Sheaf Saint

All part of God's plan though I expect.

Very wise.

I'm right on the boundary between yellow and amber. What would that make? Mustard perhaps? I'm sure a mustard warning for wind is not uncommon in my house.

There seems to be an even split between those who reckon it will be a tough game and would be happy with a point, and those who are having delusions of grandeur after one decent result last week and reckon they only have to play like they did on Saturday and they will stroll it. A few saying we are well organised but they have a better 11, but I can't see that myself. At the moment there's very few players of theirs I would have over ours. Pickford is undoubtedly better than any of our keepers (still suspect though), and Anthony Gordon is probably already a better player than Redmond. VDB is obviously a very talented player but yet to really prove himself in the PL so is an unknown. And if we don't count Broja as he's not 'our' player then Richarlison is better than anyone we have up front. But that's it. None of their back 4 would displace any of ours right now, and I wouldn't have any of their midfielders in ahead of JWP and Romeu on current form. Oh and one guy reckons "These lot are due another 9-0 tonking"... like they would be the team to inflict it on us if we were! 😂

Small very much involved though. If Perraud is unavailable I would expect to see KWP in at LB with Tino on the right and Small on the bench.

I'd imagine they would be flying down on Friday!!

It's a damn shame we couldn't have had this fixture 3 weeks ago, because the relative form and performances of the teams at that time would have seen us to an easy win. Sadly, they looked a different team last Saturday against Leeds. Gone was the lacklustre, half-arsed Everton they had been all season. They had been replaced by a high-energy team full of pressing and working hard for each other. Lamps has had an immediate impact it seems. Leeds were pretty poor but Everton made it very hard for them all over the pitch. I still think we should have too much for them on current form. They were buoyed on by an up-for-it home crowd which they won't have at SMS, and we've been in this kind of form for longer than the one game they have. They have some quality up front but their defence is there for the taking. Should be a good game. I just hope my nephew doesn't get on the pitch (don't think he will because he's not even made the matchday squad for the last 2 games) because that would put me in an incredibly awkward position. I'd obviously be pleased if he did well, but I would be equally pleased if he scored an OG, gave away a pen and got sent off!

This is the one that always sticks in my memory. Probably because I had the video review of that season on VHS and it included extended highlights of this game, but I was there on the day as well. We absolutely battered them but couldn't find a winner. There was a chance right at the death where there was a ricochet in the box and the ball was heading in, and Rideout tried to apply a finishing touch but only turned it onto the post instead.

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He's renowned for that. When Everton play Newcastle the Geordie fans give him dogs abuse for being a Mackem and you can visibly see him getting riled and distracted by it.

https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/17651630/jordan-pickford-t-rex-pub-brawl/

"Open the door, get on the floor Everyone laugh at the dinosaur" Yeah it would be really childish and classless if that were to start up from the Northam wouldn't it! 😂

I don't think he really cares. He's nearing retirement and he's working less hours for more money. Wouldn't every one of us want the same?

BBC reporting he had blurred vision and was sick. Hopefully it's toxoplasmosis.

Happy enough to see Newcastle beat Villa. They're not going down now, let's face it. So I'd prefer to see them taking points off our more direct rivals. Just need WH to draw or win against Leicester and we can finish the weekend above the two teams that poached our 'best' players in the summer.

Zouma starts for WH then. No morals whatsoever.

Trippier off injured now. If he's out for a while and misses the re-arranged games, is that some sort of Karma?

I was working in retail in the mid 90s and I distinctly remember asking my boss who was a Utd fan if I could take a late tea break on a certain Saturday afternoon in 1996 to pop up to Curry's and check the scores. It was still 5-2 when I arrived. My boss flat out refused to believe me when I told him what the final score was.

Always used to play a lot of Beatles tunes IIRC.

And then the instrumental outro to ELO's Mr Blue Sky as they did the roundup of the games.

Agreed. He was highlighted by the MOTD pundits along with Ely as a key part of our good overall performance. It's not like the chances he had were sitters. I would definitely keep him in against Everton as LB is a weak point for them. It will either be the new and unproven Mykolenko, who was missing yesterday with Covid, or Coleman playing out of position. Either way, it's a weakness we should be looking to exploit.

Forster in for McCarthy is a big factor, but Stu's return to fitness and form shouldn't be understated. It really is quite bizarre how different we are with/without him.