Mr Logic

Streams up.

Yep. I'm now watching a black screen with a revolving circle of white dots.

Ok found the link, 19:47 and players still warming up, no teams out yet. Best listen to Decky, he's there. I'm watching a moving picture with no sound.

I paid the fiver, seemed like nowt to watch 4 pre-season friendlies. However the game is due to kick off in 3 minutes and there's no link to watch it that I can find.

Jesus what a thread to come home to after a 15hr day. Ashley is a moron when it comes to football, but that's too simplistic because I just don't know his motives or reasoning. I do know he surrounds himself with psycho scum and uses them to do whatever he wishes to achieve. I think he has genuinely washed his hands with the club, no more speculation, no more trying, no more spending.. he fucked up because his business acumen just 100% doesn't work in the world of football and he didn't know how to adapt. What fucks me off almost as much as Ashely and co is the spinelss press/media. Will not one brave soul remind us of the quote from his Sky interview, the "We/I can't/won't compete with the likes of Man City etc. etc." You know the one. Then point out that apparently we can't compete with anyone in the Premier League and mention all the sums being spent by every fucker bar us. Let's see Ashley (Bishop) worm their way out of that. Every penny the club generates (my arse), as Thomas pointed out, is a carefully crafted remark they've used before.

Bishop's working on it as we speak. Spot on.

Quite frankly he doesn't deserve that either. How about an upcoming future SPOTY, he could win that one, maybe. (And I've been impressed with him.)

We all do.. But.....................................................................

Cheers Stifler, I've been waiting for good news. Sleep easy tonight.

Personally, I'd keep Aarons. Still sure there's a good player in there.

Serious questions: Where did Croatia go wrong? Where did Belgium go wrong? What did France so well do that gave them success? (For me I enjoyed watching the two losing teams better than the winners.)

Ultimately whilst VAR helps a lot, it's still down to the fallibility of human decisions. But there should be less contentious decisions, so all in all still a good thing - I think.

Favourite things: 1: Germany going out. 2: Favourites for the competition dropping like flies. (Spain, Argentina, Germany, Brazil.. etc.) 3: Cheering on all the underdogs at evey opportunity. Favourite Goal: Mandzukic making Lloris look a tit. Favourite Match: Belgium 3-2 Japan. Favourite Moment: See Favourite Goal. edit Haven't done a complete check but I think Croatia scored more goals (16?) than any other team at this world cup, not counting penalty shoot-outs. (But I'm pretty pissed so possibly wrong). 2nd edit Looks like Belgium might have got 16 as well. (Can some dedicated statistician who is sober check the figures?)

Thought that was an excellent final, but so sad for Croatia - was hoping for a third after their 'oh so comical' second. France pegged back for so much of the game, maybe a bit of naivity to let France counter so easilly in the second half but man those guys try to play football. Thought the ref was a tosser, strong yes but somehow still fucking up. Arrogant? Reminded me a bit of Uriah Rennie somehow. Hopefully VAR rules gets further refined. Was never a freekick that led to first French goal and never a penalty, and wrong goal-kick/corner decisions aren't looked at by VAR? Great game, wrong result.

I'll be sticking £50 on an opening win. In Rafa we trust. (Wouldn't be surprised if we win at least 2 of those first four matches).

The way Sels body goes after the shot, like he's saying "There was nae need for that like!"

Don't you realise how much that hurts? I did it accidentally when I was at school, not quite from that height but it knocked the wind right out of me and I'd avoid doing it again at all costs.

How the media influence thinking... Matt Le Tissier shared his thoughts with Sky about England's performance in the World Cup You will note the first player he mentions in the article quotes is Jonjo, Lallana almost as an afterthought, but Lallana makes the headline. In the first mention they put Lallana first and then Wilshere. You get to the actual quote and Jonjo is first. ---- Matt Le Tissier says England lacked midfielder like Adam Lallana at World Cup Last Updated: 13/07/18 11:53am Matt Le Tissier thinks England struggled to create more chances at the World Cup as they didn't have a player who can "unlock a team", like Adam Lallana or Jack Wilshere. Gareth Southgate's side saw their memorable run at the World Cup come to an end on Wednesday as they were beaten in extra-time by Croatia. While England had more shots on target from set plays than any other team, there were only five teams who had fewer shots on target from open play. And former England international Le Tissier told Sky Sports News: "We don't have too many midfielders in the squad who can create chances from very little, that midfielder who can pick a pass through the eye of a needle. That's the one area of the squad that was lacking. "That's why people were talking about Jonjo Shelvey and Jack Wilshere, and for me also Adam Lallana. I know he was injured for large parts of the season but we lacked a player who can unlock a team and that proved to be our downfall. "There are a lot of facets to football and set-pieces are a big part of the game as we have seen at this tournament. We were great at them and prepared them brilliantly and scored a lot of goals. "The chances created from open play was the one part of the tournament where we were a lot worse than a lot of other teams." Despite struggling to create chances from open play, England still enjoyed their best run at a World Cup since 1990. And Le Tissier said three players in particular impressed him in Russia. "To single out one player is really difficult because I think Kieran Trippier, Harry Maguire and Jordan Pickford all enhanced their reputations unbelievably. "The players did perform well, there were probably two or three who might look at it and say I didn't quite reach my best form at the tournament, but the team was terrific and the positives far outweigh the negatives. If you pushed me for one name I'd say Trippier."

Just seen the poll options.

Not so sure he's improved, just got back to his level after listening to Pardew explain the game and thinking 'wtf'. Anyway, almost certainly a load of bollocks.

I think the clearest thing I learnt from the England/Southgate show was Southgate has stipulated a system to be followed and has no alternative. That's not good, if you stick to one system you better make sure you are the fucking best at it or other teams will find a way to curtail you. Always need a Plan B and none was apparent. My biggest fear is Southgate's ego will never let him consider Shelvey because he turned down an opportunity to play for the under 23's (21's?) after having making a senior appearance. That would be cutting your nose off to spite your face.

I was foaming at every long ball they played after about 25'. Croatia realised we were one dimensional the longer the game went on; and we were! Easy to say in hindsight but Southgate's been found wanting himself. No plan B in sight. Sir Bobby, Rafa, they wouldn't have lost that game - I think. That said, young team, expect more in the Euro's perhaps?

If he has a good season he'll be out of our price range, can't see any win to a straight loan. Unless Rafa can work some magic mid-season and secure a deal, but then why would he - unless things change drastically in the next 4 weeks its hard to see how he'll still be here next season.

Nobody has confirmed the bid is actually real yet. But the topic title just made me when I saw it. #notreal