Deeg67

That's not wrong, but worth noting he wasn't at fault for either goal apart from lacking the pace to make up for someone else's mistake.

Fascinating matchup. Leeds in superb form (8 wins in a row for the first time in 92 years, 7 clean sheets among them) and we may be a little stale from being so far ahead for so long. A draw would very clearly suit us fine, but both in terms of 2nd and potentially even considering a run at us Leeds has to have three points. Will we be pragmatic and try to see out a draw, go in angry after losing yesterday, struggle on wavering confidence? Lot of unknowns here, but if Leeds wins the title race is absolutely on the table.

I mean, 8 wins in the row in the league, 19-1 cumulative score. Obviously pretty poor.

The point is not that we ****ed up the transfer, the point is that we would have pursued Sensi whether he would be picked ahead of Praet or not, if your argument about how limited the options are is correct. You need players you can rotate, and even if Enzo had a preference to start Praet,with all his injury history you obviously need a backup. Pursuing Sensi is not itself indicative of Enzo preferring him to Praet. Maybe he would have, maybe not - we’ll never know.

If the options are that limited, Sensi would have been pursued whether he was going to be picked ahead of Praet or not.

Spot-on. But if the history of this place has taught us anything, it's that once a player becomes the FT scapegoat there's almost no chance that ever changes. Vesty is probably the only miraculous exception, and how many great performances did it take with him?

Indeed, that's a fascinating question. Is Enzo capable of pragmatism? Only time will tell. As for Vesty, I'm fine with keeping him around as he's had a terrific season. In the PL his usage must be matchup-dependent but you have to trust the manager on that.

Apparently Oliver Glasner is in negotiations with them to take over.

Leeds and Southampton don’t give a toss about us. Avoiding the playoffs is everything. Southampton will be huge Leicester fans next week. WBA is dangerous team for whoever slips back into 3rd-4th. Very hard to break down, play well against the top sides.

The biggest advantage we have (apart from a huge lead) is that Leeds and Southampton are always going to be watching each other (and Ipswich to the extent that they can remain relevant) more than Leicester. No one cares that much who wins the league - it’s avoiding the playoffs that matters. That said, I don’t know why anyone would trust a team managed by Martin over one managed by a guy with Farke’s track record in this league. Leeds is probably the only possible threat, and a draw with them would probably be enough to put that to bed. Unless Southampton completely goes in the tank and Leeds feel relaxed and going for the title is like a free hit.

If you were a Rotherham fan, would you want to watch them play? Sounds like an excuse to me.

There’s no way on God’s green Earth Ipswich are getting 103 points.

Season's not over yet...

I think Ipswich are probably toast in the race for 2nd, but we'll know more or less for sure after the next 3-4 fixtures. We win, Leeds and Southampton a titanic battle for second, maybe going down to the final day. Looks pretty cut and dry, really.

If that’s the case it makes refusing to sell Souttar to Leeds (who 100% wanted him) look very questionable. Souttar is a marketable commodity on a decent wage who clearly will never get a sniff from the current manager. Keeping him offers us nothing. If selling him to Leeds means making incomings like Sensi possible, fear of helping a rival doesn’t hold up as a sufficient reason to balk. Maybe they were only willing to do a loan, but that’s not what’s being widely reported. We should feel confident enough that we’re going up not to worry about who finishes second.

I like Nelson, and I thought he played well under adverse circumstances. But I’m not sure how well he fits the role Enzo envisions for a CB. He likes ball-playing defenders over no-nonsense CBs, just as he prefers ball-playing keepers over shot stoppers. That may not be a luxury he can worry about in the PL, but it all depends on how rigid Enzo turns out to be in his philosophical inclinations. One way or the other Nelson is going to have to work on his possession and passing before Enzo will see him as a potential first-choice CB.

Not if Enzo runs a side out there like he did against Birmingham. If he does it’ll be 5-0 before he gets the relief corps in.

Bournemouth is solidly mid-table. They aren’t getting relegated, they aren’t going to Europe. For them not much downside in giving it a go.

Who are “they”, exactly? Because I’m inclined to think they’re straight trippin’.

I guess you could say similar about us and KDH but why would Cov sell O’Hare even if he is out of contract in the summer? They’re on the edge of making the playoff and potential promotion is surely worth more to them than a few million for 20 games of O’Hare.

FFS, Maidstone have had two giant killings to get this far. Let them have a matchup against a glamour club, we don’t need to steal their moment.

I think Stolarczyk is a better shot stopper than Hermansen, while the latter is clearly better with the ball at his feet. It's hard to know how much of Stolarczyk's shambolic distribution in the first half was due to having a ragtag lineup with no cohesion and limited ball-playing skill and positional sense in front of him, but clearly it's an area he struggles with. But if it hadn't been for his heroics, we could easily have been 2 or 3 down at the break. The problem is, in the modern game ball-playing keepers are generally favored over shot-stoppers. And a keeper who struggles with distribution will never be a #1 in Enzo's system. That said, Enzo won't be here forever, and Stolarczyk decisiveness coming off the line really impressed me as much as the saves he made. He has real talent and I'd like to see us find a way to keep him around - keepers who keep the ball out of the net are seriously underappreciated.

Yeah, the carriage is turning into a pumpkin sooner or later so may as well have them get the thrill (and cash) of a match with Man City.

I thought he did quite well under rough circumstances. Not only in terms of positioning, but also being surprisingly vocal for a kid in his first appearance.

TBH I expect McKenna is probably relieved, as they don't have the squad depth of the clubs they're competing against. Still a tremendous moment though.