SaintBobby

Real grit there. Excellent point. The red card is bewildering. Can see why the ref give it from his angle, but it’s an obvious slam-dunk overturn on VAR, surely to God? I don’t really blame VAR for the red, that would have been given without VAR. I was just truly surprised that no “VAR checking red card” appeared on TV or the ref didn’t have a second look. VAR is supposed to be an insurance policy. It failed badly.

Well, it’s brinkmanship obviously to threaten to expel them. But that’s how some negotiations work - a sort of race to the bottom in who can do the most damage to the other party. If there’s no question of imposing any sanctions against the clubs or the players, we may as well just say now that the big six can do whatever they want and we will gratefully lick up some crumbs from the table. We dare not do anything else for fear that we might end up with fewer crumbs.

I’m intrigued by the idea that the move is really just for “leverage” or to enhance their bargaining position. To me, it seems to have gone way beyond that. I wonder whether the “small clubs” now need to show some real backbone rather than meekly awaiting unfolding events, which is the normal practice. For example, the 14 other clubs in the EPL could vote to expel the big six or resign themselves and rejoin the Football League.

I think it was a poor decision. It seemed to me evident that the player was onside, if he hadnt been, some part of his body would have been visible rather than hidden by his team mate, surely? That said, it's not the biggest howler. Without VAR the goal would not have stood anyway as the linesman had flagged for offside.

If we lose the semi final and then get a poor points haul, I guess Ralph starts next season under some pretty serious pressure.

I would. You’d get something like 33/1 or better on that as an accumulator bet.

It’s just as well for Fulham that they are in such a streak of red hot form. If they can continue their stunning and scintillating recent run then they should easily be able to make up that six point gap in six matches...

Actually, that's a common but largely fallacious argument. Overwhelmingly, it's about getting customers to switch brands rather than recruting wholly new ones. No one watches an advert for Pedigree Chum and rushes out and buys a dog. No one watches an advert for Andrex and thinks, "I'm going to take a dump much more regularly having seen that" Yet both of these brands have spent a lot on adverts.

I guess City don't much care about the league anymore. They've won it. May as well focus on getting other silverare alongside it.

This Fulham v Wolves match is dire.

Yeah, I've often wondered why there isn't more "science" applied to the kits. Any advantage is at the margins of course, but then football is a game of inches. Could shirts not be clingy and skin tight to make the harder to pull...or, as you say, designed to rip into shreds at the merest pinch? Does colour make a difference? Is it easier to see a pull on a striped short than a single colour shirt? etc etc

Apparently, although I didn’t know this, it’s within the laws of the game to hold someone’s shirt as long as you don’t impede his movement. Seems odd to me as impeding an opponent’s movement is presumably the whole point of pulling their shirt. Nevertheless, if an attacking player is, say, standing statically in the area and you lightly pull his shirt but it has no apparent impact on his shot or desired movement, then it’s no penalty. The ruling seems to be that Wood was able to execute his desired movement and the shirt pull by Bednarek didn’t have any impact. Seems bizarre to me, given how extreme the tug on the shirt was, but there you have it...

Pity. I think we are safe anyway and would rather Fulham stayed up than Newcastle...

I doubt we need any more points. Maybe need to pick up one more. But we are 250/1 to get relegated now.

2-2. Wet the bed.

Thank feck for that. My bed was very damp after 20 mins. Am pleased to report it is now dry as a bone. Great comeback and can breathe out a bit. Page 6 of this thread is a work of art. Needs to be preserved in perpetuity.

Errr...that is irrelevant. If the match between the two teams only impacts the finishing position of those two teams, hold it separately. If it impacts the finishing position of other teams then, as I say, it can't be held separately.

I followed that Brighton match with interest. This is because my duvet and mattress are still a little damp - although they have been drying out measurably over the last couple of days. That last match of the season - Fulham v Newcastle - is probably the decider for the last relegation slot. As an aside, with this new thing of PL matches being spread over a whole weekend, I wonder if they might end the last games of the season being played simultaneously? Obviously, all matches with implications on other matches need to be simultaneously played. But if, say, Fulham v Newcastle only impacts on who finishes 17th and 18th then maybe televise that at a different time?

You’re right - the gap would have been four points to Fulham and five points to Newcastle, with them having a game in hand. (And, I guess, a game in hand is probably worth about a point). Also, some of our remaining fixtures are at the easier end of the spectrum - hard to see how we wouldn’t pick up some points from games v Palace, WBA, Burnley and Fulham. But a Fulham win last night would probably have shifted our relegation odds into about 18/1 or maybe even 16/1. Hardly a likely outcome then, but not vanishingly unlikely either - and would have been only one bad set of results away from being right in a true relegation scrap. (Positing a loss at home to Fulham when that match happens would probably shift the odds of Saints relegation to about 9/2). We are now two steps away from a major relegation battle rather than just one, thanks to Leeds winning. I think we are now about 40/1 to go down. We possibly already have enough points to avoid the drop. 3 or 4 more points from 9 remaining games and it’s surely done & dusted? It could well end up like Project Restart, of course, and we finish up mid-table a good 12-15 points clear of relegation.

Have to admit to quite a sense of relief. Have never really thought we’d get relegated, but had Fulham won tonight, we’d have been just 4 points clear of the drop zone and also in a truly horrid run of form. Getting towards squeaky bum time (then you start speculating about, say, Fulham nabbing a win at St Mary’s in a key six pointer). I also think relegation this season would be just utterly horrific. Psychologically because we started so well and it just would feel so much worse to go down having briefly topped the table and being 300/1 shots to drop at one stage. That would hurt more than a season permanently in the bottom 4 or 5 that ends in going down. Financially we also seem a bit of a mess and relegation after a year of Covid would be grim indeed. Haven’t been wetting the bed, but there’s sure been the odd dribble or two.

That's maybe right, but I think probably just 2 or 3 more points could be enough tbh. I'd say the bottom two are down and the 3rd bottom team will quite probably be on 35 or fewer points. Obviously dont want to cut it that close though. So, bag a few points, breathe out and try a miracle in the cup!

Weird one this. Brighton aren't awful. Given where we are, I'd probably take a draw tbh. I'm looking at that seven point gap and just want the games to run out....

I'd put out the B team...what's left of it. More important matches to come...

Blessed relief. Probably the most nervous I’ve been watching such a straightforward Saints win. Pretty much slays any of those slight nerves about being dragged into a relegation battle too.

Blessed relief. Probably the most nervous I’ve been watching such a straightforward Saints win. Pretty much slays any of those slight nerves about being dragged into a relegation battle too.