SaintBobby

Of course we didn't "throw the game". But any squad rotation strategy means, basically by definition, you're putting out a side that isn't maximising your chance of winning. We did that in spades in the Arsenal FA Cup game. The EFL Cup final might actually be the first game where Puel is going to field the strongest team he possibly can. He is not going to rest anyone or "take a look" at a fringe player.

As has been pointed out, 40 points is almost always enough. In fact, a point a game is almost always enough. At the moment, the bottom clubs are averaging less than a point a game. I'd guess 35 or 36 is enough this season.

Can't decide if I want Leicester to drop or not. Probably yes because of Vardy injuring Virgil. I went for Leicester, Palace and Sunderland.

Weirdest transfer (or non transfer) ever. Massive player. Apparent family tragedy. Huge need for a CB at Saints. And we can't even be bothered to get his beyond a 15 page thread. I'm bracing myself for some idiot asking "Has Skacel signed yet?" and thinking it's funny. But no one can even be arsed to be that lame. Weak.

Brighton, Poole Town and Cowes FC. Basically as many southern teams as possible.

Christ, this is the most tedious, self-important post-match thread ever.

Big fan of Tadic, but I'm not yet persuaded he is our best no.10. Mainly because I don't trust him to finish chances from 6-10 yards out, so the central position is a bit wasted on him. I'd keep him on the left.

The club should only send out emails when we win. Easy solution. Sigh.

We're going to win this. Please, God.

I'm beginning to think it's possible that we won't get relegated this season.

I hope we get this over the line. Will cheer me up a lot.

Am I alone in being okay with us selling JRod for £10m and buying Gabbiadini for £14m? Sure, I'd like to have both. But if I can only have one, I'm kind of cool with it.

In theory, couldn't a new cynical owner seek to get all the players off the books, pocket the transfer fees and reduce the salary bill by 98%, field a bunch of amateur players, pocket the profits (basically the Sky TV and parachute money and the transfer fees) and possibly even run up a ton of debt? Once the parachutes run out, sell the club and stadium to anyone willing to buy it. I'm not aware of any laws against doing something like this - its basically just asset stripping. I'm not sure the football authorities have any rules that would obviously prevent something like this happening either, more's the pity.

That's more like it. Very good performance - even if against the weakest performance I can remember seeing from defending champions. Can I just give a possible defence of the officials for the Morgan own goal? The lino believes Yoshida is in an offside position, but doesn't flag as he doesn't believe he is interfering with play. Oliver believes Yoshida was "active" but is unsure whether he was in an offside position, so rightly consults the lino and then disallows the goal. To my mind, the replays show Maya was level - with only his arm in an "offside position", so the goal should have counted. But I have no problem with how Oliver tried to resolve the issue or why the linesman didn't raise his flag.

I'm a little unimpressed at the moment. But to conclude Puel is "out of his depth" and disaster is beckoning is surely premature. Mind you, this was the web forum on which some people were claiming Sadio Mane was only a League One quality player.....

Bank the cash. Wait until the Summer. £8m for Fonte is insane. Limp on to June. Rebuild then.

Preston 1 Arsenal 0 - HT

Oh well, we will win the replay. He says with utterly no confidence whatsoever.

Pretty poor stuff. Getting a tad worried about out total toothlessness.

Has passed away peacefully today. One of the nicest gents you could ever meet and a supporter since 1937. RIP and thoughts and prayers with his wonderful family.

I can tell you now, this is all completely untrue. The entire issue is Fonte's contract extension. Disregard the above post completely and confidently.

Nah. It's great to have them in the same league. Love em. But I actually cheer them on v anyone else, so not really a derby tbh.

Found it weird that there was any criticism of Boruc for Bertrand's goal. Great individual effort, maybe slightly slack defending, but the finish is in off the far post. Not the keeper's fault.

I think we can win this one. Spurs are good but we can close down their attacking options. We need to show boldness going forward and more width than usual, but I make us slight favourites.

I'm not too worried, as long as we don't lose VVD within the same window (or within 12 months tbh). I'd sit him on the bench, see how he reflects on things. Btw, Yoshida has been terrific this season. The errors we were used to seem to have been exorcised. I'd be okay with him being a starting XI CB now.