Sheaf Saint

Might as well try and eke out some humour from this situation.

First 3 episodes of The Expanse season 5 on Amazon Prime now. I can't love this show enough. Watched the first new episode last night, and while it was just a scene-setter with very little actually happening, it just looks amazing. The visual effects, which were already excellent, have been stepped up a level, and it looks incredible in 4K. Really looking forward to the rest of the season.

I think you're reading too much into this. Knowing the high standards he sets for himself, it's more likely he's just frustrated that he's still getting his match sharpness back and has so far not been able to reach those standards. Seriously, how many top players (let alone strikers) come back from over a month out after surgery and manage to re-find their best form immediately?

No we weren't. When I checked before the game they had has at 12/5 with Arsenal at 11/10.

Slightly disappointed not to get the win, on the overall balance of play. But we didn't really do enough to deserve it. I think if people are going to claim we should have had a penalty then they should also have had one in the first half, the incidents were quite similar. FWIW, I think the ref and VAR got both calls right - not enough contact to really impede either attacker. You can point to Redmond's effort against the bar, which was a lovely move, but they had the header off the bar late on as well. Ultimately, for all our tidy possession and neat passing, we didn't create any other clear chances because they defended well. Our goal came about from a delightful through-ball and calm finish from Theo; theirs came from a superb mazy run from Saka and an excellent, pinpoint finish from Aubameyang. Draw was a fair result.

Phew.

Cedric coming on. Reckon we should push JV up and hot it long to him against Cedric every time we get the ball.

I went for a waz and missed the red card. What happened?

I'm not sensing that at all. They've been very complimentary about us tonight.

Bugger. Saka did really well there though.

I wouldn't say he's added nothing. He's made a couple of decent driving runs forward to get us into their box.

Very cheap giveaway from Armstrong there to set up that Arsenal attack. Can't keep doing that.

That's JB's first yellow of the season? That surprises me.

Worked an absolute treat! 😂

Yeah, like an undulating hum. It's quite annoying.

I wonder if Emirates fly there?

Why on earth did they sign Cedric if he can't even get in the starting lineup when their 1st choice RB is unavailable? Have they cottoned on to how bad he actually is?

https://www.theguardian.com/business/2020/aug/08/brexit-backers-tate-lyle-set-to-gain-73m-from-end-of-eu-trade-tariffs Brexit backers and Tory donors Tate & Lyle in line to be the sole beneficiaries of rule changes on importing raw cane sugar post-Brexit, and will save £73m. And I'm sure it's just pure coincidence that David Davis used to work for them.

Ralph has gone a lot greyer in those two years. Although I suspect much of that happened on a certain Friday evening in October last year!

Because Billic wasn't actually doing too bad a job with what is arguably the weakest squad in the PL this season (a creditable draw at City last night), and Allardyce is never a good long-term option.

So it looks like WBA have panicked and pressed the Big Sam button.

Prefer Liverpool to lose. The only way we could go top is if they draw and we beat Arsenal by 8 goals. Not happening. A Spurs win means a win for us by any margin would put us above Liverpool. Of the two teams, they are the one I would most like us to be above.

He was the host of a reality TV show where his catchphrase was literally "You're fired" FFS.

I remember a thread similar to this in 2014/15. A few people were getting carried away and suggesting we could be in a title fight, and some more realistic posters were adamant we wouldn't keep up the pace. The latter were proved right. Is it different this time round? The biggest difference I see is that none of the usual big 6 looks dominant and they are all dropping points where they shouldn't be. From our perspective though, we have pretty much the same squad limitations as we had 6 years ago. We have a good first 11 who can compete against most teams, but we are only a couple of injuries away from it all going horribly wrong.

West Brom must be well and truly dreadful if they are resorting to bringing on Charlie Austin as an outlet when they're under the cosh. He was a spent force at PL level 3 years ago, and he's so immobile he can't even get out of his own half when his team are attacking!