ariotofmyown

I've done some analysis and think the playoff charge is still on...
14 points behind 6th place Bournemouth: we've taken 4 points off them and they look poor. Lost 3 on the row now and could be within sight if both our form and theirs continues for a couple of games.
12 points behind 7th place Boro with game in hand: 4 points from last 5 games, beat them and win game in hand then we need to make up 6 points over 18 games. Easy.
11 points behind 8th place Blackburn: probably hardest to catch as on good form. Will need them to start dropping points soon to put the pressure on.
11 points behind 9th place Bristol City: did you see them today? They are rubbish.
10 points behind 10th place Stoke with a game in hand: just 3 draws from last 5 games. Looked poor against us. Very catchable.
8 points behind 11th place Preston down to 2 points behind 17th place Coventry. 3 teams we have games in hand over and all the teams in this group of average.  Good chance we'll finish above all of these.
Summary: We'll need Bournemouth's poor form to continue but only them and Blackburn look tricky to catch.
We're 5th in the form table over 10 games and 1st-6th contains us, plus the top 5 in the league. We just need to find a way to beat the weaker teams now.
 
 

Bob Dylan - Blood on the Tracks (think everyone has put that, and for good reason!)
Van Morrison - Astral Weeks
Bon Iver - For Emma
Belle & Sebastian - If You're Feeling Sinister
Manics - The Holy Bible
Radiohead - The Bends
Wilco - A Ghost is Born
Arcade Fire - Neon Bible
Father John Misty - Pure Comedy
Neil Young - Harvest
Broken Family Band - Balls
Foo Fighters - Colour and the Shape

A few personal favourites...
Master Of Puppets - Metallica
Black Sabbath - Black Sabbath
Among The Living - Anthrax
Nymphetamine - Cradle Of Filth
Machine Head - Deep Purple
Reign In Blood - Slayer
Holy Diver - Dio
Images And Words - Dream Theater
Pictures At An Exhibition - Emerson, Lake And Palmer
Number Of The Beast - Iron Maiden
Sad Wings Of Destiny - Judas Priest
Leviathon - Mastodon
Overkill - Motorhead
Look At Yourself - Uriah Heep
Keeper Of The Seven Keys - Helloween
Meliora - Ghost
 
Being deaf now means that I do have to more or less live without them, but the music is still in my head.
 
 

This is where my limited super hero knowledge has cost me 

Er welcome to the jungle 

Finger trouble. 

That's not fair no wonder there winning 

Depends on the takeover. If Mel is still here, I would guess Jamie Redknapp would be the most likely. 

The Clash - London Calling
Dylan - Blonde on Blonde, Blood on the Tracks
The Stones - Sticky Fingers, Some Girls
Genesis - Nursery Crime, Selling England by the Pound, Wind and Wuthering
The Band - The Band
Van der Graaf Generator - Still Life, Godbluff, Pawn Hearts
Peter Hammill - The margin, Silent Corner, Sitting targets
Leonard Cohen - Songs of 
Wes Montgomery - Smokin at the Half Note
The Flaming Lips - Yoshimi Battles Pink Robots
Primal Scream - Screamadelica
 

In the last 18 months I think it is fair to say the sizeable majority on this board at some stage thought Cocu was great thought Rooney was a great signing and then thought he was managing well. Oh not forgetting Mel was adored to begin with. One thing for sure in football the supporters always turn against their own sooner or later. 

Thought I'd come in here to cheer myself up a bit. 
Anyway, second jab was done Monday. I feel like Iron Man now.

I think the thing that hurts the most is that, if you really think about it, putting Wayne Rooney in the managerial hotseat was never really about results or performances. It was about selling this club.
I think Rooney was given the job because there was an idea/perception that it would make us more attractive to prospective buyers. That it would make us more "marketable" to investors. That it might just help Mel get shot of us. 
It never made sense to hire, in this season with how it started, a rookie manager. Let alone a manager who has literally just stepped off the pitch with no badges. And now we're paying the price for that. 
In my opinion, hiring Wayne Rooney looks like a decision that was made for the benefit of the bank account, and not the football.

Or news that the players went out on a team bonding bender followed by car racing.

Oh corner flag....
...
...
How I am pining for you, my corner flag...
...
Although I half expect it to crop up with a club statement that we won't be joining the European Super League.

It’s my birthday this weekend too. 
What’s worse is that my plan b was to go support the Manchester Red Devil’s on their European adventures, and I can’t even do that any more. 

It is the lack of fight and effort that annoys me most, yes confidence maybe shot, tactics wrong, Rooney/players not good enough, but last night was totally unacceptable.
   Just a point though, if you took the loanees out of Lampard’s side where would we have finished? Personally mid table at best, and we now have a poorer side now, so really this mess has been coming for a while now, I think FL loanees papered over the cracks. I don’t blame the young lads, they have been thrown into the deep end, and their form was always going to drop at times throughout the season.
Only hope is that Rotherham lose every game, or else it’s definitely league 1, because on last night performance, we won’t pick up another point.

I'm surprised that Chelsea and City got involved with it and unsurprised they were the first to bail. Their owners aren't in in football for the money, they just want to pretend they are good guys so people forget about their crimes.
Arsenal, Lpool and United have a more honest excuse that they just want to make more money in what ever way possible. An attitude that is usually worshipped at the altar of wealth.
The owner of these 3 clubs won't care if they now look stupid, whereas City and Chelsea might have awkward questions to answer.
Not sure of the story behind Spurs wealth.

I'm surprised that Chelsea and City got involved with it and unsurprised they were the first to bail. Their owners aren't in in football for the money, they just want to pretend they are good guys so people forget about their crimes.
Arsenal, Lpool and United have a more honest excuse that they just want to make more money in what ever way possible. An attitude that is usually worshipped at the altar of wealth.
The owner of these 3 clubs won't care if they now look stupid, whereas City and Chelsea might have awkward questions to answer.
Not sure of the story behind Spurs wealth.

Woo hoo. Second jab on Friday.

"Loyal stakeholders!"

I'm amazed. Amazed at the sheer incompetence of the directors of the would be breakaway clubs. I'd assumed that they would at least have calculated this level of backlash and were prepared to ride the storm. To fold so quickly after the idea went public means that they had no idea how negative the reception would be. These are people who are paid hundreds of thousands, some millions, per year based on their knowledge of football markets. How were they so surprised by the reaction? "Oh no! We never could've envisaged that UEFA would use their institutional power to protect their incredibly profitable cup competition."

Does this mean that if the sheikh offers Henry 2bn again for Liverpool, this time he will take it ?

I've been thinking about this ESL all day and tbh have been against it from the beginning.
However... a league you can't get relegated from no matter how bad you play does have a certain appeal ?