5string

"What's wong with Villa?" asks Line-acre. They're not very good, that's what.

Ah. My understanding was that the PL would get 3 places. Didn't realise the 3 were across Europe. We'll just have to beat Man City, then!

http://www.premierleague.com/en-gb/matchday/fair-play-calculation.html

That's the foot in, then. I don't know if this has been covered elsewhere, but is there a chance that we might qualify for Europe via the Fair Play League, even if Villa win the FA Cup? Was on the FAPL website and the way they calculate points for qualification includes 'continuing to attack even when in a winning position' under 'Positive Play'. We did that yesterday! 3 places are available: assume for this illustration that Liverpool & Man City qualify via PL. West Ham seem obvious 1st choice. Everton & Burnley next 2, but we're not far behind. This weekend's points not included yet. FAIR PLAY TABLE Season 2014/15 POS CLUB P R/Y P/P R/O R/R B/O PTS SCORE AVG 1 Liverpool 34 274 271 195 204 182 1126 281.5 8.3 2 West Ham 34 276 271 194 199 185 1125 281.25 8.3 3 Everton 34 276 262 198 196 183 1115 278.75 8.2 4 Man City 34 265 272 197 197 182 1113 278.25 8.2 5 Burnley 34 279 255 202 202 174 1112 278.0 8.2 6 Soton 34 280 264 189 196 182 1111 277.75 8.2 7 Man Utd 34 269 257 199 196 187 1108 277.0 8.1 8 Leicester 34 282 248 199 201 171 1101 275.25 8.1 9 Cr Palace 34 273 253 195 200 179 1100 275.0 8.1 10 Tottenham 34 260 271 191 195 179 1096 274.0 8.1 11 W Brom 34 271 243 194 201 186 1095 273.75 8.1 12 Swansea 34 279 249 191 196 179 1094 273.5 8.0 13 Arsenal 33 258 264 183 184 170 1059 264.75 8.0 14 Chelsea 34 268 270 193 188 171 1090 272.5 8.0 15 Q P R 34 265 246 190 197 185 1083 270.75 8.0 16 Newcastle 34 266 234 196 200 181 1077 269.25 8.0 17 Stoke City 34 266 248 183 187 171 1055 263.75 7.8 18 Hull City 34 255 236 187 190 180 1048 262.0 7.8 19 Aston Villa 34 254 234 185 189 185 1047 261.75 7.7 20 Sund'land 33 240 216 181 177 153 967 241.75 7.3 POS CLUB P R/Y P/P R/O R/R B/O PTS SCORE AVG

Checked score at about 6-7 mins, 0-0. Checked back 15 minutes later after planting a tree... blimming 4-0!! My head nearly hit the shed roof! Fantastic way to sign off at SMS for the season!

Excited about Jay signing. He's a good player to watch and seems to make things happen - which is desperately needed atm.

Who knows, Swans beating Arsenal may put a rocket up our lot cos we now have something to fight for.

Forster Clyne Gardos Yoshida Morgan Davis JWP Tadic Gaston Rodriguez Osvaldo Bench: Anybody fit and available

Did this happen cos I asked if Channon was available? Did the database spot our on-pitch troubles and try to make him available by sending us through a wormhole?

Yeah, same re Tadic in the Guardian report. Didn't know about Djuricic... I feel slightly out of the loop here! Anyone else I've missed? Is Channon still available? Ah well.

I was surprised he was included. The whole 'innocent until proven guilty' argument will rage on, but there are sensitivities needing to be addressed and with football being a highly emotive subject already, it doesn't need another firework to be lit up its a$$. Don't need another potential Ched Evans... Too controversial?

http://i.guim.co.uk/static/w-620/h--/q-95/sys-images/Guardian/Pix/pictures/2015/5/1/1430499912703/7d79fcf8-a141-4e2e-8e3c-344df07bb6ad-489x540.png Interesting idea for a starting line up fro the Grauniad - no Vic, Tadic injured (is he? I didn't know).

Sunderland vs Saints W 3-0. We're on the up again, scoring goals, Sunderland would have been dreading that scenario. It won't be 8-0 again, but could be a few if we avoid arrogant expectations. Leicester vs Saints D 1-1. A tricky one as Leicester are fighting hard. We'll need to be ready for a scrap. Saints vs Aston Villa W 2-1. If Jose/Toby can control their rejuvenated strikers, we should manage a win, though Sherwood will have done his homework on us so it'll be a nervous rollercoaster of a game. Man City vs Saints L 1-3. End of season party type game. Man City won't want to end the season with a home defeat. So, 7 points according to my predictions. Haven't tried to predict Liverpool/Spurs results yet, so no idea how we'll end up. Hopefully 6th or 5th. COYS!

Are you suggesting he doesn't have the 'head' for PL? With his number of missed chances maybe that's the case. It's been proffered as an opinion by several on here if memory serves.

20/22 A few lucky guesses. Mucked up on Steve Howey & Andy Hinchcliffe.

SD often finds himself in shooting range, and yet scores very few goals. Surely this shows he knows how to get into those positions but lacks either confidence or ability (not sure which is greatest 'lack') to put away his chances. Shooting practice for him in training, then!

Fantastic read. Top job, Athletic. My new favourite European team.

Pos Team Pld GD Pts 1 Chelsea 38 47 90 2 Man Utd 38 36 81 3 Arsenal 38 39 79 4 Man City 38 36 75 5 Soton 38 29 70 6 Liverpool 38 12 68 7 Tottenh'm 38 4 62 8 Stoke 38 -1 54 9 West Ham 38 3 52 10 C Palace 38 2 52 11 Swansea 38 -4 52 12 Everton 38 -3 46 13 Aston Villa 38 -21 41 14 Newcastle 38 -20 39 15 W Brom 38 -24 34 16 Hull 38 -22 31 17 QPR 38 -24 30 18 Sunderl'nd 38 -35 30 19 Burnley 38 -28 29 20 Leicester 38 -26 28

-------------------K.Davis----------------- Clyne--- Fonte --Alderweireld---Bertrand -------------Reed-- Schneiderlin--------------- Tadic--------------Mane-----------Long --------------------Pelle ------------------ So, pretty much same as OP (swapping Clyne/Bertrand, of course). With Mane playing no.10 role, he could support Pelle more and give himself striking options. Opinion here seems to be that he prefers a central position. I'm undecided about JWP. Rather bench him and use him as extra attacking option if needed. Same for Elia. Are they 'ard enough to start against Stoke? Or is that even the wrong question to ask? Maybe we should play our own game rather than trying to match toughies. In which case, could try: -------------------K.Davis----------------- Clyne-- Fonte --Alderweireld---Bertrand --------------- Schneiderlin--------------- Tadic----------JWP---Mane--------Elia -------------------Pelle ------------------ Keep Long hungry, get him on to give tired Stoke legs the runaround in the last 20-30 mins.

Good win today! clean sheet 2 goals: special that JWP & Pelle got them 3 points Spuds lost

Yesss!! At last, Pelle scores! Nice one

Trying to walk it in again. SHOOT!!!!

Hull corner. Have we conceded from a set piece yet this season?

I feel like our passing has been lazy today, almost as if we assume Hull will let us pass to each other when we want to, especially in defensive half. We need to sharpen up a bit, against a team who are pressing us well.

I watched, but stomach was inside out! Well taken JWP!