speeeeeeedie

Is anyone else having flashbacks to when Venkys brought in their Brazilian chicken supremo to lick the club into shape? He didn't last long. Although this new bloke looks to be a lot closer to their inner circle.

I agree with you on Saka, He had a bad day too. Although he was inches away from winning it. He's not started well for Arsenal either. The BBC's summary was fair.; BBC -Ukraine v. England match report Maddison is a good player, but his best position isn't wide left in a front 3. Bellingham spent a lot of time out there because Maddison drifted inside. Grealish's injury aside I'd play Rashford on the left. I'd also tell him to put in a transfer request and leave Man U. His talent has, and will continue to be, wasted there. As a side, living in the USA rugby, darts, and cricket are sports I like but have no coverage at all, and as the years have gone by I've lost any real knowledge or understanding of them.

It was a very disjointed performance. Bellingham had his worst game in an England shirt. Not enough chances were created. Ukraine scored a good goal but it was their only chance of the game. Maguire had a solid game.

Southgate can say what he likes. His words aren't legal contracts. However, it does leave him open to questioning. Maguire is trusted by Southgate, but like any international manager he wants his players playing regularly so that they are up to fitness and ready for action. Would Maguire have been in the squad if Stones was fit? Southgate has used those two for the past 5 years. All the other central defenders have very little experience (although Colwill looks like he has a chance). If Maguire is still sat on the subs bench by the end of the year I reckon he'll angle for a loan move in January as Southgate won't play him in a tournament coming off a full season without playing.

I should have added that they were games I saw all or a part of. Over here NBC does a great job on Prem coverage but it doesn't have a Saturday or Sunday evening Match of the Day type show. Straight after the late Sunday game they do a post weekend analysis showing all the weekend's goals but by then I'm off out to do something. Chelsea played on Friday and I didn't see any of it nor did I see a minute of the Brentford v. Palace draw either. Spurs easily beat Bournemouth as well. VAR again was an issue, but not as controversial as some weeks. I don't think van Dijk should have been sent off, or Worrall for Forest. Yet both times the ref brandished a red and the VAR official decided not to intervene. Neither decision was a clear or obvious error - van Dijk did catch Isak, and Worrall grabbed Fernandes' shorts - so nothing was said. Alexander-Arnold was a lucky lad. Booked early for throwing the ball back on the pitch after he was fouled, he then deliberately stopped Gordon but the ref let it go.

Man U, Man City, and Liverpool all had wins over the weekend. Liverpool's was the impressive one. Man U benefitted from a couple of questionable refereeing decisions whilst City did what City do and force a winner despite being average. Arsenal faltered to a draw. Everton lost again. Burnley came out slow and were punished. West Ham battered Brighton.

What a good result. A disciplined performance with a fantastic goal to win it. I'll say that without that striker we all want JDT will need more moments of exquisite skill to win matches. A word on Gallagher. He is such a conundrum. Rovers picked it up when he came on but he does some odd things. In his eagerness to get involved he was flagged offside from a Travis through ball. He had no need to go that early. He tried to play in Travis before Hadges goal, but he over hit the pass. Late on he got caught mazy dribbling in his own half and lost it. Yet soon after he headed away a dangerous corner.

I agree with the prevailing opinions so far. If this Rovers teams had a 20 goal a season striker playing they'd be playoff bound. I've said more than once that Dolan doesn't have it. Today is his usual, good performances are an anomaly. This game is there for the taking.

I agree. It was never a sending off. However, I don't think that it can be classed as a "clear and obvious" error either. MacAllister did catch Christie with his studs. As arbitro says again and again, referees are thick as thieves and are unlikely to overrule a fellow official. VAR in the Prem seems to fare worse than in other leagues, and certainly the Champs league. There will be another mistake this week. As to this week's games. Liverpool started very shakily then looked good. Szlobozlai (sp?) looks like a very good player. Salah missed another pen, it's time for him to hand over duties. Man U were woeful again. Spurs played well but will be Spurs. City ground out a result. Everton were terrible. It's very early but I think Burnley will hang on because along with Everton, Sheff Utd and Luton aren't good enough. I didn't see any of the Chelsea game.

As I posted the other day - if Ten Hag values Greenwood's talent he'll pick him. I also said that Greenwood is a free man, but how he got there is up for questioning. A good few years ago Viz had an "are you a premiership footballer?" quiz. One question was along the lines of; you committed a crime that shocked the nation. How do you respond? Boast of your charity work Give a presser offering an enthusiastic apology Wrong foot the keeper and slip one in the bottom corner Nothing has changed.

I've always said that an ex-pros should be in there too to offer their take. They know the tricks.

It's easy to forget how quick Shearer was. He lost a bit when he came back from the knee injury that ended his 1992-93 season early. I also liked Colin Hendry chipping in with a couple of assists from massive tackle/clearance combos.

Neves is a funny one. I think he'll be at Newcastle soon enough on loan. He signed for Wolves when they were a nobody championship outfit too. I also agree that it is a phase. Players will still go and play there to top up their pensions but it won't turn into a super league. I'm sure that the Saudi's will give anyone who goes there the white glove treatment but at some point some incident will occur, however minor, that will make players think twice about going.

It's a two-tiered league when it comes to relegation. These 9 don't have to worry; Arsenal, Man U, Man City, Liverpool, Chelsea, Spurs, Villa, Brighton, Newcastle, Brentford should be good but they've just sold their keeper and their star striker is out until January so I'll put them in limbo. I wouldn't be surprised if any of these 10 went down; Burnley, Bournemouth, West Ham, Luton, Forest, Fulham, Sheff Utd, Wolves, Palace, Everton.

Guardiola was having a good moan after the Charity Shield final. I'm sure he would have said the exact same if Trossard's last second deflected shot would have gone wide. None of them like losing. When they do they'll find any excuse to shift the blame.

I thought the opposite would have been the case. I wonder why? Less skill means more bad passes?

40 minutes seems low. I saw a table in one of the papers not too long ago showing Premier League teams average ball in play time. City were top at 65 ish, Newcastle bottom at 58 ish. I had a look and haven't found it yet but I did find this; Premier League in play 2012-2023 It shows the in play average is about 56 minutes. Surely the Championship is similar, or I'd wager even higher.

Thanks fellas. I completely forgot about him. I assume he'll replace either Dolan or Markanday. Which is fine for me.

The better team won, which is a good thing. Rovers worked extremely hard, could have scored a few more, and didn't give West Brom much. Scoring goals will be the problem. Conceding them won't. Hyam and co looked very comfortable. Pears looks to have got bigger, although his kicking was a bit suspect. Were Rovers small or West Brom massive? I'm not a fan of Dolan. He grafts but offers very little attacking threat. Adam Wharton is a very good player, it was no surprise that Rovers improved when he came on. He had a mad few minutes when he gave the ball away a few times but luckily it came to naught for the Baggies. There are a few comments about the team being under strength today. Who was missing? Sam Gallagher gets plenty of abuse on here about being not good enough. Ennis just arrived from what was a League 1 side. Anyone else?

I remember it well. I was at uni in the USA. Back then ESPN had the rights to Prem football and they showed the Monday night game on a delay. There was no TV coverage of it and internet was in its early stages so I was able to shield myself from knowing the result. I remember sitting down ready to watch when my phone rang. It was my dad. The first words out of his mouth were' Did you watch that? 7-2. What a game". I still watched it but it lost a lot of the excitement had I not known the score. How times have changed. There is no way I'd be able to do that today. Even over here.

Dare I ask what would your equivalent be for the Australians? Border, Warne, McGrath, S Waugh, Ponting, Lee I remember off the top of my head.

Not that I know of. We had dabs but they were said slices battered and fried. That's it. They weren't good either. The potato was always too hard.

I missed this earlier; ESPN: Spurs owner Lewis arrested on insider trading charges. Reading the article it seems that he was trying to be nice to people by offering tips. However, those tips were, allegedly, private information.

I think that this is an odd signing; BBC: Zaha to Turkey He'd been at Palace all but 1 year of his pro career. What made him decide on Turkey?

I'm putting this here as to not clutter up the transfer thread............ All the talk of John Bull's got me looking. I grew up in East Lancs and had never heard of one. Thanks to YouTube and Holly Tree Chippy I now know. YouTube: Holly Tree Chippy John Bull It consists of mince sandwiched by 2 slices of potato, then battered and fried.