Betty White RIP

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Hard not to love her. (Coincidentally, the same day as my mother-in-law, whom I also love.) She was a charmer who was never afraid to poke fun at herself.

Happy new year

I spent mine at home watching tv and drinking beer. Loved it. Now im going to nod off and enjoy watching everyone with hangovers tomorrow lol

Have a great 22 bbs’ers

Suggested Team and Formation For: Millwall FA Cup Third Round (08/01) Away

Saw this being discussed in another thread so its probably close enough to start this thread. Do we want a full strength team? Do we rotate?

I personally think the players have been through a tough period of games and we need to rotate. Even when we do rotate, I believe we have a team more than strong enough to beat Millwall.

Obviously no AFCON players.

Butland
Ferguson - Tomkins - Kelly - Clyne
Milivojevic - Riedewald
Rak-Sakyi - Olise - Eze
Mateta

Matthews, Ward, O’Brien, Adaramola, Hughes, Wells-Morrison, Schlupp, Edouard, Benteke

I’d like to see Adaramola as well at some point, we’ve been without a back up left back all season and I think we should give him half hour with an eye on integrating him into the first team squad.

Waiting lists

I’m trying to add myself to the Brighton waiting list - I can see it on the away tickets page, but the button next to it simply says ‘login’. When I press on it, it just reloads the away ticket page, even when logged in. Is anyone else experiencing similar / know the solution?

January Betting Masters 218

BM - 218 ...All welcome, show the BBS who the best punter is; don't delay join today!

The Louis Order of Merit for 2021 TBA

After June BM (and BM CLC spring)

1) Funk Butter - 38
1) Stigma - 38
3) Louis - 37
4) PoolKing - 30
5) 3 Beers at HT - 25
6) Little Fozzie - 24
7) StuNick - 8
8) gjohnk - 5
8) Flat Noodle - 5
8) eagles073 - 5

Previous winners:

1: el mico
2: three-way 0-0-0 final draw !!!(Plugster, late mail and odds against)
3: Finbar
4: Grim Reaper
5: EagleSE24
6: LLCOOLSTEVE
7: Stigma
8: Stigma
9: Stigma
10: Tor
11: Finbar
12: Finbar
13: old git
----------------------------
Overall best betting in 2004: Stigma
----------------------------
14. Reps AJ
15. bradley eagle
16. Tor
17. LLCOOLSTEVE
18. stevejfh
19. Tor
20. Finbar
21. Drunk eagle
22. Ozeagle
23. LLCOOLSTEVE
24. Wildcat Army
25. LLCOOLSTEVE
----------------------------
Overall best better in 2005: stevejfh
----------------------------
26: si1965
27: Ozeagle
28: srs9jps
29. si1965
30: hakers
31: Tor (WC '06)
32: srs9jps
33: NO1FAN
34: Drunk eagle
35: Stigma
36: Stigma
37: DedBallSpeshlst
-----------------------------
Overall best better in 2006: Flat Noodle
-----------------------------
38: LLCOOLSTEVE
39: Finbar
40: richdeniro
41: Stigma
Champions league winner 06/07: Ian Hart
UEFA Cup winner 06/07: Gav The Hamster
42: Finbar
43: Funk Butter
44: PoolKing
45: Funk Butter
46: Drunk Eagle
47: StuNick
48: Stigma
49: StuNick
Champions league winner 07/08-1: Finbar
UEFA Cup winner 07/08-1: Gav The Hamster
-----------------------------
Overall best better in 2007: Finbar
-----------------------------
50: GodstoneEagle
51: Funk Butter
52: Finbar
53: Funk Butter
54: LLCOOLSTEVE
55: Al From Bromley
56: Stigma
2008 Olympics: pauldrulez
57: pauldrulez
58: NO1FAN
59: Al From Bromley
60: Drunk Eagle
-----------------------------
Overall best better in 2008: StuNick
-----------------------------
61: StuNick
62: ardeo
63: Stigma
64: LLCOOLSTEVE
65: Finbar
66: No1Fan
67: Al From Bromley
68: Al From Bromley
69: Funk Butter
70: DedBallSpeshlst
71: Kayjay
72: Gooders
73: gjohnk
-----------------------------
Overall best better in 2009: Funk Butter
-----------------------------
74: Finbar
75: StuNick
76: DedBallSpeshlst
77: Swanny32
78: Funk Butter
79: Funk Butter
80: gjohnk
81: Finbar
82: MynamenisnotMax
83: No1Fan
84: gjohnk
85: Little Fozzie
-----------------------------
World Cup 2010 winner: old git
Overall best better in 2010: GodstoneEagle
-----------------------------
86: Flat Noodle
87: Finbar
88: GodstoneEagle
89: Flat Noodle
90: mynameisnotmax
91: Louis
92: Funk Butter
93: gjohnk
94: DedBallSpeshlst
95: Stigma
96: cantspell
97: No1Fan
========================
2011 Order of Merit Winner: Finbar
========================

March 100th edition knockout special: Little Fozzie
Champions league winner 1st half 2011: Finbar
Champions league winner 2nd half 2011: StuNick
Jan - May UEFA Cup winner 2011: StuNick
Aug - Dec UEFA Cup winner 2011: Housey100

98: 3 Beers at HT
99: StuNick
100: cantspell
101: Funk Butter
102: Finbar
103: Swanny32
104: Funk Butter
105: Louis
106: srs9jps
107: Funk Butter
108: LLCOOLSTEVE
109: Funk Butter
========================
2012 Order of Merit Winner: Funk Butter
August - Dec 2012 Champions League winner: Swanny32
August - Dec 2012 UEFA Cup winner: JamTheEagle
Jan - May 2012 Champions League winner: No1Fan
Jan - May 2012 UEFA Cup winner: Ian Hart
========================
110: Louis
111: Louis
112: Gooders
113: Finbar
114: Little Fozzie
115: StuNick
116: Flat Noodle
117: Louis
118: evvo111
119: srs9jps
120: StuNick
121: LLCOOLSTEVE
========================
2013 Order of Merit Winner: Louis

Jan - May 2013 Champions League Winner: Gooders
Jan - May 2013 UEFA Cup winner: Scoopster
Aug - Dec 2013 Champions League Winner: Little Fozzie
Aug - Dec 2013 UEFA Cup Winner: Stigma
========================
122: No1Fan
123: PoolKing
124: LLCOOLSTEVE
125: 3 Beers at HT
126: Louis
127: Finbar
128: LLCOOLSTEVE
129: 3 Beers at HT
130: Finbar
131: Funk Butter
132: Stig
133: Louis

2014 Order of Merit winner: Finbar
Jan - May 2014 Champions League Winner: Stigma
Jan - May 2014 UEFA Cup winner: Bellyman
Aug - Dec 2014 Champions League Winner: Ardeo
Aug - Dec 2014 UEFA Cup Winner: PoolKing
Winter Olympics 2014 Winner: srs9jps

134: Gooders
135: Finbar
136: 3 Beers at HT
137: Funk Butter
138: €pfc
139: Gooders
140: Funk Butter
141: Louis
142: evvo111
143: pauldrulez
144: Louis
145: evvo111

2015 Order of Merit winner: Finbar
Jan - May 2015 Champions League Winner: Funk Butter
Jan - May 2015 UEFA Cup winner: Flat Noodle
Aug - Dec 2015 Champions League Winner: PoolKing
Aug - Dec 2015 UEFA Cup Winner: Little Fozzie
===============================
146: Louis
147: PoolKing
148: Louis
149: evvo111
150: LLCOOLSTEVE
151: StuNick
152: 3 Beers at HT
153: evvo111
154: Finbar
155: 3 Beers at HT
156: Finbar
157: StuNick
2016 Order of Merit winner: StuNick
Jan - May 2016 Champions League Winner: Finbar
Jan - May 2016 UEFA Cup winner: Little Fozzie
Euros 2016 special winner: 3 Beers at HT
2016 Olympics Winner: Funk Butter
Aug - Dec 2016 Champions League Winner: gjohnk
Aug - Dec 2016 UEFA Cup Winner: €pfc

158: 3 Beers at HT
159: Stigma
160: Finbar
161: 3 Beers at HT
162: StuNick
163: Louis
164: Louis
165: PoolKing
166: Louis
167: Finbar
168: Kayjay
169: StuNick
2017 Order of Merit winner: StuNick
Jan - May 2017 Champions League Winner: gjohnk
Jan - May 2017 UEFA Cup winner: Funk Butter
Aug - Dec 2017 Champions League Winner: StuNick
Aug - Dec 2017 UEFA Cup Winner: Louis

170: Louis
171: Finbar
172: Louis
173: Stigma
174: Finbar
175: Louis
176: Stigma
177: StuNick
178: Funk Butter
179: Stigma
180: Finbar
181: Funk Butter
2018 Order of Merit winner: Stigma
Jan - May 2018 Champions League Winner: gjohnk
Jan - May 2018 UEFA Cup winner: eagles073
World Cup BM 2018: 3 Beers at HT
Aug - Dec 2018 Champions League Winner: Stigma
Aug - Dec 2018 UEFA Cup Winner: StuNick

182: Stigma
183: PoolKing
184: StuNick
185: Louis
186: Funk Butter
187: Funk Butter
188: Louis
189: aj4england
190: StuNick
191: Finbar
192: PoolKing
193: Funk Butter
2019 Order of Merit winner: PoolKing
Jan - May 2019 Champions League Winner: StuNick
Jan - May 2019 UEFA Cup winner: Little Fozzie
Aug - Dec 2019 Champions League Winner: Little Fozzie
Aug - Dec 2019 UEFA Cup Winner: PoolKing

194: Kayjay
195: Finbar
196: Finbar
197: 3 Beers at HT
198: Finbar
199: StuNick
200: kayjay
201: Finbar
202: Louis
203: Funk Butter
204: 3 Beers at HT
205: Funk Butter
Order of Merit winner: Funk Butter
Jan - Jul 2020 Champions League Winner: StuNick
Jan - Jul 2020 UEFA Cup winner: eagles073
Sep - Dec 2020 Champions League Winner: Funk Butter
Sep - Dec 2020 UEFA Cup Winner: eagles073
206: Stigma
207: 3 Beers at HT
208: PoolKing
209: PoolKing
210: Stigma
211: Stigma
212: 3 Beers at HT
213: Stigma
214: Funk Butter
215: Stigma
216: Stigma
217:
Jan - Jul 2021 Champions League Winner: Funk Butter
Jan - Jul 2021 UEFA Cup winner: Louis
Euros Special 2020 Winner: 3 Beers at HT
2020 Summer Olympics Winner: 3 Beers at HT
Aug - Dec 2021 Champions League Winner: Stigma
Aug - Dec 2021 UEFA Cup Winner: eagles073

Rules are as follows

1 Every player has 200 points to bet with in the first round.

2 Each separate bet made is 10 points meaning players have 20 bets during the first 20 days. Maximum bet on a single market is 10 points, same rule applies for identical multis (basically no duplicate bets though you can do a team A, team B double on one bet and then add team C for a treble in another bet)

3 In the second round the 4* finalists all start by carrying forward 25% of their score from the first round added to the 150 points that can bet used in the second round. The person who qualifies for the final with the most points also gets an additional 10pt bet. (*if the number of participants gets to 16 or more, then a 5th finalist place will be added and then one more for every 5 players on top of that).

4 Betting Masters, first group stages runs from 0000 on the first of the month (standard UK time) to 2359hrs on the 20th of the month. Then the top four* posters come together in a mini league from there on until the end of the month.
Final bet settlement must occur before 2359 on the last day of the month.

5 Naturally the winner is the person with the highest score at the end of the last day of the month.

6 Scoring consists of total winnings and is inclusive of 10 point stake i.e. someone bets on a 6/4 horse and it wins their score becomes 25 (15 points profits plus the 10 pt stake) There is no score for any bets not used. Losing bets are scored as zero, not -10.
Any bet from an exchange bookie will have a 4% commission (on the winnings), if nothing else is explicitly stated in the post.

7 Players must quote where they're getting their prices.

8 Singles and upwards accepted.

9 For boxed multis and bets such as Yankees, each separate bet within the bet counts as separate and will cost 10pts per bet. e.g. ten trebles from five selections will use up 100 points.

10. E/W bets are counted as two bets in the masters, which means 10 points x 2

11. For tracking purposes, players are requested to put the outcome of their bets on the post for all events other than European soccer/tennis.

12. Where possible players are requested to put down a running total of their bets in their posts, although I'll also try and produce rolling league tables where possible.

13. After a bet has been posted up, one is not allowed to edit it..

14. The bets must be possible to do in real life, meaning for example that if you got a multi, all the odds have to come from 1 bookmaker. You can’t shop around for the highest odds and put them together. "Special promotion" type bets are not allowed though BOG (Best Odds Guaranteed) are.

15. Bets must be placed at odds of 1/10 (or 1.1 in decimal) or higher

16. Any Draw No Bet bets where the result is a push will always have the bet settled as void, never 10pts. Any asian handicap bet where the result is a push (in full) will have the bet settled as void. Any asian handicap where half of the stake is returned will be marked down as 5pts with the remainder of the Asian handicap settled as a win or a loss (this is applicable for asian handicaps such as 2.25 or -2, -2.5 etc)

17. In the event that a player is not sure if their bet will finish in time, before midnight on the 20th or midnight for qualifying midnight on the final day of the month for the final, they can make a provisional bet or bets which then become actual bets only if their original selection(s) finishes at 12.01am or after.

Press Conference Live: Pre-West Ham Friday 1pm

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Stabbing Ashburton Park

Croydon police on twitter requesting help
For fatal stabbing of 15 year old on the 30th
Sad times we live in

Bob Dole RIP

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What are you doing for New Years Eve?

Staying in here. Not because of corona, just a boring git*






* and New Year is for kids.

McHughlagher

Which midfield are these 3 not dominating?

---------- Hughes
Gallagher ------- McArthur

Cannot wait to see it. Has everything. I'd say let's wait to see them together first, but I think collectively it would be our strongest ever midfield.

Car sales scam

Here's a warning if you are selling a car.

My son had his car for sale. Guy shows interest. Hangles down to £3500 and says they will pay cash. I tell him not to drop another penny as every time I have dealt with Turkish they have always come back even after we agreed a price. ( just a fact from doing a lot of business in Turkey NOT a racial slur in case anyone takes umbrage) . My son decideds to meet in the local Asda car park as CCTV in case of problems. Brings a mate, again for support. Three guys turn up. They look round the car lifting the bonnet to look at the engine. Then he is called round the back to look at something in the boot. They then ask for a quick drive. As soon as they start smoke is pouring out. They claim they have wasted their time as its a dud, shouting at him, intimidating him, but as I had said not a penny less and he had his mate, he said no as he knew something was wrong.

Turns out that whilst he was round the back they had sprayed something on the engine. Had a chap come up to him after and agree to be a witness as he saw them spraying something. Hopefully they can get their reg from CCTV.

Scamming cnuts.

PS4/5 Detective Games

We'll be staying in for NYE but want to do something different with my son. I'm hopeless at any sort of action game that requires knowledge of the buttons and fast reaction to the baddies or whatever though I do fancy being immersed in a game that might make us think and work together. I wondered if anyone on here could help? My son mainly plays FIFA and the usuals so isn't familiar with them either.

I'm tempted by one called Life is Strange, a couple of Sherlock Holmes games, and a Poirot one might be good too.

If there's anyone out there who has played these or has any other recommendations, I'd appreciate any advice.

Thank you.

Travel Information: West Ham

Southern @SouthernRailUK
Due to the ongoing effect of coronavirus isolation and sickness, there will be no direct services to/from London Victoria until 10 January.

As a result, no Southern services will call at:

London Victoria
Battersea Park
Clapham Junction
Wandsworth Common

Services on the following routes will be diverted at East Croydon to London Bridge:

Ore/Hastings/Eastbourne – London
Littlehampton/Hove – London
Southampton/Portsmouth/Bognor Regis – Horsham – London
East Grinstead – London
Horsham/Dorking/Epsom – London

The following services will not run:

Clapham Junction – Milton Keynes
East Croydon – London Bridge via Forest Hill
Epsom – London Bridge via Carshalton Beeches

The following services have also been amended:

Tonbridge - Redhill/Reigate - London
Caterham/Tattenham - London
Uckfield - London Bridge
Beckenham Junction - London Bridge via Crystal Palace
Luton to London / Rainham

Southern Metro services via Streatham Common/Streatham Hill will only operate south of Balham.

There will be no direct service between Mitcham Junction and Balham - customers will need to travel via Streatham and Streatham Common.

Mortgage taken out?

Have we mortgaged the stadium? This was posted at companies house?

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America is a strange place

2,977 people die in the twin towers attack and we get memorials and troops going in to get the bastards

38,300 people died from guns in 2019 but they claim “the right to bare arms”

100, 360 people died from the opioid crisis and the profiteering billionaires are still living a life of luxury.

I find it very odd. It’s a brilliant country that every time I have visited I have been welcomed but it is a bit weird.

"Official" F1 Predictions and Gossip 2022

Positions after race one of of 22 for 2022 at Sakhir in Bahrain


Leaderboard

Pos Name Pts Played Av Pts

Edmund Goodman founding father of CPFC

There has been some discussion on one of the Palace Facebook groups of the state of Edmund Goodman's grave in Beckenham Cemetery, Elmers End Road.

A GoFundMe page has been set up to raise sufficient funds to restore the headstone of someone who besides being our longest serving manager, is regarded by many Palace fans as the most significant figure in the Club's history.

If anyone on the BBS would like to assist, the page can be found at:

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Crystal Ball: West Ham (H)

Fortress Selhurst once more, or are we to lose to another team in Claret and Blue?

Terms and conditions apply: If match goes ahead, if there are no more restrictions on crowd numbers/lockdowns/behind closed doors, blah, blah, blah, etc. I think this is on telly so we will be forced to play.

Palace 1-3 West Ham
Zaha - Antonio, Dawson, B. Johnson

Att: 22,222

New Highway Code rules

This is going to be fun.

I can see a few rear end happening from cars that stop for pedestrians but the Big one will be when turning right and a cyclist zooms up the inside and Bam! More driver v Cyclist fights.

Energy Price hike 2022

I have just had my new tariff notification from Octopus. It has provided three optiions for 2022. My current payment for electricity only is £54 per month.

The first, is the really scary one, at £135 per month., with no discernible reason for opting for this given. The second is a variable starting at £66 per month. The third, a loyalty option (where I qualify as a long term customer), at £86 per month, fixed for year.

I went for the latter, but this is an increase of £32 per month, and looked a lot better than the mysterious and threatening £135 per month. This represents a 60% increase on the current year.

What I fail to understand is why when I opt for 100% renewable energy written into my contract, which is not subject to Russian control of gas supplies, or fossil fuel burning like oil to generate energy, it has increased by this amount. Can anyone provide an answer.

I really fear for those on tight incomes following the cut in UC, and remember, this is just one element in household outgoing costs going though the roof.

Happy Birthday Selhurst Celtic.

Where ever you are have a good one SC. Hope the Blythe Hill is rocking.

Norwich fans

Strange bunch. I know they must have had to put up with some right shit this season but they seemed more interested in singing about our support or sarcastic things about how bad they are.

‘**** off back to Chelsea’ was sung at Gilmour. ‘You’re not fit to wear the shirt’. The sarcastic goal celebrations and ole’s. The strange bloke who probably got himself a life ban by running on the pitch and trying to score himself.

I suppose it’s sort of gallows humour but I couldn’t help think that their team would have benefitted from some actual support. They looked very reluctant to clap their fans at full time.

Suggested Team and Formation For: West Ham (01/01) Home

Difficult to do these threads without knowing who will be back and who will potentially be out.

Will Olise, Eze, Clyne and/or McArthur be back?

I think Gallagher is the only one definitely out based on isolation periods.

Does Zaha get back in the starting 11?

Guaita
Ward - Andersen - Guehi - Mitchell
Hughes
Schlupp - Kouyate
Ayew - Benteke - Edouard

Butland, Clyne, Tomkins, Kelly, Milivojevic, Eze, Olise, Zaha, Mateta

Player Ratings And Reviews: Palace 3-0 Norwich

I thought that was a very good, professional, performance. We blew them away early on and kept it tight second half. Really good performance considering how many players we had out - though they looked very short of players too.

Lots of impressive performances but Hughes and Eduoard were the two stand out players imo. Eduoard was excellent and they couldn’t deal with him, while Hughes set the tone early on with several big challenges and interceptions. And he won the penalty of course. He looks some player.

Special mentions also for the impeccable Mitchell and Schlupp who I thought had his best game of the season. If Schlupp plays he should be further forward as he’s much better when he doesn’t have to track back as a priority. His finish was class and he played some lovely passes through the lines.

No one had a bad game - all minimum 6/10.

Nice to see mateta score with a fine finish. He obviously comes alive in the box and is a good finisher but he looks a bit cumbersome outside of the box.

Really important win. Well played boys.

Player bubbles

All i keep hearing is that we cant put u23s on the bench because they are in separate bubbles. Firstly we got a covid case beginning of last week so why were u23s not intergrated then? Second, premierleague rules state eligible u23s must be used in a covid outbreak and three, Leeds had a 15 year old on the bench.

Why are we incapable of filling the bench with u23s?

Sunak or Truss in an election?

Who would be most likely to win the election for the conservatives

Live Com and Updates: Crystal Palace v Norwich City KO 15:00 Amazon Prime

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Thursday's Weather Forecast

BBC just saying temperature in SE England could get to 17°C.

Blimey. Potentially warmest December day ever.

Should we be alarmed? (Rhetorical. I am already alarmed.)

Suggested Team and Formation For: Norwich (28/12) H

Presuming it still goes ahead.

And assuming all players with covid still out.

We’re not left with much choice at all! But let’s talk about it anyway! :supergrin:

Butland
Ward - Tomkins - Guehi - Mitchell
Hughes
Gallagher - Kouyate
Ayew - Edouard - Schlupp

Matthews, Ferguson, Andersen, Kelly, Riedewald, Mateta

Ouch.

Not too far off that 13 player limit. If more players start showing positive tests tomorrow there could be a postponement.

Player Ratings And Reviews: Spurs versus Palace match ratings

Butland 4: I felt he could have done better against Southampton, but definitely thought the critical first goal today was a straight forward save that he limp wristed in. He had all the talent but lost it at Stoke mentally, I see no sign that the neccessary mental matchday confidence and concentration has returned. Sad but...

Ward: 6 Steady enough, and while he never looked entirely comfortable against pace his experience and football brain saw him through. No attacking threat.

Tomkins: 6 Good game but partly at fault for the first which takes a point off

Andersen: 5 Didn't look on it to me, his normally excellent passing went out for throw ins and was rooted to the ground for their 2nd.

Mitchell: 8 Getting better and better, definitely our Man of the Match

Kouyate: 6 typical Cheikou performance, 8 for effort and mobility 4 for passing

Hughes: 7 Our best midfielder, tidy and committed

Gallagher: 6 Worked hard, but couldn't find space between the lines as Spurs set up not to concede first and foremost

Ayew: 6 Worked hard, won free kicks, very little threat

Edouard: 5 Did work, but could not hold the ball up, rarely threatened and never looked like linking play or scoring

Zaha: 4 - Was having a stinker before getting needlessly booked twice. We have 3 games in 6 days, and Eze and Olise out with Covid, couldn't happen at a worse time. He is my favourite ever player but there is no defending his petulant self-centered behaviour today.

Subs:

Schlupp 7 - covered plenty of ground

Mateta 5 - didn't notice him

Fergusson 6 - good to see him on the pitch at least

I thought we were in control of the game for the first 30 minutes and then stopped trying to create and just wanted to keep the ball. Shortly after that Tomkins stepped in but fatally didn't take the ball with him and Buttland let it through his butters. Five minutes later 2 down and with only 10 men it was game over.

I would caveat I watched on TV so will have missed much.

Covid postponements

Villa v leeds in two days time is already pistponed.

With our injuries/suspensions and covid affected players whats stopping us ruling out enough others “injured” ? From what i gather Norwich are in a similar situation

Klopp moaned about having to play two games in 3 days, we have three in six yet he and others like spurs have had their requests accepted despite having MUCH deeper squads than us or norwich etc

Are there any actual rules that are being adhered to

TV vs Fans

I've bought some tickets for the Norwich game for the family.

It's going to cost £168 for tickets. Plus travel (£120) and food and drink etc.

I'm going to see a managerless team with 6 players out due to Covid, and the star player banned for two soft yellows fat little man had a vendetta against him.

How are fans getting value for money?

RIP Janice Long

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Remember her at Live Aid and on so many TV and radio shows. Far too young.

Team of the Eighties

Team of the Eighties documentary on BT Sports 1 on again before the Spurs game

Match Updates: Dec 26 - 30

15:00
Huddersfield Town v Blackpool
Championship
Sky Sports Red Button


15:00
Hull City v Blackburn Rovers
Championship
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports FootballSky Sports Ultra HDSky Showcase


15:00
Tottenham Hotspur v Crystal Palace
Premier League
BT Sport 1


17:20
Bromley v Southend United
National League
BT Sport 1


17:30
Aston Villa v Chelsea
Premier League
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports Ultra HDSky Showcase


20:00
Brighton & Hove Albion v Brentford
Premier League
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports Ultra HD

Archbishop Desmond Tutu

Archbishop Desmond Tutu, the Nobel Peace prize laureate who helped end apartheid in South Africa, has died aged 90.

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Ray Illingworth RIP

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Live Com and Updates: Tottenham Hotspur V Crystal Palace KO 15:00 BT SPORTS

At this moment in time the game is still on.

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Tottenham vs Palace - OFF

According to Mark Wyatt, journalist on twitter...

We shall see I guess!

Suggested Team and Formation For: Tottenham Hotspurs

……………………..Butland
Ward………. Andersen..Guehi……….Mitchell

………………………Kouyate

………………McArthur….Eze

……Ayew……….. Edouard…………Zaha

Not sure who has Covid but Gallagher plays if it’s not him .

Super striker.

Merry Xmas everyone. Has anyone got an instruction manual for the 1970s game super striker. Scanned pdf would save my day.

Happy Christmas one and all :)

Happy Xmas BBSers. May 2022 be a happy one for you (and the start of a socialist overthrow of the state…:D)

Press Conference Live: Pre-Tottenham Friday 1pm

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Travel Information: Norwich (H) Dec28th

An absolute bucket load of Christmas engineering work going on during Christmas week affecting the Norwich game. Victoria to Clapham junction (Southern lines) closed.

Selhurst: Trains will only be a half hourly London Bridge to Caterham/Tattenham Corner (via Tulse Hill) and vice versa service.

Also a half hourly Epsom Downs service which starts and terminates at Selhurst

Norwood Junction: Not hugely affected but amended holidays services and no direct Victoria trains which now terminate at Streatham Hill

Southern services

Description
Engineering work is taking place between London Victoria and East Croydon, closing all lines.

Monday 27 and Tuesday 28 December

There will be no trains at London Victoria.

Rail replacement buses will run between Clapham Junction and East Croydon.

Trains between London Victoria and Brighton / Reigate / London Bridge / Epsom will not run.

Trains between London Victoria and Eastbourne / Ore / Portsmouth Harbour / Southampton Central / Bognor Regis / Littlehampton will be diverted and now run to / from London Bridge.

Trains between London Victoria and East Grinstead will be diverted and now run to / from London Bridge, calling additionally at Norwood Junction.

Trains between London Victoria and Dorking / Horsham will be diverted and run to / from London Bridge, they will run direct from Mitcham Eastfields.

Trains between Redhill and Tonbridge will now run between Reigate and Tonbridge via Redhill.

Trains between London Bridge and Uckfield will only run between East Croydon and Uckfield.

Trains between London Bridge and Caterham will call additionally at South Croydon and Purley Oaks, the train will then split into two at Purley with one part running to / from Caterham and the other to / from Tattenham Corner.

Trains between London Victoria and Sutton / Epsom Downs will only run between Epsom Downs and Selhurst.

Trains between London Victoria and West Croydon will run to / from Streatham Hill and Sutton via West Croydon.

No trains will call at stations between London Bridge and East Croydon via Sydenham.

Gatwick Express services will not run. Please use alternative Southern / Thameslink services.

Southeastern

Description
Network Rail are carrying out major engineering work near Lewisham area over the Christmas & New Year period as part of the South East upgrade. To find out more about these works, click here.

Buses will replace trains between:

Monday 27 / Tuesday 28 December and Saturday 1 - Monday 3 January:

Lewisham and Orpington.
Lewisham and Dartford via Sidcup.
Lewisham and Hayes.

Have you had Covid

As it says on the tin, how many of us have had Covid.

Be helpful if you state where you had it too

Crystal Ball: Jon Moss & Spurs (a)

2-1
Son
Ali

Eduoard

Att: f knows? Errr... 54,321

Dopesick (No spoilers yet)

Just got to the end of it. A heart rending series which shows the despicable greed of corporations and upper class families.

Such Pharma companies and tobacco companies are no better than drug lords who push crack and heroin. They just do the same thing with legal cover.

And they face no consequences.

Best BBS threads of 2021!!

I thought with less than 10 days before the end of the New Year, I'd start a bit of festive fun so here are my nominations:

1. "Christmas Family Rows"-The stories on here always make me laugh!

2. ANY "Matchday Thread". For the meltdowns, the euphoria and all that passion.

3. "Coronavirus"-Everyones an expert! But at the same time it's also informative and thought provoking.

4. "Moving out of London" A genuinely interesting topic as to how people have made those decisions, the directions of travel.

5. "Guilty Fancies " In amongst the usual "she's not really guilty" given age and beauty there is always one gem.

Anyone else?

The end of comedy.

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Absolutely, in fact, I'm self censoring as I write this, kind of.

Quote:

Dame Maureen Lipman has said comedy is in danger of being "wiped out" due to fears over being cancelled. She told the BBC she believes comedians are now so worried about offending, "a revolution" is taking place. "It's in the balance whether we will ever be funny again," she said. Her comments come as more than half of Britons say they have stopped themselves from expressing political and social views for fear of being judged.

It's not just comedy, cancel culture is eating into everything and is the result of a huge misunderstanding against a more serious battle against genuine prejudice.

Meet up Melbourne Boxing day evening Swan St.

Just in case there are people going to the Boxing day test and are in town for once and fancy a drink after the cricket.


There are a few of us (about 5 Palace fans showing interest thus far) meeting up pre the Victory v Western United clash.... Which takes place across the road from the G 7.45PM at the bubble dome.

If you want to come along give us a PM and I'll let you know the exact location and who will be coming. Will be along one of the bars near the Swan St Bridge. No obligation to come to the football.


Catch you then.

Streets of Philadelphia, Kensington Avenue story

Anyone been following this?

We have a daily bitch on here viz brexit, covid, global warming, trump, boris etc etc and then you see this. Not pretty, sobering stuff.

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Palace in Lincolnshire

Hi myself and my good wife are relocating to Lincolnshire early January,and would be interested to know if there is a Palace supporters club running in the county.
Many thanks.

Are personal mobile phones now taxable?

It used to be if you had a mobile phone from the company you would be taxed on it as it was a "benefit" However if you used your own phone but expensed the monthly bill as it was for business it was all good. Im now told that it's the other way round. So if I use my own phone and pay £50 a month contract I have to pay £20 a month tax. If they give me a phone I pay nothing. I've looked at HMRC but its up to its usual standard of explanation.

Winter solstice

The evenings will be getting longer. Soon be Spring.:lux:

🎄🎁 Best Christmas Gift For Crystal Palace Fans 🎶⚽ Crystal Palace F.C. Songbook

Over the years Crystal Palace F.C. fans have created incredible atmospheres in football grounds and come up with some of the creative chants and songs. This book is a guide for these chants and songs written by the Crystal Palace F.C. supporters. From Glad All Over, You Are My Palace, Walking down the Holmesdale Road, The Famous Alan Mullery, We Are Palace, I'd Give my Life For You, to songs dedicated to the various players and staff, the very best of the terrace chants, songs, and timeless classics, this book will delight and entertain in equal measure and honors every single Crystal Palace F.C. fan who has ever sung in support for the team throughout its proud history.

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EPL rule 13 plus GK sufficient to play

It occurred to me that we or any team for that matter could have their whole back line out at the same time.

Begs the question who would you put in defense assuming all squad players in defense were out but still had enough for 13?

I'd go ayew rb, benteke cb, koyate cb (a bit of a cheat there), schlupp lb

UK blood donation?

So just registered to give blood for the first time after years of telling myself to do it and having already been on the organ donation list for years with a card in my wallet..
Can anyone tell me what to expect and what to expect different first time in?

Barry Williams RIP

Some liked him, some didn't but has a part of 80/90s pre-match in Crystals.

Moral Maze Problem

Recently a distant but long standing friend died in his late 60's. I sent condolences and was considering whether to attend the funeral. Yesterday I received an email with details of what had happened - which was very sad and at the end his widow has said

"a friend has set up a go fund me page so we can give X a great send off. Can you share the page and please donate even if it is only a small amount. Thanks xx"

Now I happen to know that the deceased was fairly well off and his two grown up children are both doing very well. Without being unfeeling the family would not have any problem paying for the funeral. While I would certainly be happy to donate if he had not left much or they were likely to suffer hardship I'm not sure about this. Am I being mean or should they not presume upon people when they could well afford to pay - and what about asking me to share the page? Is there is a difference between spontaneously giving money and being asked to fork out? Other people opinions would be welcome.

Richard Rogers RIP

RIP to the visionary great man.

Many years studying his buildings and being inspired by his architectural achievements.

I`m sure subconsciously they have influenced some of mine.

Darts World Championship 2022

Anyone else watching?

Fallon Sherrock against Steve Beaton up next.

BM Winter Olympics 2022 - Beijing II Special

It is that time of (every other) year when the Olympics come around and we gamble on them. We still have over a month before this thing kicks off but want to gauge interest early.

Previous Winners

2008 Beijing - pauldrulez
2012 London - Stigma
2014 Sochi - srs9jps
2016 Rio - Funk Butter
2018 Pyeongchang - Stigma
2020 Tokyo - 3 Beers at HT

The rules are as follows:

• Bets only allowed on Olympic events.
• Each entrant will have 35 bets.
• Of your 35 bets you will have 20 Bronze bets which will be the normal 10pts, 10 Silver bets which will be 15pts and 5 Gold bets which will be worth 20pts per bet. Please indicate when placing a bet what value it is by putting a B, S or G next to it.
• The Ostapchuk Rule: If one of your bets is positively affected by a competitor getting a positive drug test, it must happen before the penultimate day of competition. This is to make sure everyone has a chance to counterbet.

In previous iterations of the competition, we've had each bettor name an event that everybody has to bet on and in Sochi we had a random event picked every day that everybody had to bet on. I'm happy to take suggestions on ways to spice up this comp.

Here's a good look at a calendar showing when events run and when medals are awarded: To view the link you have to Register or Login

Albert Lee

Just watched a very old Old Grey Whistle Test show which I had recorded, featuring Emily Lou Harris (with whom I have always been in love) and the band had Albert on lead guitar. Made me remember how good he was, in my opinion the best electric guitar player of all time.
Discuss.

Things you can't do anymore as you get older.

There are some things I'm finding I can''t do anymore due to getting older.

One of the things that is really buggering me off right now is not being able to sleep during the night without having to get up and go for a piss - sometimes more than once.

Also, I can't read anything without specs now and I keep forgetting where I've left them.

I'm sure many of us older folk have a few more.

Sports Personality

Good old bbc. Ticked a lot of boxes with that one. I wonder if Tom Brady was ever in the running lol

Match Updates: Dec 18 - 22

12:30
Middlesbrough v AFC Bournemouth
Championship
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports FootballSky Sports Ultra HD



17:30
Leeds United v Arsenal
Premier League
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports Ultra HD

Better live than the record version!

More rounded!

House fire in Sutton

There's probably very little to say on it, but this is heart-breakingly tragic - four young boys killed in a house fire in Collingwood Road, Sutton.

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Bradford City Crypto Takeover

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Bradford City have received an offer from a group of US cryptocurrency investors to buy the League Two club, according to chairman Stefan Rupp.

WAGMI United told the Washington Post it was in the "advanced stages" of buying an English Football League club, which Rupp confirmed was the Bantams.

It aims to rely on non-fungible tokens (NFTs) as a new model of ownership.

"Despite various reports claiming a change of ownership is imminent, I can confirm it is not," Rupp said.

"Yesterday (Thursday), I received an email from a representative of the WAGMI United group with an offer to purchase Bradford City AFC.

"That is all I have received, nothing more, and no further action has taken place."

NFTs are "one-of-a-kind" digital assets that can be bought and sold like any other piece of property, but which have no tangible form of their own.

The digital tokens can be thought of as certificates of ownership for virtual or physical assets.

The Washington Post reported that the group aims to make "NFTs a cornerstone of the organizational blueprint around which it hopes to build a vibrant - and financially invested - digital community".

According to the Post, the group - which includes NBA side Philadelphia 76ers' team president Daryl Morey, businessman Gary Vaynerchuk and TikTok personality Bryce Hall - planned to use its NFT revenue stream to invest in analytics and "outspend opponents" in pursuit of promotion through the EFL to the Premier League.

"So we are going to try a bunch of unconventional stuff but will be pretty much led by the numbers from an analytical perspective," group co-founder Eben Smith told the Post.

"And our hope is that it works. There's not that much downside if it doesn't."

Nations League Draw

How are those seedings worked out. England get to a two semi finals and a final and are a 3rd seed???

Suggested Team and Formation For: Watford (away)

It won't go ahead, but just in case it does, and to generate some debate:

------------------------Guaita----------------------------
Ward--------Andersen--------Guehi-----------Schlupp
------------------------Hughes-----------------------------
-------------Gallagher------------Eze----------------------
-------Ayew-------------Zaha------------Olise--------------

Which becomes this in our 3-1-4-2 that we play in possession:

------------------------Guaita----------------------------
---------Ward--------Andersen--------Guehi----------
------------------------Hughes----------------------------
Ayew--------Gallagher------------Eze---------Schlupp
-----------------Zaha-------------Olise--------------------


1) Guaita and Andersen walk in to the team for their superior passing ability. 2) I'd give Mitchell a rest, and bring in Schlupp. I'd like to see what he could do as I think the system, with the left back high up the pitch, might suit him. He's got the pace to get up and down, and he could be a decent out ball as he is good in the air.
3) We need more creativity in midfield so only one holding midfielder. I've picked Hughes, but could equally see the case for Kouyate because it's quite a small team and we might need his height and physique. Even McArthur would be ok there if he was fit.
4) Eze into the midfield as we desperately need to be able to pass through there. Olise also more central - the left sided player of the front 3 drifts into more central positions than the right sided player of the front 3 who has to provide the width. Eze and Olise could switch positions. They both have to start games soon. They are far too good to be left on the bench.
5) Zaha through the middle. His link-up play is good, and he can't beat a full back anymore so he may as well make some runs in behind. His finishing is probably better than Edouard and Benteke based on current form too.

Anyone in a choir, or enjoy a bit of choral work?

Over the pandemic I found a lot of fun and joy giving singing a bit of a go - once I'd overcome my (online) stagefright!

I joined my works choir, but I can't read music so relied mostly on repetition and basic trial and error to get things right.

Anyway, we had six weeks to produce a piece for Christmas, and I'm pleased with the result! I'm the bald beardy providing the low bits in our vid!

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Backdated bills

Anyone know how far back, legally, a landlord / lettings agent can bill someone for.

Apparently a "clerical error" means we didnt receive bills for our share of insurance for 7 years. The agent seems to think he can bill me for all 7 years of this in one go, is this correct?

Home form in midweek matches

I've been thinking for a while that we seem to underperform at home in midweek, with the odd explosive exception (Crystanbul was a Monday, the late turnaround versus Watford was Tuesday etc).

Saw this earlier on the BBC which seemed to confirm that, Wednesdays at least, are a good time to play us at Selhurst:

Crystal Palace have won just one of their last 17 Premier League matches played on Wednesdays (drawn eight, lost eight) and are winless in 12 at Selhurst Park (drawn seven, lost five) since a 1-0 win over Aston Villa in February 1993.

I don't know what the stats are for Mondays and Tuesday but I suspect they are not too dissimilar.

What are we not doing midweek that we are doing at weekends? Granted, our home form in general since our return to the PL in 2013 has been less than stellar (other than periods under Pulis and Roy) but Saturday afternoons seem to serve us best.

Player Ratings And Reviews: Palace 2-2 Southampton

Fair result.

It was the very best and worst from us tonight. Started like a train and looked like running away with it but as soon as we conceded we went into our shell and looked shaky as anything at the back. Reminded me of Roy games last season.

Thankfully we had a bit more control in the second half and deserved to get back into it but I never felt comfortable whenever they broke. Need to get Andersen back in from now on as Tomkins' lack of pace was really shown up tonight.

With the Watford game almost certainly off at least it gives us a break and the likes of Macca and Eze a chance to build their fitness. Can't wait to see the pair of them in the starting 11.

Saturday's game in doubt

Just seen that Burnley v Watford has been called off last minute due to covid within the Watford squad.

Makes Saturdays game look unlikely I would say.

Spare Ticket for Soton tonight available

Please PM me if interested

Suggestion: Ben Brereton Díaz

Ben Brereton Díaz.

22 years old CF, also plays RW + LW.

17 goals in 22 appearances for Blackburn.

Right footed, Chilean + English parents.

Leeds; Br*ghton & Seville interested.

Manager and owners looking for a quick sale as business in India has suffered.

Covid 19 passes and security checks

There were some reports of stewards and bar staff not wearing masks on Sunday. Covid passes are now a legal requirement to gain entry and masks are encouraged in crowded areas. It therefore seems illogical if those performing face to face security searches are not also masked and vaccinated, even if it may be difficult to enforce due to employment law.

Whilst I do not want to encourage any confrontation I would be grateful if any instances of search stewards and other club personnel not wearing masks and who are in close contact with fans are reported on this thread so that any problem can be fed back to the Croydon Council SAG committee. We do not need specific identification but although search stewards should all display their SIA passes; more to get an idea if there is any potential problems and the location.

Supporters are advised to wear masks when queuing and whilst being checked in close proximity to search stewards as well as in crowded concourses and toilets.

RIP Jethro

WCB will be gutted.

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Travel Information: Watford (A) December 18th

Tube strikes on December the 18th and the following lines are affected:
Central
Jubilee
Northern
Piccadilly
Victoria

Services will be running normally on:
Bakerloo
Circle, District
Metropolitan
Hammersmith & City lines

On National Rail

Southern

lines between Balham/Crystal palace/Norwood Junction are closed for engineering work, The following services not running:

London Bridge and London Victoria via Crystal Palace / Beckenham Junction.
West Croydon and London Victoria via Crystal Palace.
London Bridge and Crystal Palace via Peckham Rye / Sydenham.

Engineering work at Earlswood:

Saturday and Sunday

Trains between London Victoria and Reigate will not run. Trains between Tonbridge and Redhill will be extended to run between Tonbridge and Reigate. Change at Redhill for trains to / from London Victoria.

Saturday

Trains between London Victoria and Portsmouth Harbour / Southampton Central will call additionally at Redhill.

Trains between London Victoria and Littlehampton / Ore will run to a slightly revised timetable.

South Eastern:

Saturday

Rail replacement buses will run between Swanley and Strood. A minibus will also run between Meopham and Sole Street, to allow customers travelling to / from Sole Street to connect with the main replacement vehicles.


As always check with National Rail/TfL before you go!

Live Com and Updates: Crystal Palace v Southampton KO 19:30

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Justice ha ha ha

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Hillsborough Disaster

Not for one second am I down playing the tragedy that it was. It was a sickening loss of life. Yes the outcome was right after all the court hearings. The police the lies etc. The thing that annoys me though is what happened 4 years earlier at the Heysel Stadium, because of the direct actions of the Liverpool fans 39 Juventus fans, were crushed to death being chased by Liverpool fans. My point is simple the Heysel fans that died should be shown the same respect as those at Hillsborough, yet it’s never mentioned.

saudi arabia wht

Anyone had to deal with this when working in SA?

just had a invoice paid with this 5% WHT deduction?

how do you / can you get this back or is it just another tax to deal with.

any help appreciated

thanks

WE

Arthur Junior Ultras

Just wanna give a big shout out to the group of school kids who were sat at the back of the Arthur for the Everton game and around 70 minutes let out an intimidating verbal assault into the air, every bit as scary as a trip to Fernabahce or the terraces of Napoli.

"Palace, clap clap clap, Palace, clap clap clap"

On the day our blessed black cloaked pyro pogoers celebrated their 16th, I found it heart warming to hear a group of younger kids taking their first steps onto the Palace path. I wish them luck and sorry in advance for all the pain and trauma they will suffer.

AFRICA CUP

Who are we losing and for how long ?
Losing Ayew, Zaha and Kouyate would be quite disruptive but might give more game time for Eze and Olise ?

Fabian Delph

Adam Sells (on FYP pod) said he was up at Everton’s training ground in the summer and got chatting with their technical director. He got the impression that they would be open to offers for Delph. So Sells fed it back to Dougie as he thought he’d be a good versatile addition in midfield and also left back, but Dougie felt he was too old and injury prone to consider.

New contracts?

Thought this could be an interesting thread. Unlike last summer when we basically said “get rid” to the majority of the 11 guys who were out of contract, think there will be a fair few we will want to keep. Contracts expiring at end of the season:

Nathaniel Clyne
Martin Kelly
James Tomkins

Cheikh Kouyate
Jordan Ayew

Conor Gallagher
JP Mateta

I think Clyne goes if Ferguson proves himself. Martin Kelly goes because he is not in serious contention. Tomkins, I originally wanted him to go because of his injury record, but he is so good that perhaps he could stay if he was willing to take a reduction in wages?

Kouyate has been fantastic in Vieira’s system. Surely he deserves a 2 year contract? Ayew has been instrumental imho. I think he deserves a 3 year contract. Hope we can tie them down to new long term contracts.

Mateta is being moved on in January I think. Gallagher obviously we’d love to keep. Wonder if we could get him on loan for another season after this one? As good as he has been for us I don’t think he would play regularly for Chelsea because he is not really a sitting midfielder in their 3-4-2-1 and there is a lot of competition for the 2 behind the striker - Ziyech, Pulisic, Mount, Werner, Hudson-Odoi, Havertz.

Would be interested to know people’s thoughts, especially on Ayew and Kouyate.

Crystal Ball: Saints (H)

Palace 1-2 Saints

Gallagher
JWP (pen from Long dive), Romeu
21,098

Norwich

Surprised they not on sale yet
Home

Southampton (h) Wednesday 15th December 7:30pm Live on BT Sport 3

Tickets now on general sale to all supporters with a client ref number and a booking history, six per person. No membership required.

Suggestion: Zaha to Chelsea in exchange for Gallagher ?

We all know zaha wants to leave so would you be happy if he went to Chelsea in exchange for Gallagher

Seems a no brainer to me especially as we have olise and eze knocking at the door but no where for them to squeeze in

Player Ratings And Reviews: Everton (home)

Guaita 6 solid

Mitchell 6 ok. Hope he’s not badly injured?
Guehi 5 unusually shaky
Tomkins 8 pick of defenders plus goal
Ward 4 Off the boil

Hughes 7 busy in the holding role
Kouyate 7 did a job on Doucoure
Gallagher 9 MOM two goals. Energy. Class

Zaha 5 involved in 1st goal. And?
Edouard 6 some nice touches but…
Ayew 8 Wilf dreams of playing like him

Subs:

Schlupp 6 did a job off the bench. That’s ok.
Benteke 8 sublime touches. Won headers
Clyne - n/a

We are a much better side than Everton without DCL. Comfortable victory overall. Can’t wait to see Eze and Olise but Vieira is ultra defensive so don’t hold your breath. They were poor. We are still lacking an attacker imho, but much better against a team with a bottom 5 level squad. First home win against them since 1994 IIRC. At least Hughes played. A proper midfielder, who knew. (Everyone apart from Vieira, and 4 weeks ago.)

Michael Nesmith - RIP

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I love a bit of Papa Nez. Did some interesting stuff in the Monkees, and his solo work is generally excellent. One of the early movers in country rock, and a music video pioneer.




:(

Next Tory Leader?

Surely now a matter of time?

My money would be Sunak. Whoever it is will be nasty bit of work.

Live Com and Updates: Crystal Palace V Everton KO 16.30

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Nice one, Wolves.

Lovely closing feature on Football Focus, looking at how club has helped 95-yo widow and fans with dementia.
Sure that many clubs have similar initiatives, but great to see one in action.
Maybe I'm just feeling goodwill towards everyone at Christmas, but at the end of the day we're all fans and love our clubs. [emoji268]

Crystal Ball: Everton (H)

2-0 Palace win, Zaha and Benteke.
Att: 23125

RIP Mensi

Thomas Mensforth aka Mensi, lead singer of the Angelic Upstarts, has died of Covid. Sad loss to the punk scene.

RIP The coolest Monkee

Loved Rio.

Thanks Mike.

2nd hand macbook

I know nothing about Macs but my son is doing Music Tech A level and needs one to run the software they recommend for composing etc. We know someone selling one with the following spec:

13" MACBOOK Pro 2017
2.3GHZ Dual core Intel Core i5
space grey
256 storage
8GB

They want £500-£550 for it

Is that decent? Do these things last for a while as if it was a normal laptop it would be obsolete after 4 years? Happy to buy 2nd hand if it will do the job for a couple of years though.

Get your screening done

I was not sure whether to post this or not but have decided I will as hopefully it may help someone.

For a few months leading up to the Summer I had days when I felt very poorly and had to stay in bed for a day or two. I eventually got an appointment with a GP over the phone and then a month later face to face. The GP wanted me to have a colonoscopy but said it would be a year before I even got to see the consultant.

Then had to do a stool test a few weeks ago and then got an urgent message to call the doctors regarding my referral. I was not aware of a referral and had to wait a week for the GP to call me to let me know that the micro blood count in my stool was 89 where a normal should be under 10 but not to worry (yeah right).

I was then given an urgent cancer referral and two weeks later had another appointment (on the phone) with a bowel nurse last Thursday and they wanted me to have an urgent colonoscopy which I had on Tuesday and thank goodness I did.

They found two adenoma polyps which have been removed, these in themselves are not harmful but if not removed could turn to cancer. I watched them remove these on the screen no pain at all. I now need to see the consultant again but that may not be for a year as it’s no longer urgent.

Whilst the colonoscopy was not a pleasant experience it did not hurt at all and is really nothing to be scared or worried about. Prior to having this and getting my results I was completely cranky unable to concentrate on anything worrying about what it may be and what the consequences may be.

Speaking to the surgeon he told me that bowel cancer can be spotted very early on and be treated or like me adenoma polyps can be removed quickly and painlessly to prevent this even starting, this of course can only work as people take up the screening so I am urging anyone who has this offered to accept it.

Everton (h) Sunday 12th December 4:30pm Live on Sky Sports

Tickets now on general sale to all supporters with a client ref number and a booking history, four per person. No membership required.

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Star Wars: Eclipse

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Quote:

As the first video game to be set in the era of The High Republic, the multimedia initiative that launched with publishing earlier this year, Star Wars Eclipse will feature an original story and unique new characters, each with their own paths, abilities, and roles to play in the tapestry of events that could alter the carefully balanced peace in an uncharted section of the Outer Rim. Star Wars Eclipse will be an intricately branching action-adventure game that can be experienced in multiple ways, putting the destinies of an array of playable characters in your hands. Your choices will be at the heart of the experience, as every decision can have a dramatic impact on the course of the story. Through these decisions, players will forge their own legend in the golden age of the Jedi. Star Wars Eclipse is currently in the early stages of development at Quantic Dream’s studios in Paris, France and Montreal, Canada.

Quantic Dream seems an odd choice to go with to make an action-adventure game in the Star Wars universe, but I guess we'll find out in a few years.

Press Conference Live: Pre-Everton Friday 1pm

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Match Updates: Dec 10 - 16

20:00
Brentford v Watford
Premier League
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports Ultra HD

Hooray! A club survey!

No one can accuse them of not trying, not tapping into the fan base before they launch a new product or make a drastic change to the match day experience. Er, well, yes, we can. The club sent me a survey just now. It simply asked my age, my gender, ethnicity, any physical disabilities and randomly, whether I understand Welsh. WTF? How about questions like "are you into cryptocurrency?", "what's your preferred type of season ticket, digital or card?", stuff like that? You know, useful stuff that might help shape future offerings?

Millwall (a) Saturday 8th January 12:45pm Live on ITV1

Saturday morning live on ITV.

We are thrilled to announce @CPFC as the latest Premier League club to join So

What do we think of this? Personally I don't want part of a cryptocurrency recruitment scheme that uses football to give credibility to its trading platform.

Bid for Signed Vicente Guaita Gloves

We're raising money for the Crystal Palace Disabled Supporters Association, and Vicente Guaita has kindly offered up a pair of his signed personalised gloves to win in a silent auction.

If you'd like to bid, email contact@fypfanzine.uk with your bid.

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Sir Steve Coppell talks to Red and Blue Review

Hi all.

Steve sat down with us recently and spoke to us about all things Palace, Tranmere and Man Utd.

He was an absolute delight. He went on to tell us that this was his FIRST ever Palace podcast.

This interview was over 3 hours long and is currently being edited, and we plan to release them as roughly half hours shows which will be played out over Christmas.

More details were given out on our last show after the 6th minute.

Just pop over to Red And Blue Review.Co.uk

I’m nervous about posting a link to our website on here as last time I did so I got warned of by the mods. (Oddly)

Anyway at the risk of being booted off , I’ll post links in here (if I’m still a member) over Christmas. Hope you enjoy them.

Remember your Covid passes!

All venues with a crowd of 10k or more now require an NHS Covid pass for entry.

Presumably this will be in effect at Selhurst from Sunday onwards.

Suggestion: Marcus Forss

From the Guardian today.

"Brentford, Marcus Forss
Marcuss Forss was Thomas Frank’s key man off the bench in Brentford’s successful promotion campaign. No player scored more goals as a substitute than Forss (five) in the Championship last season, with 32 of his 42 appearances coming as an impact player for the Bees. Yet, the forward has been an unused substitute in 10 of their 15 Premier League matches so far this season, with Sergi Canós and Yoane Wissa both above him in the attacking pecking order – even in Ivan Toney’s absence at Leeds over the weekend. Still only 22 years of age, Forss may feel his future lies elsewhere as he seeks to develop."

Young, got an eye for goal and lots of potential. Should be cheap (ish).

I know YT edits aren't a true gauge but he does look like he can finish.

Coping with loss

I don't usually post very personal things on here but wanted to tap in to BBS collective experiences.

We lost our daughter in September at 10 days old from a very rare viral infection. We are fortunate in that the care she had was extraordinary and we are both at peace that there was nothing that could have been done to save her.

Broadly we are coping ok and where we can loving each other through the worst possible situation. However, I am finding returning to work impossible, I have no interest in doing anything, can't concentrate and am just overwhelmingly tired.

Has anyone got any experience of going through something similar and any tools of how to get through this.

I have tried looking at more specific resources for people in similar positions but they all feel like they are written a code I don't understand or come with testimonies I find too sad to read.

Sorry to bring the tone down...

Testing 1 . . 2. . . 1 . . 2

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Goalkeeping laws

Can anyone tell me when, in terms of fouling a 'keeper, "having two hands on the ball" became "having the ball under control"?

I'm re-watching the Villa vs Leicester game on MOTD2 - and the apparent foul on Schmeichel which led to the Villa goal being disallowed, and I've no idea when this became a thing.

Right piece of work

Look at this charmer of a CEO. To view the link you have to Register or Login This is quite the shocker.

Everton Tickets Available

I have three tickets for the Everton game available towards the top of the Arthur. £42 each, the people I bought them for have now been offered corporate. DM me if interested.

15 games in…are you happy

So now we are 15 games in I just wanted to see what the general thoughts are of people with how the season is going? I hope things pick up but I am worried. This time last year we were;
14th P15 W5 D3 L7 GF19 GA28 GD-9 (7 goals came in that howler of a game versus Liverpool!)
This year we are;
14th P15 W3 D7 L5 GF19 GA21 GD-2

There was an article a few weeks back in the press saying how amazing Viera has been and how Zaha is thriving under him and yet this time last year Zaha had scored 3 more than what he has scored this season.

I hope time helps and we improve. The next few games are winnable I’m getting annoyed with these bloody draws!

Come January DF better have some good transfer options to help Viera otherwise I think we will need to start wondering if he is fit for the job….something I have questioned for a long time.

Everton

A mate of mine has a spare for everton ,
anyone interested ? pm me and i will pm you his details ,so you can arrange

Rest in Peace John Miles

Made some really good stuff back in the 1970s….Music, Hi Fly, Manhattan Skyline.

Rest in peace John.

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HF Appreciation...

I know the HF divide opinions. There have been some bad experiences from the move across lower holmesdale and other isolated incidents that people are very quick to talk online about...I hope this thread could encourage a bit of positivity around the group - and wanted to start with a recent experience I had.

I dont see a huge amount of good press for the group. Btw I would not count myself as a HF so this isnt too biased a post I hope anyway. My son and I had season tickets in the area both in Block B and Block E. I have seen the best and the worst of palace fans over the years trust me, not just in with these lads...

I used to have a few quid. And every christmas I gave up my season tickets for free for someone that needed them - as well as paying for a kit for a young fan too each year. Now the tables have somewhat turned...These last couple years have ruined us financially. Proper country n western song sh*t, lost the house, business, cars and nearly my marriage too with all the stress....After asking my eldest boy what he wants for christmas he just said "All i want dad is to go watch palace again like we used to..." :sob::sob::sob:

(Needless to say my 12yo son and I cannot get to watch palace at all anymore as its definitely a "luxury"...)

So I reached out to the HF group on Facebook, knowing the "Twenty is plenty" campaign is adhered to among the group - this was my only way of justifying taking my boy back to selhurst again. As the club would want membership fees, tickets plus food then travel and IMAGINE I wanted to actually buy the kid a kit too?? Honestly all-in would have cost me min £150- £250 to take him to one match! WTF has happened to our club???

So the only way was to get a couple of tickets for £40 and drive up from woking! Not only did the offers for games come flying in, none of them wanted any money and all offered such kind words of support too.

Karma is a funny thing isnt it?

Sky Q and Booster Box

I’ve just upgraded to Sky Q (not a Sky broadband user) and was advised by the engineer that we needed a booster between the main box and the mini due to range issues (he said it was to be be on the safe side as it was borderline). All was fine for a couple of days but now the booster won’t connect to the Sky main box? This doesn’t seem to be an issue as the Mini seems to reach the main box fine - my understanding is that the boxes use a separate direct Wi-Fi mesh to the main BT one around the house, but multiple resets etc aren’t getting the booster connected.

Anyone else experienced this issue? It seems pointless to even use the booster if it’s not necessary?

China manipulates weather using cloud seeding.

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Quote:

Last year Beijing announced plans to expand its experimental weather modification program to an area 1.5 times the size of India – 5.5 million square kilometres – covered by artificial rain or snow. The State Council has said it aims to have a developed weather modification system by 2025, including another half a million square kilometres hosting hail suppression technologies.

I'm no expert, but this can't be a good thing surely? At the very least I'm not sure we fully understand the nature of weather systems, so the possibility of this having a negative knock on effect somewhere else seems fairly likely.

FA Cup 3rd Round draw 2021/22

It's that time again!

You'll be able to watch the draw live on ITV4, before its coverage of Boreham Wood vs St Albans City.

Coverage will start from 6.45pm on ITV4.

Ball numbers (gets interesting at 45 onwards!)

1. AFC Bournemouth

2. Arsenal

3. Aston Villa

4. Barnsley

5. Birmingham City

6. Blackburn Rovers

7. Blackpool

8. Brentford

9. Brighton & Hove Albion

10. Bristol City

11. Burnley

12. Cardiff City

13. Chelsea

14. Coventry City

15. Crystal Palace

16. Derby County

17. Everton

18. Fulham

19. Huddersfield Town

20. Hull City

21. Leeds United

22. Leicester City

23. Liverpool

24. Luton Town

25. Manchester City

26. Manchester United

27. Middlesbrough

28. Millwall

29. Newcastle United

30. Norwich City

31. Nottingham Forest

32. Peterborough United

33. Preston North End

34. Queens Park Rangers

35. Reading

36. Sheffield United

37. Southampton

38. Stoke City

39. Swansea City

40. Tottenham Hotspur

41. Watford

42. West Bromwich Albion

43. West Ham United

44. Wolverhampton Wanderers

45. Yeovil Town

46. Bristol Rovers

47. Port Vale

48. Morecambe

49. Hartlepool United

50. AFC Wimbledon

51. Wigan Athletic

52. Leyton Orient

53. Cambridge United

54. Mansfield Town

55. Swindon Town

56. Rotherham United

57. Charlton Athletic

58. Boreham Wood or St Albans City

59. Kidderminster Harriers

60. Shrewsbury Town

61. Chesterfield

62. Plymouth Argyle

63. Ipswich Town or Barrow

64. Harrogate Town

3rd midfielder (with Gallagher + Kouyate)

Let’s help the manager, Vieira, who keeps getting it wrong because he doesn’t know our players as well as we do. He’s already played the abysmal Jairo, the painfully slow Luka and the sloppy Schluppy multiple times. All of them are regular flops in midfield these days and have been given far too many opportunities. So, who do you, as a well informed fan who has watched these players for many years, perhaps even as a season ticket holder, think should be the 3rd midfielder in the absence of McArthur? Let’s help the manager eradicate his mistakes. COYP

Manc in the away end

I couldn't go today but I am sick and tired of seeing pics of man u scarf-wearing c**** in the away end. What the **** Palace? Stop fighting each other at Burnley and come together to turf these ***** out. Shameful.

Suggestion: Djed Spence

Right sides in a back 4 or 5. Currently on loan at Forest from Boro (fall out with Warnock I believe), but possibly being called back in Jan.

He's 21 and looks a beast in this forest side whos defensive record of late has been excellent. Tall, athletic, anticipates moves and drives forward when he has it.
Seriously see him having a good career.

Possibly the next championship player we should be looking at and you'd have to assume he wouldn't cost the earth if Boro were willing to let Warnock send him on loan.

How many points before Christmas

How many should we take between now and Christmas

12/12 Everton (Home)

15/12 Southampton ( Home )

18/12 Watford ( away )

Has to be 7 points surely

Suggested Team and Formation For: EVERTON 12/12

------------Guaita-------------
Clyne - Andersen - Guehi - Mitchell
Gallagher - Kouyate - Hughes
Olise - Edouard - Zaha



Tomkins if anderson not fit
Give clyne another run out
Ayew and benteke on bench

Player Ratings And Reviews: Man Utd (away)

Deserved a slender loss. Didn't give it a go until it was too late and the game was over:

Guaita 6 Fine

Mitchell 6 Ok
Guehi 6 Solid
Tomkins 7 pick of the defenders
Clyne 4 off the pace

Kouyate 6 tries
Gallagher 6 quieter than usual
Schlupp 1 who? why?

Zaha 5 below par
Benteke 5 no service
Ayew 7 MOM won us so many free-kicks and took ball under pressure. Not a striker, but worth his place

Subs:

N/A and too late.


Can't afford to play with only 2 in midfield again. Zero service for the front players. Thought Ayew and Tomkins were the pick of our limited team. Need to get Eze and Olise more involved.

Fa cup third round

I just thought while it’s half time v manure , I’d take a minute to think forward to tomorrow nights draw and who we might get , I’m hoping for a revenge tie v Hartlepool but realistically we’ll probably get Bournemouth or something

Braces

Fed up with belts cutting my beer gut in half. Has to be said, I find them far more comfortable than a belt.
Do the club shop sell any Palace ones ?

Retro Gaming:

Just wondered if anyone plays retro games or has any favourites?

I’m still playing the Xbox 360 which is almost retro now but aside from that I picked up a handheld console that emulates lots of retro consoles and recently played the old green screen gameboy games super Mario land, super Mario 6 golden coins, adventure island and I’m on the original final fantasy. All great fun.

One up the bum...

I'm surprised this hasn't been mentioned on here.

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Live Com and Updates: Manchester United V Crystal Palace KO 14:00

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Mick Rock RIP

Music photographer including album covers Queen II &
Transformer

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Anthony Sher RIP

I remember him in The History Man on TV, very charismatic.

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Match Updates: Dec 4 - 9

12:30
Coventry City v West Brom
Championship
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports FootballSky Sports Ultra HD


12:30
West Ham United v Chelsea
Premier League
BT Sport 1BT Sport Ultimate


12:45
Buxton v Morecambe
FA Cup Second Round
BBC OneBBC iPlayerBBC Sport Website


17:30
Yeovil Town v Stevenage
FA Cup Second Round
BBC TwoBBC iPlayerBBC Sport Website


17:30
Watford v Man City
Premier League
Sky Sports Main EventSky Sports Premier LeagueSky Sports Ultra HD

Palace to forge link with Brazilian club - America MG?

Noticed this on Twitter from an article in Sportwitness

By Lucas Sposito - 3rd December 2021

The Brazilian League title was decided last night, as Atlético-MG ended their long drought and lifted the trophy after fifty years.



So in a column in Folha de São Paulo today, journalist Paulo Vinícius Coelho wonders about the league’s future, as the Galo seem to have a well-structured future now that they count on their support of rich businessmen to pay for a top team.

And it turns out that when speaking about another club from Belo Horizonte, PVC hints that América-MG could soon have a partnership with Premier League side Crystal Palace.

He says the club are close to agreeing a deal with a North American businessman who is a partner of the Selhurst Park side, without naming him. And the idea ‘seems to be’ finding young talents in Brazil and taking them to Europe.

With his piece talking about many other clubs, that’s all he says on his issue for now. But that’s definitely something to keep an eye on, as this could be a fruitful plan for Crystal Palace.

Even though América-MG aren’t one of the biggest clubs in Brazil, they’ve been stable in the first division and often show up with good talents. The club is where Everton star Richarlison made his professional debut.

Insurance non-disclosure - ADVICE NEEDED!

Dear Palace Hive Mind,

Wondering if anyone can give me some advice/info.

A few years ago I moved from Bristol to London but forgot to tell my moped insurer. A few months later I was knocked off my bike and when I notified my insurer, this oversight was discovered.

In most circumstances, I was told, this would be no trouble: the policy would simply be adjusted with my new address, possibly changing the premium slightly. However, it just so happened that my area of London was blacklisted by my insurance company as an area they wouldn't cover.

Therefore, though I had never attempted to make a claim - it was the other guy's fault! - they cancelled my policy.

From that point on, I have always had to click the box on insurance comparison sites that asks whether you have ever had an insurance policy refused, cancelled or voided. It has cost me hundreds of pounds across various policies in increased premiums and has severely limited the range of cover options open to me.

Seemingly, this is something that will stick with me forever and will cost me untold thousands over the years to come.

My question is: have I been doing the right thing by ticking this box? Does my situation count as a 'non-disclosure', seeing as I never attempted to make a claim under these conditions and my policy was cancelled as soon as the issue was realised?

I would dearly love to be able to get normal insurance like everybody else!

Many thanks.

Arthur Labinjo-Hughes murder

Incredibly, deeply upsetting story. Sometimes you see a story like this and it just genuinely brings you to tears, especially if you have small kids. How human beings are capable of such cruelty is far beyond my understanding.

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Its a really difficult read. Small consolation that justice has been done and will hopefully continue to be done in prison for those 2.

Happy 70th birthday Budgie

Many happy returns to the incomparable / incorrigible John Burridge.

The way the fixtures fall

Yes of course you have to play every team twice, but when you play them makes a difference, sometimes a huge difference. For example you can face teams in the middle of a good run with confidence up, or in the middle of a bad run with confidence down.

There are also these factors in the teams you face:

Teams at the beginning of the season after a World/European Cup during which with their players went deep

Newly promoted teams at the beginning of the season

Having a week to prepare against a team that played away in Europe mid week, or involved in extended Cup run

Key opposition players injured or recovered or indeed suspended for a red card in a previous game that had nothing to do with you.

New manager bounce

Team with African players during the African nations

I reckon the above can easily be worth a goal for or against you. Of course there are those that argue it evens out over the course of a season but I have always found that you get lucky seasons and unlucky seasons. The year Leicester won the League literally every fixture fell perfectly for them. Whereas on the other hand we seem to have been dealt a particularly unlucky hand so far this season.

What other factors of the fixture list are there?

Press Conference Live: Pre-Man Utd Friday 1pm

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Spotify Wrapped

Anyone else enjoy this yearly gem from Spotify?

Apparently i'm in the top 30% of listeners in the UK with 16,286 minutes, and my most listened to artist was Hans Zimmer :moo:

Palace & Villa charged

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Both clubs charged for their players actions in the 54th & 55th minutes.
This is something of a joke, surely? This looks simply like an excuse to raise revenue from both clubs.
Will the ref take any responsibility for what many will consider his poor handling of the game?

By-election Updates

Was going to do one just for Old Bexley and Sidcup but there are a few coming up .

Loan: Jake Giddings

Jake Giddings, who only appears to have played in U23 friendlies so far this season has been on loan at Basildon United (09/11/21-22/11/21) and is now on loan at Brentwood (23/11/21-31/05/22)

Discussion: Joe Aribo (Rangers midfielder)

Daily Mail Online:

'Premier League trio Crystal Palace, Brentford and Watford are targeting Rangers star Joe Aribo as the midfielder enters the final 18 months of his contract with the Scottish champions'

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Preferred CB pairing Andersen vs Tomkins

Help me settle a debate. I was having a conversation with a non BBS-er about how we've stumbled away from our successful system from earlier in the season. I argued that Andersen's absence from the last two games has seen our ability to build attacks and maintain possession has worsened. He argued that this was offset because Tomkins is a better defender and that we could still play in the same way with Tomkins in the side. He also went on to suggest that if Andersen is such a good passer that he should play DM. I disagreed strongly with this and asked "why are you trying to change so much that was good from our opening games?" before arguing that the base Andersen and Guehi have provided has transformed us into playing a possession based style.

Sometimes one can stumble into an echo chamber and not realise others have a different point of view, but I suspected the vast majority would prefer Andersen and Guehi.

Test Poll

Test Poll

What's the point?

20 nil. That's TWENTY to nothing.

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Crystal Ball: Wankers (a)

Man U 2-0 Palace
Greenwood
Maguire
71,234

Alternative formations

The 433 has served us well, but it seems clear that we need to think about an alternative that is also possession based but changes our angles of attack slightly. Also a way to accommodate a true 10. How about:

Guaita
Ferguson Andersen Guehi Mitchell
McArthur/ Hughes Kouyate Gallagher
Eze/Olise
Zaha Benteke/Edouard

Full backs providing width with Kouyate dropping into a back 3 to cover.

Long term I think this makes best use of our squad.

Suggested Team and Formation For: Manchester United (a) 5/12

Let’s get straight to it.

Ward banned, so I think Clyne straight in. I have an awful feeling Vieira might go for Kelly so that he can carry on playing with the right back tucked in as a three, but let’s hope not! I think the team picks itself apart from one central midfield decision. I would go for Hughes, but I could understand why someone would go for a creative player like Eze or Olise.

Guaita
Clyne - Tomkins - Guehi - Mitchell
Kouyate
Gallagher - Hughes
Ayew - Benteke - Zaha

Butland, Ferguson, Kelly, Riedewald, Milivojevic, Schlupp, Eze, Olise, Edouard

Obviously we’re unaware of Andersen is going to be fit or not so this team is based on the idea that he won’t be.

We’re looking short in defence with 2 players out, would Ferguson be considered fit enough for a place on the bench? He has been said to be in full training. If not, what other players from the u23? O’Brien, Rich-Baghuelou or Adaramola?

Creativity

Not really seeing it, are we? By and large in open play we've been very good defensively but going forward there's a lot of room for improvement. Tonight for example, we only looked dangerous in transition which we should have punished Leeds for and when they were in a more settled shape, nothing came off for us (mostly Wilf) like not much has all season really. If you watch the games and look at the stats nonces diagrams and whatnot, most of the high quality chances have come from catching teams higher up the pitch or pressing them into mistakes, there has been little cohesion between the front 3 to open up a block. Villa at the weekend, we didn't look like breaking them down at all. Even when we get into good positions to create something we're so wasteful (Wilf and Ayew cough)

if I was Rangnick at the weekend I'd have the wankers sitting back and letting us have the ball as we'll only manage nothing chances right now.