KB1862

@Robbie

I find it so bizarre because if that is the case and it is deemed a draw how can they say a club has won the cup. So if Bayer Leverkusen lose on penalties, they're unbeaten all season with one less trophy it just doesn't make sense.

Old Trafford is in serious need of repair. For years I've heard people mention that Old Trafford is run down and in need of serious money being chucked at it but being the big club that they are no one takes notice cause they're a big club and should have a decent backing. These clips say different, just shows how bad it is being run and there is no money being chucked at it.

First it was a food hygiene rating of 1 star now they've got floods in stands and leaky roofs. Old Trafford is a landmark in English football, it was always a place for England to travel to and a place for FA Cup Semi Finals. Such a shame to see it in this state.

Mathematically Luton are still in with a chance. Realistically they're relegated. Goal difference is too big of a gap to pull back now. Forest are maintaining Premier League status unless some sort of miracle for Luton happens on the day. 

It's a shame because Luton have put in so much effort this season and have been a joy to watch in the PL. Sheffield United and Burnley both deserved to go down. Sheffield United have shipped the most goals in PL history reaching over 100. Swindon shipped 100 goals in the PL but that was during a 42 game season, Sheffield United did it in 6 games fewer. Sheffield United have got to be one of the worst teams to be in the PL even worse than Derby. 

The 3 promoted teams that are going back down have been deemed the worst in PL history but I really think it's harsh on Luton for them to be included in that. 

On 11/05/2024 at 15:42, liampie said:

any form of cheating needs to stamped out severely, but hand balls like this is an easy red for me.

exactly this for it to be a red card. 

On 10/05/2024 at 19:23, Robbie said:

The fact that National league clubs play 46 games, + FA Cup, & FA Trophy games is immaterial to the PL.

plus play off games and postponed games due to weather which means they then have to fit it all in in a short space of time

It's incredible what they've done this season and what a job Xabi Alonso has done at this club. Taking them from 2nd bottom when he took over part the way through last season to going on the longest unbeaten run in European football history in his first full season in charge. The amount of last goals they have scored all season is ridiculous they just don't quit. It's remarkable.

If Bayer Leverkusen does go unbeaten in their remaining 4 games then surely it has to go down as the most incredible season by a team of all time. There's nothing like it. 

Do have a question about it though. Their last game of the season is the DFB Pokal Final. If they end up losing on penalties then does it still count as going the whole season unbeaten or does it get counted as their first and only loss of the season? It might sound like a silly question but the only reason I'm asking is because there are stats going round about the fact Rodri has still yet to lose a competitive game for club and country in 70+ games despite losing to Real Madrid on penalties in the CL. 

Scrap replays because there's too many games being played but are more than happy to travel on a US tour.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/czd8lz182vzo

The irony of this article that FIFA are being threatened with legal action over there new club competition coming in as "not everyone was consulted". This includes the same group that didn't consult everyone involved in the FA Cup to go ahead with scrapping replays. But I don't recall many coming out complaining about this new competition when it was first announced. Not to mention the new European format. 

On 09/05/2024 at 08:22, Robbie said:

Let's be honest here, the footballing authorities didn't want an all German final at Wembley 

Happened in 2013 between Dortmund and Bayern tbf. 

The decision in the game between Madrid and Bayern was a farce for the offside. Linesman are told to keep the flag down and let it play out but he didn't and flagged immediately. Referees and Linesman have the addition of VAR to help them on the pitch, what should have happened was let it play out like they're supposed to and then allow VAR to do the job it's there for and check whether the goal was legit or needed to be ruled out. Personally I think had it gone to VAR it would have been given as a goal. Ridiculous ending to the game.

I can't see the 777 takeover going ahead. There's something not sitting right with the whole thing. I feel like the inevitable will happen and Everton will enter administration.

You'd have thought that a club like Everton would have a queue of buyers lining up to take them out of this mess. 

On the 'Two Pints Podcast with Will Mellor and Ralf Little', they mentioned the 115 charges hanging over Manchester City and I feel like they had it bang on the money. Ralf Little said that they won't ever be punished for these charges to which Will Mellor responded that it would be unfair for City to go unpunished while Everton and Forest have both faced punishment for breaching the rules. 

I'm in agreement with both points made and I think the only time City will finally be found guilty of their charges is when they introduce the luxury tax ruling meaning that all they'll have to do is a pay a fine and it'll be done rather than seeing them face a points deduction which would really affect them. In short, punishing the lower teams and allowing the elite to stay at the top. 

The thing that annoys me about these situations is the fact that they are so blatantly allowing the elite to run the show and get away with anything and everything and they aren't even hiding the "corruption" anymore. 

The one thing about English weather is the unpredictability of it. 

Last week, it was suitable to wear a coat. This week, it's a t-shirt and shorts weather. Not that I'm complaining this is the type of weather I love tbf.

There's no slow change in temperature, it's either cold or hot. It doesn't gradually change between either one. 

Came across this video earlier today explaining why Luke O'Nien was only given a yellow as opposed to a red for a deliberate handball.

What does everyone make of the explanation or the situation?

Should it have been a red card or was the yellow the correct decision?

I find it a tricky one because of the explanation they give as to why it's a yellow by the law of the game and not exactly a clear chance.

However, you have to imagine without the volleyball parry that the opposition player was gonna latch on to it and be in on goal. But also, a handball like that surely warrants a red card.

I suspect there may be a few clubs in for him during the summer. Heard a few rumours floating round during the season and they're doing the rounds again. 

My site manager at work, who's a Birmingham fan, said that Langstaff's name was shouted and mentioned a lot to the board of Birmingham City.

Hopefully we can retain him and he carried on banging the goals in. His scoring tally is something to be admired and I still believe there's more to come.

1 hour ago, menzinho said:

I think VAR does have a place in football, I just don’t agree with the way it’s used currently.

100% agree with this. If it was used to the effectiveness as it has the potential to, it would be so beneficial to the game.

1 hour ago, menzinho said:

I’ve seen balls smashed at players who are about 5 yards away and it hits their arm that’s slightly away from their body and penalty is given.

Another thing I have an issue with as well, there is no consistency regarding handball. In some games we see handball given due to unnatural movement/shape yet in another game that's an almost identical situation there's nothing given. 

Lost count of the amount of times I've watched this. Unbelievable.

@Robbie

Of course, there's no denying there's corruption going on. Hate to say it and hate to be the conspiracy theorist like you say but it's so blatant they want exactly what you've said. 

I asked one of my mates, who's a forest fan, whether they'd like to play derby next season or stay in the Prem and his response was despite the corruption of the PL he'd much rather stay at the top. 

But without VAR, there's more chance of referees and the PL getting away with it. 

After watching Match of the Day this morning, it's still clear to see that VAR are still making mistakes. 

Bournemouth had a perfectly good goal disallowed due to a little touch on Raya. Not enough to penalise.

Man City got given a penalty for a collision instigated by Gvardiol rather than the other way round. As for the second penalty, it was a stonewall but why was he not sent off as Haaland was clean through on goal?

Everton didn't get a penalty for a trip to McNeil.

The only benefit to VAR is that Luton gave away a penalty when their player was grappling Branthwaite and the referee didn't give it. Now, was this because of VAR or did the ref see it and as to the point I've made previously didn't want to give it incase it made them look bad?

@DangerousSausage You're absolutely bang on. 

They feel it acceptable to travel thousands of miles to play friendlies because of financial gains yet they aren't willing to play a replay against say a league 2 side or below because it congests the schedule. Well I guess that's the price they pay for being successful, naturally it comes with the territory I guess. 

It was only a matter of time before clubs started playing their football abroad. Few years back I'm sure the Spanish Super Cup was played in Morocco. I know Morocco isn't exactly too far from Spain but it's still out the country in which it should be held. 

EVERY single club should have a say in the matter and it needs to be majority ruling.

If they're so bothered by the calendar build up maybe they should take a look at the money side of things and realise that's where it all stems from. I'm sure losing a bit of money and saving journeys will provide a better opportunity of cutting the fixture pile up rather than scrapping FA Cup Replays.

@Robbie Exactly that. Replays have provided so many great memories for so many smaller clubs over the years and it's part of the thing that makes the cup as magic as it is well known for. 

If they are to go ahead, despite the protests against it, cutting out replays then they should make it a matter of securing lower clubs in the financial term so they don't lose out and allow them the opportunity to either have the big stars come to their ground or have a chance of visiting stadiums they wouldn't usually get to see. 

Baldwin being released is a tricky one. Had it not been for his 2 goals against Boreham Wood, we might not even be back in the EFL and he's a good asset for us but he's made quite a few calamitous errors this season that have cost us. 

Hopefully it is not the last we're going to see of JOB either. He's been a solid player for us over the years maybe a place on the coaching staff in the near future.

Not surprised to see Stone on the transfer list, he has had one or 2 good games but there have been many occasions in which he's proved to be a very unreliable goalkeeper. 

I recently wrote a blog post on VAR, it's easy to get carried away when writing about VAR because it's failing on every aspect.

VAR can be a good thing in the game but the way it's handled in England just shows how lacking the referees are in this country. Just look at how it's handled elsewhere like major International tournaments. Very little fault with it but in the Premier League it seems to have become a main stay feature with pundits criticising it every single week. 

The Forest v Everton situation was the worst VAR performance there has been. Forest were utterly robbed on the day.

The problem with it is referees just don't referee games anymore. They heavily rely on VAR and if they spot something they won't immediately give it incase they're wrong so instead they wait for a call and let someone else decide rather than take the stick for it themselves. 

It's disgraceful. FA Cup Replays are part of the cup. It's part of what makes the cup so special. There are minnows that have an opportunity to visit stadiums like Stamford Bridge, Old Trafford or Anfield. It also has the capabilities of financially benefiting smaller clubs, a financial boost that could determine whether a club survives or has to fold completely. 

There are clubs that have benefited from replays in years gone by but cause they're up there in the big time, they seem to have forgotten all about that.

The thing with the whole situation that doesn't sit right is the fact that it was only agreed upon by the FA and Premier League. No communication with the EFL and below about whether or not it should go ahead. There needs to be a vote and majority ruling. If the government fail to act and this does indeed go ahead, clubs should boycott the competition. 

It's just further proof that the Premier League controls football within England. Scrapping replays only benefits those in Europe. All because UEFA and FIFA decided to create a new competition and increase capacity involving clubs in England, the FA Cup has to make way for it? Heritage is being taken away.

I'm not normally one that fully buys into stats as they can be very subjective but there was a stat that's been popping up more recently on social media that Maynard now has a worse percentage than that of Fullarton after the same amount of games. 

It's a tricky one because under Luke Williams there was already a decline happening. Maybe Williams could have turned things round but the run could have also continued so there is a slight benefit of the doubt in the way of Maynard but the more the games go on the less I have optimism over him leading this team. 

I don't believe we should be looking to get rid of him before the end of the season unless something drastically goes wrong and it's clear to see that he is well out of his depth to take this club back on the rise. There's no longer the high scoring games which we've seen much of this season so that's a positive I guess but the attacking side has also slightly suffered as a result. 

Some of the things that are killing us in games are still the same old stuff that was happening under Williams with shoddy defending. Maybe when Maynard gets his own brand of football and players in the team come the summer it might be a whole different story. 

It was never a handball by McGoldrick. If VAR was in place, things might have been different with the goal standing. 

However, even with VAR, it might have still resulted in the same decision being made. 

The handball rule seems to be one of the most talked about subjects this season. They've made a mess of how the rule is deemed to be an offence with no one really knowing what is and isn't handball anymore. The letter of the law deems certain things to be handball without taking in to account body actions, natural shape and how close an opponent is when they have struck the ball. It seems to have been made more complicated than it needs to be and should be simplified. Only thing is how do they go about reverting it? Do they go back to the days where handball was a deliberate block with the hand or do they allow players to smash it at the hand from point blank range and we see 10+ handballs a game?

The only thing I can say about Didzy's 'Handball' is that it was made by the referee in real time and as frustrating as that may be, humans make mistakes.

Big sums of money to install it, which I never realised was as much as that, but all 92 clubs should have goal line technology. The EFL and FA should get into their pockets and make it happen.

However, even with goal line technology, the MK Dons 'Goal' still might not have been given even with the tech installed.

Throwback to June 2020

"The Blades were denied a clear goal when Villa keeper Nyland carried Norwood's free-kick behind the line.

United's players were incredulous when the goal was not given, Oliver pointing to his watch to insist he had received no signal that the ball had crossed the line." - BBC Sport

Hopefully we see him potentially get more game time for Notts next season. It's about time he got given the opportunity. 

Promising praise from this tweet.