speeeeeeedie

I'm glad it died, and died quickly. I think that the rebel owners really thought that their fans would line up behind them becoming super clubs, and as a result the rest would fall in line. They could not have been more wrong. Football is for fans. They'll keep trying but am happy that this one is kaput. Now that it's all over it's back to reading about abominable Rovers and their inability to fire a manager who is clearly past it.

James Corden - now a big US TV star - opened his show last night with a rant at the super league; James Corden Is Against the Super League Proposal - YouTube He has an audience that has no idea about football nor do they care but fair paly to him for doing it.

The Times has picked this up; 1 Big Six club thinking about backing out - subscription required for non savvy types City would be a logical choice given that they weren't listed on early reports, Guardiola's statement earlier, and the fact that Abu Dhabi got into football to aid their political legitimacy. They don't need the money, and siding with fans won't hurt that premise.

I am not at all in favour of "letting them go". The goal should be the cancellation of the super league. If it goes ahead it will ruin football forever. I think that the super league boffins are banking on fan feelings of apathy and resignation to get it through. If the English clubs stay in the Prem the best other clubs can hope for is to finish 7th every season. I read yesterday that the ESL are offering 4 times the money than what current Champs League teams get. There's no way that the rest can compete against that level of spending capabilities. The sheer arrogance on show from the rebel clubs is astounding. Here's an extract from an ESPN article; Man United, Man City players voice Super League concerns to clubs - sources (espn.co.uk) Sources have told ESPN the club plan to present evidence that early rounds of existing European football are "stale and predictable," backed up with stadium attendances and TV viewing figures. There is a belief that the only way forward is to allow the biggest teams to play each other more regularly rather than just during the final weeks of the season. What is more predictable than the same teams playing each other all the time without fear of missing out? It beggars belief that club hierarchies think like that. Anyone associated with Spurs and Arsenal should be embarrassed to go outside. There is nothing super about those two teams. City and Chelsea are only in this position due to billionaire owners who trapped up less than 20 years ago. The Glazers have been waiting for this since 2005, and Liverpool's owners know how to make money so are rubbing their hands with glee. The match going fan is the one who will get royally screwed if the super league goes ahead. That's why the UK government needs to make it clear that it won't be worth it for the rebel clubs to go.

I like UEFA's committee member Ceferin's stance. He is advocating a scorched earth policy towards the 12 clubs. Ban them from this season's European competition. Although they've not done anything wrong he wants to ban their players for the Euro's too. He wasn't shy in his disgust for Ed Woodward and Andrea Agnelli either. Klopp is in an awful position, put their by money men living unconcerned in Boston USA. Fair play for him to come out and say what he did. We'll have to see what GUardiola says on Wednesday. Arteta will no doubt look sheepish when asked. His team are 9th in the Prem and don't look anywhere near close to being a top side any time soon.

Letting teams leave and saying that the ESL is no different than the current situation in the Prem and CL is wrong. Clubs with more money do win trophies but at present there is nothing stopping teams from cracking into the top band. City and Chelsea have done it through mega money owners. It may not be everybody's cup of tea but it happened. A closed shop makes an absolute mockery of sporting principles. FIFA, UEFA, and the FA need to come down hard and quickly on the rebel clubs. Ban the teams, ban the players, remove their registrations. Football is a global game, but local structure needs to stay in place. Can local authorities intervene too? Manchester city council rescinding Old Trafford's safety certificate? Refuse to police games?

Reports are out that a European super league could be happening; Man United, Liverpool among clubs in $6 billion European Super League talks - sources (espn.com) Man U, Liverpool, Arsenal, Chelsea, and Spurs are English teams to have purportedly signed on. It's been talked about for years. It's no surprise that of the 5 clubs 3 are owned by Americans, and that JP Morgan are backing it. I'm completely against it, but I have no money or power to do anything about it.

If Mowbray's latest death spiral is over (a big if I know), and with the 4 games left against teams who also have nothing to play for or are relegation fodder, it isn't inconceivable that Rovers could end up with 60 points. That equates to Mowbray's 1W 1D 1L Championship form average. He'll be happy with that but it completely glosses over the abjectness of 2021. What would have happened if Rovers had 8 points from the first 16 games? Would Venkys have potted Mowbray and staff? What would the prevailing mood be if the season was reversed? A terrible start, Mowbray staying, then playoff form for the second half of the season? I don't have social media accounts, so only see what gets shared on here but I'd wager that there would be lots of talk of promotion next season and give Mowbray a contract extension to build on the strong finish.

A win and safety assured. 4 dead rubbers ahead. Rooney isn't manager material.

He has it backwards. First and foremost a football club is in the business of getting results. Player development is a secondary function. Develop good players, get good results. If his goal is development he should start an independent academy a la Glenn Hoddle.

Above are 3 of the first 4 posts in this thread from August 2019. No change in 18 months.

Liverpool 0-0 Real Madrid. Dortmund 1-2 City. The semi finals are Chelsea v. Real and PSG v. City. I thought that Liverpool played well but they couldn't score, which has been the story of their season. As the game wore on they ran out of ideas and Real used their brains to snuff out any danger. City were too good for Dortmund. As has been said on here add Bellingham to the list of potential world beaters for England. A central defender of the same class coming through would be nice.

PSG 0-1 Bayern. 3-3 on aggregate. PSG through on away goals. Bayern may have won the game but PSG were the better team. Neymar can be an absolute plonker at times with his antics but last night he showed how good a footballer he is. He was mesmerising at times. Bayern couldn't get the ball off him. Bayern will point to not having Lewandowski but his replacement Choupo-Moting (ex Stoke) scored in both legs. Chelsea also got beat 1-0 at home but progressed 2-1. Porto scored a cracker with virtually the last kick of the game.

I think that it is. As Rev said; Rovers grab a point edging closer to safety, yet the 1 win in xx record keeps getting bigger. 5 games to play; Derby(h), Sheff Wed(a), Huddersfield(h), Rotherham(a), Brum(h). All teams in the bottom third. Rovers to limp to the finish line and stay up.

I watched Real v Liverpool and Bayern v PSG. Liverpool were terrible. Too many misplaced passes, and inaction going forward. TAA showed why Southgate dropped him. His positioning and one on one defending wasn't good enough. They could still go through though as they do have goals in them. It will be very hard though. Bayern v PSG was a cracking game. Mbappe was class. Bayern aren't out of it despite getting beat. They had loads of chances. City got lucky against Dortmund. No surprise that Chelsea beat Porto. I think that lazy commentary has gotten worse over the pandemic. Maybe the lack of fans is causing it but there's a lot of it about. Plenty of talking up narratives that don't exist to completely and missing important bits of play.

Off topic I know but years ago Garner was the presenter at my junior football club's awards evening. The compere had finished a round of trophy giving and was letting everybody know that it was time for a break. On hearing this, Garner, who was on stage, said something like "good, I need a pint and a fag." As he said it close to the mic everybody heard. Cue apologies and a "don't smoke lads, it's bad for you" line. 7 points from 42 is desperately bad. Awful football is worse. I really feel for those who actually pay to watch the games online. Being at the stadium is a whole different experience than sat at home with no atmosphere at all to rally around. I think that Rovers will stay up. Mowbray will rag a win. Facts do point to him losing it though. His time is up. He's gone as far as he can. He shouldn't feel shame in that as he put some of the pride back. Certainly on here he is rapidly becoming hated, leave now and he may save some of his reputation. To the penalty taking debate, I remember Ray Stewart when I was little. He was brilliant. This article has a few; 10 Best Penalty Takers of all Time - Pundit Feed No surprises that van Basten and Le Tissier are up there. I did read that Yaya Toure scored all 11 of his whilst in the Prem.

I get annoyed at being asked for ID. I don't know why but I do. Puritanical America has some weird quirks asking for ID id one of them. Some shops have a "we ID everyone" policy when buying booze. My dad was with me once and they asked him. He's in his 70's. He started laughing. The American payments system is also years behind. The self styled most advanced nation on earth is not at all. I regularly get stuck behind someone paying with a cheque at the supermarket. It takes twice as long. It drives me bananas. Chip and pin was rolled out a few years ago, but banks decided that Americans aren't clever enough to use the pin part. Tap and pay is available in a few places but not enough, as is Apple/Google pay on a phone. It should be everywhere. Americanisms in Britain also annoy me. I live in America, you'd think that I'd appreciate it, but no.

I think that last night's England team was close to Southgate's starting 11. Potentially Pickford for Pope. Henderson (if fit) for Phillips. I like Grealish for Mount, but Mount has been playing very well. The game should have been out of sight at half time. England were far too good for Poland. Rice was very good. Sterling was purposeful yet wasteful. Having Kane up front is a real asset. He does it all very well. I also reckon that Stones's cock up was a blessing in disguise. It forced England to pick up the place as there was something on the line and were actually challenged. Stones takes the blame for the mistake but Pope didn't help him with an iffy pass. No matter who starts in June there will be some excellent attacking options. Kane up top and any of Rashford, Sancho, Sterling, Saka, Grealish, Foden, Mount, Calvert-Lewin, and even TAA and Maddison if they make the squad.

That is what is good about them, it gives a glimpse of what's behind the curtain. Then it all goes a bit iffy with tales like - "we were out on a Tuesday, all of us hammered, then player X took his kecks off and starting dancing on tables before barfing in some girl's handbag". As I said yesterday maybe I'm getting old.

I finally finished this one. It took me a while to get through both episodes. There were some very good bits about Di Canio and Thomas Gravesen. I've listened to a few of these podcasts now and what is starting to stick out is the immaturity of footballers. Lots of stories about boozing, acting up, pranking, and getting in bother. I've listened to a few this month and the lads on tour stories are starting to get a bit annoying. I like to footballing insights and their take on people in the game but the laddish exploits aren't worth much. Maybe I'm getting old.

I do. I never know how it is spelled.

It would seem that way. Croatia, Belgium twice, Holland all beat England recently. With opposition goals coming from out of nowhere. Naiivete perhaps.

France should have won it last time and didn't. If they have a weakness it's at goalkeeper. England have talent, can Southgate best out of them?

I had a look at the Ireland squad. It is not up to much. They must be struggling if Duffy still gets a look in. I'd like to know what our Irish members think of the FAI. They have been blamed for the majority of the ills the national team is suffering through. Wales need to get Giggs's situation sorted out. I have no idea when his court date is but it looks like the Wales bosses won't make a decision until after that.

I only saw the highlights for last night's game. As a marker to see where England are it is pointless. I'm glad that Southgate played 4 at the back though. Hopefully he sticks to it. Here's my guess for his game 1 Euro's starting 11; Pickford Walker Stones Maguire Chilwell Rice Henderson Grealish Rashford Sterling Kane Of that 11 maybe Grealish could lose out to Foden or Mount. I think he'll stick with Pickford barring any disasters and Walker will keep his right back spot for one last tournament. Hungary 3-3 Poland was a good result for England too.