Xen

This classic XKCD springs to mind...

17 seconds? That's enough time for one whole Adrien Silva!

Said to each other that we'd take our time this time around, not rush into making an offer on something... Next one we saw hit all our criteria, put in an offer under asking as the first people to view it, and accepted the next morning . Not getting too excited just yet - sellers still need to find their onward purchase and after the last one fell through we're trying not to get too attached. Likely going to end up in more of a chain than last time, so not expecting it to move along quite so quickly this time around...

The AIP shouldn't really be property-dependent, its basically just a letter from the bank saying they'd be prepared to offer you a mortgage up to X amount. When we started looked our mortgage advisor applied for our AIP before we'd even viewed anything, and it came back at ~£280k despite us having a hard-cap of £250k on any potential house due to our ISA terms. The house we offered on initially was £222k. We would've been able to use that same AIP for the second property we found after the first fell through, except it expired the day before it was required so we had to reapply Somehow, the (same) bank decided that this time - only a couple months later - they'd be willing to lend us an extra £75k on top of that Not that we'd even dream of spending that much on a house anytime soon...

I tend to think of it as "[in Jamie Vardy's lifetime, ] he's won more than you". Which feels like a reasonable cut-off point for 'relevant' achievements when comparing the two - in that time WBA have only won the championship in '08, same as runners up a few times and a 3rd tier playoff win in '93. Before that its another 25 years back when they won the FA cup in '68 - before the majority of the WBA fans in attendance yesterday were born. That nuance obviously doesnt come across in a chant though

Cresswell and Trippier were ridiculously good that season, so Konchesky and RDL not making it in isnt too surprising. And as good as Vardy has been since, that season he was far from the standout striker in the league (16 goals, McCormack got 28 and several others hit 20+) and Nugent's 20 included 11 penalties... It's a pretty fair XI, all in all!

How the hell is Faes still in the starting XI every single week. At least one critical mistake every single match. Coady or even Nelson would be an improvement.

Jeez. Predictable.

Another required-form update, after a positive weekend making things look a bit healthier. Obviously, top of the table with a game in hand means our fate is in our hands, but looking at possible points totals for our final 6 games gives a good indication of what might be required. If we finish the season at our current whole-season PPG (needing 4 wins and 2 draws to achieve that) then we're guaranteed automatic promotion and - pending a perfect finish from Ipswich - the title. If we carry on as we have done in our last 6 games (equivalent to playoff form) then Ipswich need 2.2ppg and Leeds 2.4ppg; both would have to improve both their recent form and overall season form. Southampton included as they can technically still surpass us, but realistically they're just trying to secure a home playoff second leg. Putting this into context with the remaining fixtures of the top 4: Its a bit unscientific with how I've categorised these, but the general gist is easy to pick up. Still lots to play for at both ends of the table so not many with their beach towels out... yet. The likes of Preston might have a shot at playoffs when they face Southampton, but well out of it when they play us for instance. QPR could have a crucial home tie against Leeds in GW45, or safety could be secure by then. Nonetheless, we've got the easiest run in based solely on league position, although our easier opponents on paper are in our away games so that could be a tripping hazard. If Middlesbrough can beat Hull, or Coventry beat Southampton, then the race for 6th is going to be very tight. WBA will still be looking over their shoulders when we play them, but unlikely to improve on their position.

MAVIDIDIII

YESSSS

2 bed flat in Salford/Manchester, with one parking space sets you back at least £1,000. 3 bed house a mile or two further out, with off road parking and decent garden is around £200-220k. With a 10% deposit the mortgage payments are around £900/month, of which ~£700 will be interest initially. So a lot more house, and a monthly 'saving' of about a third. Granted, the rental market round here is ridiculous, but its still hard to imagine a situation where a like-for-like property is ever cheaper renting than buying.

Aye, not great at all. Heard all the warnings about how the process can be stupid sometimes, so was expecting something to go wrong as it all seemed a bit too easy haha. First time buyers so still got sucked in and emotionally invested in a house before things were certain - easily done. Certainly wont be mentally picking out furniture and decorating before we have the keys in hand, this time! Means we're in a good position for our next attempt though, and can reassess a bit more logically about what we need/want. All part of the fun...

Sigh. Offered 215k on a 220k house, lots of interest so ended up accepted at 222k. Seller already knows the house she wants to buy and an agreement with the seller (no chain). So far so good. Downvaluation on the mortgage to 210k. Compromise on a 213k offer and things move on after a bit of a panic. Bombshell last wednesday when the onward purchase falls through because of a family issue. Our seller had her heart set on that particular house, so pulls her own house off the market and wont look at anything else. To add insult to injury, our adjusted mortgage application is accepted later that afternoon. Saturday morning I get a call and she's changed her mind and found something (again, no chain), but her offer was only accepted on the condition that our purchase resumes where it was. Fine by us, crisis averted. Then this morning I get another call from the estate agent apologising again as our seller has changed her mind once more and called the whole thing off again. Fuming. Back to the drawing board.

Clear foul. Was getting away with a yellow because of double-jeopardy with the pen, so has to be upgraded to a red if its downgraded to a free kick. Shocking from sterling though. Again

fawanews [dotcom]

It was blatant, and directly led to a 3-on-2 against 2 slow defenders which, frankly, Bournemouth should've done much better with. Luckily for you, replays on iplayer are easy to come by...

After a disappointing week, an update to my required-form table... Maintaining our current season-form is no longer enough to guarantee us promotion, although it would require a very strong end to the season from both Ipswich and Leeds. The latter are currently showing they can put such a run together, though... 10 teams can no longer catch us, and as long as we match 23rd-placed Sheffield Wednesday's form (just under 1PPG) we're guaranteed playoffs. If we drop as low as Hull's (6th) season form for our remaining games (1.62 PPG, or 6 wins and 2 draws) then Ipswich and Leeds would match us on their current PPG. NB this is all on season form to date, so doesn't take into account Leeds' impressive recent form.

If I was, the country would be ****ed. Oh, wait...

What sort of industry are you in, if I may ask? The Civil Service is probably a good place to look, if you haven't already. Most jobs are at the very least hybrid, or possible to work from any/most department locations. I'm with HMRC and my partner with DWP, and both of us could work pretty much anywhere in the country without too much bother. We're in Manchester, but if I was back in Leicester I could WFH 2-3 days a week and head to Nottingham for my office days, for instance. There's a definite knack to the CS applications, quite different from most other employers (a very specific focus on a selection of Civil Service 'behaviours', with marking criteria for each grade level). Good job security and a lot better support for things like mental health and personal development than at any previous employer I've had.

1/2 year extension on reasonable wages (assuming he had a clause when we were relegated) seems fair - he's definitely earned it off the back of this season. He might not quite be up to the pace of the prem enough to be a starter, but he's still adept at this system and prem-experienced so he'd fit into the squad as an option at a minimum. Which is probably what he'd expect as he'll be 32 when the season starts. Plus with Nelson starting to come through we could do with keeping someone around in a mentor style role. Similar to what we did with Fuchs/Chilwell when they were slowing down/coming through, respectively. So long as the deal is right, no problem with this.

Coventry and someone like Preston to go on a run and take 5th and 6th, knock out both Southampton and Leeds in the playoff semis and then Coventry to have back to back playoff final heartbreak, all whilst Everton (or Forest, either will do) get relegated.

Filthy from Mavididi. Lovely stuff.

In theory, after 46 games the table could look like: That's taking into account all the games against each other, trying to minimise each team's total to 75pts going down the (current) table in order. Bit unscientific and there are definitely some choices that would maybe allow Millwall to sneak ahead of us as well*, but by my reckoning the worst we can mathematically do is 17th (given a perfect set of results over the next ~180 Championship games!) *This isn't saying that Millwall can't catch us, but if they do then it would mean one of the other sides drops those points and wouldn't. So not quite what the thread is about, but the same gist!

I've posted a top-6 version of this a couple times now but decided to extend it to the whole league, and just as I finished it I've seen @skmanuk's work which is very similar. But still, here's which teams wouldn't be able to catch us (and what they'd require to do so if possible) if we matched their season-form for the rest of the season. Xs are teams which wouldn't be able to catch us. Italics are where the required PPG for a team to catch us is less than their current season-form. Reading across, if we maintain our current form then only Southampton are able to catch us and would require a near-perfect run to do so (2.96 ppg in their remaining fixtures). At the other end of the scale, if we didn't pick up a single point then we'd still be safe from relegation. Even with us standing still, everyone from Coventry and below would have to improve on their season form so far in order to catch up. Reality is that even a catastrophic collapse from this point would still see us pick up points. 1.5PPG (Hull's form, 8th) would see us safely in top 4, 1.2PPG (Plymouth, 15th) guarantees us top 6, and 1.0PPG (Huddersfield, 21st) guarantees top-10, although Norwich and Preston would both have to have perfect seasons but play each other.