Dark Munster

Charlie Austin certainly tops the list. Shame Newcastle didn't go down, although even if they had, getting any of those 4 would be very unlikely.

I reckon Walcott will score a hat trick in 2 minutes and 57 seconds.

Like.

I have my doubts. It would obviously make us stronger, but injuries/suspensions are unpredictable, so I think we'd still lack the depth to overtake any of the big four.

Dick Advocaat is available.

And don't forget Hull this season.

Me too. He's as honest as the day is long.

Fair point.

He was a moneyball for Hull.

Or a CL club from outside the PL. Ditto Morgan.

Paraphrase.

At least that's going to make the old dear on the mobility scooter happy.

Ok, bar one. But this one is graceful and beautiful.

Great thread! Mods, can you sticky it?

Be careful RB, or you'll get one of CB Fry's trademark "That happened years ago, get over it" retorts.

You forgot to call him Gashton. What's her name, Alps?

Good point from one of the comments: The irony of it all is that teams are so desperate to chase the 4th CL spot, they might end up costing the league that 4th CL spot because of their lack of commitment to the Europa League. Currently England is 2nd in the UEFA co-efficient. However, based on the last 4 seasons Germany will leap frog them next season (unless English teams drastically outperform German teams). That would put England in 3rd, with Serie A only needing a 4 point swing to overtake England, demoting the EPL to just 3 CL places - bearing in mind Serie A still has 3 teams in Europe earning them coefficient points while England has none, and this seasons swing currently stands at +5 in Serie A's favour. So, if English, German & Italian teams have similar seasons next year, England will lose it's 4th place to Italy and the lack of commitment to the Europa League will be a big part of that.

Why would Saints lose on purpose to avoid Europa? Each position higher in the league is worth a million or so extra, and if Saints are worried about the effect of Europa all they have to do is play the kids/fringe players. Or if that gets them in trouble, play some 1st team players, but lose in the first round on purpose (as some are suggesting we are doing now).

Vince and Smith.

http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/9846124/qpr-challenge-financial-fair-play-rules-with-fine-looming QPR challenge FFP rules QPR did submit their 2013/14 accounts to the Football League - they were in the Championship during that season but were promoted to the Premier League - and at the heart of the issue is a £60million income injection classed as an "exceptional item" in the accounts which was to write off loans. Without that money being put in by the owners, the club would have reported a loss of £69.7million making them liable for huge FFP fines. The Football League position is understood to be that such equity injections by club owners are not permitted and therefore the club should be dealt with as though it had made a £69.7million loss. It is over this issue that QPR has started legal proceedings. http://www.sportinglife.com/football/news/article/165/9846134/harry-redknapp-blames-qpr-relegation-on-lack-of-spending Redknapp blames lack of spending

Dead cats do too, apparently.

Yes "downfall" is a bit extreme. Nevertheless, this was a golden, once in a lifetime, opportunity to finish in a Champion's League place. If we'd been able to do it, it's possible we could hold on to Toby, Morgan, Nathan etc. and recruit some other quality players, cementing our position near the top.

Did we? I thought most of us were fairly fond of Bart. He did have some dodgy games at the end, but also a number of good ones at the beginning. Anyway, back to Gazzaniga: Weaknesses: already discussed. Strengths: he's not as bad as Fourpast.