KB1862

This is the issue I have with the handball rule. What exactly is deemed a "natural" position? Pundits have often said it and us as fans can even say it that when players are jumping for the ball, they need to use there arms to get elevation as well as using it for balance. So if a player jumps for the ball, of course their arms are gonna be out because they're needing it for elevation and balance so for a ball to hit that part of the body from a header down or a bounce on to the arm surely that needs to be deemed as a "natural" position. This is why there are suggestions for ex-players to be involved so they can give an insight into why players have their bodies shaped the way they are in certain situations. Also, if a ball bounces off a thigh, side, foot, head or what ever it may be on to the hand, it should not by any means be deemed a handball because it has hit a different body part before the hand. The whole handball situation doesn't take into account of the situation a player is in like jumping for a ball, how close an opponent is when striking the ball. It's almost like they want players to play with their arms strapped up behind their backs at all times. Not to mention humans don't have fast enough reactions to move their arms towards their bodies in to a "natural" position when a ball is struck at them from 2-3 yards out.

I said exactly the same thing during the Barrow game. Didzy went through the middle a few times and opportunities were starting to open up for us particularly in the second half. We looked more threatening when going through the middle. Even when working through the middle then moving it wide things began opening up for us. Mansfield and Wrexham are both gonna be tough games. If we can get a win on Saturday against Mansfield, I think confidence will high going into the other games. Gillingham, Newport and Crewe are the games where we have the best chance of getting maximum points. I'm not sure if these games are going to be season defining as such and I think we will still make the play offs but they will certainly help the cause for getting into the play offs.

@Robbie It won't happen, as you say because of the power clique. They'll vote against the proposition that could level the playing field because it means nothings for granted, at least not as much as it is now. Parachute payments do more harm than the good they're supposed to be. Clubs can fall in to the trap of over spending due to these payments but also it enables clubs to become Yo-Yo clubs as they can spend most in the Championship to easily get promoted but then struggle to meet the financial needs to progress in the Premier League. But, you're bang on the money with there being 3 leagues inside the Premier League. I think the MLS works very well due to their financial structure. It's more of a level playing field.

@Robbie I see your point about sudden death, they've adapted the Carabao Cup to that. Removed extra time in favour of a straight penalty shootout. Problem is PL clubs will then complain that entering competitions earlier would mean more fixture congestion which I find bizarre considering there are teams who play more league and cup games with lesser squad depth. It could make it more exciting as there's more of a chance at a cupset. I just think the FA Cup is such a historical competition and a pride of our game that it should remain untouched to preserve it rather than adapting it another way. Clubs fielding weaker teams does devalue the competition and it's not fair on fans of say a lesser team having their team drawn against a PL team with stars only for the game to arrive and they've not got any of the stars on the pitch they were hoping to see.

I've shown the clip to multiple people at work and none of them can see why it wasn't a red. As I mentioned, in real time I thought it was a red and even after seeing it over and over I stand by my original thought. The referee immediately gave the yellow, didn't even step back and have a think about the situation. Just whipped out a yellow without hesitation or a thought process to review what had just happened.

@True Magpie I'd prefer referees to take a look at the screen more often rather than taking the advice in an ear piece from those up in VAR HQ. But, it needs to be quicker without a shadow of a doubt.

Agree with all these points except number 2. Replays are what lesser teams love and what can keep them going. Say a team from National League North draw a Premier League team like Manchester City and manage to get a replay. Whether it be at their ground where their fans can see these top level players play or having the opportunity to go play at the Etihad. It's a thing that makes the FA Cup what it is the Magic. The fact that minnows can play teams that in their wildest dreams wouldn't have ever thought possible. Plus the cash they get from having a replay home or away could be what sustains the club for another year. I wouldn't say it's boring at the top as it's always been this way where the same teams come out on top season after season. Only difference is the gap is getting bigger. Despite the same teams coming out on top teams would surprise others by getting top 4 or in to Europe. It's still a case of anyone can beat anyone but, league and cup alike, it's becoming less frequent. As for the first point you made, same principal applies to the Carabao Cup. Every year teams like Arsenal, Man City etc field fringe/young players until they get to the latter stages. Teams should field their strongest sides possible or have majority of strong team out on the field with a few tweaks ie youngsters they want to give game time too.

I agree with this. The FA Cup still has a bit of magic left in it and there is still cupsets but they don't seem to happen as much as they did. They don't feel the same anymore.

@Robbie Precisely. The amount of money the PL could potentially lose if they punish any of the "Big 6" is what worries them rather than treating each team fairly and punishing them equally. If this was the Man City of days gone by when they had the likes of Dickov, Dunne, Distain, Sun Ji Hai etc. They would have had the book thrown at them but because of them being a, now, well established club the PL don't wanna risk anything. Just like when they all agreed to the breakaway Super League all they got was, I believe, £2m fine. That's nothing to clubs that can go out and spend £50-£120m on players. I quite like how they operate in the MLS clubs have same sort of budget with allowances to exceed when importing players but can't go over a certain amount when importing. It gives teams an equal opportunity to keep up and level the playing field. I'm not saying we should head that way but more needs to be done to cut the divide as teams are struggling to keep up and it's showing season upon season when the same teams pull away. It's also funny how they tried everything to block the Newcastle takeover. I still believe that they tried preventing this due to them potentially messing with the "big 6" and the PL didn't like the thought of that because it adds more competition potentially.

I think adding Ex-Pros into the situation could actually be a good thing for VAR. Officials don't like the idea due to them "not having the proper training" but in all honesty I'm sure they'd do a better job than some of the officials running it currently. Plus they can give an opinion on situations due to them having experienced it. I just don't understand how VAR can work elsewhere and in other sports like Rugby etc. Yet in English Football there is a massive issue. Most of it comes down to the officiating rather than the technology itself. Also, sometimes it isn't down to VAR that decisions are made wrong. There have been that many rule changes and ways to go about things sometimes it's hard to understand what's right and what's not.

@Robbie UEFA also banned Man City from European competitions a few seasons back for FFP breaches. But they were reinstated and since then, they've made 2 Champions League finals winning 1 and losing the other. When asked about the dates of the hearings, it's funny how they say they can't disclose that sort of information but when it comes to clubs like Everton, as we've mentioned a few times, they have no hesitation but to announce it. The fact that there is 115 charges, nothing gets done immediately but Everton have a charge that they are punished for immediately with an appeal coming. So why are they penalising Everton for a single charge that may get overturned anyway. Why couldn't the same be applied to Man City? Punish them and let them appeal afterwards. But instead, they're delaying it trying to put off what should be a massive penalty. There's one of 2 things I can think of that could happen. They'll either delay it and things change, as you suggested, for them to get away with it or there's so much to go over it's genuinely piecing an evidence together to punish them. I don't believe the latter, I think they're trying to do anything to protect them because they're bringing in money. Again as you say protecting the top 6.

Politics and football shouldn't mix. I agree with @Robbie too much politics in the game is killing it. There are some views that people, in the game of football, may have but it should be as part of a separate conversation.

Thought it at the time and still stand by my thoughts that it should have been a red. I understand people calling it a tactical foul but that's boarding/in the territory of endangering an opponent with no intentions of playing the ball instead purposely swiping the legs.

Thought we had a better second half than we did first half. All the possession with no real options going forward. Second half, there was a little more forward thinking and chances got created. The referee had an absolute stinker. Langstaff should have had a penalty when he was being grappled to the ground in the second half when it was pinball in the box. 50/50 challenges seemed to go more in favour for Barrow than us. As for the Jones incident mentioned in this thread, it was without doubt worthy of a red card. Breaking away and there was only one way that they were stopping him and they did it by swiping his legs from behind. People can claim "tactical foul" but this was more in the territory of endangering an opponent rather than stopping a dangerous attack by playing for a tactical foul. Jones without doubt man of the match. Didzy looked good breaking away with the ball trying to make things happen. Baldwin had a solid game. Stone had a good game, especially when making that one on one save during the first half.

That's apparently the reason behind PSG getting given the penalty against Newcastle in the Champions League. Wouldn't have been given in the Premier League but UEFA competition rules sees it different. It should be same for everywhere otherwise things get lost and incidents happen or get missed. I like the idea of having VAR watch on here. Certainly be plenty of talking points.

@liampie I don't think the ruthless aggression era gets the credit it deserves. The attitude era will always remain my favourite and it's the main reason why the ruthless aggression era doesn't get mentioned as much as it should because it followed the attitude era. The ruthless aggression era was a tamed down version of the attitude era but only because of how times were moving. They couldn't do half the stuff they once did during the attitude era. They had to adapt it. But there were alot of stars born during the ruthless era. Randy Orton, John Cena, Batista, Brock Lesnar, Eddie Guerrero. I liked Thuganomics John Cena tbf but I did prefer his stuff once he moved on from that.

@Robbie Agree with that. The back line needed reassuring but nothing was being tweaked to adapt for that and it was frustrating. The only positive about it was that we were scoring plenty of goals and as the saying goes to win a game of football you have to outscore your opposition. But also, they say defence is the best form of attack. While that may be true, we can't be a team that has 6 7 8 or 9 goals thrillers every single week. I'm often critical of Southgate playing with a holding midfield of 2 but he does that for cover and while we have all the attacking qualities that need to be freed more, even he allows for defensive reassurance.

See the Chelsea situation is a VERY tricky one for them to punish. They exploited a loophole and to their credit it's very clever of them. Hence why UEFA quickly acted on contract lengths because they knew it was a loophole and it's not really breaking any FFP rulings. Signing a player on an 8 year deal allows them to spread the costs over that period. In that time, they get revenue from many different things. Ticket sales, Merchandise sales, TV rights, Cup money, Selling players, European Competition Money (if they make it), Winners money (if they win cups). It's all reliant on whether they can sell players for decent prices, win trophies or have good cup runs. If all of those come together, they recoup all the losses made but that ain't hard to do when you sign players on 8 year deals worth a total of £85m for example which works out to only just over £10m a season. Plus wage packets over that time that they might not be able to fully pay if they decide to sell players. What I will say is, I struggle to see how Man City, PSG and Barcelona have managed to keep going without much being mentioned about FFP that has been quickly acted upon with the likes of Everton.

@Robbie It should be foolproof though, it's been in the game long enough for it to work effectively well. Thing is, if anything, VAR has gone backwards rather than progressing the game. When England played Macedonia, Grealish had a goal ruled out for offside. On first replay, it was clear that it was offside yet they still took over 3 minutes to decide on a simple offside. It shouldn't be like that. Another example Man United v Aston Villa a few years ago in the FA Cup. They checked on a Villa goal for a potential offside. VAR checked the offside. Nothing. Checked for a possible foul. Nothing. Checked for a handball. Nothing. They rewound it so far back they may as well have gone back to kick off. It took over 5 minutes I believe it was for them to come to a conclusion. They shouldn't be looking for multiple incidents. I know they've come out and said they won't re referee the game but sometimes that may be the best use of VAR. The game you mentioned with Real Madrid v Almeria, VAR turned a blind eye to some obvious incidents. Same as with the PL, they come out afterwards to apologise for mistakes made but what good is that afterwards? Nothing changes the result they don't replay the game or award points. The result stays the same which has implications. Newcastle v PSG another one. Never a penalty to PSG but even with VAR they still made the wrong call and that had implications on Newcastle being dumped out of Europe. Had it not been for that error, they could have still been in Europe. I hate when fans use the term "big clubs get the benefit of VAR and the decisions" but when you read the stats, it does seem to suggest that bigger clubs get more benefits.

I don't fully understand the FFP rules if I'm totally honest. I know just about the basics of it all in terms of over a 3 year period clubs can't exceed £105m losses. But, I do think they need to find some sort of alternative. The fact that this is going to be one of the quietest transfer windows in the PL we've seen for a long time speaks volumes. Clubs are scared to buy players and even clubs that have the money to buy players can't because they would be breaking FFP rules. Instead, they have to offload big name players in order to make room for others. Take Newcastle for example. Wealthy owners that people have been critical of saying they're buying their way in but even they can't spend without offloading the likes of Isak and Guimaraes. The Everton situation is quite baffling the fact they are now facing a separate penalty while they are appealing the previous. People said that FFP is there for the "big 6" to stay as that but even they aren't safe from FFP. The likes of Arsenal can't spend without offloading. But, it does make you question the credibility of FFP when Man City have their 115 charges without facing punishment (yet) meanwhile Everton have been punished and Forest are looking likely to as well despite them have far lesser charges against them. I understand the need for FFP to avoid clubs over spending which could result in a downward spiral to non existence but there has to be a better way to avoid it. FFP is part of the problem as to why there is such a massive gulf between teams in mid table and lower to the teams that are up near the top season after season. The gap is getting bigger as the seasons go on.

Not doing much tonight but tomorrow, I will be heading to Nottingham with both kids to watch Notts v Barrow and then tomorrow night will be staying up till early hours in the morning watch the Royal Rumble. Sunday, I'll probably be recovering being out all day to staying up all night ????

@Robbie Exactly the point I was trying to make. I hope he succeeds but I'd much rather focus on who we've got now and how we're doing.

I like the idea of VAR. VAR has all the potential to benefit the game. It's been proven in World Cups and Euros gone by. Imagine needing a point to avoid relegation and you concede a last minute goal that should have been ruled out for handball, offside or a foul. VAR could potentially save you from relegation. The issue I have with VAR is people that run it. Before VAR, there was just the referee and his linesman. As annoying as it may be to concede a goal that should have been ruled out for whatever reason and the goal still stand or a player remaining on the pitch that should have been sent off, the referee and linesman only have real time to go by and humans make mistakes so it's forgivable to a degree. But, when they have all this technology where they can view incidents time and time again, sometimes for 5+ minutes, they HAVE to come to the right conclusion which sometimes they don't and it is absolutely baffling how they fail to make right calls despite being given multiple angles, viewings and time to see what has happened to make a call. EVERY decision made by VAR HAS to be correct. There's no reason for them not to make the right decision. But, the people running it are the ones making the mistakes despite being given every opportunity to get it right. https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66612570 The other issue I have with VAR is during cup games. Teams below the Premier League "don't have the facilities for VAR" which then leads to things like this happening.. https://www.skysports.com/football/news/34651/11667940/how-lack-of-var-helped-manchester-city-in-thrilling-fa-cup-comeback-against-swansea#:~:text=Swansea were in the Premier,not used for this match.&text=A Swansea spokesman told Press,used in Premier League stadiums. If they are to use VAR in Cup games make it so that everyone has access to it or play games at stadiums that accommodate it. But then that leads to teams losing out on money that could be bought in.

I understand why people are keeping an eye on LW due to how well he did for us and most of us wish him to do well but whenever you enter social media on Notts pages, LW seems to be the main talking points, especially after it's been a Swansea game. There's more critical stuff than positive. Personally, I don't see the point in constantly mentioning him and being critical of him when his team gets a drumming like they did against Bournemouth. The one I seen the other day was during the Bournemouth game when the GK was playing out from the back and it gifted Bournemouth a goal. Comments like "Sounds familiar" "we've see that before" all these sort of comments. It might be a sense of de ja vu for us Notts fans given some of the goals we've conceded under LW but the players also need to take some stick as they will have worked at this style of play in training ready for game days. LW has taken on a job in a higher league so it was always gonna be tough but I hope it comes good for him and the board, fans and everyone else involved are patient with what he's trying to do there. Last season, we were full of praise for his style because we were winning games and building a title challenge but when things start going against us it all changed. Footballs a funny old game, its good when it's working for you but when it's against you no one likes it.

Be interesting to see where Liverpool go when Jurgen Klopp leaves. Will they remain contenders and a force like they have been or will they go back to where they were pre-Klopp and sit in mid table mediocrity? As @Chris has mentioned, he's transformed Liverpool to be this force of a team that we see today. Before him, Liverpool were still one of the big teams in England but never really cemented themselves as such. This stat I came across on Twitter shows just how much of an impact he's had on this team. Klopp gets credited with some accolades that he has achieved at Liverpool and gets some decent mentions. However, he doesn't quite get the full credit he deserves for what he has done at Liverpool. During his time, he's had to compete with Pep and Man City which is why he doesn't get as much praise as he should have done. Thing that fans often forget when comparing the 2 is where the teams were before and where they are now. Man City had multiple Premier League titles to their name, spent money and were becoming a top team before Pep got there. Credit to Pep, he has made City the team they are today but when it comes to impact on teams from when they both took over to where they are presently, Klopp is ahead of Pep. I remember listening to a podcast with Andrew Robertson as a guest and he said that when Klopp took over he drilled his style in to the players. Players were throwing up left right and centre because of the high intensity Klopp wanted. But, that's paid off and when you see Liverpool play you see what he was trying to achieve in their high intensity high press style. Steven Gerrard was always deemed Klopps successor when the time came but following his spell at Aston Villa and now managing in the Saudi League while signing a new deal, I'd be surprised if he was to become the next manager. Had he stayed at Rangers and continued his hard work that he was doing then maybe. But, I think Xabi Alonso could be a shout and it's no surprise to see that he's the favourite to take over considering how well he's doing at Leverkusen.