Football: Lamping on towards the finish line.

[Rorshach]

Just now, A Horse Named Stranger said:

That's horsist. Stop painting horses as drug addicts.

To be fair, he's just looking for an excuse to punch the horse.

[BigFatCoward]

3 minutes ago, Rorschach - 2 said:

To be fair, he's just looking for an excuse to punch the horse.

Don't need one. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Just now, BigFatCoward said:

Don't need one. 

That's the most Newcastle thing you've ever posted.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

14 minutes ago, BigFatCoward said:

I'm not sure cycling is corrupt, more inept. Tomorrow the second biggest race of the year starts. And they have just realised the penultimate stage, which potentially could decide the overall winner, goes up a road that is too narrow. 

 

Wasn't there a year where they had to give the fourth place finisher in the Tour de France because all three on the podium were busted?

And to be fair, I have zero issues with doping in that sport because Idk how you can complete the race and season otherwise. I regularly bike 50 miles on flat surfaces and feel like I can't walk for the rest of the day.

3 minutes ago, A Horse Named Stranger said:

That's horsist. Stop painting horses as drug addicts.

Maybe Equinophobia is the better term here. And your kind is more a victim of forced drugging than being drug addicts.

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

5 minutes ago, Rorschach - 2 said:

To be fair, he's just looking for an excuse to punch the horse.

My mom once punched a horse in the face when she was a kid. I guess the hate was taught to me.

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Meanwhile in the Bundesliga, I think I might have to revise my prediction about who is going down from a few weeks ago.

I thought Schalke and Hertha would drop directly, with Stuttgart escaping in the play-offs.

Hertha still look like prime contenders to go down, but Schalke might actually escape.  They got the back-to-back wins against Werder and Mainz, however, those were probably their last points for the season, as their run in looks rather rough on paper.

(Bayern (a), Frankfurt (h), RedBull (a))

Bochum's run in is a bit kinder (Gladbach (a), Augsburg (h), Hertha (a), Leverkusen (h)), Augsburg and Hertha will likely be the crucial games in their run in.

Hertha's run in is kinda benign, but they are so awful and effectively 7 points adrift. (Stuttgart (h), Köln (a), Bochum (h), Wolfsburg (a)). So even their schedule shouldn't save them. They more or less have to win games to have any hope whatsoever, and Stutgart is a must-win game. If they lose that, it's already light's out.

Stuttgart's run in is kinda neutral. (Hertha (a), Leverkusen (h), Mainz (a), Hoffenheim (h)). Hertha is doable, Mainz they probably would rather play at home. Final matchday against Hoffenheim could be the game that decides who can save themself directly, and who has to go into the play-off games.

For the sake completion

Hoffenheim's run in. (Frankfurt (h), Wolfsburg (a), Union (h), Stuttgart (a)).

Sidenote, Hoffenheim is coached by Matarazzo, who was dismissed by Stuttgart earlier. Stuttgart have in the meantime parted ways, his successor, Labbadia, and are with Hoeneß now on their thrid managerial appointment.

Almost forgot, Augsburg is also another candidate that could drop (in theory at least). Their run in (Union (h), Bochum (a), Dortmund (h), Gladbach (a)). They should be able collect a few points here and there, and like I said, Schalke will probably not find another point and since Schalke GD is so bad, they effectively have to gain win two points over Augsburg. 

I won't bother with Bremen's schedule, as they've sufficient breathing room and really shouldn't be in danger anymore. Below the current standings in the relegation battle.

       Club                    GP  W D L Goals GD Points

			Werder Bremen (N)	30	10	5	15	48:58	-10	35
			FC Augsburg	30	8	7	15	39:55	-16	31
			FC Schalke 04 (N)	31	7	9	15	31:59	-28	30
			TSG Hoffenheim	30	8	5	17	39:51	-12	29
			VfB Stuttgart	30	6	10	14	38:52	-14	28
			VfL Bochum	30	8	4	18	33:67	-34	28
			Hertha BSC	30	5	7	18	35:61	-26	22

Edited May 5, 2023 by A Horse Named Stranger

[BigFatCoward]

cracking game to decide promotion to the scottish premier league, Dundee beat Queens Park 5-3 in what was basically a winner takes all decider. 

[polishgenius]

It's absolutely ludicrous how much better 29mil Madueke is than 90mil Mudryk.

[Corvinus85]

Chelsea have probably secured their middle of the table spot. Well done Super Frank. 

What an awful season.

[ljkeane]

City are really fucking my fantasy team with this shit. Who cares about Gundogan’s hat trick? Give the ball to Haaland ffs.

Also Lampard has once again avoided relegation by the look of it.

[polishgenius]

City reduced to clinging on for dear life with some embarrassing timewasting against Leeds. 

[polishgenius]

lmao excellent

[Raja]

Absolutely 10/10

[Mr. Chatywin et al.]

1 hour ago, Corvinus85 said:

Chelsea have probably secured their middle of the table spot. Well done Super Frank. 

What an awful season.

We won a match? We won a match!!!

Can't even be bothered to watch the rest of this dumpster fire of a season. Also, when did City pass Arsenal? You jerks had one job. Stop getting draws. And that goes double for you, Liverpool and Spurs. Don't let those Newcastle bastards stay in the top four. Time is running out. 

1 hour ago, ljkeane said:

City are really fucking my fantasy team with this shit.

I have to confess, as someone who is pretty good at NFL FF, I still have no idea how this one even works and always finish last or close to it when I try. Forwards and goalies are easy to figure out, but the hell do you do with the other 7-8 players?

[ljkeane]

I suspect we’re absolutely battering Brentford on the xg front here but if we don’t take one of those chances they look dangerous enough that we might regret it.

[AncalagonTheBlack]

27 minutes ago, ljkeane said:

I suspect we’re absolutely battering Brentford on the xg front here but if we don’t take one of those chances they look dangerous enough that we might regret it.

Well, managed to scrape by in the end. That midfield is dire though. Absolutely no control. 

If it wasn't for Salah and Allisson , we'd probably be where Chelsea are at the moment. 

Nunez had a horrible game. What a pass from TAA though. 

Edited May 6, 2023 by AncalagonTheBlack

[ljkeane]

5 minutes ago, AncalagonTheBlack said:

Well, managed to scrape by in the end. That midfield is dire though. Absolutely no control. 

I thought the midfield was completely irrelevant to be honest. It was Brentford bypassing the midfield and us struggling with Toney that was the problem.

[BigFatCoward]

We should still be OK, 6 points from 5 games will do it. But I'm definitely looking over my shoulder. 

[A Horse Named Stranger]

Manchester United is somewhat more likely to drop out of top four than Newcastle. And that would take an incredibly unlikely turn of events. Had they dropped points against Villa, they'd have real reasons to worry.

[Corvinus85]

The fact that Chelsea scored the most goals out of any team that played today. The coronation really screwed up people, didn't it?