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.

He did somewhat lose his way when he went to Juventus. Covid probably played a big part in that though. Bellamy went to Cardiff at the end of his career too didn't he?

Signings like this are thin on the ground these days. Once good players don't tend to drop down a division and keep playing. MLS, China, and now Saudi Arabia are popular destinations. Or they retire as they have plenty of money. It reminds me of Rovers signing Gordan Cowans. He was superb. I'm not speaking ill either but Aaron Ramsey is a far better player than Whittingham ever was. Is Rooney going to Derby a better example?

I didn't know that Everton's overlord was sanctioned too. Abramovich got all the attention. They really are in a pickle then. Gordon got them a few quid. Maybe Onana is next out. He and Pickford are about all they have left who is worth anything. I've written enough on here about the absolute disaster that Everton's signings have been over the last few years. They have signed some dross. Dele Alli is back with them now too.

I see that Everton have signed Ashley Young. It's impressive that he's still getting Premier League contracts at 38 but he's not going to be transformative. Have Everton no money?

I'm surprised that he lasted that long. He had good games but made too many mistakes, wasn't that good with his feet, and was awful at saving penalties. Paper talk had him on stupid money too. Ten Hag has done well to get rid.

I think both Colwill and Trafford will play for the full side. Colwill in particular looked very good. The rest, probably not. Prior iterations on England u21's usually had a lot players nobody had ever heard of, and who then never made the leap. This team has Prem regulars all over the park. At a guess I'd say that Kane will hang up his international boots after World Cup 2026. Rashford will be 28/29 by then so hopefully he can take over. I've seen stories about Mason Greenwood making a comeback. That one will stir some debate if he manages to do it and get back to what he was.

I thought that this deal was a bit off; BBC: Ruben Neves leaves Wolves for Saudi Arabia If reports are true Neves is going to be loaned to Newcastle for 2 years. I mentioned this on here not too long ago. There is nothing stopping the Saudis buying whoever they want for their PIF owned Saudi teams and sending them all to their Prem team. All the while costing Newcastle absolutely nothing. What's the Geordie defence on this one?

How you both described it was evident whilst watching the TV broadcast. It sounded like an athletics event (or dare I say women's game) rather than a football match.