punkskaphil

I think I’d rather see my team getting battered in a fancy new stadium than battered in an old crumbling one.

HMS PTL ran aground just off the coast.

That’s pretty much what’s happening anyway. If ever there’s a time where letting someone go for a hattrick penalty when they’ve earned the right to do so, then maybe a season where we’re guaranteed to finish bottom regardless could be that time.

Such an important penalty too. I fear we won’t stay up now.

Is that the same Grok that said Elon Musk would beat Mike Tyson in a boxing match?

Fixed it for you.

HMS PTL has been patched up and broken free of its moorings.

HMS PTL returns to dock for scrapping.

Don’t be silly. I said HMS PTL has left the dock. Now you’ve taken the fantasy too far.

HMS PTL finally leaves the dock!

Did they apply for it and get turned down?

Bramall Lane won't exist once they've merged with us...

The bloke from London’s Burning?

All very interesting, but how are we not talking about this…?

Well, they're still in the relegation zone and - with the exception of today's performance against the most depleted side in the division - haven't shown much in their other games that shows they're guaranteed to get out of it. And we could draw them in the FA Cup.

We currently have a systematically-decimated and demoralised squad put together on a shoestring that's absolutely expected to be at the bottom of the table. They have a squad that cost tens of millions and was fully expected to be challenging for promotion this season. It's not remotely comparable to 2003-2006.

Could be. But it could also be next year. Who knows?

Boxing Day was significant both for the scoreline and the way it affected the trajectory of both clubs. It was a huge turning point. The game in 2012 was similar: it helped us overtake them to automatic promotion and put them on a trajectory that kept them in the third tier for a further five years. The only time any of their victories have had anything like the same significance in modern times was the 4-2 game in 2017, but we were arguably already on the slide by then and they were on a resurgent run. And of course, we won the biggest derby of them all at Wembley in '93. They'll probably put "beat the most decimated Wednesday side in history 3-0 in a run-of-the-mill league game" on the honours board though.

Did any of the other clubs lose most of their first team in the summer and not be allowed to replace them? Our situation isn’t remotely comparable to anyone else in the division. And the points deduction has made their efforts futile. Every player knows that no matter what they do or how hard they try, it’s going to be ultimately pointless come the end of the season. We are performing absolutely how we should be, given the events since the end of last season.

Exactly, but they didn't get five. In years to come nobody's going to look back on the goals that weren't scored. They had their biggest ever chance to properly put the BDM to bed once and for all, and they didn't manage it. Hopefully - if we get the right owners - we've got a bright future coming and today will just be a little annoyance from the past that will minimal significance. What happens off the pitch is far, far more important that what happens on it at the moment.

I said to a friend yesterday for the first time ever the result didn't matter, given the situation. I still feel the same. Today was the opportunity for them to finally beat us by more than the 4-0 of Boxing Day all those years ago. It was literally the biggest free hit they'll ever have. They have a squad that many before the start of the season were predicting would be challenging for automatic, whereas we have a squad that most were predicting was going to finish bottom. And that doesn't even take into account injuries to our already-threadbare squad or the points deduction. We've won one game all season and we're nearly in December. I'm always disappointed to lose to them, but this by far was the most expected defeat to them in my lifetime, and to be honest I was bracing myself for it to be a bigger scoreline than it was.

What do you want me to do? Stand in the car park with a placard demanding that the team wins?

That would make sense if all professional footballers were of the same standard, but they're not. Being paid doesn't automatically make you all the same. And it's an even more bizarre thing to say when our players have, for several months, literally not been paid on time.

I’m calling BS. I’m 5’5” and I struggled to get into the first team of Oxted & Hurst Green Utd under-14s.