S-Clarke

Totally, another thing which demonstrates just how good we have been since November.

I know who you're referring to, and it's so predictable that he's now gone completely silent. He was absolutely dying for us to lose today, he'd have been on 40 odd posts by now if we had. Hey, he even started a thread as soon as we conceded. The guy is a clown, and this 2nd half of the season has been brilliant all be told. We are actually a proper premiership side now.

After our start, we needed to have a top-10 2nd half of the season to be anywhere near safety, and thankfully - we've managed it. If it wasn't for that awful start, we'd have had a similar season to that of Swansea when they were promoted. Lots of positives to build on for next year, and lots of lessons learnt.

I'm deaf from the silence of Alpine on this thread. comedy gold of a poster. Anyway, we weren't great. Lots of possession in the middle, but it doesn't really mean **** all if we don't have a forward pass - which we don't. We need an injection of pace for next year, so we can actually get beyond the defenders. Most of the players look knackered to be honest, probably the heavier training regime taking it's toll. Will hopefully bed it better over pre-season. Poor old Wigan though, great day yesterday, but their day of nightmares today. They're gone, and they probably know it now.

Unless Stoke beat us 16-0, Wigan win both of their games, Newcastle beat Spurs away and Fulham beat Swansea. So yep, we're safe. As we have been for weeks to be honest! We seemed to want to make it more interesting than it should have been though.

They play Villa on the final day. That's how.

Massive game for Spurs, if they lose this Arsenal can confirm 4th with a win on Tuesday - big incentive for Arsenal there as well! Amazing how tight the bottom half is, a few weeks ago Stoke were dead in the water. Now they're 10th.

Stop biting! He knows that, he's just trying to wind up.

Positive news. Hope he makes a full recovery.

You can't be serious?

Odd, Wigan win an FA Cup which has no bearing on the league, and all of a sudden this thread comes a live with the usual nutter. Fair play to Wigan, but Man City were atrocious, that was unacceptable from 1 to 11 from them. That was probably an even worse showing than when they played us, and that's saying something! Cracking day for Wigan and a seriously deserved win, but complacency and lethargy reigned king in the Man City side today.

He'd add to any of the top 4 IMO.

I'd love him, reality is that he's now in the bracket of ''Top European strikers'' and will fetch upwards of £20m for the Vill, therefore totally out of our market. They will sell in the summer, that's for sure.

I just signed up on their website and popped in my viewing card number, my BT account details etc, and it confirmed my order.

No surprise in the grand scheme of things, he's in remission now but clearly not in a condition to ever play at the top of the game anymore. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-2321729/Aston-Villa-captain-Stiliyan-Petrov-retires-football-battle-leukaemia.html He looks so different now, and it really puts everything into perspective to be honest.

Think that's the non-HD channels. I've also got it on 413 and 414 on my TV.

I believe we're approaching the time of the year where we can get excited whenever we see Itchen_Dan post... He saves us all the time of trawling twitter Your work doesn't go unappreciated itchen...!

It's BT's own version of Sky Sports, basically. They will have their own channel numbers on the Sky planner (415 and 416 iirc). So they're basically just 2 additional HD channels added to your sky subscription free of charge, if you have BT broadband at the moment.

Just (after a few attempts to be fair) managed to order it. Have standard BT ADSL 5mb and Sky, and still got it for free - so it's not just limited to infinity customers as some outlets seem to be suggesting. Also, worth bearing in mind that it resets your BT contract period for another 12 months.

He's a top, top player by the way. He's a Zabeleta style full back. I like Clyne and think he's been top notch, but we're clearly losing Richardson in the summer and we need proper competition back there. No harm in this what so ever. Squad depth is something which has been shown up this year, so if we're boosting the ranks at this level already, then that's a good sign.

Ah yeh, I can see clearly where MP has been quoted as saying that. Clearly. You're a nutter!

Don't think Everton will go, but they may well slip to mid-table. I'd worry if I was a Fulham fan, a very old squad and not much financial clout to rebuild in the summer. Could be a hard one for them next year.

Altidore, really? What's he up to these days anyway? Didn't he have that completely forgettable spell with Hull a few years back?

I think we'll genuinely progress next year (if we stay up, obviously...but we're as close as we can be right now!) I see us as one of the most progressive teams in the country right now - right up there with Swansea. I'd look to emulate what they've done this year and I honestly believe it's then only going to go from strength to strength for us. The difference between us and the rest is, IMO, finance. We have the scope to continue adding to our side and also secure our best young players to long-term contracts. I look at squads such as Fulham, West Ham, Stoke, Norwich for e.g. and see an aging squad with no real youthful foundation to it, and I don't think any really have the financial clout to replace all those aging players straight away. They'll probably buy enough to continue muddling along in mid-table, but I think we've got a real opportunity to over take all those sides. The bonus with us is that we already have a nucleus of fantastic young talent, there's no denying that. Cork, Morgan, Clyne, Shaw, Rodriguez, Ward-Prowse - brilliant young players, will only get better and will grow with this club. Sprinkle a little bit of international class in and around them and you have the basis of a fantastic premiership squad. I think we could become as strong as Villa were 4 or 5 years ago, but believe we have the clout to sustain it whereas Villa couldn't and had to start selling. I'm genuinely excited for the future, and I don't think our football club has ever been in such a good position both on and off the field as it is at the moment.

It's alright, something positive has happened tonight, so it's an alpine free zone. Until we lose the next game.