6 down, 4 to go.

• Everton (H) = Won
• Aston Villa (A) = Won
• Manchester City (H) = Won
• West Ham United (A) = Loss
• Watford (H) = Won
• Crystal Palace (A) = Won
• Sheffield United (A)
• Norwich City (H)
• Liverpool (A)
• Wolves (H)

Ladder:

• 3. Chelsea = 60 (+17) - Next match is Sheffield United away
• 4. Leicester City = 59 (+32) - Next match is Bournemouth away
• 5. Manchester United = 58 (+26) - Next match is Southampton at home

I've ruled out Wolves for a top 4 spot now after back to back defeats against Arsenal and Sheffield United.

I hope Leicester's bad form continues. The way United are playing, I'm afraid they might overtake us. That West Ham loss really stinks. Now there's no margin for error because our Goal difference is vastly inferior to our competitors'. 

Yeah if we drop any points on Saturday then we will be down to 5th if the other teams win. That will be a scary position. 

If we win Saturday, and city's ban is upheld on Monday, we might be guaranteed a CL spot, depending on how wolves get on against Everton.

Im pretty confident City will the ban halved to 1 year, they really dont have many grounds appeal the case, i read the best they could argue is that the punishment was too harsh, which is what we did aswell. Ac Milan also had a 2 year ffp related ban reduced by half, and unlike City, they werent also on trial for failing to cooperate with an investigation.

Make of that what you will. If true, we need to win tomorrow. 

United and Leicester are playing each other the last round so we can afford to lose points once. 

48 minutes ago, JM7 said:

Make of that what you will. If true, we need to win tomorrow. 

Id be shocked having read a fair bit about the case tbh. 

It’s absolute bollocks that, FFP is pointless then 

1 hour ago, JM7 said:

Make of that what you will. If true, we need to win tomorrow. 

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.spiegel.de/international/manchester-city-exposed-bending-the-rules-to-the-tune-of-millions-a-1236346-amp.html

That is what they found with the football leaks hacker. All emails confirming illegal sponsorship payments to circumvent FFP. All the evidence can still be submitted even though it was gathered by illegal means, because it wasnt uefa that obtained it illegally, so that argument goes out of the window. 

I dont really see what grounds they have for acquittal, but i guess money talks. If they dont get banned, then ffp will sutely be a thing of the past, rich teams can get sponsorship deals from companies they are shareholders in, and if they look like falling foul of ffp, they can just back date the original sponsorship amount to cover the overspend.

Edited July 10, 20206 yr by big blue

29 minutes ago, big blue said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.spiegel.de/international/manchester-city-exposed-bending-the-rules-to-the-tune-of-millions-a-1236346-amp.html

That is what they found with the football leaks hacker. All emails confirming illegal sponsorship payments to circumvent FFP. All the evidence can still be submitted even though it was gathered by illegal means, because it wasnt uefa that obtained it illegally, so that argument goes out of the window. 

I dont really see what grounds they have for acquittal, but i guess money talks. If they dont get banned, then ffp will sutely be a thing of the past, rich teams can get sponsorship deals from companies they are shareholders in, and if they look like falling foul of ffp, they can just back date the original sponsorship amount to cover the overspend.

Don't forget you're trusting the most corrupt people in the world to enforce these rules. 

If it was serious enough that they were given a two year ban, yet completely get it overturned, then UEFA and FFP looks absolutely ridiculous. All top clubs will just apply the same methods! What a waste of time. Makes our transfer bans seem harsh, city got away with that for doing a similar thing too!

6 hours ago, big blue said:

https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.spiegel.de/international/manchester-city-exposed-bending-the-rules-to-the-tune-of-millions-a-1236346-amp.html

That is what they found with the football leaks hacker. All emails confirming illegal sponsorship payments to circumvent FFP. All the evidence can still be submitted even though it was gathered by illegal means, because it wasnt uefa that obtained it illegally, so that argument goes out of the window. 

I dont really see what grounds they have for acquittal, but i guess money talks. If they dont get banned, then ffp will sutely be a thing of the past, rich teams can get sponsorship deals from companies they are shareholders in, and if they look like falling foul of ffp, they can just back date the original sponsorship amount to cover the overspend.

Looking forward to our next major sponsorship from Evraz or Gazprom then!

Who knows what is true and isn't. I have always thought FFP was a farce that benefited only Barca, Madrid, Bayern and United etc. Transfer fees, wages and agent fees have all skyrocketed during its exisitence. It is an utterly failed policy that has been exploited in any number of ways. Football won't change a bit if it is removed. Only way to really change the way things are run is to have a proper salary cap a regulate transfers and agents more tightly. 

Only downside if the decision is overturned is it narrows our window for CL football. Just means we need to win our remaining games. I am confident we can get that done. Liverpool are on the beers already and all the other teams we should beat if we play well.

To be fair, I don’t mind whether City are banned or not. I don’t mind City - their fans are more bearable than United it City. 

Well, that makes things a lot harder now. 
 

United look a certainty for 3rd. We can only hope that Leicester are worse than us in the next 3 games. If the rumours about City being let off are true then we will need to better Leicester. 

If Leicester can win their next 3 they go to 68 points.

When United win their next 3 they go to 67 points.

If we can beat Wolves we can go to 66 points, as we have little hope against Liverpool.

So we are left hoping Leicester continue their indifferent form and then United beat them on the last day.

Realistically I feel it will be 5th for us and Europa League.

We held on to the top 4 for a long time. We need to hold on these last games, win 2/3 and hopefully ManU will draw randomly one game.

33 minutes ago, Gol15 said:

We held on to the top 4 for a long time. We need to hold on these last games, win 2/3 and hopefully ManU will draw randomly one game.

I am at peace with it either way.

If we make it great, if we dont then I look at games when we lost twice to a garbage west ham, could not beat a garbage bouremouth who are going down and just got completely out fought and out worked by Sheffield united.

Looking at Leicester’s games, you would think they might struggle. They will likely win against Bournemouth but then might drop points against Sheffield United, Spurs and United. 
 

But that’s the issue, we’ve left ourselves relying on others to drop points now. Realistically, we will only get 6/9 points max. 

1 hour ago, axman2526 said:

I am at peace with it either way.

If we make it great, if we dont then I look at games when we lost twice to a garbage west ham, could not beat a garbage bouremouth who are going down and just got completely out fought and out worked by Sheffield united.

If Man City gets the CL ban for 1 season at least, top 5 is still good for us and that's all that matters. But at this point I think it's a bit bs that ManU just keeps winning while everyone else is just barely pushing through, specially since they beat us so hard this season...

I would be OK with the whole thing if we either stay in top 4, get to top 5 but still qualify for CL, or lose the CL but win ManU in the FA Cup.

I reckon 66 points might be enough the way Leicester's form has dropped in recent weeks. Having said that is Champions League football really something we need next season? I feel like this team might benefit from a season to develop without that distraction. I really don't think we are ready to make a deep run in the tournament anyway.

3 hours ago, axman2526 said:

If Leicester can win their next 3 they go to 68 points.

When United win their next 3 they go to 67 points.

If we can beat Wolves we can go to 66 points, as we have little hope against Liverpool.

So we are left hoping Leicester continue their indifferent form and then United beat them on the last day.

Realistically I feel it will be 5th for us and Europa League.

t would be a very "Chelsea" thing to do though, to (a) be the first team to win at Anfield in the PL this season and (b) prevent them overtaking Manchester City's record season points haul.

Nailed on away win ... ?

1 hour ago, Gol15 said:

If Man City gets the CL ban for 1 season at least, top 5 is still good for us and that's all that matters. But at this point I think it's a bit bs that ManU just keeps winning while everyone else is just barely pushing through, specially since they beat us so hard this season...

I would be OK with the whole thing if we either stay in top 4, get to top 5 but still qualify for CL, or lose the CL but win ManU in the FA Cup.

I believe City will get away with no ban.

58 minutes ago, forbzy said:

I reckon 66 points might be enough the way Leicester's form has dropped in recent weeks. Having said that is Champions League football really something we need next season? I feel like this team might benefit from a season to develop without that distraction. I really don't think we are ready to make a deep run in the tournament anyway.

The prize money in itself makes it worth it. Not to mention if we sh*t the bed and crash out in the group stage, then we’re in the EL anyways. We will be deep and I think more games will be better, as it will be easier to rotate and keep all players happy and engaged.

I am really quite happy that Leicester are playing at Bouremouth tomorrow. As either those rotten cherries do us a favour for once or the foxes kick them one big step toward relegation.

No help from Bournemouth. They are defending like us.