Hasta

But the fact is the chances were not converted by a group of strikers that he has either brought or kept at the club at a significant cost. As much as I thought that Samuel might have more to his game (probably cos he is actually quite quick and mobile) he has always flattered to deceive. Gallagher we had already seen and knew what we were buying. To be fair he probably would have bagged a few more had he played up top, but he has been ruined by playing out wide. Brereton was a stupid amount of money for a nobody outside of Nottingham and that one Arsenal game. There's nothing in the lad that makes me think he will be a goalscorer. Mowbray was obviously unlucky with losing the goals that Dack provides, but we had the chance to address that in January and once again didn't act. Therefore the lack of goals in games which we created chances and had most of the possession isn't down to bad luck. Its down to bad recruitment. And that's been a problem all season. The keeper situation has swung a bit but ultimately has also been costly. It looked a disaster waiting to happen when we didn't replace Raya with anything other than a 3rd choice Prem keeper who Wigan fans were not sorry to see not return. He has had some decent spells but has been at fault (either by mistakes or by just not being good enough) for too many goals. I think we would have coped with the defence and midfield that we have been playing had we sorted the goalkeeper and striker situation out, but that is where we have failed.

In a parallel dimension in 1992:- "Sorry Alan. I know you're a good player and all, but the boys are really fond of David and, as we just got promoted, we want to keep the team morale intact"

Exactly. Someone said on the match day thread he is starting to look 'value' at £7 million. To look even close to being worth that amount he needs to perform like he did last week (which was very good) more often than not. To be 'value' then he needs to be performing and scoring. At the moment you can't even say he needs to show more consistency, because hasn't shown enough good form to even suggest he is inconsistent. However, as JoeH points out, you have to also judge each performance on its own merits and he was very good on Saturday. Hopefully he takes that on to the next game.

At least Boro have replaced their failing manager before they drop back into the relegation zone just like we d ..... Oh.

"Server not available. Please try again later" Thats from iOS app

Just a heads up that anyone that paused Sky Sports will start to be charged again from June 19th. https://www.sky.com/help/articles/pause-sky-sports

I've not been paying much attention since March. Did we extend Tosin's loan until the end of the season?

At least if you are a family of 4 then you can watch the empty beach on 4 different devices.

Let the carnage commence......

They were asked to vote on either throwing money they don't have down a pit in order to finish the season, or to end it now. Its blindingly obvious what the majority would vote for. They were not asked to vote whether relegation or promotion was fair in this scenario (ending the season), which it isn't. The EFL took that decision out of their hands. Therefore Tranmere have been relegated unfairly by the EFL, not by a majority decision by the clubs.

That's the problem. The EFL have decided promotion and relegation should happen regardless. That should have been left to the clubs. The options to the clubs vote on should have been - Void the season with no promotion or relegation - Void the season and promote / relegate on a PPG basis. - Finish the season I imagine that would have been a better indicator of what the lower league clubs thought was fair, and wouldn't have been a landslide.

To be fair to Bowyer, the two interviews I read / heard he wasn't complaining about playing the season out. He just said it would make his job more difficult in this situation but he understands the players reasoning. Personally, I don't. I just wouldn't pay the players involved. And if any of them are hard faced enough to say its because they don't want to jeopardise their dream move, rather than for health and safety fears reading the virus, I'd fine them each week they don't play as well.

Do you really want it to spill onto this board now? ?

Tranmere have won their last 3 games, and are now only 3 points from safety with a game in hand. Nothing about them being relegated on a PPG basis would be fair, just because Accy Stanley and a lot of other clubs with nothing to play for want to save money. The should have asked the league one and league two clubs to vote on should the season continue, or should it end and be void now. Most clubs would have chosen to void, so that would also have been the majority of the clubs wishes. That would have allowed the clubs to save money and no-one would have been penalised. @roversfan99 is right that the only way you should have promotion and relegation is when the season is finished. Therefore if PL and Championship play it out then you can have promotion / relegation between those leagues, but no-one goes down from the Championship.

Correct. It is sending out the wrong message that a hairdresser or barber cannot open their shop to work and have apppintments with 1 person inside at once. And somehow 21 men can congregate and share a football pitch. Once we have some normality like sensible family gatherings and being able to socially distance in a barbers then football should initiate project restart. However, if the footballers are working then they can get tested. Testing people who work in a warehouse packing non-essential luxury items isnt a priority but it's being done.

I currently see stock as being ample enough that currently anyone that works in an office, warehouse or a factory can go and get tested. It was previously just NHS and care workers but this has now been expanded. You see stocks as still being in short supply for NHS and care workers. Now I may be wrong and it may be difficult to actually get tested if you just work in an office. But as I said previously, I now know people who have gone and got tested just for the sake of it.

Fulham may believe they have an outside chance of finishing top 2 so could vote against it but the rest of the top 6 would vote for. That's 5 votes. Positions 17 to 21 would avoid relegation so that's another 5 votes. You would therefore need 4 of the teams positioned between 7 to 16 to vote to end the season which is surely very likely. Grossly unfair scenario tbh to be relegating teams in the situation, especially Charlton who only sat in the bottom 3 for the first time all season after the last round of fixtures. I'd also argue it you can't play the rest of the competition, don't play the play offs and just let Fulham go up. But that might be a slightly anti-PNE !

I said that I (personally) have no interest in it returning in the immediate future as a non-spectactor sport. You may find that by August, once the picture for the country and the world is clearer, then my interest may return. That is completely separate as to whether they should return now, in August or in 2 years time, for which I can see both sides of the argument. I am morally uncomfortable with the fact I cannot see two family members in a local park, but 21 men can congregate in a penalty box grappling each other. Removing the financial issue, the common sense approach would be to bring football back when you can also have a proper kick around with your mates in a field. I'm not bothered whether this season finishes or not. The game itself is much bigger than the 2019/2020 Premier League season.

I don't quite understand what is basic maths about it based on the points I made, but we will leave it. We may disagree on whether Premier League testing takes stock that would otherwise be used from the NHS, but I'm not sure we are looking at the 'bigger picture' from opposite ends of the telescope. I think we both agree with Paul's excellent post above, and as I have said numerous time I have no interest in it returning as a non-spectator sport in the immediate future.

But anyone over 65, any key worker or anybody who is working but not from home and has symptoms has access to tests already. I know several people with no symptoms are taking this up and driving to Preston or Manchester to get tested just for the fun of it. The company providing the tests, the Pl and the government all insist it I sent not taking stock from the NHS and the general public are already wasting available tests out of curiosity. Of course we don't know the full story / picture, but to say NHS staff wait in line whilst stock of tests they need is used by footballers is highly debatable.

I'm not bothered regarding football coming back at the moment simply because with other changes in life at the moment it isn't a priority. I'd rather draw a line under it and restart behind closed doors further down the line. However on your 3 points above, the first one we are being told isn't the case. I suspect test will be available privately for anyone, including government, if they pay the fees. The second one, whether they restart in the Premier or not, is going to be a big issue. If you want hand downs from the top leagues to keep L1 and L2 clubs going then its more likely if the SKY / BT gravy train can keep on rolling. On the third one, if you are on £60k a year in this country and your employer cannot operate at the moment then your salary is practically halved. Those people do not have a choice about whether they can do anything or not to get their full salary. Therefore players should be able to not play, but their salary should take a huge it - like more than half. The same as most well paid folk who can't do their job have had to.

I'm not sure Matty. It may well be as you say, but many other activities will be limited as well. You may find the first game back after 12 months could be massively attended. Waggot will have it pencilled as a category A+ game just incase.

Sunderland fans views on Jon Mclaughlin. Generally regarded as decent for them, would be missed but replaceable. No-one seems to be suggesting he would be great in the Championship. https://www.readytogo.net/smb/threads/jon-mclaughlin.1516241/

Completely unrelated stat, but David Raya had made more career starts whilst he was still at Rovers than Brad had made in his entire career before moving to Ewood.