Poor choice of wording Makes it more easily acceptable** If he did feign an attack then he got what he deserved and the fight back was proportionate. As said, Schilling could have thought it was a knife and reacted out of pure instinct. I still doubt that though given his history but we are only privy to a 20 second video.

Nah, I get it. There’s always that one person in the bar / pub that thinks it is all about him. In the U.K. they are usually wearing spray on jeans and have a fake tan. That said, this bloke is a trained fighter. He has a responsibility. If he was attacked I could understand it. I’ll be honest and say I didn’t see the flinch from the other bloke, but if he did try and feign a hit and got filled in as a result then it is his fault. For all Schilling knows it could be a knife. The fact the bloke is ok makes it acceptable but it could have very easily gone the other way. Bisping showed how it is done but he made a very good point about his younger years. I have heard a couple of things about him now that lead me to believe he wasn’t very pleasant.

That’s pathetic imo. I don’t think the guy was being particularly annoying but it was a short video. Schilling ain’t even that good of a fighter in relative terms. I follow the Bellator and I’m sure he’s lost more than he has won. He was refused a boxing license a while back and looking at this it isn’t surprising. You can tell the type of bloke Schilling is by the way he was walking back in the bar. He looked ready for trouble. Apparently the drunk guy was being a clown though and supposedly racist to a server. Who knows.

More than some people care to acknowledge I spent many a weekend with my grand parents at East Lancs. Used to love the shortbread cakes they would do in the tea house. Or jam scones. Trying to sneak a game of cricket in on the sides towards the back end of the ground. One of my better memories in life is being 16 and enjoying one of my first pints with my grandad (on the quiet). Felt a big lad at the time finally being able to enjoy a tipple from the bar that was, as a youngster, always a place I wanted to be The English culture in some parts of Lancashire has been totally eradicated. This is another in a long list of tragic stories that has happened under the guise of multiculturalism.

What are his exAg, +\-aGra, ex AsI5t, total runs per acre and >goals/m2 stats in that position though?

I have missed a lot of this thread but what happened to the credits generated from purchasing match day passes on ifollow? I was under the impression you got a certain reduction pro-rata your number of passes bought?? And what is the justification for not including young adults in it and, from a legal point of view, can they promise reductions last year (which may have influenced consumer choice) and then take it away this year? Surely that is against regulations....

I can’t believe what is going on with him! Even in that video clip against Bolivia he still didn’t look like a class footballer but everybody likes him I do think that’s the case here too. He hasn’t had half the grief that Gallagher gets lately. Everybody likes the bloke and wants him to succeed. Rovers should capitalise on this. They have released some shoddy Chile Brereton t-shirt but we should be trying to flog some Rovers shirts out there I hope to see a flood of Chile flags when we are finally allowed in the stadium. Reminiscent of the Turkish following at Tugays last game..... Good lad Brereton, chuffed for him and hope he presses on and becomes a real £7m player for us Mowbray better not tell us he has to re-learn our way of football when he comes back because I will lose my shit

A sideways move? Blackpool to Rovers? Do you say things to be deliberately antagonistic or because you like to get the opportunity to defend your “justified pessimism”?

Buzzing for the lad! Play him through the middle and apparently he looks a threat - who would have thought The next Chile game is vs Bolivia 10pm Friday night, straight after Scotland. Viva Brereton Diaz!

Rory Burns is quite unorthodox too. He moves a lot on the crease and gets tucked up because of it. But whilst he is getting runs it doesn’t matter. Lawrence has had a good few knocks too. I quite like the look of him. This team is desperately missing Stokes and Butler because that middle order is terrifyingly bad. I have tickets for England v India at Headingley and im hoping for a bit better than what we are being served up here .....

I’d start Bellingham against Croatia. He is a young lad and looks fantastic. Why risk Henderson being injured? Rice and Bellingham and let’s allow Henderson 20-30 minutes in the group games to keep them two fresh. We have options so rushing back a player as important as him is silly imo. He’ll be more useful in the tougher games later on in the tournament. As for supporting England I am just looking forward to have the chance to shout about something. 2021 has been a crap time to be a football fan if you support Rovers. I was genuinely not bothered about the last few games we played. England gives you that bit of excitement. And the chance to give it to the Scots when we put 5 past them makes it even better.

What about Jamie Vardy? He played at a very low level to a late age in relevant terms to a footballer. The argument you are using here is best defined as a “straw man”. Jason Lowe is not the same player as Buckley. Lowe relied on physicality to spoil football games. Your beef with Buckley aside - how is Mols doing now? He was head and shoulders above him in your eyes but struggled to get a game in the Spanish 4th tier. It just shows how football is a game full of opinions.

To even have a player in the Copa America is good news. Whether or not he plays is irrelevant - he will be about world class players for a few weeks. The rest of the players are out on holiday now so at least he’ll be “on the grass” and hopefully picking up some South American flair and passion!! Either way, he has a long way to go in this sport, but his inclusion in Chile is a further positive to what has been a better year for Ben. He’s quite an interesting character really. I do really hope he makes a player eventually. It is a funny old world. If you asked me a year ago who I’d prefer to make it out of SG or BB it would have been Gally. Now I’ve almost given up hope on that lad but see something in Brereton. Whether or not that comes out is another matter.

I would predict that whatever scout I propose there would be a period in his career they didn't perform However, the basis of the message was clear, and that is that data is used to identify players which when coupled with an understanding of the game can be used to filter out and highlight stand out performers This thread would have you believe the naked eye is better than data but in terms of pinpointing players in a now global market it is fundamentally important to have an established data analysis team It can also be used quite well to point out a players' weakness within your own squad

With respect you haven't read the article and Steve Walsh, seen as one of the greatest recruiters in football right now, is adamant of the use of data and scouting systems in football. The game existed before data because nobody used data. If nobody uses it then everybody is on an equal playing field. If 10 teams are using data analysis and 10 teams aren't I would argue the latter would be at a disadvantage. Again, I must point out that in the example of statistics you are on about, neither Joe nor Andy claimed that this shown Armstrong to be poor and Bell to be a world beater. It is a collection of statistics that show whether we win or lose if an individual player is on the pitch. That is all. I really do not see the beef.

You just have made it up. That's not what that table of data shows in any way shape or form Nor has it been what Joe and Andy have been trying to claim either People dismissing data analysis because "they can see better with their eyes" are allowing themselves to be blinded. Whilst data might not present the whole truth it goes some way to filtering out the 'luxury' players Steve Walsh wrote a great article in The Times a few weeks back about his discovery of Kante and Mahrez. He was taken back by Mahrez's skills on the ball but in scouting him came across Kante. Before deciding to scout Kante he retrieved his data and was impressed by his 'recoveries', tackle percentages etc. This was a player that wasn't a glamourous player like Mahrez, not a goal scorer like Haaland (who Walsh uncovered too iirc) but an industrious player that really shined in his match data. Without using them scouting systems that he used he might never have returned to see Kante play in the flesh. There's definitely a role to play with data in football and imo those that are throwing it aside are either old news or unwilling to adapt to the modern world.

Our problem lies in the route we have to take. We draw either Portugal, Germany or France in the first knockout round. If you want to win you have to beat the best. I think this team is good. I would start Ben White over Tyrone Mings personally but that won't happen. Mings is a pretty bad footballer in my eyes but has done well off the field. Out of the Villa back line he has easily been the worst this season yet is the only one included in the England squad. Go figure. To make up for our defensive weakness I have decided I would play 5 at the back. Problem being Southgate has tried to shoe-horn players in to a 4-2-3-1 for a while now, meaning we have no experience playing a formation which served us well last tournament. For me: Henderson James Stones White Trippier Shaw Rice Bellingham Grealish Kane Rashford Switch Grealish for Foden, Rashford for Sancho / Sterling and you have some real impact subs. Henderson would play over Bellingham if fit. Walker is James' back up. Maguire when fit comes in for Ben White. And I know that Southgate will pick Pickford but personally Dean Henderson is a better goalie and would play for me every time. I personally think that squad above could beat France and really that is the team we need to beat.

Big fight happening this weekend between Leon Edwards vs Nate Diaz Birminghams own Leon is my favourite but either way this one will be s bitter scrap. Both fighters go toe for toe.

I think the plan was always 3 at the back Joey. Has to be without Hendo and he was always a doubt. I think it will be James Stones and Mings personally but could easily see Walker replace James. Although I'd prefer he didn't. I have never been a fan of Mings either and personally think Ezre Konsa is a better defender than him having watched almost all the Villa games this year. I have faith in Bellingham in midfield with Rice and thought they looked good together against Austria. They just needed more movement up front. We need to get players running in behind and that's why I am not taking much from the Austria game. Saka, Grealish and Lingard was a poor attacking 3 when you consider Kane. He needs a Rashford, Sancho or Sterling out wide to make them runs in behind when he drops deep. None of the 3 vs Austria did that. The bigger test will be Romania. If he plays his starting line up, which he should do, then we will have an idea of how we are going to perform.

Just because he said it doesn’t make it a factual comment I might add We have to stop pretending like the days of Jack Walker are forever. Historically a player would choose clubs like Utd over us and they would over the vast majority of clubs internationally We don’t know what happened over Bauer but McGinn going to Villa and Kipre to PL Wigan isn’t a sign we are unattractive They aren’t light years ahead of us and quite frankly I resent a fan of Rovers making such comments but have grown accustomed to such pessimism. That is the sad thing in my eyes.

That’s a fair comment I suppose. But it has been more than Mount and Rashford. James, Chilwell, Mount, Sterling, Walker, Foden and Stones all played. There’s a lot of tired legs.

I hope going with a smaller supplier like Macron means our kit will have more thought. Lower league teams all have a copy and paste jobby with the bigger sports brands. Umbro were a bit better but even still managed to miss the mark on a number of occasions.

Ps: I bet people would moan if Mount, Rashford etc got injured tonight when he could have game them a rest! They last played on Saturday after a pretty gruelling season. It makes sense to protect the players you want starting in the tournament. It isn’t like they will be unfit.

The right back situation will speak for itself when we see the formation. My guess is that he sees James as more of a right sided centre half. If Southgate decides to play 5 at the back it leaves Walker / James as the right side, Stones / Coady as central, Maguire / Mings as the left side. That depth is probably about right. In truth we may need to play 5 at the back to counter a bad midfield. Ward-Prowse is unlucky to miss out. He’s a cracking player with a wand of a foot and those set piece specialists are huge in tournament football. Luckily for us we have capable back up in Trippier. Overall I think the squad is as strong as it could be. Greenwood is the biggest miss but that was injury related. I think Saka got in because of that. That said Saka has played everywhere for Arsenal this year and has had a good season. Key is to get Henderson fit and hope him and Rice can anchor that midfield well enough to let our brilliant attacking options thrive.

He was awesome imo. A shame about his injuries. He was really quick too and as a kid I always tried to emulate him in trying to get infront of the attacker before the ball reached him. He was brilliant at taking it off their toes.