On the other hand, the idea that Kroenke might "see the table" and revise his views radically, is something I'm sure we can relate to.

Burnley v Leeds ought to be interesting. Leeds are a decent side. I don't think we can say they can't catch us, a game in hand and "only" 5 points behind. The way our season has been going, the 2 remaining games aren't a given.

Hadn't noticed this before but we're actually the most in form club at the moment. 3 PL wins in a row.

Some eery similarities. Man City, Man Utd, Arsenal, Tottenham. Burnley and Soton very close to where they are now.


First Division 1967-68
Pos Team P W D L F A W D L F A GD Pts
1 Manchester City 42 17 2 2 52 16 9 4 8 34 27 43 58
2 Manchester United 42 15 2 4 49 21 9 6 6 40 34 34 56
3 Liverpool 42 17 2 2 51 17 5 9 7 20 23 31 55
4 Leeds United 42 17 3 1 49 14 5 6 10 22 27 30 53
5 Everton 42 18 1 2 43 13 5 5 11 24 27 27 52
6 Chelsea 42 11 7 3 34 25 7 5 9 28 43 -6 48
7 Tottenham Hotspur 42 11 7 3 44 20 8 2 11 26 39 11 47
8 West Bromwich Albion 42 12 4 5 45 25 5 8 8 30 37 13 46
9 Arsenal 42 12 6 3 37 23 5 4 12 23 33 4 44
10 Newcastle United 42 12 7 2 38 20 1 8 12 16 47 -13 41
11 Nottingham Forest 42 11 6 4 34 22 3 5 13 18 42 -12 39
12 West Ham United 42 8 5 8 43 30 6 5 10 30 39 4 38
13 Leicester City 42 7 7 7 37 34 6 5 10 27 35 -5 38
14 Burnley 42 12 7 2 38 16 2 3 16 26 55 -7 38
15 Sunderland 42 8 7 6 28 28 5 4 12 23 33 -10 37
16 Southampton 42 9 8 4 37 31 4 3 14 29 52 -17 37
17 Wolverhampton Wanderers 42 10 4 7 45 36 4 4 13 21 39 -9 36
18 Stoke City 42 10 3 8 30 29 4 4 13 20 44 -23 35
19 Sheffield Wednesday 42 6 10 5 32 24 5 2 14 19 39 -12 34
20 Coventry City 42 8 5 8 32 32 1 10 10 19 39 -20 33
21 Sheffield United 42 7 4 10 25 31 4 6 11 24 39 -21 32
22 Fulham 42 6 4 11 27 41 4 3 14 29 57 -42 27

Hmm, City followed immediately by United is interesting maybe ... to fans of those clubs. Four out of the rest of the division doesn't seem that much of a coincidence.

I am sure we can all also relate to being completely ignorant of Arsenal's form. 99.9% of the world population, perhaps including such luminaries as Trump and Kroenke, are probably unaware that we won our last 3 games. Kim Jong-Un probably thinks of something else entirely if the word 'arsenal' comes up in conversation.

Doesn't quite send shivers down the spine but is actually moderately interesting which improves AG's batting average slightly.

Actually, looking at it again, it's first and second in the same positions, but also with both Fulham and Sheffield United relegated again. That is pretty creepy. It's odd that AG buried the lead - well, kind of the lead.

Maybe its a sign from the football gods we'll win the double in 3 years time.

And, hopefully, United being relegated in 2027.

Leeds made easy work of Burnley. I would still put us down to finishing ahead of Leeds but not stating that with a lot of confidence.
We have a decent amount of rest till our next match so lets see what happens.

Like you, I'm terrified that Leeds might end up ahead of us. That hard-fought ninth-place finish I was hoping to tell the grandchildren about.

Hey LTG did you get a notification of a 3pm ko today v CP, you remember previous conversation huh. I got one and I think the problem is one or all of Outlook, Edge or Microsoft, but how nor why I don't know.

Beats me too

Possibility of Sarri managing Tottenham. Interesting if it happens. Not sure if it will matter if they don't spend money.

There will be no takeover of Arsenal. I suspect the press knows that.
https://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-9582271/Arsenal-insist-not-received-takeover-bid-club-despite-Daniel-Ek.html

1967/68 was actually my first season of going, my initial game being a 3-0 win against Nottingham Forest on 23/12/67. Scorers were Graham (2) and Armstrong (1).

Watching the cup final (come on Leicester) have turned over from BBC to BT because of Jenas and his non stop utter drivel, unbearable.

No. But then I never get automated electronic notifications anyway.

All very odd.

I didn’t realise Kante is already 30. I’m glad because he’s a massively influential player for Chelsea but is approaching the age (albeit not there yet) when his decline should begin.

He really is awful. He'll have such a wrong take and be really vociferous about it. I saw him do some brilliant analysis of Leeds early this season against Liverpool, but he's generally miserable, a bit angry and just wrong.

But now I'm on BT and I've got Robbie Savage and Glenn Hoddle!!

Evening Bernard. I thought you might find this interesting, considering our conversation about this matter.

"Incredible performers in high-paying sports are staying on longer. Thirty used to be the normal age for when results began to decline; that seems to have been pushed to 35 for the super-talented."

https://www.espncricinfo.com/story/jarr ... et-1263011

Those two infinitely preferable, which says it all about how awful Jenas is.

Yep!

What a hit by Tielemans. Leicester played a blinder with him didn't they. They had him on loan for a year first I think?

How we could do with a player Like tielemans. Stunning strike

Or Maddison or ndidi also for that matter

Wes Morgan, 37, on for Leicester, a man who looks like he enjoys a pie or two.

Isn’t the article about cricket? I’d suggest cricket is a little different to football. Anyway, perhaps I’m wrong but I thought cricketers used to go on for longer anyway.

I was about to write about our midfield but then I got sad...

Things I am looking forward to next year:

No European football - No Sunday Thursday bollocks, Arteta with all the time he could want to coach the team, and hopefully a push up the table accordingly.

Seeing young players play or get their chance - Saliba (finally?) balogun, Martinelli, Saka, Smith-Rowe, hopefully with the paucity of our midfield M-N might get a look in and Willock too. Last chance for them maybe to start to find a place in the squad. Otherwise somewhere from 30-45M for them both.

Arteta with another year under his belt. Surely with his lack of experience the curve upwards should be pretty steep. Hoping to see more from him. I think if we're 8th or lower come December I think that might be it for him if we can get a sensible replacement in.

Bollox!

Thank f*ck for VAR.

Hilarious

Absolutely brilliant performance from the Leicester fans. Cheering tackles, laughing at opposition misses etc.

Congrats Leicester, they are everything we aren’t

Like I said .. 5 or 6

Chelsea - specialists in FA cup final failure

It also notes how tennis player are lasting longer.

He’s a big lad isn’t he (master of the understatement comment)?

Very satisfying.

Schmeichel has been a tremendous servant for Leicester. A couple of top class saves yet again.

Carrying on is not the same as staying at your peak though. Sure, Roger Federer is still playing. He’s now ranked number eight in the world. He used to be number one.