lanky316

Oh dear, oh dear, this could get really, really humiliating.

Arsenal look physically and mentally broken, there were shades of last season but without the ability to attempt trying to blame everyone else. I do think there will be twists and turns still and I wouldn't put it past them to grab a point at least on Wednesday, although I can equally see them being dismantled with the way they seem to be leaking goals. It's set up nicely and if nothing else Arsenal have ensure that their recent matches have offered entertainment at least.

Yeah I thought with ten minutes(ish) stoppage time they'd get out of it but couldn't quite get there. It looks like the heartbreak after the last game of the season from the pin dropping and expressions of the Arsenal team. They look mentally broken already.

Maybe not that bad. Southampton needed to go in to stoppage time with two up. Arsenal are still going to win this.

How is that not a booking? Even in rugby you'd be in trouble for a hit like that but clattering someone in the air is a no brainer yellow card.

Big goal that. I think Southampton at least needed to get half time 2 up and then hold up the siege. They'll probably be out of this by half time it's been such an open and lively start.

Or maybe, just maybe not. This is truly Arsey.

Yeah there's no way that Southampton see this out, just enjoy the giggles while we can.

See De Gea and Maguires balls up last night? Well that certainly showed them how it's meant to be done.

It's "funny" as frustrated as I've been with Stevenages slide when we looked so close to overhauling them I couldn't help but smile thinking of him when they got it clinched, title is practically sealed too.

It does feel like making their implosion last season look small fry. They're still vaguely in control but they seem to be running on fumes right now and you wouldn't fully back them to limp over the line.

First gig for way too long last night after years of health and personal issues. Lordi, Babymetal and Sabaton at Wembley Arena. The first thing that stood out was how dated and much of a nightmare Wembley is these days. Queuing outside the venue wasn't too bad but once you get inside... horrible. First thing I did was get in a line for a bit of merch. 20 odd minutes in a relatively small queue just to get to the kiosk and be told "sorry we only do small and medium shirts from here. You need to go to this other one at the other end of the arena". So after all that no merch and missed the start of Lordi's set, then get into the auditorium and... the bar doesn't do soft drinks so you have to go outside again to get a drink and then there's the rule inside of "no leaning on walls" which for someone with knee and back problems meant by the end of the evening I was totally wrecked and really struggled through,. It's been so long since I'd been to Wembley I'd forgotten how much of a dive it could be. Musically though I had a grin on my face from the first minute to last amidst the odd bit of tears at being at a gig again. Lordi were the sort of fun you'd expect alongside some funny asides between songs. Babymetal were amazing and I'd forgotten how good their support band are, really good instrumental work there alongside the high energy performances from the girls who judging by the reactions as the set went on made a fair few new friends by showing how good they are if you've got past the "gimmick". Sabaton to finish were incredibly good and I could easily see why they've got the reputation as one of the better live acts on the circuit these days. Very theatrical and pace the set well with higher energy stuff as well as knowing when to slow it down for some of the more emotive songs. A really good evening as far as performances go and three bands I'd have no problems with seeing again. I may need to go for seating but I'm sure at most venues I'd have had some where to lean to ease some of the stress on my body but it was great to be seeing live music again after several years!

I've got 3 and had some good fun with it. Got Planetfall too which I enjoyed but haven't played as much of. There's quite a lot of customisation available in there as well so once you're familiar with it you can play around with things and come up with ideas to play around with. It looks like 4 is going to be taking that up a level or two in scale with the hybrid RPG/4X design. In Planetfall your games can carry over elements in to the next one as you build up your empire across different worlds - or in the case of AoW4 I guess regions of the planet because fantasy rather than sci-fi - which adds an element of long term development around every game with progress carrying on (things like discovering powerful artefacts to use in future games).

It's another factor on why the Conference is such a tough division these days. It's always been hard to get out of due to how scarce opportunities to get out were (they have eased them with the playoff spot and I'm not sure if they've got the "your ground might be good enough for England but we'll be damned if we'll let Cambridge United turn up there" rule still). There's a lot of established league names down there alongside teams on their way up with good set ups. The top conference sides are usually more than enough to compete to a decent level in League Two if not run straight through the league like we've seen a lot over the years so a team who struggled and got relegated have got a tough rebuild ahead of them. It's long overdue to consider it officially "League Three" or to be more integrated and this season could easily trigger more discussion on it. If (as it seems at the moment despite plenty of time for shenanigans) Notts County were to come second with a ridiculous points total and then get caught out in a one off tie against Boreham Wood it'll feel so much more of a let down than even the usual play off heartbreaks teams get. I know there's a thin line as there always is in football but the Conference is a long way from the traditional image of "a bunch of postmen who occasionally get a nice cup run" these days.

It's Slitherine so at the worst you're getting a decent strategy game. Free is pretty much my favourite price point too.

They have also teased this Naturally speculation is rampant as a video shown during the recent concerts also contains an image of them in silhouette in a "Doki Doki Morning" pose and they've been joined on stage by "their younger selves" for a couple of songs (a group of girls from the same school and group the original members (and Momoko later) went through), alongside comments from one of the girls making reference to Marvel meaning people are thinking there's going to be spin offs and all other convuluted stuff like an old plan to make some sort of animated series being brought back again. Reality is probably a new album, they've said "The Other One" isn't considered a normal Babymetal album and is more of a concept album seperate from the rest and it goes alongside their usual naming convention, it would fit in alongside Babymetal, Metal Resistance, Metal Galaxy and Metal (uni)verse. As always it's a bit cryptic and mysterious and boy do people love to try and read into every little thing and find all the hidden meanings behind everything they can do. Usually though, the most obvious thinking is going to be what actually happens in the end.

Klaus Teuber has died, the creator of Settlers of Catan (amongst others). A staple of most board gaming collections and still great to play after all this time. If you don't giggle when someone says "I have some wood for sheep" you're not human.

Going back to Decembers conversation, Babymetal have a new album out. Featuring the first song written by the main singer Su-metal As an aside to this, after one of the girls had to quit a few years back due to long term illnesses they confirmed that they will be returning to being a three piece going forwards with a permanent replacement, the first concert of two were tonight where she wasn't miced up as the big "reveal" was she was joining after being a touring dancer for a while. There's a follow up concert tomorrow where they're teasing a reveal of something else (the cynic in me is saying a new version of the album with three vocal lines and maybe a "Black Babymetal" song) and then they'll be flying to Europe to support Sabaton with the new line up, which is sure to be a trial by fire!

Bloody hell Fulham have imploded spectacularly there. All the drama and that should see the game decided bar something hilariously dramatic. Fulham had easily been the better side until that insanity and can't see them hanging on for penalties at this point.

I said after five minutes I could see France getting 50 and was right. Next week going to Ireland as well could be another hammering. I dread what could happen at the World Cup without some changes to this England set up.

I had expected goals in this game, I wasn't expecting Liverpool to score all of them.

Yeah, that was my instant reaction. On seeing it again it is a shoulder into face so it's not as bad as it initially looked.

That is one of the most bizarre decisions I've seen in a long time that a referee sends someone off for slapping someone in the face.... Then withdraws the red card because it's allowed now?

That's a hilariously shit goal to concede.

I've struggled to think of any particular games without having a list of about 300 so I'll simplify it. I'd like to be able to experience each "generation"/system for the first time as I grew up around games. It doesn't work with a more modern outlook but to relive the years and going through it. The idea of loading up a Spectrum tape and seeing (reasonable) renditions of Postman Pat or Thomas the Tank Engine for the first time. To loading up a C64 and hearing the improvement in music and general graphics. Picking up a Game Boy and being able to play games while out and about. Then I'd have been able to load up an Amiga and suddenly seen the sheer scale of strategy games like Civ or Premier/Championship manager, I've got my first real console of the speed and colours of a mega drive game through Sonic the Hedgehog. Then my mind could really be blown by picking up a Playstation and... Metal Gear Solid, the scale of some of those Amiga and pc games (as I'm not going to go through suddenly picking up "well I got another pc here and it booted up a bit quicker at first and could handle more recent games") but being even bigger across two discs something new as far as the "simple" world of consoles and just opening up so much more. The progressive jump to the PS2 which while not being as stand out moment the jump over the time still has enough of a wow as GTA matures and the "Realistic graphics" actually start to look a lot closer than I'd previously believed. Finally a PS3. Being able to set up Rock Band, download a continuously expanded set list and play in a "band" in real time with a couple of friends from all over the world. I'd been able to play online before this era of course but it was so quick and easy and a sense of growth on a console and it's availability feels on another level. I could have detoured and picked up other things like some of the consoles/handhelds I had (PSP and watching films on my handheld gaming console!) or spent more time around PC but for brevity and a general overview I've tried to keep it as simple to avoid too many tangents, for me the jump to PS3/4/5 doesn't *feel* as huge to me looking back. To be able to have those experiences across systems and seeing the growth of things without the "cloud" of nostalgia and being able to experience them without any vision of what was to follow is something that is just something totally impossible now. I can't wait to rage at the weird control system of Alien Resurrection... before near every game borrowed the basic control scheme!