OhForAGreavsie

I'm not buying that. It's Tuesday. We play Sunday - Wednesday. Tell them they're exhausted and they will be. Don't get this wrong Frank.

Again, I thought Willian earned praise for his working back even though today wasn't one of those days where he made a difference going forward. I though we looked a bit sharper when Ross replaced Ruben. Rubes get a pass for the remainder of this season but next term will be important for him. He has to start making significant contributions or the clock will begin to run out.

Me!! I bloody care and I'm hoping Frank does too. If it's me I go top side. Send the youngsters to Munich.

Walk over the line, fall over the line, crawl over the line. We shouldn't care. We have seen enough from this squad to know high expectations are not realistic. It's overly optimistic to be looking for style or development now. This group is what it is so, as they approach the finish line, lets get behind them and blow. All we can ask of them is that they do everything they can to set up next season, and take a stab at The FA Cup. Speaking of which, if we've saved a better performance for Sunday, that'll suit me.

Clever Callum. Like it.

That's what we want to see Callum. Simple but effective.

I think Willian has had a good game defensively and I suspect that's why he's still out there.

Now is your moment Callum. Take us back to the U18 glory days.

That'll do.

Not if it's a digital one set on its 24 hour display.

Decent lineup. Obviously the points are the most important thing tonight. An encouraging display from RLC would be nice though. Hopefully he can occupy the spaces into which Kova and Jorgi like to play their little passes and then make things happen. We could do with a performance like that, and so could he.

Speaking of being a happy fan, there is something I want to say. I know this is wildly off topic, and I apologise of course, but this makes me so happy I just want to blurt it out. The impending name change of the NFL's Washington franchise means that I am, at long last, going to be able to speak the name of the team I support. About bloody time Dan Snyder.

My younger daughter used to come to games with me before she moved away, but the older one has no interest in football. The older one told me the other day that being a football fan doesn't seem to be much fun a lot of the time. I replied that she was beginning to get it.

Whenever Frank was interviewed during the lockdown he always put forward arguments which lent towards cancelling the remaining games. He was always careful to couch his comments in terms of player and staff safety, but I could never escape the impression that he knew ending the season then suited Chelsea just fine. Oh well, Southampton have thrown us a quarter of a lifeline, and opened up the possibility of a nightmare scenario. It's entirely possible that we could take one win and one loss from our next two games, while Man u and Leicester take two wins. That would leave each of our rivals 2 points in front of us going into the last game of the season. With their big goal difference advantage that means a draw would be good enough for both of them in that last fixture. Can we get something at Anfield? We might need to, but it's only going to matter either way if we get the job done tomorrow.

This has seemed inevitable for the last two weeks.

I've seen him play several times for the 18's, both live and on TV. I like him a lot. I've posted the opinion that he is more talented than Gilmour which attracted some comment. When you see him play my bet is that you'll agree. We have to remember however that just being more talented does not mean he'll necessarily become the better player. That doesn't automatically follow but all other things being equal more talent will give an advantage. I've also posted the idea that if we could somehow grab Bellingham ahead of Dortmund, or manage to take him from there at some point, then Bate, Bellingham and Kova will make a good midfield in three years time.

Great news. Unlikely that Frank is taking him with the expectation that he'll play, but I'm delighted that Lewis is getting another sight of the matchday squad. I really like the look of this player.

Quite right.

Is the correct answer.

For what it's worth, Guillem Balague really likes Torres.

Thank you. Never heard of them before today. I'm on an adventure of exploration. I was in a quiz recently where a question was asked about One Direction and I had to admit that I had never heard a single one of their songs so I promised I would listen to some, and I did. Life's for learning.

Given the amount of time I spend watching football; reading, talking and typing about it, it would be reasonable for everyone to conclude that it is my favourite sport. Anyone who thinks that would have been misled however. Cricket is the greatest game ever invented. I've been in love with it since I was too young to go to school, and today is my younger daughter's 30th birthday so that's been a while now. In theory, I think everyone in football would agree with us on the value of selling at the right time. The question is whether they can summon the confidence to actually pull the trigger when it comes to parting with a good player. When the theory meets the reality, it seems that the deed is easier said than done. In all those years of following cricket I've heard many generations of ex-captains complaining from the commentary booth about their successors being too conservative with their declarations. "He should have declared an hour and a half earlier to give his bowlers more time to get the wickets.", or "He should have left them a smaller target so they would have chased it because, when a side is chasing runs, you have a better chance to get them out." Ex-captains always espouse that opinion once they've put down their bats and taken up a microphone, but while they're out in the middle making the decision, they always err on the side of caution. As I've stated since he was playing for us, I believe in Frank's potential as a manager. As you say however, the way he handles this situation will be an indicator of how successfully he might convert that potential into achievement.

You are absolutely right about this. True, and this is very much a part of the argument @Vesper makes. Selling at the right moment is clever squad planning. It was very much Liverpool's mantra back in their glory years. They used to say it was important to make sure that your players' legs went when they we're on someone else books, not yours. Selling while a new club still believes in what a player can offer them maximises his remaining transfer value, and should be in every director of football's playbook.

Who the heck are Rick & Monty?

Agreed. That's a certainty. More than enough I think. I very much doubt that Tammy will be sold, or loaned, at the end of the season. This makes it inevitable that he will get starts somewhere along the line but he can never become The starter for us. He does not have the quality. I feel bad being so blunt about such a likeable lad who demonstrates a huge commitment to the club, but we can't just wish our preferred realities into existence. No matter what Trump thinks. I'm only just reading through the thread, and as I tend to do, I'm reading it from the most recent posts and working backward. I therefore haven't yet seen comments about Willian being poor but I'm really surprised by posts like that. I actually made him player of the match today. I wouldn't object to a new contract on squad player terms. If he's holding out for the reported £12m a year however, than, as @Vesper would say, that's a hard pass.