charlierc

One of those things imo. I won't feel comfortable that Newcastle are definitely gonna be in the Champions League for the first time in 20 years until it's signed, sealed and delivered. And even then, it may well be the first game in the group stage where I feel comfortable acknowledging it's happening for real.

Either I've become really old or have been living under a rock but I don't think I recognise any name on that list.

Spurs still have to play both Newcastle and Man United, so in theory it could still see them claw their way back into this fight. Even if they seemed lucky to beat Brighton judging by the Seagulls getting yet another PGMOL apology for decisions going against them.

Seems like they found something in the end. Much as a few people are willing to blame Xhaka for poking the bear.

Out of curiosity, does this thing do day tickets?

Well it was on-brand for a bizarrely self-destructive statue. Wonder if Gasly's penalty points stopped him from getting a penalty here as his looked at least as the incident Sainz got a penalty when he struck Alonso. To say nothing as well of Logan Sargeant getting away with crashing into De Vries.

Well, both Man U and Newcastle got wins on Wednesday, so that is getting us both slightly closer towards confirming a place in the top 4. Still a fair bit of time to go though. I'll be happy tbf if we do make it and means we get a glimpse of the Champions League in an understandable format before UEFA's Swiss System ruins it.

It's not just a rumour anymore, but actually official, and he'll be taking charge of Chelsea against Wolves on Saturday just over 2 years on from when they sacked him due to not being good enough. To say nothing of the fact that he's got to find a way for Chelsea to beat Real Madrid in the Champions League next week. I'm still scratching my head about this one.

I actually had forgotten I'd seen them live back in 2013 as part of an NME Tour. Didn't realise they'd gone away or were making a stealth comeback.

Newcastle v Spurs on April 23rd has the air of a huge game in both causes, and given our 3 games in-between today and that are all away from home, I suspect the fans will be very much up for it. I was less aware that Spurs also have Brighton, Liverpool and Manchester United coming up, plus that game at Everton tomorrow, and all of these with a new managerial team after binning Conte. If they fall away, it paves the way for us, but can't take it for granted that they will collapse. Is Eriksen coming back this year? I thought the injury was meant to keep him out for the season. I expect them to pick up some form after this recent odd blip, but there is certainly a bit of work to figure out why their momentum has stalled a bit of late.

Blimey - was already bold that Leicester had sacked Brendan Rodgers after they fell into the bottom 3, but now Chelsea falling into the bottom half has been the moment they end the Graham Potter experiment. I thought Potter might at least get the Champions League games against Real Madrid coming up, but obviously not. Clearly Thomas Tuchel winning his first game at Bayern Munich doesn't help the cause in parallel. Also makes it 13 manager changes in the PL this season, which is quite the heavy duty turnaround.

Midfield was rather crucial in the end so I can see that. Sabitzer and McTominay just never really seemed to be up to grips with the challenge of a Longstaff-Bruno G-Willock run. Plus yeah, when Ten Hag hooked both centre-backs, it just left them looking oddly shapeless. It wasn't as abysmal as what happened at Anfield, but there do sound like there have been a few dubious performances of late, particularly in away games. I know Manchester United have another option for the Champions League with a Europa League quarter-final coming up, if on the difficult side of the draw, but this is quite the scrap for a top 4 spot. Not as crazy close as the relegation battle, but could go either way. Assuming Spurs don't collapse in the wake of sacking Conte, that is.

Looks like it was just an April Fool thing. Would've been funnier if they'd actually committed to the bit and gone through with it tbf.

At the risk of me talking to myself, there's a few notes already. Namely, Red Bull have nailed the regulations, the 3 teams behind all look capable of podiums and Alpine might be close to their label when they're not engaged in self-destructive behaviour and this was a day where the FIA just couldn't win. I mean, the Magnussen incident - either run out of time to clear it and get criticised for not allowing green flag running to the end, or get criticised for trying to be too gimmicky in trying a 2 lap mini-race at the end, and now get further criticised for allowing conditions that lead to such a restart melee and having to go on a deep dive of the rule book to figure out what to do next.

It's easy to get seduced by a "Us against the world" mantra in something like this tbf, hence why I think people are willing to believe they're all saints. Saying that it's never a theory I've subscribed to - every fanbase has it's portion of dicks and/or people that get too emotionally tied up in this thing that they lost sight of where the boundaries of good conduct are.

Hmmmm... not quite. I expected more from Manchester United today if I'm being honest. I didn't think we'd make Champions League either in pre-season or after our January/February wobble and there's still a version of this upcoming few weeks where we don't get the points we need to do that, but it's game on now.

I saw the Spain captain Rodri took defeat well 70%+ possession but barely any chances judging by the highlights. But post-2012 that's felt like their problem, where they lack the dynamic runners who made tiki-taka briefly invincible. This is pretty huge for Scotland tbf - Norway have not started well and it may be too soon for Georgia. So this could be a great chance for them to qualify already. Just gotta stick the landing.

He's not on the poster on the official site or listed as a performer on there. So I'm not sure I know why it would just be randomly floating there either.

Give them their dude, that's at least £10-15 cheaper than I would've guessed.

Seems like they announced quite the wide variety of things yesterday

True, but not every club is able to sell a £15million+ talent every summer, and in the 2 windows just gone, it did feel like PL clubs weren't arsed about what the Championship had to offer. Semenyo from Bristol City to Bournemouth is perhaps the biggest Jan one I can recall off the top of me head. EDIT: I'd forgotten Harry Souttar from Stoke to Leicester. But still.

Could just say "run at a massive loss" full stop. Some of the economics of Championship clubs spending north of 200% of total turnover just on wages makes for some crazy reading, to the point where its a wonder there haven't been more teams falling into administration.

Tbf they do have a gap in their schedule between playing Bonnaroo on June 18th and New Orleans on July 6th. In theory they could slot in, and would also make sense if they have a tie-in with Chvrches given that Hayley Williams has recorded a take on a Chvrches track.

How it's all currently looking... ... I'm sure there's people out there more into this than I am. Was a lovely festival when I went in 2018 and could've been persuadable to go with something I'm more into, but it is what it is.

I saw Everton play at Newcastle 4 years ago and looking back at it now, some of the names on that teamsheet were profound wastes of money. It's kinda crazy to think in some respects as many years ago, there were Everton teams stitched together with freebies and loans challenging for top six places, yet so much of the Moshiri era just seems to have been throwing moolah on all the wrong things.