Football 2025-26

[charlierc]

From the highlights, Atletico v Arsenal actually didn't look too bad a game. Not as open or spectacular as Paris but still had it's moments. Plus clearly more fun with VAR judging by the arguments over the Arsenal penalty that was revoked after review. 

[charlierc]

Hooray we did something other than lose. Though tbf I did think Brighton were possible fall guys, given they seem to have a surprise defeat in them as I thought they were going to win, especially after seeing a head-scratcher of a teamsheet with Burn and Willock as the LB+LW. So that was nice.

 

Between the lines from what was said on Friday, I'm tempted to ponder if there's been an agreement from the big meeting the overlords had this week to keep Howe in post for next season. Whether that's a good idea or not, I guess we'll soon see.

[charlierc]

On 28/04/2026 at 20:45, pink_triangle said:

Unfortunately it’s only 3 promotions and I think the 4th may be a step too far, but I’m quite happy with the championship. I think it’s probably the best league there is for the fan experience.

 

While a lot will be annoyed behind the rise of the mens team, it is quickly forgotten the impact it has beyond the league table . I grew up as one of only a few Wrexham fans in school while everyone supported Liverpool, Everton and Man U, now you go in the town centre and every kid supports their local club. Tourists come in to pubs and hotels to support the local economy. The women’s team have qualified for the champions league for the first time and now girls in north wales have footballing role models that look like them. To me these things are every bit as important as finishing 6th , 7th or 8th.

Well, you called it correct after the final day swings and roundabouts saw Hull pinch the play-off position, meaning Championship again next season.

 

Still a very good go to get that close tbf, and could with the right signings be a position to strengthen from for next season.

[kaosmark2]

20 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Well, you called it correct after the final day swings and roundabouts saw Hull pinch the play-off position, meaning Championship again next season.

 

Still a very good go to get that close tbf, and could with the right signings be a position to strengthen from for next season.

I'm gutted Ipswich got over the line. I know every person who owns a football club is some level of awful, but the Farage stunt left a sour taste for me. I did enjoy the r/championship 3 weeks of memes about it though.

 

Couldn't be a nice team like Millwall.

[pink_triangle]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Well, you called it correct after the final day swings and roundabouts saw Hull pinch the play-off position, meaning Championship again next season.

 

Still a very good go to get that close tbf, and could with the right signings be a position to strengthen from for next season.

The 3 way battle between Wrexham, Hull and Derby felt like it was about making the numbers similar to Bristol City last season, so hard to be too disappointed. As I have said before Southampton are levels above us.

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

I'm gutted Ipswich got over the line. I know every person who owns a football club is some level of awful, but the Farage stunt left a sour taste for me. I did enjoy the r/championship 3 weeks of memes about it though.

 

Couldn't be a nice team like Millwall.

Aye that was a strange one weren't it? And certainly one where I don't think Ipswich's owners have a leg to stand on based on what's come out since that happened. Seems like they seemed to think a man notorious for publicity seeking might just keep quiet about it.

 

Ipswich were absolutely helped yesterday by the luck of the draw giving them a home match against a QPR side that have been on the beach for weeks. Well that, the dubious penalty against Middlesbrough and getting a point at Southampton (arguably being unlucky not to get all 3 there tbf).

 

Feels like Southampton have to go in as play-off favourites given their sensational form of late.

[charlierc]

3 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

The 3 way battle between Wrexham, Hull and Derby felt like it was about making the numbers similar to Bristol City last season, so hard to be too disappointed. As I have said before Southampton are levels above us.

I think its one of those things that it'd have been nice to get involved but you never know. Millwall look like a tough nut to crack and then, like you say, Southampton look play-off bound. Tbf I didn't think Bristol City looked last season like they were making up the numbers but oh Lord did they not turn up for the games against Sheffield United.

 

Feels like it'll be a toughie again next season too - one of West Ham or Spurs now look like they're going to be going down and that's a big fish to fight with, while Burnley seem stuck in the up-or-down yo-yo and Wolves feel like a team that could nail the rebuild. But hey, I guess we won't know until the transfer window shuts.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Feels like Southampton have to go in as play-off favourites given their sensational form of late.

Comfortably I think. I know history more often suggests 5th place, but I think that's mostly about who has momentum/form for the late surge, and 3rd usually being disappointed to not get the automatic spots. I definitely think Southampton and Millwall just look stronger than Boro/Hull.

[kaosmark2]

3 hours ago, charlierc said:

Hooray we did something other than lose. Though tbf I did think Brighton were possible fall guys, given they seem to have a surprise defeat in them as I thought they were going to win, especially after seeing a head-scratcher of a teamsheet with Burn and Willock as the LB+LW. So that was nice.

 

Between the lines from what was said on Friday, I'm tempted to ponder if there's been an agreement from the big meeting the overlords had this week to keep Howe in post for next season. Whether that's a good idea or not, I guess we'll soon see.

Watched the highlights now, big thing that stood out to me was we saw the best and worst of Nick Pope.

 

I don't think Burn is as bad at LB as the talk from a lot of our fans. Hall is immense, but I do think Burn is a lower-half PL quality LB still, his positioning there is still good, he just can get caught for pace. He's better at CB yes but if a break is good for Hall I don't really mind it. Willock felt a stranger pick but supposedly he had a decent game overall and he did provide some attacking threat in the highlights. I wonder a bit with Willock if it was a shop window game, give him a start and a chance to get a move for him with no Europe next season.

 

I still feel clueless as to whether Howe will be there next season. I've got concerns, but I'd still prefer it over a bunch of managers' names bandied about.

[thetime]

Always a great day beating them lot. 😎😎

[Punksnotdead]

24 minutes ago, thetime said:

Always a great day beating them lot. 😎😎

Especially seeing Carragher's face like a slapped arse at the end! Wonder if he'll find someone to spit at on the way home? 😄

[pink_triangle]

A lot criticising the Villa selection, but I just think it’s one of those things that all clubs do in that situation. Palace will do the same when they play Arsenal before the conference league final. There’s no way I would want my team risking an injury of a key player to uphold the “integrity of the league”.

[thetime]

26 minutes ago, pink_triangle said:

A lot criticising the Villa selection, but I just think it’s one of those things that all clubs do in that situation. Palace will do the same when they play Arsenal before the conference league final. There’s no way I would want my team risking an injury of a key player to uphold the “integrity of the league”.

 

A fair few teams have done it. Its just spoiled the medias story for the season and fans laughing at Spurs. 

 

 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, pink_triangle said:

A lot criticising the Villa selection, but I just think it’s one of those things that all clubs do in that situation. Palace will do the same when they play Arsenal before the conference league final. There’s no way I would want my team risking an injury of a key player to uphold the “integrity of the league”.

 

1 hour ago, thetime said:

A fair few teams have done it. Its just spoiled the medias story for the season and fans laughing at Spurs. 

 

Agreed. I think it's that general thing that people thought Villa would be pushing Spurs closer to the exit door and feel aggrieved that combined with West Ham getting demolished at Brentford now flips Spurs & West Ham's positions, which could well stay in place as West Ham imo have more difficult fixtures.

 

I will say that Villa actually didn't go as far as Forest, who are playing Chelsea right now and have put out a real full-on B team.

[charlierc]

20 hours ago, thetime said:

Always a great day beating them lot. 😎😎

I watched the first half and thought Man Utd played very well, but then had to leave to go pick up my brother, so you can imagine how surprised I was when I turned on the radio to find it was 2-2.

 

Admittedly those were a great solo goal and one directly caused by a defensive blunder, and that it does seem as though the right team won on balance.

[charlierc]

On 03/05/2026 at 13:34, kaosmark2 said:

Watched the highlights now, big thing that stood out to me was we saw the best and worst of Nick Pope.

 

I don't think Burn is as bad at LB as the talk from a lot of our fans. Hall is immense, but I do think Burn is a lower-half PL quality LB still, his positioning there is still good, he just can get caught for pace. He's better at CB yes but if a break is good for Hall I don't really mind it. Willock felt a stranger pick but supposedly he had a decent game overall and he did provide some attacking threat in the highlights. I wonder a bit with Willock if it was a shop window game, give him a start and a chance to get a move for him with no Europe next season.

 

I still feel clueless as to whether Howe will be there next season. I've got concerns, but I'd still prefer it over a bunch of managers' names bandied about.

I think the noise is building that Howe still has the backing of the board judging by reports in the BBC and The Athletic. There'll obviously be a lot of opinions on whether this is a good or bad idea - I have my reservations as I wonder if he's out of ideas and needs a break, but if he can get consistent wins next season, that would obviously allay those anxieties.

 

A lot depends on whether the signings ofc. As heavily documented, 25 points dropped from winning positions when just 10 would have us 6th is a sign that we've not done well enough in defending. I'm fine keeping Burn as a back-up but I think new full-backs will be required, meanwhile Pope and Ramsdale just aren't convincing enough anymore and a new number 1 is needed. Although curiously we were linked with the Brighton keeper Verbruggen, who really didn't cover himself in glory with our first goal on Saturday.

 

Bruno Guimaraes was actually saying the players still have European qualification ambitions. Don't see it myself - we need to win 3/3 and for several of the teams between us and 6th-8th to have nightmares. Not impossible but I think a top half finish might be the limit of what we can do. 

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

I will say that Villa actually didn't go as far as Forest, who are playing Chelsea right now and have put out a real full-on B team.

Chelsea however, are just that bad....

[thetime]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

I watched the first half and thought Man Utd played very well, but then had to leave to go pick up my brother, so you can imagine how surprised I was when I turned on the radio to find it was 2-2.

 

Admittedly those were a great solo goal and one directly caused by a defensive blunder, and that it does seem as though the right team won on balance.

 

Yeah utd were very generous, letting Liverpool back in. 

 

Whats happening with Lewis Hall?

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

I think the noise is building that Howe still has the backing of the board judging by reports in the BBC and The Athletic. There'll obviously be a lot of opinions on whether this is a good or bad idea - I have my reservations as I wonder if he's out of ideas and needs a break, but if he can get consistent wins next season, that would obviously allay those anxieties.

 

A lot depends on whether the signings ofc. As heavily documented, 25 points dropped from winning positions when just 10 would have us 6th is a sign that we've not done well enough in defending. I'm fine keeping Burn as a back-up but I think new full-backs will be required, meanwhile Pope and Ramsdale just aren't convincing enough anymore and a new number 1 is needed. Although curiously we were linked with the Brighton keeper Verbruggen, who really didn't cover himself in glory with our first goal on Saturday.

 

Bruno Guimaraes was actually saying the players still have European qualification ambitions. Don't see it myself - we need to win 3/3 and for several of the teams between us and 6th-8th to have nightmares. Not impossible but I think a top half finish might be the limit of what we can do. 

I think we need a leader in defense, and whether through being new to the team, or youth, Thiaw isn't it. Botman is perma crocked, Pope has no command of his box or ability to use the ball, and Trippier is leaving after a dramatic loss of pace and stamina this season (still think he'd have been solid for 60 mins/week if Tino hadn't had another 2 injuries this season).

 

I want a goalie with command of the box at set pieces, doesn't need to be a worldie of a shot-stopper if he can claim crosses and organise the defense. I think if we have that then a bit of the overall skittishness will alleviate and we'll stop being as awful in some key moments. I don't have anyone in mind thuogh.

 

Assuming Livramento leaves, and this latest injury does seem to have cooled the rumour mill about him, we'll need two new full-backs yeah. Hall, a RB, a 2-sided full-back and Burn as a back-up seems reasonable for next season instead of blooding yet another defender. Although if the vague swirlings of a Howe/Hall bust-up have any meat to them I'd probably rather lose Howe.

[kaosmark2]

3 minutes ago, thetime said:

Whats happening with Lewis Hall?

Complete rumour mill atm. My initial assumption was he literally just got rested, but speculation is in full swing. A lot of "my mate's uncle's mate who carries sarnies to the training ground saw..." stuff, combined with people reading into Howe's "I picked a line-up of players I can trust" post-match press comments. I dunno how much of it is just bored people making sh*t up and what has actually happened.

 

One of our best players this season, easily.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

Chelsea however, are just that bad....

It's pretty remarkable how quickly the walls seem to be caving in over there. Just a really bad vibes is coming off there now with key players wanting out, the team in freefall down the table and a real question of where the hell this is going. You'd think maybe BlueCo will have to really ask themselves as to what the hell they're doing as its pretty clear a lot of the philosophy and approach isn't working. Losing at home to a Forest B team is a pretty spectacular misfire.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Yeah utd were very generous, letting Liverpool back in. 

 

Whats happening with Lewis Hall?

Ah well, got away with it in the end. And Champions League football next season... although that obviously brings a different challenge given it means you'll need squad depth, which is easier said than done.

 

Hall? No idea. The fact he came on at the weekend hints not all is lost there, and I am sympathetic to the idea he's had to play a lot of football since being rushed back from injury, but it is an oddity to have an out-of-position Burn there. Admittedly Burn actually hasn't been too bad in these last two games (hell he scored against Brighton) but I feel like we're going to have a pacey right winger picking on him before long. I know there's rumours of a bust-up with Howe and there were suspicions after the Bournemouth game when he was subbed at half-time of Howe fixating on a weird slight. Wouldn't be surprised if Hall is back for at least 1 of our last 3 though.

[charlierc]

2 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

I think we need a leader in defense, and whether through being new to the team, or youth, Thiaw isn't it. Botman is perma crocked, Pope has no command of his box or ability to use the ball, and Trippier is leaving after a dramatic loss of pace and stamina this season (still think he'd have been solid for 60 mins/week if Tino hadn't had another 2 injuries this season).

 

I want a goalie with command of the box at set pieces, doesn't need to be a worldie of a shot-stopper if he can claim crosses and organise the defense. I think if we have that then a bit of the overall skittishness will alleviate and we'll stop being as awful in some key moments. I don't have anyone in mind thuogh.

 

Assuming Livramento leaves, and this latest injury does seem to have cooled the rumour mill about him, we'll need two new full-backs yeah. Hall, a RB, a 2-sided full-back and Burn as a back-up seems reasonable for next season instead of blooding yet another defender. Although if the vague swirlings of a Howe/Hall bust-up have any meat to them I'd probably rather lose Howe.

It's going to be a busy summer all over the place I think. Howe does actually raise a question mark for me regarding it tbf because in his presser before Brighton, he says he doesn't like being too busy in the summer and seemed to be hinting he doesn't want to be signing 6 new players like we did last summer. That's all well and good but I don't see a scenario where we sign less than 4/5 players tbh.

 

It's certainly an area that needs work with a new number 1 keeper and also with Trippier and potentially Schar going, plus questions on Thiaw and Botman meaning we likely need 2 defenders even before the talk of Livramento and Hall going. Throw in the fact Gordon and at least one of Woltemade or Wissa looks like they'll be going and it makes the attacking area one with a degree of flux as well, and I haven't even got to the rumours of Tonali and Bruno too. So, there's a fair degree of wondering just how busy this is going to be.

[kaosmark2]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

It's pretty remarkable how quickly the walls seem to be caving in over there. Just a really bad vibes is coming off there now with key players wanting out, the team in freefall down the table and a real question of where the hell this is going. You'd think maybe BlueCo will have to really ask themselves as to what the hell they're doing as its pretty clear a lot of the philosophy and approach isn't working. Losing at home to a Forest B team is a pretty spectacular misfire.

I actually think it mostly highlights how Maresca was holding things together. The 5(?) directors of football combined with no leadership and churn and they just looked like a mess. They have done under every other manager as well. A lot of egos and no experience, in an oversized squad.

 

Very funny stuff tbh.

[Comfy Bean]

Things unusually interesting in Scotland’s top league 👀