Southamptons appointment reminded me of this beauty….I always get great joy reading the comments back at when they sacked Adkins and got in Pochettino, well worth reading the replies…

I think a Liverpool tie would be better than the mid-table / bottom half clubs. They’ll stick out a youth team and have no depth whereas the likes of Leicester and Wolves will see it as a cup chance. City though…their reserves are top 4 quality I'll Take: Liverpool, United, Burnley, MK Dons, Charlton, Lincoln, Gillingham I'd Hate: Brighton Away, Leicester, Villa, Wolves, Southampton Away, Bournemouth Away Indifferent on the rest i.e. Newcastle away will be good trip and City will be fun regardless of the fact we'll get battered.

Not sure about the half and half scarf

19 consecutive successful penalties is about 1000/1 if we consider the standard of player diminishes as it progresses

Interesting that the next round is 20th/21st December so it’ll be first game back for Prem teams after the World Cup…..not sure if that means they rest players ahead of Boxing Day or would they play them as a warm up if they’ve not played for a while

Date is 20th/21st Dec I think for fixtures

Hirst up 9th. Confidence must be shot. Some team spirit though. Well done to all involved. Gillingham at home next round please or United away (if they win) for a Christmas piss up. Such bad FOMO missing out tonight - enjoy it all you lads in London Hope we’ve not used up all our luck ahead of Sunday

Which of Masterchef or I’m a Celeb is your poison?

Will the penalties be shown at all on the Sky Sports show do we think?

Hirst?

😄 maybe that’s what he was thinking!

Stick on Phillips or Batty instead of Hyam

Hyam now too - what is he thinking

Sounds like we got battered last 30 mins. No idea why he made those substitutes

Pears to become a hero 😂

You can all blame me anyway for looking up when the next round was played, about 30 seconds before their equaliser

You mean against the mighty Silkeborg and FCSB *checks google* it’s Bucharest ? Edit: I agree with your general premise that they’re a far better 11 but not sure the Europe (its Europa Conference too) comment stands up much

What a chance for Markanday - didn’t look comfortable at all

Mola shoved in the back. Poor touch from Buckley

Superb pass from Edun

Originally planned to fly over for this and double it with Sunday. £10 a ticket and plenty flights to London too. Train strikes (and reserve team once we cemented one league position) put me off in the end…..having some serious FOMO now though! Bet the atmosphere is absolutely cracking

My unfortunate nickname….what a player to name it after 😂

Ticketed event at blues bar. Does anyone know if away fans will be able to access after the match for celebration/sorrows? *remove as you like*

Rice, Bellingham, Foden, Saka, Kane I think pick themselves at the moment. God only knows for the other 6 given injuries, form and formations. (EDIT: probably should add Trippier in given form and injuries to every other capable RB) I do find it strange how Coady appears to be the preference for most people ahead of Tarkowski. The latter has had a fantastic season so far, he's had most blocks and 3rd most clearances in the league. Certainly deserves to be there ahead of Maguire.

I work in a company (industry) where they have a "Gold Week" so to speak after there is a bit of a gap in expected revenue. i.e. Big offers, not expecting short-term profit, to get customers back onto your product after a time your industry has lapsed. We will have a few weeks gap with nobody coming to Ewood and the first game back should be one we target for a big offer to drive a huge crowd to avoid churn of customers (thousands of fans are going to have a few weeks spending Saturday differently and you have to be proactive to reengage them). Without over-exaggerating, the PNE game and Christmas period is not far behind the build up to start of season in terms of engaging our fan base, and avoiding a churn of customers.