wishywashy

Even Rishi has been coming out with the Bold Strategy of saying that these results mean Labour might only get a hung parliament. Not only is it a massive lie, it's a comment that exclusively benefits Labour as it will prevent complacency. There is literally nothing the Tories could gain from saying this.

At this point that the Tories have just resorted to saying literally anything to get them from one news cycle to the next, no matter how bizarre or damaging.

3 hours ago, Jas10 said:

Seem to be losing our minds here how about we give this a break or even lock the thread until either an official reveal or announcement is made or when we have returned to some form of sanity?

It would never unlock again!

And we're back. Opta puts it at a nice 95.8%.

4-1. It's now over again

At this rate Spurs will be concerned with whether they can get a result at Sheffield United, let alone Man City...

Just now, StefanAVFC said:

Spurs lose today they really need to beat city. If they lose today and against city they’re done. If we get 1 more point it’s also done. 

Even 2 wins and a draw might not be enough for them, depending on goal difference. They have to win 3 out of 4.

Opta still have us on 90% even after the defeat fwiw.

3 minutes ago, Delphinho123 said:

I’m seeing double.

4 Krustys.

Just wait until you hear about the Mario Hermoso thread in here from 2021!

https://www.telegraph.co.uk/news/2024/05/04/local-election-results-suella-braverman-rishi-sunak/

Quote

SUELLA BRAVERMAN

Let me cut to the chase so no one wastes time overanalysing this: we must not change our leader. Changing leader now won’t work: the time to do so came and went. The hole to dig us out is the PM’s, and it’s time for him to start shovelling

That is not how that works Suella

12 minutes ago, bickster said:

The real danger that no one has dared mention in the media today is that if they replace him, they'll likely need another leader again after the election. The supposed replacement of Mordaunt isn’t going to win Portsmouth North at the General Election

There's a universe where a high profile Midlands-based Tory who has just lost a mayoral contest decides he wants to become an MP, is offered the Tory vacancy within a certain West Midlands safe seat, and it snowballs from there as he ends up being one of the only Tories with any experience of leadership left after they're annihillated by 2025.

Would never happen. Definitely would be something though. Saying that. Street becoming PM might be a joke but Sky did actually briefly discuss earlier about whether Street could end up going down that route and grabbing a seat like Solihull.

So the Tory expectation management all day yesterday was to keep saying that they've likely performed better than expected in the London and West Midlands mayoral elections (despite not a single vote having been counted) and that they should be judged on what those results are rather than the council losses.

Just to not only win neither, but perform worse than in 2021 on both contests. Genius.

And we haven't even gotten to the fun part about how Sunak's "autumn relaunch" had zero effect in changing Tory fortunes in general but almost certainly cost them this West Midlands contest. Whoops.

It's official, 1,508 votes in it. Christ.

Sky claiming Labour have won.

26 minutes ago, Genie said:

West Midlands result on a knife edge apparently 

BBC are saying there might be under 2k votes in it

https://fawslfulltime.co.uk/2024/05/04/it-was-emotional-aston-villa-boss-ward-discusses-exit-announcement-after-win-at-brighton/

Quote

When speaking to WSL Full-Time after the match, Ward said that the players and staff were only told of her decision to step down yesterday before going on to explain how her commitment to the job has taken it’s toll over a lengthy period.

“I told the players and staff yesterday,” Ward said. “It has been a conversation that has been ongoing for a couple of months with the Board. It has been harder because they have tried everything to get me to stay. They’ve been absolutely brilliant, they’ve offered me support with the little one, they’ve offered me everything that you can possibly think of to stay. Sometimes, you have to recognise when you need a break and you need to breathe. As I have eluded to in the past, I leave my house at 5.30am and it’s a 200-mile trip in and back every day. It’s one that after four years, has taken it’s toll. I’m exhausted. I want a break, I want to spend time with my little girl, reflect and recharge and I think I’ll come back better for it.”

Ward is someone who prides herself on strong personal relationships in the game both internally and externally. She went on to say that breaking the news was emotional for herself and her dressing room.

She said “I’ve signed them all; it was emotional with the staff and the players. There were tears, that’s the reality; I’ve got good relationships with everyone. It was tough for me to tell them, I built myself up to tell them and then blubbered a little bit. They know that I care about them, they know they have a manager who has tried to bring out the best in them and I’ve given them a platform to be people rather than players. It’s something that I pride myself on and I’ll continue to have good relationships with them.

Aston Villa’s players responded positively to Ward’s news on the pitch, delivering a good performance against Brighton & Hove Albion. Alisha Lehmann’s second half goal was enough to earn The Villans a thoroughly-deserved three points. Ward said that she has challenged her players to make more memories in her final two games in charge.

She said “I said to the girls yesterday that we have two big weeks and we can either roll over or we can use this to dig deep and really enjoy ourselves together. We’ve created a lot of memories together, so let’s create a couple more in the last couple of weeks. They were excellent and credit to them with the way that they applied themselves today.”

Ward’s final match in charge of Aston Villa is against Manchester City at Villa Park on Saturday 18 May 2024.

The simplest solution here is to both qualify for the Champions League and win the Conference League.

We'll likely have Pau, Tielemans and Martinez back by the 2nd leg: if we already have CL in the bag then we can go all out knowing we have nothing to play for in the remaining 2 Prem games.

3 minutes ago, Strog said:

I can just about get WM where I live. Deluded blose fans saying they are in good hands, will go straight back up etc. They are a mess and I think next season will be harder than they think. 

For what it's worth, all of their new owner's footballing decisions have been excellent so far. It's not like they sacked a manager who had them in the playoffs for a guy who ended up winning 2 in 15...

They're people they should put every bit of faith in to lead their club back up to the Championship..

Securing UCL the same weekend Small Heath finally get flushed down the drain into League 1 mediocrity will be quite a pleasant experience

THE ANSWER TO THE QUESTION IN THE TITLE OF THIS THREAD IS "NEVER"!!!

BLUES ARE GOING DOWN DOWN DOWN

Blackburn settled.

Come on, Plymouth!