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Other than the sugar rush and initial aftermath of Gabbiadini's second, I think that's the best we've been at Wembley. Or to reframe it, the best we've been across an entire match rather than in a single moment. You rarely walk away more heartened from a loss than that.

Managed to get straight onto one of the extra/re-routed trains at Central (09.43), only for them to not have a driver ready. 😆 Slow clap, SWR...

Anybody down at Central station yet? Wondering how they've set up the queueing system.

Agreed. It wasn't that long ago that when the team needed picking up in crucial moments, our crowd would identify it and play its part. Whether it was arrogance, as inferred, or a meek acceptance... Too frequently we were outsung by a few hundred Bristolians with nothing to play for.

I left the ground frustrated, but am feeling more pragmatic now. In isolation (and the heat of the moment) this felt a kick in the teeth. But realistically there's been too much to do for the autos for a very long time. Best thing we can do now is to try to remain unbeaten until this squad has nothing left to give.

Going by Opta's predicted table, they have Ipswich something in the region of 60/40 in favour of making the autos. Us and Millwall more like 80/20 in terms of finishing 3rd to 6th. Things have been changing fast though. It wasn't long ago that we were only attributed about a 3% chance of catching 2nd.

Yeah, for the playoff final I walked from Waterloo to Brewdog Seven Dials (RIP), taking in a bit of the cycling event that was on. Then did a mini crawl across Covent Garden. Didn't expect to see so many Saints fans in The Lyric as there was. Given I'd already planned to be in Hackney Wick on Saturday for an event at Beer Merchants I'll probably still go there for a bit before heading back west. All bets are off if we win. Beers until we miss the last train home, probably.

That'll be good for a change of scenery at least as it's being held in Cardiff.

Annoyingly already had this route booked (leaving from Airport) as was planning to be in London anyway on the 25th. Understand the logistics of the extra services only going from Central, but it's got me twitchy that I'll even be able to get onto 'my' train. Not too bothered if it's standing room only, as it's only 40 mins to Reading.

Pretty much any outskirts station served by Chiltern will work too, as those trains stop at Wembley Stadium station. My picks would be Beaconsfield or Gerrards Cross. Denham, West Ruislip et al are on the same line but have significantly smaller car parks. IMO there's diminishing benefit the closer you get to Wembley. You're probably looking at 20 mins between stepping on a train at Gerrards Cross and arriving at the stadium itself. The stations on the tube line come in to Wembley Park station, which may be handier if you're heading somewhere north of the stadium beforehand. But for the likes of The Green Man or just speedily getting in/out of the ground I prefer Wembley Stadium.

In other words, half of our points this season have come in the past 13 matches. Astonishing.

2019, 3-1 City (League Cup). 2022, 4-1 City (FA Cup). Granted, this error is rectified by the fact that we're never going to lose again.

Our ball for the draw is going to be scalding hot at this rate.

Just realised the semis are the same day as a Belgian beer event in London, so I was going to be up there anyway. Perfect for a few warmup brews (and hopefully a celebratory one or three). 🍻

When you lot figure out how to dampen the buzz and go to sleep, can you let me know?

Keep the faith, make the noise, celebrate like there's no tomorrow. Went out to Salisbury beforehand to wish a mate's bar a happy 4th birthday. No mean feat in this economy. And treated my uncle to a ticket - the chap whose fault it is I'm into this silly little beautiful club. Don't know how I'll come down enough to sleep. Irreplaceable memories.

Mark Forbes is more 'Saints' than you, I or almost anybody on this site. Yet you have the temerity to talk about embarrassment and disrespect?

On-road parking on Horseshoe Bridge is a potential. Not many spaces, but doable if you arrive at a reasonable time. It's about 20 mins walk to the ground down the Itchen Riverside Boardwalk. Walking back to your car will be faster than any other mode of transport - and then you've got direct access to Thomas Lewis Way.

Not sure that'll scan, no matter the tune, and it's miles too long for the Northam.

Continuing my non scientific way of using PPG to project ahead, Eckert's now up to 1.92 for us - which feels a fair reflection. It'll take continuing in at least the same manner to hit the 'magic' 75 points - but remains quite astonishing given where we were after 13 games. For comparison, Wrexham sit at 1.58 and Hull at 1.66 PPG (albeit that's across 38 games rather than the Tonda sample size of 25).

The Championship isn't fun. It's scary. And getting out of it is worth the risk of another season like the last one.

It's not a scientific way to look at it, but Tonda's PPG now sits at 1.86. If that continued to the end of the season, we'd be looking at ~73 points. Wrexham's PPG projects ~74. There's inherent assumptions (not least that our past indicates our future), but given the tricky period around Christmas our figure tends more towards 'realistic' than 'fantasy'. Ultimately, I guess I'm just saying it's looking close but doable. Especially with Wrexham away still to come.

Even if you take this on face value, rather the nonsense it clearly is... EA FC (and FIFA before it) tend to have a soft cap on a player's overall rating, based upon the division they play in. I.e. whilst there's exceptions, most Championship players won't exceed 74 overall. Creating a false equivalency. Source: in my 20s I was a data editor for the series (most active around the Adkins/Pochettino era).

I had a minor breakdown when I had to start buying 34" trousers. How do you get to that point? 😂

Looks like it. Article has been updated. https://www.southamptonfc.com/en/events/event/portsmouth-away-screening-at-st-marys