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[point of the game was scored right at the start of the second half.]

point of the game was scored right at the start of the second half. Armagh done enough to keep the dubs at bay in the second half. We have levels to go up I think

I'm assuming you're talking about Rian's two-pointer into the wind, which was absolutely magnificent.

Given though that it's all about opinions, the point of the game, which was also the point of the Championship for me - and has been criminally overlooked - was Oisin Conaty's effort in the 30th minute. There were echoes of Maradona's goal against England in the Azteca in 1986.

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Amazing if that is true.

It looks like last year's promoted teams showed that there is a serious gap to teams like United and Spurs.  Proper investment is needed but it comes at a risk of not working out, and leaving the club in diffs.  When Villa were promoted they took a punt at serious investment and just about stayed up on the last day.

Correct. Don't think they were the only ones recently, too. I was thinking of Forest in that regard - didn't they get something like 20 players in and sailed very close to the wind in their first season back up. It's all a tightrope.

I note too that Leicester are back in trouble in terms of spending, and may be staring down the barrel of a points deduction for next season. Many lessons to be learned.

We need a goalkeeper, a left back, a central midfielder, a no 10 and a striker, as well as possibly a central defender and a winger, preferably without loans which have seldom worked in the past.

The rumour mill is already in full swing as regards recruitment for next season, with many of the positions you have outlined MR, being discussed. Lot of talk about a £40 million swoop for Caoimhin Kelleher and Tsimikas to fill the keeper and left back positions. Getting Kelleher though might be difficult, due to the competition, as already talk of Villa coming in for him in anticipation of Martinez leaving. Aaron Ramsdale also being linked. Firpo has been offered a new contract, but nothing signed yet, with Real Betis sniffing around.

A range of forwards being mentioned. Solomon is likely to be signed on a permanent deal and strikers mentioned include Vladyslav Vanat of Dynamo Kiev (who I'd never heard of, up until yesterday!).

49ers Enterprises have also raised a further £120 million through a share issue, with the money to be spent on both stadium redevelopment and transfers. It is reckoned that the transfer kitty will now be north of £150 million, which is likely to be needed if we are to have any chance of surviving.

George Wendt.

NORM from Cheers.

Gutted to hear this. Feels like I've lost a friend.

[Unfortunately the excellence of the overall team performance was undone at crucial stages by a few individual errors.]

How about a supporter puts the blame on their team for what happened. Ever comment on here is, it's out of line BUT!!!

Donegal boy shouldn't have done what he done. Armagh ones shouldn't have reacted the way they did. But he did and they did. It'll be dealt with and we will move on. Sin é

It's very clear there's little or no sympathy for McFadden Ferry bar from his own. He fucked around and found out, tighten him. There might be suspensions but there'll be few regrets imo - and 2 well motivated teams.

There's definitely shades of 2005 around all of this. We won the Ulster title against Tyrone and properly over-celebrated a win after a match that had its fair share of spite and nastiness. It came back to bite us in the AI semi.  Will history repeat itself??

All ifs and buts but Armagh had plenty of chances that day to win it but kicked too many wides.
If we meet Donegal again I'd expect us to be highly motivated and focused after this defeat.  But would also expect Donegal to be honed in on winning an AI. Would probably be another very tight one!

I don't believe 'over celebrating' the 2005 Ulster Final victory in anyway contributed to the semi-final loss. Armagh actually played their best game of 2005 against Tyrone in that match. Unfortunately the excellence of the overall team performance was undone at crucial stages by a few individual errors.

And for what it's worth, I don't believe the Ulster Final victory was over celebrated at all.

Might have had something to do with the other team being even more excellent, no?

The other team was excellent, young Red, no doubt - but the errors I'm thinking of were individual misjudgements, albeit probably brought about by the pressure of the situation. Unforced errors, as Dan Maskell used to say at Wimbledon.

How about a supporter puts the blame on their team for what happened. Ever comment on here is, it's out of line BUT!!!

Donegal boy shouldn't have done what he done. Armagh ones shouldn't have reacted the way they did. But he did and they did. It'll be dealt with and we will move on. Sin é

It's very clear there's little or no sympathy for McFadden Ferry bar from his own. He fucked around and found out, tighten him. There might be suspensions but there'll be few regrets imo - and 2 well motivated teams.

There's definitely shades of 2005 around all of this. We won the Ulster title against Tyrone and properly over-celebrated a win after a match that had its fair share of spite and nastiness. It came back to bite us in the AI semi.  Will history repeat itself??

All ifs and buts but Armagh had plenty of chances that day to win it but kicked too many wides.
If we meet Donegal again I'd expect us to be highly motivated and focused after this defeat.  But would also expect Donegal to be honed in on winning an AI. Would probably be another very tight one!

I don't believe 'over celebrating' the 2005 Ulster Final victory in anyway contributed to the semi-final loss. Armagh actually played their best game of 2005 against Tyrone in that match. Unfortunately the excellence of the overall team performance was undone at crucial stages by a few individual errors.

And for what it's worth, I don't believe the Ulster Final victory was over celebrated at all. 

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Delighted, not dicking around in the play offs this year.

100% this. I would have had no faith in our ability to respond to the disappointment of missing out on automatic promotion.

We are the best team in the division and our GD shows but I would be concerned how bad the 3 promoted teams did this year and Farke is usually pretty poor in Premier league.

If I'm not mistaken, over the last two seasons, every team to get promoted has gone straight back down at the first time of asking. In Farke's defence, his previous times in the Premier League was with Norwich, and in terms of the Premier League, his spending budget would have been minimal. My hope is that the 49ers will give him a fighting chance in terms of a war chest for next season. Certainly there are key areas to address in terms of strengthening. 

I really hope we do not sign Solomon. I don't rate him at all.

Wouldn't want him either, although he has been effective for us this season. I'm afraid my reasons would not just be football.

Would love to go up as Champions. On paper, Bristol City at home would be a challenging enough fixture, but I'm hoping with the pressure off, we can get two wins from the last two matches to seal top spot. That certainly is my recollection of what happened in 2020, under Bielsa.

MOT!! 

Couple of good posts, lads, and I'm sort of half laughing, half nodding my head in agreement, at your obvious nervousness that even now this opportunity could still be butchered. Such are the mental scars of following Leeds. As the lads on the Square Ball podcast said, any self respecting Leeds fan recognises the signs of a collapse, and the Blades are undoubtedly suffering that.

Our last two away fixtures are at Oxford and Plymouth. These are two venues where Sheffield United have come a cropper in their last three fixtures, so we need to ensure that nothing is taken for granted and give these challenges the absolute respect needed.

My hope is that by the time of the Bristol City game on Monday week, we will already be promoted, with victories over Oxford and Stoke this weekend, and Sheffield United getting clipped at Turf Moor. But rarely do things go that smooth with Leeds.   

Clem Burke. Drummer with Blondie and also played with the Eurythmics. RIP.

When Leeds beat Sheffield United recently, at Bramall Lane, many pundits were lining up to announce that the race for the top was over, and that the battle was now for second place, between the Blades and Burnley. More regular (scarred) Leeds followers though, refused to take anything for granted, and subsequent matches have underlined how wise that position was.

Since defeating Sheffield United, Leeds have played five, winning one and drawing three times - six points from a possible fifteen - and are now second in the table, ahead of third placed Burnley on goal difference only.

The fall from grace represents a lot of chickens coming home to roost, with the spotlight very much on manager Farke, and his refusal to address problem areas at 1, 9 and 10, when the opportunity to change was available to him. Saturday's home draw against Swansea was the latest example. In what was a terrible team effort, the performance of goalkeeper Ilan Meslier stood out, as he gifted Swansea two goals, to throw away a badly needed victory, and lose Leeds' place at the top of the table.

Farke's options are now limited. He can stick with a keeper, who is surely not in a good place mentally, and who has lost the confidence of those around him, or he can change things and try out the rather unconvincing Karl Darlow, who has only a handful of games in his two seasons to date. Either choice is fraught with danger.

Failure for Leeds to gain promotion this season will represent a significant personal failure for Farke, and reflect badly on his managerial reputation, and surely end his ambition to prove himself in the Premier League. For Leeds, the stakes are even higher, as failure to get promoted is likely to lead to a fire sale of players, with obvious implications for the long term future of the Club.