Football Thread: September Edition

[Spikey M]

Completely missed that England were playing tonight. What a lucky accident.

[phonics]

This is wrong.

You probably won't get optimum results going out and trying to Total Football it. But the kind of football Southgate is playing does not get the best performances or results out of this squad either. There is a balance to be struck, and this ain't it.

I agree. I already said we’re not going to win. Who are you getting in to provide this perfect balance? What you have to factor in with Southgate is that it’s not the on-pitch stuff that he’s got right but the off pitch stuff. We all hated the team prior to him taking over and they hated each other. Who do you get in who keeps that going and nails the on pitch stuff.

[phonics]

This is wrong.

You probably won't get optimum results going out and trying to Total Football it. But the kind of football Southgate is playing does not get the best performances or results out of this squad either. There is a balance to be struck, and this ain't it.

Literally every team that’s won in the last 20 years or so disagrees. France we’re honking. Italy were honking twice. Portugal were awful. Greece were fucking Greece. Germany of 2016 were probably the only good team to win a major championship in 15 years.

[Yevrah]

The goodwill towards the team won't last much longer if this shit keeps up.

[phonics]

The goodwill towards the team won't last much longer if this shit keeps up.

Nothing we do better than building people up and then tearing them down. Is a national pastime.

[Waffdon]

England won’t be seeded for the Euros Draw now. Not that it will make much of a difference but means they could get a dodgy group.

[Manc]

The next England manager odds are sight to behold.

[-james-]

The next England manager odds are sight to behold.

Mourinho. :drool:

[phonics]

Him being in a music video with stormzy makes more sense now.

[Yevrah]

As much of a busted flush Mourinho is, I think I’d welcome it for the lols over what we currently have.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jose Mourinho: England Manager would be peak football. We were denied the lols we deserved when Allardyce got fired, we must have them now. Sick to the back teeth of Southgate 'conducting himself with great dignity'.

[Yevrah]

His comments after the game sound like the words of a man who has had a major divorce from reality - it all has a bit of a last days of Taylor, Hodgson etc feel about it.

[Lewis]

Thomas Tuchel would be our best bet.

[Shindig]

Y'know we've been embarrassed but it's a group with Germany and Italy in it. And they're both being humbled by Hungary. Still, Waistgate has to ditch this 'I'd rather not lose' mentality and play games to win them. He's had his time. He took us pretty far but he cannot take us further.

[Dquincy]

Thomas Tuchel would be our best bet.

I'll raise you, Arsene Wenger.

[Clunge]

Tim Sherwood's due a comeback.

[Dquincy]

All of these suggestions are better than old big nose.

I'd even rather have a player manager Wayne Rooney for shits and gigs.

[Luca]

No more Operations: https://twitter.com/matt_law_dt/status/1573640140802740225?s=46&t=tLQw3BI1OihVxZ369R-8yw

[Manc]

Just switched on the BBC to find the Emirates belting out Sweet Caroline. It's the WSL ffs. Stop it.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There is a (weirdly large) section of the population that will happily belt out Sweet Caroline at any time, for any reason, sometimes abandoning their usual healthy cynicism to do so.

[Spikey M]

I agree. I already said we’re not going to win. Who are you getting in to provide this perfect balance? What you have to factor in with Southgate is that it’s not the on-pitch stuff that he’s got right but the off pitch stuff. We all hated the team prior to him taking over and they hated each other. Who do you get in who keeps that going and nails the on pitch stuff.

https://i.ibb.co/nCsx19M/th.jpg

[Spikey M]

Just switched on the BBC to find the Emirates belting out Sweet Caroline. It's the WSL ffs. Stop it.

Just think yourself lucky we've moved on from Hey Jude.

[Jimmy Floyd]

A propos of nothing (reminded by 'arry Redknapp in a car, which somehow features in it), I read Rory Smith's 'Expected Goals' in the last few days - brilliant book, for anyone who wants a grounding in data in football. Really enjoyed it and learned a lot. It doesn't dive deep into the specifics, but is a great commentary on the evolution of data in the sport.

Also puts forward the idea that Sam Allardyce was basically the Billy Beane of English football. Poor Sam.

[Yevrah]

Just switched on the BBC to find the Emirates belting out Sweet Caroline. It's the WSL ffs. Stop it.

It's a truly awful song, used in such a cynical fashion, that pains me every time I hear idiots belting it out.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Also, had to do a double take at this:


Juventus have named Maurizio Arrivabene, the former Ferrari Formula 1 boss, as their new CEO, in charge of football affairs.

Which they've followed up in appropriate style by losing to Monza last week. Cracking stuff.

[Disco]

Brivio to Alpine was odd enough, next up Luca di Montezemelo as All Blacks coach.

[niko_cee]

There is a (weirdly large) section of the population that will happily belt out Sweet Caroline at any time, for any reason, sometimes abandoning their usual healthy cynicism to do so.

I was, [not] interestingly, sent a shit meme on this very theme not 5 minutes before you posted this.

[Spikey M]

Post it then.

[Dquincy]

Rooney Euros 2004 was pure :drool:

1573652934440718336

[Jimmy Floyd]

Watching the last goal in that sequence, my first thought was 'oh, VAR will have a look at that'. Game's gone.

[randomlegend]

People have already forgotten how good Rooney was.

[Don]

Mon the tartan dons, by 2 or more please.

[ScousePig]

A propos of nothing (reminded by 'arry Redknapp in a car, which somehow features in it), I read Rory Smith's 'Expected Goals' in the last few days - brilliant book, for anyone who wants a grounding in data in football. Really enjoyed it and learned a lot. It doesn't dive deep into the specifics, but is a great commentary on the evolution of data in the sport.

Also puts forward the idea that Sam Allardyce was basically the Billy Beane of English football. Poor Sam.

Presumably you've also read The Numbers Game and Soccernomics. There's a couple of others too but I've not got Expected Goals.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The guy who wrote The Numbers Game is one of the main 'characters' in this, via his subsequent voyage into English football which somehow finished up being Tony Mowbray's boss at Coventry.

[Don]

Scotland don't half attempt to play some difficult incisive passing football. Good to see them breaking from their brexitball roots.

[Lofty]

A propos of nothing (reminded by 'arry Redknapp in a car, which somehow features in it), I read Rory Smith's 'Expected Goals' in the last few days - brilliant book, for anyone who wants a grounding in data in football. Really enjoyed it and learned a lot. It doesn't dive deep into the specifics, but is a great commentary on the evolution of data in the sport.

Also puts forward the idea that Sam Allardyce was basically the Billy Beane of English football. Poor Sam.

I think I heard him plugging it a while ago, is this the one where he said Big Sam used data to change the way Bolton set up for corners because he analysed data on where the second ball tended to be?

[Ian]

That sort of thing yeah, he was on football weekly talking about it too in the last week or so.

He had Allardyce as one of the most influential managers in England in recent times.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Yeah, that's it.

It also makes out that Damien Comolli was some kind of far-sighted genius ahead of his time, which I didn't know was a thing.

[Lewis]

Remember when the offside rule changed and it was only Bolton and Ruud van Nistelrooy that understood it and everybody else seethed?

[-james-]

Mitrovic hat trick tonight. Scott Parker needs doing for war crimes.

[Don]

So does any CL side who signed a striker or indeed was in the market for one this summer.

[ScousePig]

Is Damian Commolli the DoF who was at Spurs and Liverpool? I'm pretty sure he comes out as a bit of a hero in one of those books I mentioned above, and Allardyce is mentioned a bit too. I think the earlier stages when Andy Carroll, Stewart Downing and Jordan Henderson were signed were him in his early stages of getting to grips with data.

[Jimmy Floyd]

So does any CL side who signed a striker or indeed was in the market for one this summer.

Apparently he just loves the easy street of a life that is Fulham, or he'd have gone ages back.

[niko_cee]

Post it then.

It's on my phone, but is something to the effect of two guys standing on a battlefield discussing how to work out if all the corpses are dead or just pretending, so one starts singing sweet caroline, at which point the non-dead corpses do the "ba ba baa" bit, and then get speared.

Would probably have been easier just to find the thing than try to explain it.

[Shindig]

Hey Jude is the same shit, different melody.

[igor_balis]

Hey Jude might be my least favourite song.

[Danny]

https://i.redd.it/y7rl1xvm1f131.png
niko_cee

[igor_balis]

Worth the wait

[thommo]

Apparently he just loves the easy street of a life that is Fulham, or he'd have gone ages back.

Makes sense really. Absolutely loves living in London, guaranteed first name in the XI, team built around him, fans absolutely adore him. Not to mention in the middle of one of the best international runs of form in decades.

Every goal he scores continues to make a mockery of Scott Parker and his insistence on playing Ivan Cavaleiro or Josh Maja over him.

[Spikey M]

Hey Jude might be my least favourite song.

Everything The Beatles did was absolute shite. I've no idea why they are so popular.

Elvis is/was even worse.

[SvN]

Everything The Beatles did was absolute shite. I've no idea why they are so popular.

Elvis is/was even worse.

Worst post of the week, days after Quincy posted that Nonce Andrew was an innocent victim, is some going.

[Giggles]

Everything The Beatles did was absolute shite. I've no idea why they are so popular.

Elvis is/was even worse.

Fuck right off.

[Spikey M]

We AlL lIvE iN a YeLlOw SuBmArInE

Absolute shite. Eat your amputee veggie burgers and stfu

[Clunge]

*Everything Paul McCartney did was absolute shite (relative to most of the rest of The Beatles' output). And post-Beatles, ofc.

Hey Jude and Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da are actively offensive.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Paul McCartney was the best Beatle ffs. Have you heard the absolute toilet that John Lennon put out in the 70s? That Christmas song was enough for the shooting to be justified.

[Spikey M]

Paul McCartney encouraged Gary Barlow and that's basically a war crime.

[Baz]

*Everything Paul McCartney did was absolute shite (relative to most of the rest of The Beatles' output). And post-Beatles, ofc.

Hey Jude and Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da are actively offensive.

Ob-La-Di Ob-La-Da Is actually passable as a drunken singalong song. And Bungalow Bill.

As for their other songs, my views are skewed as I tend to like the songs Elliott Smith covered. (I’m Only sleeping, yer blues, Blackbird, For No One, etc)

[SvN]

McCartney's reputation is damaged by the fact that he had the nerve to stay alive.

[Ian]

There might be nothing to talk about football-wise but at least we're tackling the hot, relevant issues of the day.

[Spikey M]

Don't get me started on The fucking Bee Gee's.

[SvN]

Barry :cool:

[Spikey M]

It's pretty incredible - considering the people that share the name (Barry White, Barry Manilow, Burger Barry, Sir Barrington of St Helens, etc.) - that when I hear the name my mind goes straight to Barry Chuckle.

[SvN]

There's only one true Barry.

https://c.files.bbci.co.uk/11D9D/production/_108971137_0246e60b-be9b-44ee-97de-9a229038534c.png

[Spikey M]

Honestly ashamed to have forgotten him.

[Giggles]

Honestly ashamed to have forgotten him.

That shame should be way down your list this morning.

[-james-]

We AlL lIvE iN a YeLlOw SuBmArInE

Absolute shite. Eat your amputee veggie burgers and stfu

Their other songs are much better than that one. There's something for everyone!

[ScousePig]

Tough crowd this morning.

[Manc]

Go listen to The White Album, Spikey.

[Lewis]

That won't help.

[-james-]

The White Album is interesting culturally/historically but musically I don't think I'd have it in my top three. They should have each fucked off and done a solo album after India and then reconvened.

[SvN]

Maybe Ringo could've released Don't Pass Me By as a single.

[Shindig]

Elvis is definitely shite. Never has black music sounded so white.

[Gray Fox]

You know that it's a fool who plays it cool, by making his world a little colder.

[Kikó]

Elvis is clearly not fucking shite.

[Shindig]

Motherfuck him and John Wayne.

[Spikey M]

Elvis is clearly not fucking shite.

Not if you're 70, no.

[ScousePig]

Surely you have to compare him to the era in which he was prominent.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The White Album is my favourite but probably for the reasons James states (you learn things listening to it) rather than base enjoyment.

Elvis... he's a historical figure, you have to understand the context.

[phonics]

It’s a nightmare listening to some of the Beatles albums on headphones because of the Wall of Sound stuff. Spotify needs a mono mix.

[Pepe]

The Beegees are good. The Beatles have a few alright songs, but definitely more famous than talented. I like Live and Let Die. Good song.

[Giggles]

Abbey Road :cool:

[Shindig]

Wayne Hennessey is giving the S4C commentary team palpitations.

[igor_balis]

Wayne Hennessey is giving the S4C commentary team palpitations.

Is he still desperate to learn about the Nazis?

[Waffdon]

Tomori left out of the England 23 again for tonight’s game :lol:

Long live Gareth

[Don]

I'd cheer but these Iran protests look like they may start interfering with our football now ffs. Could you not wait 8 weeks before you start posting messages of support with the protesters you fucking mongs?

[Boydy]

They're still doing a minute's silence at football?

[niko_cee]

What for, the pound?

[Boydy]

What for, the pound?

:D


Also why are in England in their away kit?

[-james-]

brb just explaining the nations league to my dad for the fourth time this year

[randomlegend]

That's the best pass Luke Shaw has ever done in his life.

If only Sterling could finish.

[Ben]

Sterling is excellent right up until the point he has to kick the ball. Proper Ugo Ehiogu vibes.

[-james-]

Sterling is 1 goal per season above expectation since records began. :dc:

[randomlegend]

Sterling is 1 goal per season above expectation since records began. :dc:

Absolute proof that xG is bollocks.

[-james-]

That kind of stat is probably one of the few decent uses for it.

[randomlegend]

Whatever you say.

[Yevrah]

This has been better and we should have scored at least one.

[Yevrah]

Who'd have thought an out of form and dropped for his club player would make a mistake like that?

[Lewis]

I like this Prussia shirt.

[Luke Emia]

Who'd have thought an out of form and dropped for his club player would make a mistake like that?

Southgate must be on crack. He’s quite rightly dropped Trent yet he’s persisting with him at centre half who’s been far worse for far longer at club level.

[-james-]

Whatever you say.

What's your contention with it?

[niko_cee]

Shame Zee Germans didn't walk that one in there. Maguire and Dier at this level would be funny if it wasn't so tragic.

[randomlegend]

Thank god Ten Hag bullied the board into paying for Martinez and dropped Maguire at the first opportunity.

[niko_cee]

It's upsetting that United didn't give Southgate the manager's job.

[randomlegend]

This really goes to show how even really good attacking players (Kane, Foden) will look wank in a poorly coached team.

The eternally pointless Mason Mount on to save the day.

[Yevrah]

After my faint praise in the first half, this second half has been an abomination thus far.

[randomlegend]

England centre back Harry Maguire kicking off that move by being disposessed trying to dribble his way out of trouble on the edge of the opposition box.

Incredible hit by Havertz though.

[Ben]

Maguire :lol:

[niko_cee]

Winter of discontent indeed.

At least he's got all of the off field, inclusivity calls right though. Do we have to go through the world cup before we sack the useless twat?

[7om]

Southgate gets fired tonight, right?

[Ben]

No chance.

[randomlegend]

Got a day off work tomorrow so I'll be getting my "Southgate is shit" evictory certificate laminated.

[niko_cee]

A contract extension is more likely.

[Danny]

Gwan Fat Lad

[-james-]

It's coming home. We've been well better here, slabhead aside.

[Gray Fox]

#SouthgateIn

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Pies on Shaw tonight.

[Yevrah]

Got a day off work tomorrow so I'll be getting my "Southgate is shit" evictory certificate laminated.

Remember when I said before the Euro 20 final that Southgate should be let go whether he won or lost that match? As with Roberto Martinez, I can spot a chancing manager a mile off. I'll take apologies by PM.

[randomlegend]

This really goes to show how even really good attacking players (Kane, Foden) will look wank in a poorly coached team.

The eternally pointless Mason Mount on to save the day.

:cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Southgate SAVED.

[Gray Fox]

This was all Southgates doing. New contract til 2026 please.

[Luke Emia]

He’s never won a game in a tournament that you would call a 50/50 bar maybe that Germany game last year and even then they were absolutely woeful at the time.

[Ben]

Remember when I said before the Euro 20 final that Southgate should be let go whether he won or lost that match? As with Roberto Martinez, I can spot a chancing manager a mile off. I'll take apologies by PM.

Any Middlesbrough fan will tell you they’ve been truly baffled by the appointment since day one. He looked out of his depth there.

[-james-]

Remember when I said before the Euro 20 final that Southgate should be let go whether he won or lost that match? As with Roberto Martinez, I can spot a chancing manager a mile off. I'll take apologies by PM.

The problem, as ever, is applying the standards of club football to international football. Who are you replacing him with? Which international side of the past 20 years do you want to emulate the style of?

I remember a few years ago being ridiculed on here for suggesting that England would probably win a world cup in our lifetime. Two close calls later and everyone wants the man in charge gone.

[Lewis]

Two close calls?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Sir Gareth Southgate.

[randomlegend]

Sareth Gouthgate? Gareths Outhgate?
Lewis?

[Yevrah]

The problem, as ever, is applying the standards of club football to international football. Who are you replacing him with? Which international side of the past 20 years do you want to emulate the style of?

I remember a few years ago being ridiculed on here for suggesting that England would probably win a world cup in our lifetime. Two close calls later and everyone wants the man in charge gone.

We can go through it all again, but the close calls were helped massively by the draw in one and the draw and being at home in the other and he lost both of the final games of those tournaments in exactly the same manner.

I've never understood the who do you replace him with argument, as if there isn't an immediately available obvious choice we just carry on with the same shite.

[7om]

Southgate gets a contract extension tonight, right?

[Lewis]

Sareth Gouthgate? Gareths Outhgate?
Lewis?

Either will do.

[Waffdon]

Southgate stays :drool:

Reece James has looked brilliant since Foden fucked off

[randomlegend]

I'm not sure I've ever watched Pope before but he's been absolutely dreadful tonight.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Nick Pope :harold:

[Gray Fox]

Amazing :p

[randomlegend]

Southgate stays :drool:

Reece James has looked brilliant since Foden fucked off

We could've lost 8-0 tonight, they still wouldn't have sacked him 2 months before the World Cup.

[7om]

Rob Green, David James, Joe Hart, now Nick Pope. Any other England goalkeepers that need hanging?

[Waffdon]

Germany are an absolute mess defensively and have been for a while. These high lines :lol:

[Danny]

Rob Green, David James, Joe Hart, now Nick Pope. Any other England goalkeepers that need hanging?

Carson

[randomlegend]

Rob Green, David James, Joe Hart, now Nick Pope. Any other England goalkeepers that need hanging?

Pickford is wank as well. Always looks like he's forgotten to take his ritalin.

[Manc]

Fairly certain that came off a German player and Mount was subsequently taken out in the penalty area. Robbed.

[Shindig]

Rob Green, David James, Joe Hart, now Nick Pope. Any other England goalkeepers that need hanging?

Paul Robinson.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Mourinho would do a better job. The king of the one-off game.

[Shindig]

Saka looked a real spark.

[Waffdon]

Spain, Italy, France and Germany are all in as bad form as England so the latter will probably still shithouse their way to another semis at least.

I’m not when sure who is a good team.

[Don]

Brazil and France are always going to tear shit up from the big names. Lot of people raving about Argentina on their mad run that they are but all I see is wall-to-wall fat old favela cunts and a few laughably overrated CBs.

I peeped a bit of the Dutch and this Gakpo looks like an actual serious player. Bergwijn too and then some important quality elsewhere. Stick them alongside Denmark.

Mount, Pickford and Southgate stocks up tonight and probably too late to drop Maguire when he faces one of the greatest penalty-winning strikers (only occasionally diving) the game has ever seen. What a night :drool:

[Jimmy Floyd]

Our group is annoying, as dropping points to any of those would be a monstrous geopolitical embarrassment. If you draw with Tunisia then who cares.

[niko_cee]

Germany trolling us in 5 more years of Southgate is a real sickener.

[-james-]

Brazil are the only scary side. On paper they should bum everyone but that was true last time as well and it looks like they'll be in the hardest quarter of the draw, England can't meet them until the final if they both win their groups or the semis if one of them doesn't.

[-james-]

https://i.imgur.com/onSDagI.png

The knockouts if everything goes as expected. England's quarter if France somehow balls it up. :')

[Jimmy Floyd]

Have the South Americans got over their cult of personality around number 10s yet? If not then they still won't do anything. Europeans have been miles ahead in approach for a decade or two now.

[John Arne]

Mane dumping out England in the second round.

[CJay]

Denmark have as good a chance at winning it as anyone. Not having a dead man to rally around this time might harm their chances though.

[Manc]

A last 16 defeat to Ecuador is definitely on the cards for Ingerland.

[Don]

Solid 1-1 draw to African champions whilst rotating our side. We're cooking.

[Waffdon]

Ryan Porteous starting for Scotland. Oh my lord, this could be fun.

[Giggles]

Robbie Brady returns to the starting lineup. After the fap fest about his return hopefully this will remind us that he was fucking terrible ever since Euro 2016. I’m not sure who always said it about players before (Jimmy?) but he’s incapable of kicking a ball properly.

[Waffdon]

Eh? Is he not known for being a set piece ‘specialist’?

[Giggles]

Eh? Is he not known for being a set piece ‘specialist’?

How that happened I’ll never know. I’ve never seen him deliver a competent corner.
He probably fluked a free kick once and that’s normally enough judging by letting Conor Hourihane take so many.

[Waffdon]

Definitely fluked a few for Burnley then.

Can’t believe the referee tried to give Scotland a penalty there :D

[Lewis]

1574840422882578452

Why did United not sign him again?

[Giggles]

Here we go again :face:

[Waffdon]

This boy for Ukraine is about to break the offside record

[Ian]

1574840422882578452

Why did United not sign him again?

I don't even remember any rumours about him therefore he's not famous / obvious enough.

[Giggles]

That was a dodgy enough penalty award. I didn’t even know Lansdowne Road had VAR.

[CJay]

That was a dodgy enough penalty award. I didn’t even know Lansdowne Road had VAR.

Really? Thought it was a blatant handball myself.

Loved the ref getting fed up and dishing out reds to the Armenians when they lost their heads.

[Waffdon]

Ryan Porteous starting for Scotland. Oh my lord, this could be fun.

What a plur. Best player on the pitch by some distance.

[CJay]

Just clocking that Ronaldo has 190 caps for Portugal. :cab:

[Giggles]

Really? Thought it was a blatant handball myself.

Loved the ref getting fed up and dishing out reds to the Armenians when they lost their heads.

I thought it might be a bit close range to give but seeing it again it was probably right.

Absolutely shocking performance though. So short of ideas when trying to break down any team sitting like that. Just aimless ball after aimless ball from wide.

[Waffdon]

Good old Scotland carrying the flag for the British isles being the only country in Group A.

Sadly doesn’t feel quite as good knowing that Israel also got promoted. Another double header with them mongs again no doubt.

[Lewis]

1574790979261009920

That is some framing.

[randomlegend]

I don't even remember any rumours about him therefore he's not famous / obvious enough.

https://www.thethirdhalf.co.uk/showthread.php?3012-The-Summer-Transfer-Window-Thread-Here-We-Go!&p=555222&viewfull=1#post555222


United seem like they might be about to spend an ungodly number of millions on one of these "talented young strikers" who's never scored more than 10 goals in a decent league (Benjamin Sesko from Salzburg).

5 in 24 in the Austrian league last season :eyemouth:

Dunno why I fucking bother. Prick.

Anyway, he's bordering on that "too laughably tall to actually be good" territory.

[Ian]

The blame may be as much on my shamefully bad memory as on your relentlessly tedious rumour posts if it makes you feel any better.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I swear British TV is now just 24 hours of Gary Neville saying and doing things for PR reasons.

[Yevrah]

We are reaching the point where he does need to be stopped. I like politics, I like football and as a result he has absolutely infested my Youtube algorithm.

[Waffdon]

I don’t mind his [not so] quick fire questions on the Overlap thing he does.

[Raoul Duke]

We are reaching the point where he does need to be stopped. I like politics, I like football and as a result he has absolutely infested my Youtube algorithm.

He'll only be stopped when he goes into politics full time and Valencia's up the Labour Party 2036 election campaign

[Jimmy Floyd]

He's not bright enough to go into politics full time. Mayor of Manchester at best.

[Raoul Duke]

Not sure the bar is that high, given the current crop of chancers

[randomlegend]

It's quite cute how Jimmy genuinely believes the politicians are all actually really clever.

[Don]

The majority (at least of those in question) seem to have the best education tbf.

Food for thought:
https://www.theguardian.com/football/2022/sep/28/pragmatic-manager-fans-wins-world-cup-gareth-southgate-england-conservative-tournaments

[Jimmy Floyd]

It's quite cute how Jimmy genuinely believes the politicians are all actually really clever.

Bad decisions/policies are not necessarily driven by lack of intelligence. I'd guess that all 650 in parliament, and most of those who work for them in the back offices, are smarter than Gary Neville. Everyone in your line of work will be too.

[niko_cee]

Isn't that all a bit like the "well, we're playing so badly maybe we'll win the thing!" logic that preceded Euro 2016?

[Don]

All I know is we have the greatest conservative in charge since Thatcher so it suits my agenda. The real pressure will be if the players can cope with the knowledge that 9 points brings about the fall of the Islamic Republic in the country.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm not sure people are quite prepared for the mass-scale eye-bleeding that will take place as a result of Southgate's England 0-0 Queiroz's Iran.

[Shindig]

I can't judge Southgate's tenure by conventional methods. Even with two great tournaments on the bounce, I don't understand how he got us there.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

1575081583270572032

Now that's how you announce a signing.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Having listened to Gary Neville on Football Weekly this morning, I'm doubling down on my previous comments. Incredibly good at talking with conviction, but then you realise everything he's saying is a complete mess.

[Offshore Toon]

Real recognise real.

[Don]

:rasta:

[Waffdon]

1575537271461347330

Todd Boehly getting his way. Lol.

[Giggles]

Wasn’t the Serie A - First division one a thing years ago?

[niko_cee]

Todd Boehly reviving the Anglo-Italian Cup would be something I could get on board with.

[John Arne]

A Premier League XI would feature... 1 Englishman?

Alisson

Cancelo
Dias
van Dijk
James

Fabinho
De Bruyne
Odegaard / Gundogan

Haaland
Salah
Son

[Kikó]

They should only pick players from that leagues country and call them England.

[Shindig]

I'd take Kane over Salah. Maybe.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I'm not sure who exactly Todd Boehly thinks he is.

[Waffdon]

Nkunku to Chelsea looks on as they’ve confirmed he done his medicals with Chelsea in August. Not sure what’s stopping any other team coming in and paying the release clause from 2023, though.

[SvN]

Honestly, I think All Star games would be good fun. I don't see why it's getting so much hate.

[Offshore Toon]

They're fun, but it's a proper end-of-times idea. I personally wouldn't bother to support a team representing the PL, then there's bound to be bias in choosing the team, which would have an effect on player values. There's also potential injuries which would cause drama and legal issues, plus the fact the matches mean fuck all and would just highlight the mercenaries. It's ultimately pointless for anyone but children and Asians.

[Lewis]

There you go. EPL All Stars Goals, Skills & Assists 2023 (Oh My Days).

[John Arne]

All star games sound fun, but it realty they are pretty dreadful due to the lack of competitiveness. The NBA all star game is absolute crap because no one defends or even attempts to be aggressive. It's a clown show.

If they can find a way to ensure some level of competitiveness, bring it on.

[Giggles]

I think it's more a case of no stinking American will tell us what to do. In reality though all anyone needs to do is just not watch it if they don't want to.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The All Star game I always fancied was for them to play a continental tournament every four years, instead of the Confederations Cup. Europe v South America v Asia v Africa v North America v erm, Oceania I guess. Then at least you're playing for the pride of a landmass that exists and people live on it, rather than for the pride of a corporate entity like Serie A.

[Lewis]

Group One:

EPL All Stars
Teamo Supremo Espana
EPL All Stars III
FIAT Calcio

Group Two:

Oberkommando der Bundesliga
EPL All Stars II
Force de Ligue 1
EPL All Stars IV

[niko_cee]

EPL All Stars IV: A New Hope

[Lofty]

They make it competitive then your team's best player is out for 6 months with a snapped cruciate due to a dodgy tackle.

[Manc]

This endless pursuit for more and more football is fucking excruciating.

[igor_balis]

This endless pursuit for more and more football is fucking excruciating.

Fucking word

[Lofty]

The Dahmer lookalike oil protestor who cable tied himself to the goalpost at Everton has been given a 6 week prison sentence.

[SincereTheRebel]

Just have some free-kick, cross-bar, penalty challenge or something.