Football 2025-26

[charlierc]

23 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Certainly Newcastle have had a slow start, only the 1 league win against pointless wolves. Will be interesting how they cope with no midweek rest. 

 

Utd same old story, nothing has changed on that one. 

I think we'll be ok eventually but it'll take time given the extensive surgery late in the window and two parts of that already being injured. I'd have preferred an easier game than Arsenal next though... well after the cup tie with Bradford, which already has the air of being the kind of game to trip us up if we're not careful.

 

I will say on the Man Utd score that it is bizarre Chelsea spent an ungodly amount of money on fees & wages for new talent, yet their first choice keeper is the error-prone Sanchez, who I'm pretty sure Brighton had got fed up with in his last season there.

[charlierc]

I can only call yesterday annoying. Think the serious injury to Livramento destabilised us as the defence looked shakier after he was taken off but equally I'm aware it would've been very smash and grab had we kept Arsenal out. 

Edited September 29, 2025 by charlierc

[thetime]

4 hours ago, charlierc said:

I can only call yesterday annoying. Think the serious injury to Livramento destabilised us as the defence looked shakier after he was taken off but equally I'm aware it would've been very smash and grab had we kept Arsenal out. 

 

Bit of a dodgy start for Newcastle, with only 1 win in the league (v wolves).

[charlierc]

5 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Bit of a dodgy start for Newcastle, with only 1 win in the league (v wolves).

We're a work in progress, very much not helped by Wissa and Ramsey getting injured more or less straight away. In isolation, I don't think we've been that bad - three 0-0s from difficult places to go and unlucky against Liverpool. I think But we need to buck up sooner rather than later.

 

Maybe Ange's Forest next weekend will be easier. Maybe. No guarantees ofc.

 

A few big hitters are starting slow tbf - Villa looked quite off it before the Fulham win, West Ham have been awful, Chelsea's form is going downhill, and I don't think we need to go into Amorim's continued trouble to get Man Utd to play his way in greater detail.

 

Palace v Bournemouth for top 4 anyone?

[thetime]

29 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I don't think we need to go into Amorim's continued trouble to get Man Utd to play his way in greater detail.

 

 

 

Less said the better.

 

Be interesting how you cope with no rest midweek until Christmas, apart from internationals. 

. 

[charlierc]

15 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Less said the better.

 

Be interesting how you cope with no rest midweek until Christmas, apart from internationals. 

. 

This is what tripped us up last time we were in the Champions League. I think we could've got higher than 7th had we not suffered an injury crisis in November and December thanks to playing so many games in quick succession with essentially the same starting 11 in every game due to the amount of injuries.

 

This could be a frustration already though. Against Bournemouth we did demonstrate a decent rotation, but now we're already losing players, so this management is going to be a bit tricky. But I suspect we're not alone in that. 

[balti-pie]

19 hours ago, charlierc said:

big hitters

 

19 hours ago, charlierc said:

 

West Ham

 

 

😄  That will never cease to make me chuckle 

[Neil]

why does pep celebrate haarland's goals like he played a part in them,

 

there was no genius in signing the hottest striker available!

[charlierc]

On 30/09/2025 at 13:40, balti-pie said:

 

 

 

😄  That will never cease to make me chuckle 

Tbf West Ham do make similar revenues to ourselves and Aston Villa, even with passive owners who seem more concerned with extracting cash from them then investing and they have the advantage of being based in London. Even if nobody likes their stadium.

 

Feels like the fundamentals are there for them to be better than they are, no? I know they've had a lot of chaos since Moyes left and the fans have turned on the owners again. 

[charlierc]

Be nice to follow last night's multi goal haul in Belgium with a win over Forest at the weekend. But happy days to get a good result and get the Champions League points. Such is the nature of this format that I think 2 more wins and 2 draws might be enough to get playoffs, which was the ambition. Even if Aston Villa and Lille both got top 8 last year in the first year of this new weird format.

[thetime]

1 hour ago, charlierc said:

Be nice to follow last night's multi goal haul in Belgium with a win over Forest at the weekend. But happy days to get a good result and get the Champions League points. Such is the nature of this format that I think 2 more wins and 2 draws might be enough to get playoffs, which was the ambition. Even if Aston Villa and Lille both got top 8 last year in the first year of this new weird format.

 

The top teams seem to be taking the group more seriously this season. 

 

Watched the Barcelona v PSG game last night, pretty decent watch. 

[kaosmark2]

On 30/09/2025 at 10:07, charlierc said:

This is what tripped us up last time we were in the Champions League. I think we could've got higher than 7th had we not suffered an injury crisis in November and December thanks to playing so many games in quick succession with essentially the same starting 11 in every game due to the amount of injuries.

 

This could be a frustration already though. Against Bournemouth we did demonstrate a decent rotation, but now we're already losing players, so this management is going to be a bit tricky. But I suspect we're not alone in that. 

Our squad has a lot more depth this time though. Actual squad of 22 players not just 16 that Howe trusts.

[charlierc]

3 hours ago, thetime said:

 

The top teams seem to be taking the group more seriously this season. 

 

Watched the Barcelona v PSG game last night, pretty decent watch. 

Aye the highlights of that are all I caught but even those looked good. 

 

You can assume there's going to be a rush to try to avoid needing the playoffs from the big fish. Should make the final round a decent watch. 

[charlierc]

1 hour ago, kaosmark2 said:

Our squad has a lot more depth this time though. Actual squad of 22 players not just 16 that Howe trusts.

I think last time we weren't helped by the Tonali ban, Barnes getting a weird injury that took ages to heal, or Botman doing his ACL but trying to play on and making it worse. 

 

But I guess we'll get more proof of this when Ramsey and Wissa come back. 

[kaosmark2]

1 minute ago, charlierc said:

I think last time we weren't helped by the Tonali ban, Barnes getting a weird injury that took ages to heal, or Botman doing his ACL but trying to play on and making it worse. 

 

But I guess we'll get more proof of this when Ramsey and Wissa come back. 

Well yes, but the squad didn't have the depth to cope with that ban and those injuries. Wissa/Ramsey/Livramento injuries are frustrating, but every team does deal with injuries. If you want your team to be in European competition regularly, you need to be able to deal with 2-4 players being out at any moment and still rotate.

[charlierc]

Well... seems like we're in business now. Good win over Forest yesterday. Bayern Munich calling us idiots for paying Stuttgart's Woltemade asking price is ageing badly and long may that continue.

 

I actually didn't think Forest played too badly in isolation, even if their attacking output was pretty poor - only a few shots that were quite comfortable for Pope to stop. If Ange is going to be kept on, there can be no excuses for him continuing to not win though.

[charlierc]

Anyone else unaware FIFA was pushing some kind of crypto NFT bullshit as a way to rake more cash for World Cup tickets going on sale?

[lost]

21 minutes ago, charlierc said:

I actually didn't think Forest played too badly in isolation, even if their attacking output was pretty poor - only a few shots that were quite comfortable for Pope to stop. If Ange is going to be kept on, there can be no excuses for him continuing to not win though.

 

The international break might save him from the shortest managerial record but I still stand by the comment of his style, the players and Thursday night football might finish him before Christmas.

 

Even Palace's unbeaten record fell to the Thursday/Sunday match strain.

[kaosmark2]

55 minutes ago, charlierc said:

Well... seems like we're in business now. Good win over Forest yesterday. Bayern Munich calling us idiots for paying Stuttgart's Woltemade asking price is ageing badly and long may that continue.

 

I actually didn't think Forest played too badly in isolation, even if their attacking output was pretty poor - only a few shots that were quite comfortable for Pope to stop. If Ange is going to be kept on, there can be no excuses for him continuing to not win though.

What's impressing me about Woltemade isn't his finishing (albeit the record is good so far), but his link up play. Everything about it looks so slick, particularly for a player new to the team.

 

I thought Forest looked decent until Bruno's goal, but they were incapable of attacking at all without leaving space in behind, which led to us looking excellent for the rest of the 2nd half.

 

Also, I know he's had a belter of a season for Forest in general last year, but Sels has produced more MotM performances at St James' Park since leaving than he ever did when playing for us.

[charlierc]

12 hours ago, kaosmark2 said:

What's impressing me about Woltemade isn't his finishing (albeit the record is good so far), but his link up play. Everything about it looks so slick, particularly for a player new to the team.

 

I thought Forest looked decent until Bruno's goal, but they were incapable of attacking at all without leaving space in behind, which led to us looking excellent for the rest of the 2nd half.

 

Also, I know he's had a belter of a season for Forest in general last year, but Sels has produced more MotM performances at St James' Park since leaving than he ever did when playing for us.

Yeah Sels didn't even make it 10 games for us and put in some pretty ropey ones before getting dropped for Karl Darlow. It's possible the move to us came too early in his career given how he was by consensus one of the best keepers in France with Strasbourg and has been exceptional with Forest. With a lesser keeper, Forest probably would've conceded 4/5 on Sunday. Good for him for becoming a decent keeper though.

 

I guess the flow of things is that Forest really were trying for a 0-0, and had it not been for Bruno single-handedly ripping that plan apart, it may have been tougher for us. But there is the paradox that when they went attacking, it just opened things up for us to go for it. And yeah, Woltemade is looking decent so far. It's a shame Wissa is still gonna be out for a few weeks but if NW can keep fit and keep scoring, we're in decent hands.

[kaosmark2]

2 hours ago, charlierc said:

Yeah Sels didn't even make it 10 games for us and put in some pretty ropey ones before getting dropped for Karl Darlow. It's possible the move to us came too early in his career given how he was by consensus one of the best keepers in France with Strasbourg and has been exceptional with Forest. With a lesser keeper, Forest probably would've conceded 4/5 on Sunday. Good for him for becoming a decent keeper though.

 

I guess the flow of things is that Forest really were trying for a 0-0, and had it not been for Bruno single-handedly ripping that plan apart, it may have been tougher for us. But there is the paradox that when they went attacking, it just opened things up for us to go for it. And yeah, Woltemade is looking decent so far. It's a shame Wissa is still gonna be out for a few weeks but if NW can keep fit and keep scoring, we're in decent hands.

Absolute tragedy that Strasbourg have gone from an interesting team with history and value to the Chelsea B squad.

 

But yeah, as you say, could have been too early in his career, maybe the move unsettled him too much, etc etc. Still happy for him, just wish he'd revert to his old SJP form when visiting!

 

We've struggled for several years against teams adopting a low block against us. And with having games twice a week until we get knocked out of Europe we probably can't manage a high-intensity press every single game for 90 minutes. Managing to find our way through them is going to take moments of magic like that, it's just the question of how many players can do that.

 

Also early days, but Thiaw looks so elegant in defence as well. There'll be bigger tests to come but very promising start.

[charlierc]

So UEFA said they disagree with playing domestic European games abroad, but still gave permission to play a La Liga game in America and a Serie A match in Australia. The f**k?

[charlierc]

On 07/10/2025 at 11:26, kaosmark2 said:

Absolute tragedy that Strasbourg have gone from an interesting team with history and value to the Chelsea B squad.

 

But yeah, as you say, could have been too early in his career, maybe the move unsettled him too much, etc etc. Still happy for him, just wish he'd revert to his old SJP form when visiting!

 

We've struggled for several years against teams adopting a low block against us. And with having games twice a week until we get knocked out of Europe we probably can't manage a high-intensity press every single game for 90 minutes. Managing to find our way through them is going to take moments of magic like that, it's just the question of how many players can do that.

 

Also early days, but Thiaw looks so elegant in defence as well. There'll be bigger tests to come but very promising start.

It feels like that's the way in a lot of Europe. That Belgian side we beat in the Champions League is co-owned by Brighton's owners, Man City's overlords have their fingers in a lot of pies across the world, Liverpool's owners have been looking at buying a French or Belgian side, Leicester's owners either still own or used to own a club in Belgium, INEOS have stakes in 3 clubs, Red Bull have a stake in Leeds to go with the rest of their empire, etc. I dislike multi-club ownership models but clearly the work to stop that had to have been done a long time ago. I'm surprised Newcastle's PiF chums haven't done that yet, though the fact they've basically brought FIFA might be their own prize. Only consolation is that its not like Mexico, where some groups own multiple clubs in the same league.

 

As for the Newcastle stuff, yeah - we had a vision of that at Bournemouth a few days after Barcelona in the Champions League opener where we seemed happy to go 5-4-1 and take a point. I guess there's going to be a fair bit of yin and yang in managing all this. And yeah, Thiaw is looking good. I'd like Elanga to get some more end product but he's rapid and talented enough that he should get something soon enough.

[thetime]

On 06/10/2025 at 19:40, charlierc said:

Well... seems like we're in business now. Good win over Forest yesterday. 

 

Perhaps getting a little over excited,  on a win against a team thats won 1 in 10. 

 

There should of been serious questions, if you didn't win comfortably at home against Forest. Newcastle have got 2 league wins,  from teams that have 1 win in 14 league games combined. 

 

Still big question marks on Newcastle, im surprised more questions are not being asked. Or perhaps Eddie Howe is getting an easy ride, due to being English. 

 

 

[charlierc]

6 hours ago, thetime said:

 

Perhaps getting a little over excited,  on a win against a team thats won 1 in 10. 

 

There should of been serious questions, if you didn't win comfortably at home against Forest. Newcastle have got 2 league wins,  from teams that have 1 win in 14 league games combined. 

 

Still big question marks on Newcastle, im surprised more questions are not being asked. Or perhaps Eddie Howe is getting an easy ride, due to being English. 

 

 

This is football we're talking about. Clubs trip themselves up in winnable fixtures all the time and for all that Ange really isn't working with Forest, they were still pretty obstructive for the first hour.

 

Before the upcoming internationals, we have a run of Brighton, Fulham, West Ham and Brentford. I think we might get a clearer idea of our floor and ceiling after that. And the 2 Champions League games and Carabao Cup tie against Spurs also taking place in such a football pile-up. 

 

Tbf some fans asked questions of Howe last November after a dreadful defeat at Brentford. We duly then won more often than not and rocketed up the league. So there is credit in the bank. I'm aware fans are impatient though. Aston Villa made a slow start too and people were going "... I'm sorry what's going on here?"