The final matches of the season will see us trying to fend off Manchester Reds and Chelsea for 6th place and whatever European competition that might earn. Success would have us finish higher in the Premier League than Glazer's club for the first time ever - including last year. Chelsea has the easiest schedule, so we might need to win out. Our chances are boosted by the return of Joelinton and Wilson. Almiron is also back, but I wouldn't expect Eveready Almiron until next season. Let's look for Arsenal to shame Man U on Sun. and give them nothing to play for. Meanwhile, I'll see you all after Brighton at St. James' tomorrow. I'm still not used to having something to play for in May. Sat. May 11, Brighton (H) Wed. May 15, Man U (A) Sun. May 19, Brentford (A)
They stumbled to a draw but so did Chelsea so the goal differential keeps us ahead on the table. Had Burnely not coughed up, the Spurs might have Spurred again. I don't know that we can catch them at this point. I suspect Man U will be toast after the Arsenal game.
Good point. They're not likely to finish above 8th, even if they win. They've tied their record for most losses in a premier league season. I hope we can help them break it. Then, they lose to City and give us the Europa League place. Most satisfying collapse ever!
About the Europe business. I'm still unclear on the allotments with the new UCL structure. I"m so used to "top four to the CL, 5 to the Europa, cup winners make everything weird" math. But it's looking like top four to the CL, then 5 and 6 to the Europa, with cup winners trying to get in their ways? Or is the EPL gonna get one of those 5th CL spots? Or did all the early crashouts mess that up?
The Bundesliga got the 5th spot. So, top 4 to champs. 5th and FA Cup winner to Europa, but if Man City wins the cup, that spot goes to the 6th place finisher.
I mean some years its like, "if West Ham wins the Europa Conference League on a full moon while Totteham loses by 4 or more to a team below 11th on the EPL table and Liverpool wins 3 consecutive games against teams that wear blue, then the 7th place team gets a spot in Europe."
We're not so good in big games yet. Not sure what's lacking. What do you have to do to deserve to get the breaks? XG: Man Utd (1.47) 3-2 (2.53) Newcastle United
And the lads land in 7th. As I understand it, if City wins the cup, The Europa League and Europa Championship slots move down one and they're in a European competition again. If Man U wins it, we're not in Europe. As I've stated before, this is where I expected last season to wind up and we landed a top four spot by surprise. As it is, I'll call it a good season (especially since where they've been sitting for years under Ashley's ownership). The injury bug bit hard. And I'm not sure if that's a physio and training thing, a depth chart issue, or a bit of both. It seemed that despite the finish, the team had its chances in the group of death in the UCL, so they went for it focusing on that. Which may have, in retrospect, left the cupboard a bit bare midseason. I'm fine calling it growing pains and looking forward to next season!
As expected, a 1-1-1 finish was not good enough. I'm only disappointed because this team had at least one more win in them. We were only one less injury away from Europa. Now we have one less year with a special group of core players - and the last year for some of them. However, you are correct that this result is better than 13 of the 14 years under Sports Direct. 7th place with the 9th highest wage bill is overachieving, and Conference League would still be a cause for celebration, if it happens. It's the first time finishing higher in the Premier League than Man. U, but it's meaningless if they make it to European play on Saturday and knock us out.
Aaaaand City lets Man U win, which nullifies us beating them on goal difference. Our season is officially a failure. It wasn't that bad, but I'm not sure the project has moved forward this year.