The Kraken

I just wondered where the option was to finish 6th and try to win a cup. It seemed you put only 2 options forward; I'm sure there's many more. God forbid it becomes such a black and white decision where trying for a cup = doomed to a lower league finish.

Is that truly the only choice then?

How much money? I couldn't care less. You can measure success all you like with a bank account, and play all sorts of meaningless sums in your head, that means little to me. Good on you if that's your benchmark,. As you said, each to your own. I'd rather see us shoot high for the league and go for the cups at the same time. Sneaking 4th place would be a terribly impressive achievement. Winning something at Wembley; well, IMO, THAT would be absolutely incredible.

Don't look now, but there's a competition we're no longer in that could have fulfilled that objective.

As ever, that sums it up very well. The desire for a 4th placed finish over some actual silverware; where football deviates from common sense IMO. The relentless ambition of a 4th place finish which might, just might, gain us entry into another competition that we have little to no hope of actually winning.

Yep; as CB F says, good luck with that. I don't know how many there are like me (frankly I don't really care) but for this season and probably the next few I'd rather see us try to win a cup. Plus I don't subscribe to the view that cup success and league progress are mutually exclusive.

All very well if you think sacrificing this cup means we'll have a much better chance of finishing 4th. Sacrificing it to finish 7th or 8th? Yeah, not for me, you're welcome to that sort of sacrifice thanks. Each to their own indeed...

I dunno. Sunderland seemed to give it a good go.

Is there an applause button? I'd press it after that. Entirely correct. Our disdain for this competition is really disappointing.

What the f*ck are you on about now Baz? I think its really disappointing we treat this competition with such disdain. I'd much rather we actually try and win something as opposed to aim for 7th or 8th.

It's ALMOST like that. Really, only almost? To me it pretty obvious we couldn't care less about this cup. I'm only surprised we played some actual first team players.

Saints kicked off.

There's typically a bit of break in the table from around 7th or 8th place. Last year Liverpool finished 7th, 15 points above WBA in 8th. Breaking that sort of structure would be an utterly phenomenal achievement. Too early to say either way right now IMO but nonetheless a thoroughly impressive start to the season.

This is probably the most sensible thing I've read on here for ages.

White on white racism; it's definitely a massive problem. Especially amongst these South Americans. Yep.

NickG and Alpine, the true extent of the yin and yan of SWF. And we're 4th; at least until the West Ham/ Man City game finishes. Points don't get given until the game is actually over.

I'll take this prediction with a pinch of salt. edit. Should read more up the page before jumping it with a weak pun.

100% agree with that. That Januzaj is even being talked about as a future England international is ridiculous. I think football has currently got much better rules for foreigners than other sports, and I believe a lot of that is down to an agreement between the Home Nations. The grandfather rule works ok but is still open to re-working and refining.

I think he's got a point; but there's clearly a massive shade of grey in there which someone like Jack Wilshere isn't clever enough to understand or put forward as a theory. MLT was on Talksport earlier and I don't think he got the balance right either, when he said that only those born in England or have English parents should be allowed to represent the country at football. I'm not sure myself where the dividing line is. As said Mo Farah is a good example to use; but he also has a British father as well as having lived here since 8 years old. I'm not sure if there is a right answer but, for me, representing your country should be restricted to those who have spent at least most of their life living there and taken up full nationality. It's far too easy for sportspeople these days to do a Rusedski and cash in on the increased sponsorship from UK sports.

Not according to his wiki. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Tony_Adams_(footballer)

William (Billy) Wright Anthony (Tony) Adams Kev Keegan Edit: Apparently Tony is genuinely a Tony, so scratch that one.

Wenger has been largely superb in that regard, no doubt, and what he's done at Arsenal is very impressive. However Arsenal's wage bill is considerable, even despite their supposed wage caps, which often skews the net spend table somewhat. In truth both net spend and wage bills need to be compared in tandem.

Nope, wouldn't swap it for anything. I've lived in 4 foreign countries throughout my life, each of them beautiful and brilliant in their own way, but there's just something about England that makes me really happy to call it home.

He's fighting for a spot on the bench, but I don't think he's third choice left back. The Clyne LB / Chambers RB is an option for matchdays and means we don't have to have two dedicated full backs on the bench in case of injury. That said, if Shaw were to miss a game through injury/suspension then I have little doubt Fox would be MP's choice of replacement, and not Chambers. Clyne at LB is nothing but a temporary compromise IMO.

Must be different for players than for managers, I guess.