Gribz

The balance of football punishments isnt correct. Cantona kicks a fan and got what 7 months out? But Barton is stupid for betting on any game he played in. Ive no issue if players have a flutter on the Grand National or other sports. Yet football contradicts itself with the amount of betting companies sponsoring the game. As for Barton he just seems to attract trouble everywhere.

Thanks BH, good post. The Croatian teams are the ones we want to avoid - but after that we should be beating any one else.

Its good and another step in the right direction. Now we just need to qualify for the Europa tournament. Out of interest does anyone know where potential qualification opponents would come from? Is there seeding and would we be seeded? With the games only 6 or 7 weeks away UEFA have to have had a list in place.

Its never too early for a beer on OF day even at 6am. Its going to be a long 11 hours. I have a decent feeling we will win this one today. In a way last week could have helped preparations as the manager surely identified what he did wrong selection wise.

Train? He would be lucky to grab and hide in the back of a milk float out! But Id be very surprised if this is true.

Yes that was mentioned also. I really cant see that other than if someone from the dark side has had a word in his ear. If he isnt playing on Sunday then send him back to Arsenal. What was the Snelders thing?? I didnt hear about that strangely enough.

I fear you may actually be right and should apply for a job on Grandstand.

WATP podcast last weekend said the reason Toral didnt start was because pre kick off he said to the manager "I cant play". I find this hard to believe. Anyone got any idea? If this was the case Im sure he wouldnt even have been on the bench!

And a lot to do with the so called best managers on the planet. They have both spent silly amounts of money yet will need about 300 Million each again. Pep's style just wont cut it in the Premier League unless he gets Messi, Suarez and Robben plus a proper goalkeeper. Jose just doesnt know how to let the handbrake off. He is a master at defending but has no idea how to hit teams. If Chelsea add the centre half from Juventus then say Vidal from Munich and Lukaku they will still beat both Manchester sides. Tottenham are punching above their weight but doing so immensely with no world beaters. They are awesome at the back but if they added say Isco and Reus to that team then they will be serious contenders.

I think there is a half argument for the players that they dont suffer burn out. I know people will say they are athletes and a footballer is a dream job but the body does take and need recovery time for it to repair itself to give optimum performance. We dont want to run out of steam by January and it ends up costing us domestically. But I am sure the majority of players are up the challenge of European football anyway and will take on the short break. The media will do anything for a false story. Plus the fact we will be adding to the squad then Im sure a rotation of additional days can be worked out in between games. As Pedro says in his interview - its an internal matter! So the mainstream media can do one.

Cringeworthy questions. Well answered by PC.

Im going a bit left field this weekend. Southampton 1-1 Hull Stoke 1-1 West Ham Sunderland 1-0 Bournemouth West Brom 2-1 Leicester Crystal Palace 0-1 Burnley Man Utd 2-0 Swansea Everton 2-1 Chelsea Middlesbrough 0-3 Man City Tottenham 2-2 Arsenal Watford 2-3 Liverpool

Big Elvis was a decent centre half, would have been good to keep him a bit longer. He would walk into Scotland side right now which shows how poor that position is for Scottish defenders which once was arguable our strongest position.

Absolute poor match but suits both. They win on Sunday and they go above Liverpool with playing the same amount of games.

Have to make up for last week and so does Pedro with selections. Foderingham Tavernier Hill Wilson Beerman Toral Holt Windass Hyndman Dodoo Miller I know Dodoo is a striker but I was impressed with him cutting in from the left against Aberdeen. I don't know how Garner could be considered and Kenny has a good record against Celtic and should start up top.

Unfortunately not BH. I don't get back from KL to SG until Friday 12th. Have a few cyber pints on me though

4 out of 5 results from midweek so far and typically enough I didn't have a 4 fold on these games. Think I will need to try my luck on the Man City correct score. Lifeline for Arsenal for top 4. They had a frustrating night, Leicester sat with 2 banks of 4 and Arsenal couldn't get in behind. Walcott was absolutely rotten and Gibbs had a poor game on the left wing back role where I thought he would be good. Xhaka had a good game but Ozil again just looks poor. Arsenal could get a tonking at Spurs this weekend yet they could just aswell nick a 1-0. Spurs weren't at their best either tonight, I was watching bits but its a great result against a team who have just beaten Arsenal, Chelsea and Liverpool.

I think he will be wearing one of those heart monitoring vests which will puff out a bit and has a few layers on. But he should be starting his pre-season now. He admitted last year he didn't get one and with him being out for so long he should be starting ahead of the others. His experience in the Europa qualifiers could be vital.

No brainer really. He isn't finished and can offer us another year. Does it potentially mean that a few of the other strikers aren't in Pedro's plans? If we could get a million back for Garner Id be happy, hopefully Warburton wants him at Forest. But I think Dodoo is worth keeping even if we convert him to a winger.

I am guessing you need to have acast app on your phone or tablet to listen? I quite enjoy We Are the People podcast, started watching that regularly.

He is our best winger. In a 3-5-2 or 3-6-1 (3-4-2-1 what Chelsea play) he would be suited on the right.

Another step closer to the title for Chelsea. Spurs have to win at Palace and hope Everton do them a favour this weekend yet Spurs will have to beat Arsenal at the same time.

Firstly if we can get a good season out of Kranjcar then that will make a huge difference. But the other signings are going to be key. They have to get out the blocks fast. This seasons signings have either not worked out performance wise or injuries - that said its been our loan signings (Hyndman and Toral) plus youth promoted (Beerman and Bates) who have looked like they would fit into the team long term. We have to remember this season was all about cementing ourselves back in the top flight and qualifying for the Europa. We could have ended up in the bottom half which would be a disaster so 3rd wont be as poor as we think. And if we top this week off with a win v Celtic then it will inspire. RB Leipzig have shown that huge leaps can be done in a short time by playing well but more so a bit off investment. We are not on that scale but its not impossible to say Pedro will get his own players in and they buy into his system straight away. So this time next season we should have had investment, a run in the Europa League - I think Group Stages would be sufficient, Much closer to Celtic but further ahead of the team in 3rd.

The only issue I have with both Barca and Real is the masses of TV cash they get ahead of the rest of the league. If it was shared more fairly then Atletico and Sevilla plus possibly Valencia would make it a far more competitive league. As such Atletico have done wonders for the past few years to make it a 3 horse race but you just feel they could go down a slope anytime especially with moving stadium.

Midweek predictions Chelsea 2-0 Southampton Arsenal 2-0 Leicester Middlesbrough 1-0 Sunderland Crystal Palace 1-2 Tottenham Man City 2-0 Man Utd