TigerTedd

13 hours ago, JfR said:

With all the talk about Leeds, it shouldn't be forgotten that West Brom had a 12 point lead over 3rd place Fulham in mid-December and now look likely to end up in the playoffs, and for it not to be Fulham to overtake them. Pretty poor when you consider the quality they have.

I hope West Brom don’t get promoted now. How could they duck that one up? 

Don’t want forest, don’t want West Brom, don’t want Cardiff. So come on Fulham. 

59 minutes ago, Mucker1884 said:

There's only one ideal scenario... wins for West Brom (Fri), Brentford (Sat), and then us on Sun... so they achieve nothing this weekend.

Anything else, and The dirties will ether be promoted before our game, or on the final whistle.
Worst case, Brom & Brentford both fail to win, and our players have to form a guard of honour for the new champions!  Perish the thought!  The only blessing is that their fans won't be invading our stadium and rubbing our noses in it!  

Damn, that means my ideal scenario of both stoke and boro being relegated can’t happen. Only one of them can. Might as well go for stoke. That means I can root for boro (eeuuughh) against Cardiff. 

4 hours ago, JfR said:

I've just realised that with the Leeds game being moved to Sunday, if Leeds beat Barnsley, West Brom don't win at least one of their next two games and Brentford drop points in their next two games then we have to give them a guard of honour

Or, a different scenario is this:

brentford win every game til the end of the season, and Leeds also win their next two, while West Brom keep pace. 

then we beat Leeds to keep our tiny play off hopes alive. 

this would mean that on the last day of the season, if Leeds lose and Brentford win, Brentford would overtake them on goal difference. 

id still expect Leeds to best charlton, but I’d love to beat them to put that kind of pressure on them on the last day. 

19 minutes ago, DerbyRam! said:

Great showing by Fulham

 

Though I actually want Forest promoted, they play like this against teams in the PL. They will get destroyed 

I wouldn’t go as far as to want them promoted, but if that happens, then this is the silver lining I’m looking at. They might actually get tinker worse than us, and increase there own record of finishing bottom. 

6 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

A rule change brought in due to the number of pundits previously calling for handball whenever the ball hit a players arm - the same pundits that now are moaning about the decision. They should revert back to the 'deliberate/accidental' element where common sense was applied, but that would be too simple.....

It’s bringing this in at the same time as car that’s a bit daft. Without var, this would be a useful rule. It’s hard enough for a ref to spot if it’s hit a hand, without them then having to try to decide if it was accidental or not, without the help of a replay. 

now we’ve got car, this is where it could really shine. Ref says, I saw the hand ball, but can’t decide if it was accidental or not. Var can have a look and see if there seemed to be deliberate movement towards the ball. 

simples. 

3 hours ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

I’m sorry, but one, or even multiple footballers breaking lockdown doesn’t mean that footballers as a whole think they’re better than us.

Unless every single non-footballer has obeyed the laws to the letter?

You’re right. It’s footballers earning in a week what most of us would feel lucky to earn in a year that means they think they’re better than us. Can’t really blame them though. 

3 hours ago, RadioactiveWaste said:

Brentford leading WBA.

Although tomorrow I think Preston v Cardiff is one to watch (and a draw please)

That’s a perfectly acceptable result to me. It means if Fulham insist on ducking it up, then Brentford could be the team to catch Leeds and bring them down into 3rd place. 

unlikely, but keeps that possibility alive. 

im still waiting for the dream scenario of beating Leeds in the semis (again) and the man forest in the final. It’s going to happen. 

51 minutes ago, therealhantsram said:

Can't rely on Leeds to do us a favour ?

It’s fine. We take care of our business and we don’t need favours from Leeds. If we want Leeds to drop j to the play offs, especially with Fulham ducking it up yesterday, then we need them to drop some serious points, so I’m more than happy with this result. We’ve got 8 more games to real in 3 points against Cardiff. Not a problem. 

i could’ve done with a consolation from Leeds though, to keep the goal difference I’m check. Stupid Bamford. 

19 hours ago, ramsbottom said:

Players know not to bother with goal line stuff nowadays as they know it's, supposedly, infallible.  Look at any goal line incident over the past few seasons and there's a token appeal at best.  Last night they all knew it.

Problem is now they know it’s fallible, they’ll be appealing every incident and we’ll have more var stoppages just to double check it. 

29 minutes ago, Gaspode said:

So why did the ref point at his watch and his earpiece if he wasn’t ducking his responsibilities? He even has a screen at the side of the pitch that he could have looked at, but he decided to play on because the tech didn’t tell him to stop. The ref should be deciding when he needs help to make a decision and using all of the tools at his disposal to make the right decision - last night he failed to do that - mainly as a result of the way VAR has been implemented to oversee him rather than help....

The statement the var people have released basically says that they didn’t intervene because the watch didn’t vibrate. But surely that’s exactly when they should intervene. 

They’re basically saying, if the tech works, we’re not needed, and if the tech doesn’t work, It’s not our place to assume it’s not working and overrule it, so we’re also not needed. 

i suppose the excuse they’ve got us that it’s never gone wrong before, so there’s no precedent. I’ve seen the replays, and I can imagine people thinking ‘well it certainly looks to me like it’s behind the lines, but maybe there’s a hair‘a width still level with the edge of the line that I can’t see with the naked eye. Hawk eye is infalible, so my interpretation must be wrong.’

now we know Hawkeye is falible, I’m sure if this ever happens again, they’ll take a closer look at it. 

i really think all these issues will be sorted out (the time wasted, the needless marginal calls, and pretty much every criticism of var) if they just implement a tennis style challenge system from the bench. 

then if there’s a marginal offside that actually no one has an issue with, and the bench don’t challenge it, there’s no pedantic car intervention. 

in this situation chris wilder would have challenged it, and they could have spent time having a proper look, and possibly even consulting with the Hawkeye people. 

sky could even advertise during these moments, almost like a time out, vos they’re slightly less spontaneous, being instigated by the bench. 

it seems so obvious to me, I don’t get why they won’t just do it. 

3 hours ago, Dimmu said:

Don't know about the fakeness, haven't heard such.

Obviously the celebrations should've been left to be kept after the Villa game. The effects of alcohol are hardly positive and the biggest game of the season was just days away!

A bit like the England rugby team then. 

2 hours ago, Jourdan said:

If you want to talk about a remarkable job, look at what Wilder is doing at Sheffield United. They have 16 points from 33. They are sixth in the table. They are already 40% of the way to the magic 40. They have picked up more points against the traditional top six (four v zero) than Lampard has for Chelsea. All this has been achieved after they signed some mid-level Championship players, and for some they were even in the conversation for breaking our points total record at the start of the season.

I have a feeling the Sheffield United night end up like Blackpool. Exceeding all expectations at the start of the season, before falling away at the end. 

But I’m here to be proven wrong. 

And the same thing could happen to frank after this purple patch. 

Well just have to see where everything lands at the end of the season. 

He is definitely being groomed to be an England manager though. A lot of things have to fall into place before it ever happens, but I’m sure the fa are keeping an eye on his progress with interest. 

20 minutes ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

He’s clearly got better players at his disposal than the likes of Wilder. I’m not making any judgements, but to say that he’s better than any other English manager purely because he’s 3rd in the league is a bit ridiculous. 

I was being a bit facetious, but I think if he’s still there at the end of the season, then the theory becomes more sound. 

It’s not like he’s a Guardiola walking into a title winning squad and being given a blank cheque to improve it. 
chelsea weren’t that great last season, they lost their best player, and they’ve not been able to replace him.

mount, Tomori and Abrahams were just good championship players, having to replace Eden hazard and David luis.

1 hour ago, DarkFruitsRam7 said:

That's not particularly great logic.

Why not?

5 hours ago, Jourdan said:

Lampard for England?

Let’s not get ahead of ourselves. Admittedly, the pool is shallow, but Frank is 18 games into his Chelsea career.

18 games as a top flight manager and he is being suggested for the England job?

Madness, but not so surprising in this insta-cap era of the national team. Southgate is like Oprah. You get a cap, you get a cap, everyone gets a cap. Might as well extend it to the manager’s job.

Seriously though, it’s an insult to every manager slogging away for their big break, while Frank was given his on a silver platter.

Does Frank’s job so far at Chelsea surpass the work Eddie Howe has done at Bournemouth, or Sean Dyche’s work at Burnley, or Chris Wilder’s work at Sheffield United, for example?

After all - with the exception of Ajax - Chelsea have only really beaten teams that they’d ordinarily be expected to beat.

Now if he can get this team to overcome adversity and win a few games against the traditional top sides as well playing a more attractive style, then he deserves all the credit in the world.

But for me, there are still question marks over Frank. He still has so much to prove. Personally if I was on that FA panel, I’d be thinking ‘Do we really need another manager who bottles the big games?’

Southgate, for example, was groomed for the job. I think the FA have the same idea with Lampard. 

Is he better than the others? Well, currently he’s third in the league. Unless Howe and Wilder are first and second, then, yes, he is.

You can’t say he’s beating teams he’s expected to. At the start of this season, they weren’t expecting to beat anyone. They knew they were in trouble with the transfer ban, and probably thought they’d be lucky to get away with a season like United are having. They didn’t have faith in the kids to be performing this quickly. Their 3 star performers were championship players last season. Very good championship players, but still. He’s doing a remarkable job there really. 

No one’s suggesting he’ll be offered it tomorrow, but he’s definitely on the fast track. He’ll have a few season at Chelsea, and he’ll have to prove himself there. He’ll have to win some trophies. 

2 hours ago, AndyinLiverpool said:

I think Talk Sport have jumped the gun...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/50274819

Lololol.

So any plan they did have involved approaching Alex Neil. And now they’ve cocked that up. And Preston say there is now absolutely no way they’ll speak to them, and not only that, but they’ve now been reported. 

What a ducking shambles?!?!

?

13 minutes ago, Millenniumram said:

Bizzare timing, they were just starting to get the odd win recently I thought... I mean he’s been a dead man walking for a while, but you’d think they’d have sacked him earlier if they were gonna sack him now.

Heard a discussion on talk sport involving managers and owners discussing sackings and how they come about. The owner was saying that this ‘give them 3 games to turn it around stuff’ is a waste of time. Once the rot has set in, and the relationships have soured, there is absolutely no point hanging on just wasting everyone’s time. The definition of kicking the can down the road really. So it seems odd, or just incompetent, that they didn’t just get rid when it seemed obvious to the whole world that it clearly wasn’t working out. 

I keep threatening to write a book about my parenting technique, it seems to have worked brilliantly. 

ignore them. 

when our oldest was little, my wife would be at work, and I’d be working from home. She’d be in the living room watching CBeebies, and id be working next door in the office. She’d call for a drink, I’d say sure, just a minute. But a minute would turn into half an hour, and by the time I got up to make her a drink she’d given up waiting and just made her own. 

A few more years like that and now she’s 10 and totally independent. She can come home from school and make her own dinner. She’s way more responsible than I am. 

13 minutes ago, Ghost of Clough said:

Partly because one of those three was actually at Villa ?

Who did get promoted. 

1 hour ago, David said:

Lampard will replace Gareth Southgate as England manager following the World Cup in 2022. 

Stick a fiver on it.

Not if we win it. 

1 hour ago, RiddingsRam said:

Then ducked off without a second thought . Used us a stepping stone to be where he actually wanted to be when WE gave him the opportunity and accepted him into OUR world . Enjoyed the odd bounce with him but does that make it worse ? 

Behave. He left for his dream job and never pretended he wouldn’t. All concerned new it was on the cards, and just came around earlier than expected. 

If Rotherham gave you your big break, but then Derby came a-knocking, you’d do the same. I certainly would. I’d always have a soft spot for Rotherham though, and look for their results, but there’s only one place I really want to be. 

Tell you what, makes you realise, if you didn’t before, how good those loans were for this level. 

We scraped into 6th last season. It was a helluva ride, but ultimately that was the end result. 

The commentator on talk sport mentioned about how many points were gained by Harry’s freekicks, and who’s going to score those free kicks now?

That really hit it home for me, and this more so. 

Without Harry scoring some top draw belters, not to mention tomori and mount’s contribution, we would have been a distinctly average team, finishing in a distinctly average position. 

We’ve not replaced those players. But we were never, seriously, likely too. They were a cut above, and trying to get in 3 more loans of the same calibre would be like winning the lottery, then winning it again the next week. Not going to happen. 

So we are what we are, we have the players we have, if anyone thinks Cocu’s going for promotion this season, they’re dreaming. Top 6 would be an almighty achievement with this squad. 

Oh dear Tammy. Keogh wouldn’t have missed that. 

3 hours ago, TibshelfRam said:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/47340085

Aston Villa 4-0 Derby County

I knew there’d be one that I’d wiped from my memory. That doesn’t count though. Villa had our number. As did Leeds (until the 4th attempt). 

I can’t do memes, so you’re just going to have to imagine the ‘you were supposed to be the chosen one!’ meme from Star Wars. 

I really liked the idea of frank turning out to be some genius manager, win the the premier in his first season, then lead England into a halcyon age of back to back world cups. 

Oh well, now I’ll just have to go for plan b fantasy: Chelsea get relegated, and we wave as we pass them going the other way. 

Im nothing if not a realist.