Dr Gloom

we should set up like that in our remaining away games. Arguably should have done so against Villa too. Control and win our home games. Take fewer risks away and see if we can nick a couple of points or six

I’d take a draw but I think we’ll win. 3-1 to us. Isak, Murphy and Schar

Where was this Villa last weekend? Palace have bossed it, fair play to them

Yeah, I agree. I’m reluctant to say we will win though because our record there since coming back up from the championship is lifting

Could do with Villa winning this one to keep them distracted from the league

Vital win, especially after the Chelsea result. I thought 65 points would be enough but it might take 67 or more the way all the teams around us keep winning. The Chelsea game is looking absolutely pivotal. Get something at Brighton and win that one and we should be good. Hopefully Liverpool aren’t too hungover/on the beach when they play Chelsea

Big blow to our CL ambitions if big Joe is out for the season

Not sure how streaky he is but he’s got 14 goals and 5 assists in 29 appearances for Frankfurt this season. I’ve only seen him in a couple of games but he was the standout player on both occasions. Spurs are reportedly interested in him too and Transfermarkt reckons he’s worth €50m, so a little more expensive than Delap if they’re to be believed. The time to buy him was probably when he left psg

yeah, and he’s proved he can score in the PL and has an affordable release clause so I can see why he has plenty of suitors. I wouldn’t be against signing him at all. I do like the look of this Ekitike kid though and he has been linked with us again.

i think that's harsh. he has the potential to be a top player and he has been putting up the numbers in germany since signing for frankfurt. he also looks bloody good from what i've seen. he's quick and skilful so i can see why we were interested initially. i'm not against signing a a target man as a wild card option up front if you're chasing the game and need to start going direct but that isn't really eddie's style. he doesn't often deviate from his preferred way of playing so signing someone like ekitike, who can slot into the system without making significant tactical adjustments when isak is injured or tired, makes total sense.

what is that based on - the picture of him and his agent that was taken after he chose psg? he was a kid tbf to him. if he as a massive bellend, would our scouts have been interested in him in the first place given their no dickheads policy? i dunno. i've watched ekitike a couple of times this season for frankfurt and he looks the part. crucially, he looks very similar to isak - the way he runs with ball, drops off and gets in behind. i'm not saying he's as good as isak but who knows - he could be after howe gets to work with him. i like the look of delap too but he looks more a chris wood profile striker, albeit at a better age with more potential and a higher technical ceiling. i'm not sure he'd be as suited to the way we want to play.

I think I’d prefer Ekitike as he’s a very similar profile to Isak and we wouldn’t have to change the way we play when they rotate. Not that I’m turning my nose up at either option. I remember when we were fishing in the Shefki Kuqi pond

i'd rather not buy tickets from the tout websites but unless you have a ST it is sometimes the only way to get a ticket. the system is fucked.

don't hate the player. and no, i'm not paying that much.

well, the villa park upgrade is scheduled for 2027. the rumour mill suggests our new ground could be a couple of years after that. so yeah, you could be right

chelsea tickets already going for £190+ on the tout websites 🙄

our new stadium with blow a tarted-up villa park out of the water

it'll still be smaller than sjp

this is great news. i think eddie would have clocked what villa were doing to us at half time in our last game and made a tactical adjustment. tindall's done a good job in his absence but it's great to have the top dog back in the chair. his attention to detail could be crucial in the run in

my 100% failure rate in this season's ballot continues

same

fyp

It increasingly looks like I was wrong about Starmer. I hope he would do what the Tories are very good at: win power at the centre then move to the right (or left in steamer’s case) once in power. How wrong I was. There is still time left for him to do this but the early evidence isn’t positive. He has been gutless on Brexit and appears so scared of breaking his fragile coalition that he would prefer to mirror the neoliberal/austerity policies of Cameron and Osborne than bring about any meaningful change. This won’t win him any votes in the red wall and nor will his flip flopping over culture war issues. His supporters will say he’s managed to stop Reform using it as a wedge issue as there’s now so little between them on this particular matter but all he’s achieving is alienating a lot of socially progressive Labour voters.