Comes across as a bit of an odd character. He was a pundit on Irish TV for a good few years. Not sure there is a whole lot going on upstairs but he was relentlessly negative.

Expecting this for the weekend
Leno, Amn, Saka, Luiz, Sokratis, Xhaka, Guendouzi, Özil, Martinelli, Pépé, Lacazette

Assuming Kolasinac and torriera don’t recover from their injuries

See Derek Fowlds, who played civil servant Bernard Woolley in Yes Minister and Yes Prime Minister, died today aged 82.

Always. Still going over the Arsenal for my sins. Surviving. You?

Famously described Keown eagle armed barracking of Nistleroy after the Vieira incident the worst thing he had ever seen in football. Thick as pigshit.

Not so dusty, thanks.

Haven't been much at all this season. Ernie's team transported me back to the worst days of GG and I just lost interest. I didn't fancy Arteta at all but I'm beginning to come round to him. He seems to have a certain intensity and insight - seems to be his own man. I hadn't expected that. I'm away a bit in the coming weeks but then think I might start going again.

I was actually going to the Bournemouth game - always loved the Cup - but they shifted it to Monday evening and the travel is just too difficult.

Good to see you back.

Wasn’t that how Fergie described it at the time as well?

Didn’t we get an astonishing amount of bans following that game? From memory it was Lauren, Vieira, Keown and Lehmann all took bans of at least 10 odd games together. Vieira with an extra game for not leaving the field quickly enough - for which no one has ever been banned for since.
Obviously as the biggest and most high profile match in England and almost the world at that time the league were going to absolutely treat us more harshly.

Man U have triggered a 2 year extension on Bailly’s contract. I always thought Man U were savy having an option on contracts for THEM to extend a deal, it protects players leaving on a free.....however, I think Man U have activated these clauses with bailly, jones, young, mata.... it seems that Man U are so scared of losing players for free that they’re just handing out contract extensions to players clearly not good enough and who need moving on.
We’ve been at the other end of this, but hopefully sorting this now.

Didn’t Cole get a ban too. It was ridiculous. Ferguson laid it on thick and it was when he had the refs and the premier league in his pocket

Watching that Cobra programme

It’s quite good. The episode I’m watching seems a subliminal reference to the lack of tolerance caused by Brexit.

The Robert Carlyle character seems a take on Blair. Sky making much better programmes these days

Get a paper bag and take a couple of deep breathes thru it. I did not say he was a good player - probably worse than Mustafi but I think he did just enough to help keep us up. But there were plenty of others who also contributed. As I don't have a time machine we will never know if we would have gone down without him.

If it’s hard to say whether we would have gone down without him, it’s probably hard to say for sure that any team wouldn’t have still done what they did without a specific player. Or indeed that anything will happen in the future that’s down to human actions or decisions? If they never had Messi perhaps Barcelona would still have won every trophy they did with him? Maybe Peter Tobin and Johanne Dennehy wouldn’t have murdered anyone else had they not been caught and would both have adopted flower arranging as their new hobby (they didn’t act together like Hindley and Brady or Fred and Rose West, by the way).

Did you know Norwich are still mathematically capable of winning the league if they win every single game they have left and Liverpool lose all the games they still have? If that happened Norwich would finish on 62 points and Liverpool on 61. At least until the completion of this weekend’s fixtures when Norwich play Bournemouth and Liverpool play Manchester United.

I imagine the results of the nearest teams to Liverpool would also have to be bad enough for Norwich to overtake them, but I’ve no doubt that is possible meaning Norwich are still mathematically able to win it. But being realistic we all know they won’t.

If we survived with Mancini I am pretty damn certain we would have without him, even without his jokes in the dressing room. Because he was a joke on the pitch as well as in the dressing room. I cannot give Mancini the credit for us staying up.

Mancini may have been mediocre as a footballer but what a memorable tune with The Pink Panther.

Sporting Lisbon are unhappy with the structure of Man U’s proposed transfer fee for Bruno Fernandez. Man U have big bonuses for Fernandez winning the Balon D’Or and Man U winning the Champions League! Sporting saying those payments will never kick in.

From Wiki
Lauren received a four-game ban – half of the potential ban he could have received – and a £40,000 fine; Keown was suspended for three matches and had to pay a £20,000 fine; Vieira and Parlour were given one-game bans and had to pay £20,000 and £10,000 respectively.[5] Jens Lehmann was originally charged but this was later dropped.[5] Ashley Cole was not suspended but was given a £10,000 fine.[5] Ryan Giggs and Cristiano Ronaldo both pleaded not guilty to their involvement in the incident, but after a five-hour hearing in December 2003, Giggs was handed a £7,500 fine and Ronaldo a £4,000 fine and both were warned about their future conduct.

Lots on TG e internet saying we’ve agreed a 5 year deal with Kurzawa the psg left back, free transfer in the summer. Must mean Kolasinac is off. From what I’ve read Kurzawa seems very similar to Kolasinac so doesn’t improve the squad but could give some extra money to improve other areas

I wouldn’t make an assumption somebody is leaving I think Arteta sees the fullback positions as a massive problem and his comments the other day were telling. It needs fixing even if it means we are slightly overloaded later on. The only surprise is it’s a left back rather than right back.





“If it happens, we will have to invent something. We are playing with full-backs that are not full-backs.

"They are wingers or central midfielders and could we afford to lose full-backs? No, but we don’t have any full-backs.”

Ah ok,

I think on reflection I might have remembered Ferguson complaining afterwards that Ashley Cole should have banned also.

A Goal magazine feature today in (checks notes...twice) 1969. Probably.

Simpson - my favourite of all the 1960s defenders. A beautiful left foot and Gilbertoesque in his positioning.

Here's the clipping I mentioned that got Charlie George in trouble. Sorry for the poor image but you can make him out under the first N in the banner.

Love that photo Ex. Thanks for posting.

Slow start to the match and now settling into a cohesive team

Take the shot Xhaka!

Martinelli!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Pépé is fully charged

Martinelli was having a bit of a stinker out wide, he missed a couple of decent chances and miscontrolled and misplaced a few passes. I have to say, though, his movement in and around the box is exceptional and he got his reward. He seems much more at home playing on the shoulder of the defenders in a more central role, where he comes alive.

Very impressed with the Blades. I like how the league has gotten tougher. it helps that there is so much money just for being in the top flight these days. Bottom of table clubs can make 20 mil signings. Who would have thought that could happen?

Anyway, hopefully we can score another or at least win this and get a clean sheet. Haven't seen much of that at all.

We were lucky not to give up a goal when Leno got caught out off his line. However, had we been able to get better weighted passes to players making runs, we could have had a goal or two ourselves.

Saka has rediscovered his mojo

Close call but I agree no penalty. If his run was unimpeded, would he have gotten to the ball? It doesn't seem so.

What does it take for us to get a decision out of VAR!!

Something that would get given unquestionably to our opponent is deemed ridiculous for us

Our spacing is a bit frustrated at times. I've seen wide open gaps at the top of the box where a player could be to receive a pass and put us is a scoring situation.

Eddie Eddie Eddie Eddie

Right decision to take Lacazette out. He has been ineffective.

I wish we could kill games off

Guendozi for Özil?

We just can't keep it out

AMN cant turn his back like that