Bit of a blip in Glasgow earlier, probably just saving ourselves for the champions league.
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Slick
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Won at last!
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- Somewhere wet & hilly in NW England.
I thought it was a red card all day long - some odd decisions in most games it seems eg ours against West Ham when Antonio's headlock wasn't deemed as a second yellow and he was still on the pitch when he scored minutes later.
Still, back on point; was it discussed on the Linekar & Shearer comedy show for the definitive non-agenda driven opinion? 🙄
Evertone unlucky not to win it….did you watch the game and see who got man of the match???
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I respect you @SpokeyDokey as one of our most honest and level headed posters but i think on this occasion your bias got in the way of your thinking as you failed to mention "our" goal which was disallowed because of weak refereeing and that Mendy is not only a useless goalkeeper( I don't know why a top club like Chelsea keep playing him?)but he is also a great actor.I nearly said cheat!
Rant over
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Thanks for your kind words.
I do think it was a foul though, hence my no mention, although I would be a fool to deny that as a fan I will always be biased.
Presume they made a meal of it on MOTD? esp' if Shearer was in a mood because of the NUFC chalked-off goal debacle.
I think VAR is great but the handling of it needs a firm kick up the butt so that we at least understand the "why" behind decisions in real-time.
Mendy has been suspect ever since he came back from the ACN - time for a rest methinks.
Poor game all round yesterday. Chelsea off the pace and will remain so at least until we bed in the new members of the squad. Top 4 is my best hope this season tbh. I would be very unhappy if Spurs & Arsenal come in ahead of us although the latter seem to be firing on all six and are a big threat.
I thought Moyes showed too much respect to an ailing Chelsea with the ultra-defensive first half display from The Hammers. Could've done better imo.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
I do think it was a foul though, hence my no mention, although I would be a fool to deny that as a fan I will always be biased.
Presume they made a meal of it on MOTD? esp' if Shearer was in a mood because of the NUFC chalked-off goal debacle.
I think VAR is great but the handling of it needs a firm kick up the butt so that we at least understand the "why" behind decisions in real-time.
Mendy has been suspect ever since he came back from the ACN - time for a rest methinks.
Poor game all round yesterday. Chelsea off the pace and will remain so at least until we bed in the new members of the squad. Top 4 is my best hope this season tbh. I would be very unhappy if Spurs & Arsenal come in ahead of us although the latter seem to be firing on all six and are a big threat.
I thought Moyes showed too much respect to an ailing Chelsea with the ultra-defensive first half display from The Hammers. Could've done better imo.
Good luck for the rest of the season.
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Grant Fondo
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Pickford I believe.
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He did play extremely well I must say.
A very good goalie and I'd swap him for Mendy in a heartbeat.
Grant Fondo
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Agree, and shoe-in for world cup even though Pope is doing a terrific job.
PaulSB
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Apologies, the last couple of days have been a bit busy! I see it from three perspectives the first being the PL clubs don't really have to work hard, if at all, to earn their main revenue, TV rights. Clearly everything on the football side must be to a very high standard to keep the sponsors, advertisers etc. happy but I don't think it can be claimed the PL clubs have to do much beyond this meaning their revenues are largely meaningless - player values and wages have been driven up and up simply because there is more and more money being thrown at the game. If historically only half the amount had been offered by Sky et al player values and wages would be half what they are today. So in this sense it is Monopoly money as it has no real value.
The PL clubs choose to put the bulk of their earnings into today through buying any player they want and paying outrageous, obscene salaries. Money pours out of the game with scant regard for developing future talent through the more traditional, and perhaps more secure, routes. I suspect like me you're old enough to recall how a players would move through the divisions attracting increasing fees as they went, in this way revenues trickled down through the league helping to sustain clubs at each level. Players matured, gained experience and found their level. This simply doesn't happen anymore.
Instead we have the academy system which is closely tied to the loan system. The clubs invest millions in the early development of young players then, as they edge towards a PL first team squad, are loaned out for a season or two, to mature and show if they have the talent to make the PL. At this point the clubs who take the loan player become responsible for all the associated costs, take all the risk but gain none of the value. My club, Rovers, "benefits" from this system and we've been able to watch some wonderful footballers...........for a season and then we have to begin all over again making it extremely difficult to build a squad capable of winning promotion and maintaining a place in the PL. The PL clubs snaffle up all the young talent, farm them out to other clubs for a couple of seasons who pay their wages until the PL club decides if they're good enough or not. This works in favour of the PL clubs and denies lower league sides the opportunity to nurture and develop talent. At the same time clubs such as mine have to take huge gambles on players, last January Rovers gambled on promotion and didn't sell three players who then were out of contract in the summer. This summer Diaz has stayed as no PL club will match the asking price, doesn't surprise me, and we face the possibility he will sign a pre-contract in January, he'll be free next summer.
This example may be extreme and one I only fell across after chatting with a Coventry supporting friend. Todd Kane has played for both sides. Kane signed for Chelsea at under-8 level, he was with Chelsea for 18 years. Having signed his first professional contract in 2011 between 2012 and 2019 he was loaned to PNE, Rovers, Bristol City, Forest, NEC Nijmegen, Groningen, Oxford United and Hull before signing for QPR. I would argue if Chelsea believed in the player they should have invested seven years wages in him but instead chose to get eight (yes, 8) other clubs to fund his wages while a decision was made about his potential. As I say this could be an extreme example but for me it highlights the corrupt nature of the loan system. Kane is a journeyman and I feel it would benefit the game more if players like him developed through the older methods I describes above.
Basically the Academy and loan system exists to provide PL clubs a no risk opportunity to grab every potential player with no real benefit to the rest of the football league.
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Joey Shabadoo
My pronouns are "He", "Him" and "buggerlugs"
Slick
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She's a belter.
