lanky_ffc

I don't we think we thought we were wildly better than Utd. IMO, most rational fans looked at Utd's poor away record, especially against ourselves and the better sides in the division, and thought that we should get a positive result tonight. Based on form up to this point, that wasn't an unfounded opinion. The major grievance is that we approached the game negatively against a team that was vulnerable at the back. I'm not going to pretend we're a great defensive unit (because we're not), so we should have been aiming to outscore Utd tonight. Houston got that wrong and we've paid the price. The stats of the game are pretty damning for me. We got out-shot at home in a game we should have been aiming to win. If you try to shitfest, you're always liable to lose when your defence isn't up to scratch. No complaints about the result from me.

Juve missing Khedira and Pjanic in the middle, so that should offer Lazio some hope. They've already lost home and away to Juve without scoring and their record against the other sides in top 3 isn't great either.

Hard to see them failing to beat Crotone given how imperious their home form is.

A 4-0 stroll for Monaco leaves them needing 1 point to clinch the title. PSG won 5-0 away at St Etienne, but that's just delaying the inevitable IMO.

Interesting that the criteria for deciding who gets to participate is final league standing. That could mean perennial bottlers Salzburg would enter the qualifiers whereas Leipzig would be denied an automatic spot in the group stage. Not the outcome Red Bull will be hoping for.

Been really impressed everytime I've watched them. Defensively they're quite similar to Juve in that they'll allow teams to have shots, but rarely concede clear chances. Thought they were unlucky tonight as they contained Milan pretty well only to concede a goal which should have been flagged offside. Doesn't make a huge difference to their league standing though. 4th seems unlikely now, but you'd imagine they'll be pleased with 5th.

This is tragic

Vaughn is a terrible shout. We need to stop signing Championship jobbers.

Delete your account.

I think people overplay the importance of big crowds impacting a team's performance. We scored a lot of late goals last season to scrape results, so it wasn't overly surprising that we did it against Hibs and Killie in the play-offs. This season we've scored more in the second half when we've been shooting towards the South Stand. I think shooting into a 'home end' does give the players a bit of a lift, but the size of the crowd is fairly irrelevant IMO.

1,500 tickets is just over 10% of the stadium. Still a bit disappointing as you'd imagine we've given them the full North Stand (~2,000). Not like Thompson to turn away the cash.

Worth pointing out that Hibs' points total this season (71) is only one better than ours last season. We absolutely could have challenged with better recruitment.

That's a pretty flimsy argument IMO. Surely you'd want a gradual devaluation over time.

I don't know a great deal about Moneyweek, but surely a publication that offers advice on money and investments shouldn't have been championing something that has weakened our currency and increased the cost of living.

Can't see past a Monaco win in that one. St Etienne have only avoided defeat once away to a team above them.

It's wild. No idea how they reached the number 10.

South Stand sold out for the play-off semi aside from season ticket holders who are yet to purchase their own 'seat'.

Aye, it's surely a question of when not if for Monaco. If they don't/can't better PSG's result this weekend, they should clinch it next midweek at home to St Etienne.

Monaco and PSG both won comfortably at the weekend, so the gap remains at 3. Next up for PSG is a tricky away trip to St Etienne (who have only lost twice at home all season) while Monaco have Lille at home (who are 11th and have only beaten 3 teams in the top half). They can be crowned champions if they better PSG's result. Both games are 8PM on Sunday. Nice lost away at Marsielle to end their slim hopes of 2nd. They've already secured Champions League for next season and can be happy finishing as comfortably the 3rd best side.

I got BT at the start of the season and have fallen back in love with Italian football. Really enjoyable season and the highest scoring since the late 90s (according to the guys on the European Football Show) with an average of about 2.80 per game. Who said Serie A was boring and defensive?

Very comfortable evening for Roma. Both Milan clubs will be hoping the investment will bring back former glories, but they're awhile away from that. Whilst they both have some good attacking options, there's also some absolute haddies in their backlines. The penalty pretty much summed up Paletta; slow, clumsy and just not good enough for where Milan want to be.

Agree with this. My fear is that we've perhaps scarificed quality for quantity in a few areas. That said, we do have a couple of wildcards in Hippo and Austin which could be the difference.

Are most people saying they'd prefer Hamilton in the final cause they're weak up top and Houston will likely try and shitfest it? Still a good chance of Motherwell finishing 11th and whilst they have decent firepower in McDonald and Moult, their defence is gash and only ICT have conceded more. FWIW, I'm not overly confident of us beating any of Premiership teams should we make it that far.

I saw Oddschecker's Facebook page made a 'one club man' XI with him as the striker. There were folk commenting underneath saying Le Tissier should be in it ahead of him Just the 250 Serie A goals.

We've scored 12 in the 1st half and 19 in the 2nd at home this season. You'd just need to adjust that for games where we've shot into the SS 1st half. Saturday past wouldn't change anything as we scored 1 in each half. Can't think of any other games this season where we've had to switch halves before KO.