yeah, defo O'Connor. Cheers guys

Who's the chap on the ball in this shot from today's training video? Don't recognise him.

Boufal has had a minor operation on a knee injury ("inflamation") according to Puel during this afternoon's press conference. Should be back in a few weeks. "It's not a bad injury"

I think I'll stick with my banal immaturity in that case

Do I get to lose my sense of humour too if I "grow up"...?

Sam Matterface ‏@sammatterface it wasn't the noise and the passion and commitment that cost them (Pompey) it was idiot owners Yes, that's right. The fans were complaining from the rooftops when their "idiot owners" were overspending and buying short-term success. Not once did the fans endorse the over-spending of their "idiot owners". No-sir-ee...

Ok, fair point. So, if it means he's back later than he might have been had he played in the tournament and stayed fit, then it's bad news. If the opposite transpires (e.g. the 3 - 4 weeks turns out to be an over estimate) then it's good news.

Excellent news that he might be back for us sooner than otherwise might have been the case.

You've seen the script too then?

Excellent news

Anything less than top 8 will be a disappointment to me. Thankfully, were still very much in sight of that. That said, win the league cup and I'll be content with any 'mid table' finish.

Poster who has a pop at others for comparing this season with last season in comparing this season with last season shocker...

Indeed. Nutshell etc. You and I are wasted on here. I know of a good rocket science forum we could sign up to though

Fair point. I'm just suggesting that having 3 mainstays in defence is probably better than having none at all. Neither is ideal of course but perhaps we don't live in an ideal world, as the song goes...

These kinda things are never as black and white as that. All humans are different and all sorts of factors come into play when deciding the best balance for the team as a whole. It may well be that VvD and Romeu have a metabolism that means their bodies don't need as much recovery time between games as other players. Or it may just be that Puel's rotation philosophy requires a stable defensive spine (i.e. Forster, VvD and Romeu) which others then rotate around. The thinking being that the overall rotation of the rest of the team is enough to absorb a few regulars into the mix. I'm no sports scientist so can't comment one way or the other on the perceived benefits of such a hybrid selection policy. For what its worth, my gut feel is that we've possibly over-baked the rotation philosophy at times but I think its a sound policy in principle.

Jamie Oliver closing some restaurants, citing Brexit as a catalyst: https://www.theguardian.com/business/2017/jan/06/jamie-oliver-close-restaurants-brexit-jamies-italian-barbecoa Seems somewhat at odds with yesterday's report that the service sector is in good health? http://www.bbc.co.uk/news/business-38515971

Today's U23s line up possibly holds some clues to tomorrow's line-up... Good to see Seager back in the squad

Adam Blackmore tweeted about an hour ago to say the full interview would be published "later" today

Something to bear in mind is that, on average, we've had 24 hours less recovery time between games this season compared to last. I'm no expert (at anything... does it show?) but one assumes that the loss of that extra day can make a significant difference to each player's recovery cycle.