KB1862

Yeah I think he's capable of adapting, who knows the adaption may prove even more beneficial. It could bring him more in to play and open up options elsewhere or be able to link up play and get into even better positions than he already does.

FFP was brought in to help the "elite" to a certain extent. They still have to follow the rules and some are scared to even go near it, hence the quiet transfer window, but it also benefits the bigger clubs as @Robbie has highlighted regarding bigger clubs having the better opportunities to buy the best players. There are clubs out there, irrelevant of league standings, who can sell out stadiums week after week after week but still won't benefit from this because despite revenue being boosted due to sell out stadiums, a lack of cup runs and European football won't increase revenue like it would to teams like Man City who have a history of failing to sell out every week. Hence the name "emptyhad" as the joke went. Obviously that's all changed now because of the success they've been having over the past few seasons making many people switch allegiances becoming glory supporters. I can see with this new rule change that, as unfortunate as it will be, more clubs will fall in to the situation that the likes of Everton have found themselves in with points deductions. It'll eventually lead to teams being hit with fines and points deductions more regularly and then ultimately a lack of competition during the season with the gap becoming wider and wider.

It's very heartbreaking news. I've always been a fan of Sven. From an England perspective, he gave us some good times. Especially that 5-1 thrashing against Germany. I feel like he didn't and still doesn't get enough praise for what he did while in charge of England. He had the "Golden Generation" and people are often critical that we didn't win anything with the squad that we had back then. But, people seem to forget that around the same time other teams had star studded teams. France had the likes of Henry & Zidane. Brazil with R9, Ronaldinho and Rivaldo. Just to name a couple of teams and players. Sven still managed to get England to go toe to toe with these teams. There was never a feeling of doubt about getting something out of the game while he was manager of England. I also like how he addressed the media. I watched Rooney's documentary a year or 2 ago and there is a clip of Sven talking in a press conference telling the media to lay off Rooney and allow him to be free as he is the future of English football. He knew what the media used to do to English players when they were very talented players that had the countries weight on their shoulders. He even mentions during the documentary years after that that he didn't like how the media handled situations involving the England team or managers. I think this has been a terrific gesture by Klopp and Liverpool to make his dreams come true https://www.cnn.com/2024/01/20/sport/jurgen-klopp-sven-goran-eriksson-liverpool-manager-spt-intl/index.html I wish him all the best for what life he has left and I thank him for the memories.

This was my regular bus journey home from town. Always dreaded getting on the bus around 4pm as the traffic build up was ridiculous around that time. I wish it used to be as quiet as this picture back when I used to catch the bus ???? Been in the Crown pub a few times too, decent pub tbf. Great place to watch any kind of football on sky sports.

I've seen bits about this guy floating around social media and he could offer something to the team with the parts that I have read about him. The main question is how different leagues, styles and players around him could play a part. I don't know much about the Danish League personally so I don't know if the pace is the same, slower or quicker than that of League Two or whether it's as physical. However, I trust the owners enough to think that he could be a good addition to the squad even if that means him being in there to boost squad depth. It looks likely he's going to join us given the connections of the owners.

@TheSkipper Communication to the stadium would be a great thing to have. It's been called for for a while now. They used it in the Women's World Cup and it allowed fans to understand what is going on. Watching at home you can see what they're looking at but in the stadium you're wondering what it is exactly they're trying to pinpoint. I think there's a lot lost in the "letter of the law" which partly contributes to bad decision making. Sometimes common sense also has to come in to the equation. Referees often say that ex players don't have enough training to be involved with VAR and that's where I think things get muddled up with the training and following of the law comes in.

When I was a kid, I was Liverpool due to my Dad being a Liverpool fan. There's loads of photos from when I was growing up wearing all sorts of Liverpool kits, magazines that were past down to me and even got taken on an Anfield tour. I do like to see Liverpool doing well tbf. But, this was before I even began liking Football. It wasn't till I was 10 that I began to take a liking to football and it was due to my Grandad that I became a Notts fan. Having been on holiday a few times to Orlando, I would say that Orlando City is what I'd deem as my second team. Other than that, I do keep tabs on Coalville Town results and watch them from time to time due to me living locally, around a 15 minute walk away from the ground.

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.