OTF

Saying that the football under Brunce has "on the whole, been bad" is putting a positive spin on things. That said the hole that Bruce has been hardest on is his own after a big beef madras bender.

Nice try Mrs Bruce.

Could this be the week that the club gets the hang of this footballing lark?

Even their virus was substandard.

I give a shit, but my expectations are so low so that there's no way I can be disappointed. Fanx Mike, fanx EPL!

Lejeune on his way as well. Silly IMO letting him go for what will be a lot less than it will take to replace him with similar quality. Should still have a few good seasons left.

ASM on to get lumps kicked.

He wouldn't be signing him for us though, would he. Think his targets at Everton will be somewhat different to here. Still, lazy rubbish story.

Both GKs did well, just too many average or poor penalties.

Just enough. Drama.

Penalties suck.

Shocker

Nice save, crap pen

Good pen HK

Didn’t look a foul at all.

Stunning goal!

Agree that with a tasteful sponsor the home shirt would actually be quite good.

A swing and a miss. That purple monstrosity could have been OK if it was a more palatable colour. As it stands it's worse than the banana special, best modeled by a portly Stevie Taylor. That strip became likeable because we had a memorable winning season in the Championship, there's no chance of that in the premier league. The home strip is right out of Pro Evolution soccer.

Shaping to be a really intriguing match, hope it's a spectacle that the best team wins, no penalties (during the game or to decide it). Will probably even get up to watch it, 5AM on a freezing cold Monday winter morning in the middle of a lockdown.

Yesterday one of my kids guessed what a reward was that he and his brother were potentially going to get. Immediately he was told that he could not tell his brother, which he agreed to. Within about 20 seconds I could hear his brother whinging about not knowing what it was. Instead of telling him what it was he immediately told his brother that he knew what it was. Which is the exact equivalent of this statement from the club. Reassuring to know the club carries on like a bunch of kids (8 and 5).

Surely they're just being unnecessarily proud by being upset about his appointment. Considering their poor performances and where they ended up on the table, given their spend on players, they can't be too unhappy about the departure of Ancelotti. If Rafa was a bad manager for Liverpool they wouldn't have disliked him as intensely as they do, so that's testament to his pedigree. There's so many things in his favour and he loves a project and to identify with and relate to the fans. I don't have a problem with Everton personally so I hope he does well there.

Yep, we're fucked.

Who did we sign in your dream? Haaland, Messi, Shola, Kuqi?

Which would be wholly out of character.

It seems a valid, yet petty point to make. It was obvious already to anyone following that the Premier League are doing anything they can to keep their books shut and the drama under the rug.