The January Football Thread

[Vercetti]

If Jarrod Bowen could knock someone up every week, for a little while, that'd be great.

[Ben]

Looks like Super Frank is gone. Surely they must have Dyche lined up because I can't see anyone else saving them and even he is unlikely to.

[Don]

This Everton side look like gallacticos compared to his Burnley side, sure they lack a serious goalscorer but they're not that much worse than Brentford/Brighton/Fulham let alone the other shite in the bottom half.

[Spikey M]

They have a decent enough squad on paper, they're just seemingly playing without any clue what they're doing. Someone with a basic grasp of tactics / a system should be able to get a tune out of them.

[Manc]

Big Sam or bust.

[SincereTheRebel]

Sean Dyce Steve Austin will do a job.

[niko_cee]

Big Dunc Permanent Manager.

[Waffdon]

Lampard really doesn’t like January’s anymore.

[Giggles]

:vomit: :boydy:


1617524190197710849

[Waffdon]

Aberdeen have just been knocked out by a team that’s basically a junior club :lol: :lol:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

https://i.imgur.com/Jb8MfLq.png

Darvel are MASSIVE :cool:

[Ian]

Used to work with a bloke who lived in Darvel.

Makes you think, really.

[Don]

Get a load of the highlights on the BBC and the offside decision against Aberdeen. The linesman's got it straight out of the Sunday League cheating playbook :rasta:

[Jimmy Floyd]

They were on the end of one of the worst offside decisions I've ever seen to rule out an equaliser.

https://i.ibb.co/1QbHVCV/offside.png

Ball has just been played by the player on the far right as we look. The guy who is flagged offside is the slightly stooped white-shirted player in the middle of the three nearest camera.

[Waffdon]

That was amazing. Although the defenders did stop trying to defend by the time a cross went in so not sure it would have been an absolute guarantee of a goal.

Darvel actually were playing some decent stuff. Rarely lumped the ball up and were hardly playing backs to the wall stuff

[niko_cee]

Was just reading about this white card initiative they have in Portugal.

Dear lord.

Probably end up being seen as sign of institutional racism.

[niko_cee]

Bielsa to Everton seems a pretty high risk way of getting yourself out of danger.

[Jimmy Floyd]

The worst fit since I tried on a medium jacket in M&S.

[Lofty]

If Bielsa is available and Conte is fannying about surely Spurs should get him in.

[Ian]

Bielsa to Everton seems a pretty high risk way of getting yourself out of danger.

"We'll DIG our way out!"

[Jimmy Floyd]

I don't see how bringing Bielsa in mid-season would work anywhere, at least in this country. Already knackered players, little training ground time, no time to implement any of the stuff he did at Leeds and has presumably done at his other clubs.

[-james-]

1617823969067044874


This is very cool. I've used Wyscout a lot and noticed a while back that the only coverage they have of sub-Saharan Africa is South Africa and, very oddly, a single season of the Burundian top flight.

The RB lot have clearly cottoned onto it but I reckon over the next decade we're going to see a lot more talent making it to Europe. If you're the Rwandan FA or whoever you've got to be scrambling to get your league onto European spreadsheets.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I've said for a long time that once someone works out how to normalise sub-Saharan domestic football (much easier said than done as there are massive infrastructure deficiencies and existing match fixing interests which will need to be got rid of) their players will basically take over the European leagues. I haven't got a PC way to phrase this, but try this for size: black lads are the best at running, and football is mainly about running. You only need to look at English and French academies.

You'll probably start to see it first in the more Europeanised places like Senegal.

[SvN]

I can already see the 2050 Champions League final lineups having 10 africans and a white goalkeeper on each side.

[-james-]

Why is it do you think that nations like Nigeria fail to convert their dominance at u17 level? Is that a separate thing?

[randomlegend]

I've said for a long time that once someone works out how to normalise sub-Saharan domestic football (much easier said than done as there are massive infrastructure deficiencies and existing match fixing interests which will need to be got rid of) their players will basically take over the European leagues. I haven't got a PC way to phrase this, but try this for size: black lads are the best at running, and football is mainly about running. You only need to look at English and French academies.

You'll probably start to see it first in the more Europeanised places like Senegal.

Absolute nonsense.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why is it do you think that nations like Nigeria fail to convert their dominance at u17 level? Is that a separate thing?

Because they're a complete basket case on every conceivable level and the players (almost all of whom come from abject poverty) are understandably more interested in going to get paid than in going back to play Malawi in qualifiers.

If you're talking national team football, you need to have all your players already having secure European lives (like Senegal's) before you're looking at a chance of sustained success. Talent is one thing, ability to organise a successful national team is another.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Absolute nonsense.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2023/jan/24/david-squires-on-getting-to-the-bottom-of-football-offside-rule

It's me and the Guardian's cartoonist versus you going around calling my posts absolute nonsense without having had a scintilla of an original thought yourself in the last five years.

[randomlegend]

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2023/jan/24/david-squires-on-getting-to-the-bottom-of-football-offside-rule

It's me and the Guardian's cartoonist versus you going around calling my posts absolute nonsense without having had a scintilla of an original thought yourself in the last five years.

"Here's my original thought I got from the Guardian".

[-james-]

Because they're a complete basket case on every conceivable level and the players (almost all of whom come from abject poverty) are understandably more interested in going to get paid than in going back to play Malawi in qualifiers.

If you're talking national team football, you need to have all your players already having secure European lives (like Senegal's) before you're looking at a chance of sustained success. Talent is one thing, ability to organise a successful national team is another.

I suppose the question is why, when the talent at youth level is on Eurosport, do more not make it to Europe? I guess it's just that physicality on a team scale is so overwhelming at that age and is kind of separate from individual talent.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I suppose the question is why, when the talent at youth level is on Eurosport, do more not make it to Europe? I guess it's just that physicality on a team scale is so overwhelming at that age and is kind of separate from individual talent.

Random variance (as seen with all age group teams ever) and lots of other factors like knowing the right agents.

A bigger question would be about all the untapped talent that doesn't even make it into youth tournaments.

[Lewis]

I can already see the 2050 Champions League final lineups having 10 africans and a white goalkeeper on each side.

Two mixed-race (white features) creative/flair players.

[niko_cee]

Isn't the actual problem with this brilliant line of deduction that the proportionate advantage of physicality diminishes as you go up the pyramid, so the hyper athletic unit is much more effective at lower levels, but as you reach the higher echelons of the game actual ability are still of vital importance. Anyone can have technical ability, whereas not everyone can have west African twitch fibres, but the sort of explosive physicality that sees racial profiling as a major thing doesn't exist in football in the same way that it does in other sports. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it. I'm sure the spectre was raised by the Wenger matra of show me an athlete and I'll teach him to play football, but 25 years on that doesn't seem to have become a thing.

[Pepe]

I remember that Mexican team that won the U-17 world cup. Seems like the best player to come out of that was fucking Hector Moreno. I guess what I am trying to say is that U-17 success and senior-level success are, at best, extremely weakly correlated.

[Baz]

Let’s be honest if you’re good enough to make it as a professional footballer you can basically stop trying at 21 and still live a fairly comfortable lifestyle for the rest of your life.

[Kikó]

I can already see the 2050 Champions League final lineups having 10 africans and a white goalkeeper on each side.

alright farage calm down

[Alex]

Big Dunc Permanent Manager.

Rule by fear. Stay up or he slaps the nut on everyone at the end of the season. It would work I reckon.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Isn't the actual problem with this brilliant line of deduction that the proportionate advantage of physicality diminishes as you go up the pyramid, so the hyper athletic unit is much more effective at lower levels, but as you reach the higher echelons of the game actual ability are still of vital importance. Anyone can have technical ability, whereas not everyone can have west African twitch fibres, but the sort of explosive physicality that sees racial profiling as a major thing doesn't exist in football in the same way that it does in other sports. Maybe that will change, but I doubt it. I'm sure the spectre was raised by the Wenger matra of show me an athlete and I'll teach him to play football, but 25 years on that doesn't seem to have become a thing.

The French World Cup final team vs the French population suggests otherwise.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Where this does run into dodgy territory is that the argument can be read as people saying that African or African-descended players are ONLY good at running. This of course isn't true at all. It's just that if you have a hypothetical pool of ten players with the same ball skills, the same anticipation skills, the same decision-making skills, then who is going to be the best footballer of the ten? It'll be the best athlete, and observed reality is that people of that ethnicity are (even if it's 2%, that's massive in population terms) more likely to be the best athletes.

If there's another explanation for players of West African descent being over-represented vs the population in every professional football structure in the world (to my knowledge), I'm open to hearing it.

[niko_cee]

'The French', in the conventional sense of the term, don't like football though, so are a bit of an outlier for me. Representation is obviously going to diverge from demographics, but not in a conscious way, any more than Paul Pogba's appearance has (wrongly) given rise to a generation of critics who think he should be Patrick Vieira.

[Jimmy Floyd]

97 English players have played 10+ games in the PL this year, 39 of them black or mixed race. So over 40% versus a population of 5% or maybe even less. Now you can say it's a self-fulfilling prophecy if indeed there is a greater bias towards these attributes at youth level - and if youth level recruitment determines who ends up playing 10 games in the PL - but that's a huge discrepancy, and the English do like football.

[Raoul Duke]

"We'll DIG our way out!"

It would explain the fixation with buckets...

[Raoul Duke]

Leo Messi and Haaland of course famous for their African roots

[niko_cee]

97 English players have played 10+ games in the PL this year, 39 of them black or mixed race. So over 40% versus a population of 5% or maybe even less. Now you can say it's a self-fulfilling prophecy if indeed there is a greater bias towards these attributes at youth level - and if youth level recruitment determines who ends up playing 10 games in the PL - but that's a huge discrepancy, and the English do like football.

Probably as much to do with there being 100% poverty (or near thereto) in those communities, and those communities being intrinsically more likely to be within the catchment of a 'big club' (ie London).

[Don]

I fear we may have reached peak black now. A decade ago I was a racist for bowing to the ebonies but now even the softest whitest TTH buns recognise and you have clubs like Bournemouth, Palace, Watford, etc taking it to some extreme level whereby they probably haven't seen their latest record signing kick a ball prior to splurging. It used to hold up back in the day but it's all got a bit too tactical at the top level so they'll resent their policies when the only success it leads them to is Isaac.

[Spikey M]

Let's not forget that Argentina - the reigning world champions - was an empty country before immigration started in 1945.

[mikem]

97 English players have played 10+ games in the PL this year, 39 of them black or mixed race. So over 40% versus a population of 5% or maybe even less. Now you can say it's a self-fulfilling prophecy if indeed there is a greater bias towards these attributes at youth level - and if youth level recruitment determines who ends up playing 10 games in the PL - but that's a huge discrepancy, and the English do like football.

This discrepancy could also be explained by lack of access to other parts of the English economy. Or relatively easier access. Which is also more likely to explain racial discrepancies across multiple sports if you find racial clustering inside an individual sport.

[Lewis]

The Crystal Palace academy is wall-to-wall rejected civil service fast streamers.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That miss :lol:

[Shindig]

We're rotten in front of goal.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Isak is class though.

[Shindig]

Piss bollocks fuck arse twat.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

That's coming back surely, it hits his hand.

[Don]

This Alcaraz looks a classy operator. Godbless the brexit fuelled introduction of the favela midfield operators spread across the league, less African running merchants and more nous :drool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Lyanco is a proper mental bastard.

He's great fun.

[Alan Shearer The 2nd]

Feel like we keep looking for one pass too many in and around the box. Isak has to start our next match though.

[Manc]

Napoli 12 clear at the halfway point. Now or never.

[John Arne]

A couple of Milan players wearing legging last weekend... fully deserved their 4-0 loss.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Sir Marcus is a joy to watch.

[Yevrah]

Has to be said, he has been very good of late.

[randomlegend]

That was a proper "kid on the playground who's way better then everyone else" goal.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Need United to win the Carling Pot / EFL dish, as the Saudis winning it is a greater evil. What a sad state of affairs.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

He's offside.

[randomlegend]

Yeah definitely off. Assumed they wouldn't have VAR.

[Waffdon]

I only just stuck this on 5 mins ago. Has it been this open throughout?

[Shindig]

Apparently. Sounds like a canny match.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The big lad :cool:

Nice poaching from him.

[randomlegend]

I only just stuck this on 5 mins ago. Has it been this open throughout?

Yeah pretty much.

[Lewis]

The otherwise excellent Mark 'Chappers' Chapman is a terrible fit for Sky Sports.

[Don]

I ain't watching so please share the Antony comedy reel ASAP.

[Pen]

Why is it do you think that nations like Nigeria fail to convert their dominance at u17 level? Is that a separate thing?

Everyone else also plays adults at the mens level.

[Ben]

Also might be worth mentioning that given all the age test scandals recently, Nigeria Under 17's could believably be a team already in its prime.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Everton interviewing Marcelo Bielsa and Sean Dyche on the same day. A sign of joined up thinking and a clear sense of direction in the hierarchy.

[-james-]

They'll surely end up with Dyche, which is a shame because he's the perfect appointment and will be in with a shot at keeping them up.

[-james-]

Also might be worth mentioning that given all the age test scandals recently, Nigeria Under 17's could believably be a team already in its prime.

One of you and Don needs to get an avatar. I can't be spending a moment every day confused over which identically shaped username it is.

[Ben]

My posts are the ones devoid of Brexit and gammon references, it's not that hard.

[Don]

We used to have our differences in the Putin thread but HE'S NOT SINGING, HE'S NOT SINGING, HE'S NOT SINGING ANY MOREEEEE...

[Ben]

We bonded over Antony's incompetence.

[-james-]

Sky Sports are posting live highlights of the Al Nassr game. :harold:

[Lofty]

Also might be worth mentioning that given all the age test scandals recently, Nigeria Under 17's could believably be a team already in its prime.

I mused upon this whilst walking the dog: if they have the technology to do bone scans etc at football tournaments to weed out imposters why are we letting 21 year old double murderers present themselves to the border force claiming they are a 12 year old refugee?

[Jimmy Floyd]

Sky Sports are posting live highlights of the Al Nassr game. :harold:

After they're gone from the pitch, they will live on forever as clickbait.

[Spikey M]

1618731295085060096?t=5OilZw9cu8TuD-7ycoXjfQ&s=19

Italian football is going to crumble, isn't it?

[Gray Fox]

Time for United to sign their second L. Martinez.

[Ben]

Selling your club to a shady Chinese company built on the shaky foundations of its domestic property sector was never going to end well.

[niko_cee]

Wolves signing some Flamengo midfielder for a fairly reasonably sum. South America definitely is the market now that the work permit rules appear to have changed allowing access to players before they've had their 12 month inflationary stint in Lyon/Portugal.

[Lewis]

Did Kevin De Broin put a notice out that his name is Kevin De Brunner, or is this commentator on spice?

[niko_cee]

:D

Was thinking the same.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Thought Grealish had fucked it by pissing about with the ball.

[Manc]

Trossard looks like a fucking ghoul.

[Don]

Imagine thinking the red team can compete with the blue team. Fucking chucked on the milkybar kid to improve their 0.25 xG to 0.28 come FT.

[Manc]

Levels.

[Lewis]

I would love United to win the 'Plastic Treble'.

[Jimmy Floyd]

'KdB' is another one for the name theory of everything. He'll be largely forgotten within 5 years of stopping, I think. If he was called Vincent Kompany, he'd already be referred to as 'the great man'.

[Lofty]

Imagine thinking the red team can compete with the blue team. Fucking chucked on the milkybar kid to improve their 0.25 xG to 0.28 come FT.

Neither team picked a proper line up. The red team had better chances in the first half, Sambi Lamonga offered nothing except front row seats to Ake's winner when he came on though.

[phonics]

He's crap and Vincent Kompany referring to him as the next Yaya Toure is either an editement on Kompany or Toure.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I wonder when Walsall were last live on terrestrial TV.

[niko_cee]

Prime Messi ever since this post.

Was back to his open goal missing best last week. Probably saving himself for tomorrow.


Hopefully he tries to bundle Caicedo into a holdall.



I repeat this sentiment from a few weeks ago in light of recent events.

[Jimmy Floyd]

I wonder when Walsall were last live on terrestrial TV.

They're not this time either, I misread the schedule. Poor them.

[mo]

They're not this time either, I misread the schedule. Poor them.

ITV used to show lower tier games, sometimes on a Sunday afternoon? Not sure if that was regionalised or what. Definitely remember Swindon v Cardiff around 2002.

[Don]

1617953077692362753

[Don]

https://www.thesun.co.uk/wp-content/uploads/2023/01/15-year-old-chris-rigg-785794394.jpg

Geezer scored a last min winner against Fulham that got ruled out. Born June 2007 :happycry:

[niko_cee]

What happened to that other [York was it?] youth prodigy that went to Wolves?

[Don]

Baba Rahman has his hands full tonight.

[randomlegend]

Didn't realise Andy Carroll is still playing. Interesting to get a sneak preview of Nunez's career path.

[Don]

Settle down, your starting striker couldn't cut it at Wor Andy's level.

[Waffdon]

That Reading squad tonight is just full of 2010-15 Premier League players lol.

Andy Carroll, Junior Hoilett, Shane Long, Scott Dann, Jeff Hendricks and even Tom Ince (no idea if he even played in the top league tbf). Bloody hell.

[Giggles]

Settle down, your starting striker couldn't cut it at Wor Andy's level.

Favela gammon etc.

[SvN]

Has Paul Ince always been so cross eyed, or is it a new development?

[Kikó]

He's been like that for ages.

[SvN]

Was Fergie asleep then? :D

[SvN]

He's been like that for ages.

He wasn't like that as a player though, was he?

[Kikó]

Dunno. I think it's all happened post career.

Not sure how the offside rule works anymore. Surely it's second phase?

[Waffdon]

No idea how that Man Utd goal was any different to Salah versus Wolves. At least the initial pass wasn’t for Weghorst

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Casemiroooooooooooo.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Carrol :lol:

[randomlegend]

Can't be many things in football more galling than getting sent off for a second yellow foul on Casemiro :D

[randomlegend]

Mainoo looks so comfortable on the ball. He's going to be class.

[randomlegend]

Baba Rahman has his hands full tonight.

Antony thanking Taz in his man of the match interview.

https://i.imgur.com/nFk83qG.jpg

[Don]

I watched the first half. Brother, stop, he's dead already.

[Gray Fox]

Time to make Danny Welbeck look like a star again.

Gakpo continuing to be thrown to the wolves.

[-james-]

That Liverpool XI is quite the fall from grace.

[Baz]

I’m at a kids birthday party so will miss it. I’m sure that’s a blessing these days.

Plus there’s gonna be a dinosaur!

[-james-]

Brighton favs in the betting. :cool:

[Ian]

I’m at a kids birthday party so will miss it. I’m sure that’s a blessing these days.

Plus there’s gonna be a dinosaur!

What position's he playing??

[niko_cee]

It's a shame Caicedo isn't playing [although not for Liverpool]. He's the player that Keita was meant to be. Ferguson is going to smash Goe Jomez.

[John Arne]

Gomez just isn't good enough anymore. He'll be at Palace within 2 years.

[Gray Fox]

If Darwin misses that chance then everyone is talking about it.

[Gray Fox]

Holy shit we're not playing terribly AND have scored first!

[Waffdon]

If Darwin misses that chance then everyone is talking about it.

Because he’s shite.

That was also utterly shite goalkeeping.

[Giggles]

Did they not play each other last week?

[Gray Fox]

Because he’s shite.

That was also utterly shite goalkeeping.

There more I watch of him the more I'm convinced he isn't.

He just needs some composure.

[Ian]

Nunez plays like every time he goes on the pitch his FM attributes are randomised.

[Gray Fox]

:moop:

[Lewis]

There more I watch of him the more I'm convinced he isn't.

He just needs some composure.

I like the look of him. If he sorts his composure he will be quality. He has pretty much everything else you need.

[Manc]

Nunez plays like every time he goes on the pitch his FM attributes are randomised.

Mentality = overload.

[Waffdon]

I like the look of him. If he sorts his composure he will be quality. He has pretty much everything else you need.

He’s a less autistic and smaller Timo Werner.

[niko_cee]

Nunez?

Elliot should have done a lot better with that second chance of his.

[Waffdon]

Oui

[Don]

The Nunez doubters still floating about :D

[niko_cee]

Unless we're talking about something else here, I'm pretty sure Nunez is bigger than Werner.

Hopefully he gets on to cause a bit of chaos in the second half, although his chaos causing does seem less good when he comes on as a sub versus him starting.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Half time manager interviews are just a pathetic idea.

[Boydy]

They're doing manager interviews at half time now?

[Manc]

No better sight in football than TAA being hooked.

[Gray Fox]

Salah and Thiago have been horrendous here.

[niko_cee]

No better sight in football than TAA being hooked.

He's never been right since he bulked up so much. Still got a wonderful right foot, but often looks off the pace.

[Boydy]

How come VAR can check this Fabinho tackle but couldn't check that Konate foul because it was "outside the box"?

[niko_cee]

Not sure there's enough force in that to be a red, but a 3 match ban would probably be a blessing in disguise.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Why is that not a red on review?

Liverpool have had literally every refereeing call this month. Konaté should have walked minutes earlier too.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

How is that not a red?

[Ben]

I don’t think Liverpool could complain if they were down to nine men.

[Gray Fox]

Konate one you can debate. Thats a result of him being done in the same situation at Brentford.

Fabinho however should be walking every single time there.

[Gray Fox]

They're desperate for a red card here, huh.

[Jimmy Floyd]

What a wonderful goal that was.

[Gray Fox]

Thoroughly deserved after the last 5 minutes.

[Manc]

Superb finish.

[John Arne]

Did the ITV pundit give MOTM to Dunk over Mitoma? Even before the goal, Mitoma was excellent the whole game.

[niko_cee]

Even Joe Gomez's long throw is absolutely tragic.

[Boydy]

Did the ITV pundit give MOTM to Dunk over Mitoma? Even before the goal, Mitoma was excellent the whole game.
It was McCoist and yeah he did. I thought it would've been Mitoma too, he seems quality.

[niko_cee]

Dunk did score a goal and stop a certain goal with that clearance off the line in the first half, Mitoma's winner probably edges it but the decision was in by then.

[Gray Fox]

Annoying as there were some good signs of life mixed into that. But there was some disgraceful tackling towards the end of that game.

[randomlegend]

Lolverpool

[Serj]

I'm not sure what has happened to Fabinho but pretty much every time he plays nowadays he's a massive liability. Should have gotten a red today as well.

Also, hasn't Gakpo played most of his football on the wing before coming to Liverpool? Why does Klopp insist on playing him as the main striker?

[Jimmy Floyd]

So few players wouldn't just try and spaff that volley at goal first time. Such incredible intelligence from Mitoma to take the extra touch and then poke it in from the other angle.

[Don]

The geezer is an absolute phenomenon.

[Ben]

Big fan of Mitoma.

[randomlegend]

Also, hasn't Gakpo played most of his football on the wing before coming to Liverpool? Why does Klopp insist on playing him as the main striker?

Probably because the alternative is cHaOtIc useless.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Paul Mullin is going to ruin Sheffield United.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Ref has bottled that.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Do exocet long throws alone get you to the top of the Vauxhall Conference?

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Super Paul Mullin is quality.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

The long throw :cool:

Bright start to the second half for Wrexham.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

What's the red for, it can't be for what they just showed on replay.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There was a sort of kick out just before that, but the camera people / director don't seem to be able to show it properly. Probably still not a red though based on the one distant look I got, but who knows.

[Jimmy Floyd]

This has been a brilliant old-fashioned cup tie, much improved by no VAR, Wrexham's aerial bombardment and a properly useless referee. That said, Wrexham's first touches are not those of a Conference side, so they're clearly going a lot higher than that.

And that's 3-2.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Super Paul Mullin :cool:

[Shindig]

Notts County and Wrexham are so far ahead of the rest in the Conference.

[Giggles]

Christ I knew this would happen once he started playing the watching the show.

[Jimmy Floyd]

There just aren't enough behind the scenes sports docs out there. That said, I'm looking forward to Full Swing in a couple of weeks.

[Jimmy Floyd]

That was guaranteed as soon as Ryan Reynolds started bowing to the crowd with over four minutes on the clock. Americans will never learn.

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

This has been a quality game.

[Waffdon]

That was guaranteed as soon as Ryan Reynolds started bowing to the crowd with over four minutes on the clock. Americans will never learn.
Canadians > Americans

[Lewis]

Ryan 'Ryan Reynolds' Reynolds, doing his Ryan Reynolds bit like he always does.

[Manc]

Osimhen is a joke.

[Don]

Twice the player Haaland is. I hope this Napoli side do the proper double.

[Serj]

Probably because the alternative is cHaOtIc useless.

I'd still prefer that to anonymous useless, as it is with this setup.

[John Arne]

A story developing in Thailand after it was discovered that Buriram United had put CCTV in the away dressing room, and perhaps may have done so for at least 4 months :D

1620371876806823936

[Jimmy Floyd]

What is the benefit of CCTV? Couldn't you just put a mic in and listen to their team talks?

[niko_cee]

Konate injured now.

:happycry:

Phillips and Gomez? Yikes.

[randomlegend]

What is the benefit of CCTV? Couldn't you just put a mic in and listen to their team talks?

See the lineup and stuff maybe? I guess they may just have it up on a board and not read it out.

[Waffdon]

Konate injured now.

:happycry:

Phillips and Gomez? Yikes.

Eriksen out until April for Man Utd too. Deserved for making him play every game with half a heart

[Don]

Konate injured now.

:happycry:

Phillips and Gomez? Yikes.

That is sensational. We haven't even had our Thiago injury streak yet. 4 more wins and then just declare for the season.

[Spikey M]

4 more wins could take the rest of the season.

[Shindig]

Bobby Twoshanks. :cool:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

How can Bruno Guimares complain about that red card?

He's lucky he didn't snap the guy's leg in half.

[Shindig]

Aye, it's a daft challenge.

[Lofty]

Apparently he is banned for the next three games and misses the final?

[Shindig]

Nope. We've got 3 Premier League games before that.

[John Arne]

1620674466538983424

[phonics]

Having to be at Spurs in any capacity is so sickening that Conte will be out for a few weeks due to needing his Gallbladder removing.

[Spikey M]

More sickening is this:

1620739082765885441?t=bUx-2mflKpPSjxdET2658Q&s=19

:sick:

[niko_cee]

Should have gone with a Die Plz Jesus in an all time great nod to the days of THE MERGER.

[SincereTheRebel]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=o3YY7PY-IH0

[Ian]

I watched that the other when Youtube suggested it and quite enjoyed it.

442. :drool:

[Ben]

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=v7hEqCdAwjs

[Clunge]

Is that Phil Jupitus in the front row? :saywhat:

[Sir Andy Mahowry]

Yes, have you never watched it?

[Clunge]

I have not.

[Lofty]

It was on Prime recently, not sure if it still is.

[randomlegend]

The opponent is there to be kicked, kicked hard.

[Jimmy Floyd]

Jeez, I was served a baked onion somewhere the other day and started pissing myself and couldn't realistically provide an explanation.

[Danny]

Surridge :D

[Shindig]

I've only just looked into why Mason Greenwood's charges were dropped. A code of silence over that is pretty shit.

[Lewis]

I wonder if the club's decision would be influenced by whether he simply paid her off or if she's a big enough retard to have forgiven and got back with him. You would think the latter would make it easier to spin the 'learning from his mistakes' bullshit, and therefore easier for the club to justify giving him another go.

[Shindig]

He won't play for United again. He's said as much and United don't even need him now.

[Ian]

I saw a bit earlier saying most at the club don't want him back but some think there's a duty of care for a player who's been there since he was a kid and hasn't been found guilty of anything. Somewhat ignoring that we have video and audio evidence proving he's guilty as sin.

[Jimmy Floyd]

He'll have to go to the Middle East or a similar place where they don't give a shit about sexual abuse. Can you imagine if United or any other English club tried to play him? It would be the biggest PR disaster of all time.

[Lewis]

Turkey seems like the obvious bet, and then a top half Italian club within a few years once people have forgotten about it.

[randomlegend]

He'll have to go to the Middle East or a similar place where they don't give a shit about sexual abuse. Can you imagine if United or any other English club tried to play him? It would be the biggest PR disaster of all time.

Partey is starting every match for Arsenal and nobody seems to really care. I hope Greenwood never plays for United again, but if he does I wouldn't be surprised if the outrage all peters out much more quickly than we'd like to think.

[phonics]

There’s not video and audio of the beatings and the rape in the Partey case.

[Ben]

He’ll go to the Middle East voluntarily once ten Hag tells him he’s second fiddle to Antony.

[Lewis]

Partey is starting every match for Arsenal and nobody seems to really care. I hope Greenwood never plays for United again, but if he does I wouldn't be surprised if the outrage all peters out much more quickly than we'd like to think.

Marcos Alonso is an even better example.

[Shindig]

Meanwhile Gylfi Sigurdsson's case has been silent for almost 2 years. Did he ever get charged?

[Don]

Greenwood is very Bournemouth. And by that I obviously mean black.

[-james-]

Dyche. :cool:

[-james-]

He'll have to go to the Middle East or a similar place where they don't give a shit about sexual abuse. Can you imagine if United or any other English club tried to play him? It would be the biggest PR disaster of all time.

I think they'll keep him. The vast majority of Manchester United PLC fans worldwide don't give a shit.

[Kikó]

Hopefully the club have enough about them to quietly bin him off by the end of the season. He's scum.

[Baz]

So is Ronaldo though.

[Ian]

And if Greenwood was going to sell as many shirts or generate as many social media engagements as Ronaldo they probably would breeze over it a lot more easily too.

[Giggles]

You’d think the Liverpool lot would know how convictions work.