S-Clarke

Oh right. #premier league table. Look where we sit.

The change of direction being the largest ever investment in players this club has ever seen, and two of the highest points totals and finishes this club has ever achieved. I can certainly see a change in direction, I agree - you'd have to be blind not to see that.

Yeah, well he's not been fit a great deal. Hard to judge him on the pitch at the moment, but with a good pre-season behind him I think we'll see what he's all about. The bloke lives and breathes goals.

That was clearly said in jest/tongue in cheek.

The Europa league isn't about finances, it's minuscule to be honest. To be honest it's more for the fans - we get to experience new places, travel europe with our local club. I don't think EL makes much difference to players incoming or finances, it's just a good opportunity to grow the club long-term and potentially make the move to CL football - which is where the money and extra status really comes in.

I've always had the opinion that the club invested in Austin with the view to replace Pelle. Is Juanmi a surprise? We'll get a cut price deal on that and he'll be off, in fact it's probably already done. A bit of a non-player. Wanyama is off, he'd have signed a contract by now if he wasn't. I've accepted that one. Not entirely sure why he wants out though or where he thinks he's going, he's not really a top 4 player. As a top 6 club, we're about his level. He'll move and find that out the hard way though. We all know Mane wanted off last year, he probably wants off again this year - but it would take a mental deal and I don't see any club paying it, so it's not going to be up to him really. As a club, we're in the strongest position we ever have been. Finances coming in from TV, sponsorship, kit deals. The ambition is clearly there given the contracts for VVD, Fraser etc and If we do lose players then we've never been in a better position to replace them. This is really not the pre-season for a meltdown. I'm excited about the future.

The worst kept secret in football is surely Jose taking over?

A proper run in Europe - awesome. Would love a trip to Milan or Bilbao - that would be special. But the main thing for me is that we have a normal pre-season now, none of these pre-qualifier things. We're in the real thing at last!

This is such a dire game of football. Please let it finish soon.

That was a fantastic 20mins viewing, really brought back the memories of the last 7 or so years - it's been one hell of a ride. Davis was right in that pre-match speech, every one of those guys played a huge part in where we are today. From those freezing nights beating Wycombe at home, beating Brighton away......they were all massive parts of the most amazing 7 years of my football supporting life. They've put this club into it's strongest ever position and how Kelvin has brought everyone together over the years has had a big impact too. I really hope he stays on in some way, I think he's huge around the place. Great club, great people.

Nice thorpie. I had the same thoughts last night as well - it was such a feel good place yesterday, we're different from other clubs and I don't care if people call us a 'family' club - that's exactly what we are.

Well, give or take a couple of days....

Eh?

I think Eriksen is 2nd in the assist charts as well, everything goes through him. They'll struggle without him for sure, such a top player.

Cedric is alright, got better as the season went on - but to be fair to Martina he's come in and held his own, doesn't look out of place at all. I'd say he's shown himself to be more reliable tactically, although he does have his limitations and doesn't have the technical qualities of Cedric.

We entered in the 3rd round last year - so if Palace win the cup, we'll go in at exactly the same stage as we did last year. So the third qualifying round, and then a playoff round (which is where all the teams come in who have just been knocked out of the UCL qualifiers) So we'll basically have an extra 4 games in august if Palace win, and if Utd win we don't start until mid-September in the group stages (6 guaranteed games up until the 2nd week of December)

That's a shame, they were a decent club at that level. I can't see Ziyech hanging around though.

I think that's a really good picture to be honest, shows there is no bad blood between any of them. Shows us as such a great club to be honest.

Not entirely sure why some people are trying to analyse, what was in effect, a muck around game. It was a good laugh though, a good send off for Davis but also a good opportunity to say goodbye to the likes of Lambo/Harding/Hammond etc - who we didn't ever get the chance to send off before. Was a decent atmosphere I thought and all played in good spirit - I loved everyone shouting at Cuco to shoot whenever he got the ball, he looked round and laughed at the crowd a couple of times!

I personally don't see Everton as a viable option for Koeman, the noises from his side suggest he wants to commit to us and he's just waiting for us to approach/finalise things. I honestly think you'll end up with De Boer if I'm honest.

Yeah, the third breakaway goal for Long

Bit of a precious individual is Lovren. As we already knew.

No major surprises in that squad to be honest. When it's cut, I expect to see Rashford, Delph and (fitness depending) Henderson/Drinkwater miss out. I'd probably go with Stones and Smalling as the CB's, Ryan LB, Clyne RB. Go with Dier Henderson/Drinkwater in the middle. Then an attacking 3 of Sterling Dele Alli, Vardy and Kane up top. I'm sure Rooney will be shoehorned in somewhere though.

Worth a gamble, but was so far away from being a PL player it was scary. Hope he can go back to Spain and resurrect his career in La Liga.

My only real gripe from this season was Europe, I honestly didn't think we'd get there again for a while - so I was gutted to see us just toss that away before it even started. So to go one better this year is nothing short of incredible really. It's been an odd season up and down the league, but to finish at least 6th with more points than ever before, is brilliant. I found it hard to see us better last year in terms of our 'year by year' improvement, but somehow we managed it. I really hope we either stay 5th, or Utd win the cup - as I want to get into Europe proper, none of this pre-qualifier banana skin stuff - I want us to have at least 6 games in Europe, that would be a great laugh.