brummie

Truth is, the people are sick of the Champions League, I think you'll find the Uefa Conference League is the big competition these days.

I'd just force Man City, Chelsea, Liverpool and Man United to have a number of their team play in randomly selected specialist footwear. Clogs Crocks Espedrilles Uggs That'd level things out a bit. For De Bruyne, mind, might have to be manacles.

If part of the aim of all this were really to in some way 'level up' then the measures would not just be entirely financial. FFP only addresses one part of the picture, and does it with all the subtlety and nuance of a sledgehammer. It just reinforces the more powerful clubs where they are. It should really be accompanies by other rules which are more nuanced than spending limits, controls of transfer activity which go beyond that. I don't know what the exact answer is, but there's a fucking massive irony in the fact that the way things are at the moment, the only way ambitious well funded and supported teams can really function is to constantly sell their best players to the big 5 (I'm not including Spurs in that, for a reason).

He was excellent for us last season, tbf. Maybe it's a season too far.

Unai Emery. 2022-23 season - 25 league games managed, 1.96 points per game average. 2023-24 season - 25 league games managed, 1.96 points per game average.

When he was with us (Villa), he came with a big reputation as a proper thinker and the brains behind Gerrard. As it turned out, Gerrard had absolutely no brains whatsoever. Anyway, for all his coaching achievements, Beale - as he who did all the training (according to Emi Martinez in an interview) - really got us playing in such an inflexible way, one which clearly wasn't going to work, and which he was never prepared to change, it was a relief when he fucked off to be a manager. Knowing what Gerrard was like - archaic management by soundbite or cliche, lots of waffle about 'we need a moment of magic', alienating Tyrone Mings (a player the fans love and vital around the club) for absolutely no reason, lots and lots of other things - Beale must have happily played a part in that and bought into it as a management method. Judging on what has happened with him since, the apple clearly doesn't fall too far from the tree.

How does this work with the contracts of people who are, to all intents and purposes, not football staff. He's not a player, he's not a manager, so how would his contract be any different to that of anyone in a 'normal' day to day job? Not coming at this from an angle btw - I have no dog in this race - just wondering aloud.

No need. Politics degree *taps temples* All up here, mate.

Ha ha yes, that is true, that had never occurred to me!

'68 here and I definitely hate Liverpool more. Worth remembering, anyone our sort of age, Man U didn't win the league in the first 24 years of our lives and also managed to get relegated. That lent them a certain shitness that softened things, but Liverpool hoovered up silverware and their fucking fans, and the media, were unbearable. I don't give a fuck about Arsenal, but I remember sitting in our student house in Gateshead watching that Michael Thomas championship decider in 1989 and every single one of the dozen or so of us watching really, really wanted Liverpool to fuck it. It remains one of the best football events I've ever seen in terms of schadenfreude.

I thought exactly the same. Winter said that like no other director of football or whatever could POSSIBLY have that, whereas actually, everyone who plays FM does. It's a much more complicated job than just firing up some 'GREATPLAYAZ' database. The likes of Henry Winter are still in awe of things that became largely normalised years ago.

Yes, basically. Our set up is Emery, Vidagamy (not sure of his title) and Monchi ('President of Football Operations' - basically handles all the transfer deals) are the triumvirate who run the football side, that's totally divorced from the commercial side of the business (obviously other than the interactions over budgets). I'd imagine it's similar also to Johan Lange, who was our sporting director before Monchi came and sort of shunted him off into a random 'global' role, before he fucked off to Spurs. He knew his stuff, too, tbf, oversaw some good signings. But yeah, that dividing line between football and commercial is, I think, becoming more and more the norm.

Both of which also require a new stadium, mind.

El Crapico.

I wonder what Harry Styles is up to today.

Man United are so shit, fuck knows how they keep getting results. I still can not believe they beat us.

Pau Torres is back and we are transformed.

Yeah, well tbf, I did kind of mention that. *wink*

We are totally fucked by injuries, we don't have a defence any more. Pau still not entirely fit after two months out. Carlos has just done his hamstring Kamara has just done his ACL, out for the season. We're going to have to play Tim Iroegbunam, a child, there. Konsa has a properly nasty knee injury and fuck knows when he's back, which is bad because he has been superb. Rumours his might be an ACL too. Digne only just back in contention after two months out. Ramsey randomly breaking his foot again every other week. On top of that, obvs, Buendia and Mings out for the season. That is potentially 4 ACLs this season. Jesus Christ. If Torres can be brought back this weekend, it'll be him and Lenglet, two left sided CBs. It also means Cash at RB as Konsa there not an option. That's not good. We might have to use Calum Chambers. Fucking hell. Duran is out too, so Watkins being un-injurable needs to stay a thing or we have literally no other striker option. And yes yes fucking yes, I know you've had an injury crisis before anyone tells me. It's not mutually exclusive. Of course, if it weren't for FFP we'd maybe have more depth, so fuck FFP and fuck the PL.

Corporates.

I still find that very hard to believe. Even if it was true, he's not going to be in a position to inflate deals, as it wouldn't be shareholder value for the people who own the other 93%, so there won't be anything nefarious in it. What I can believe is he introduced the right people.

I find it hard to believe Sawiris is going to be anywhere near negotiations. He's a shareholder, that doesn't mean he can get involved in day to day operations. They are certainly not going to be pouring inflated sums into us as a result of anything he says.

Yeah, but having said that, it's better than the "Carabao Cup" and everyone would like to win that. Remember when it was the Milk Cup? The Rumbelows Cup? What happened to the Watneys Shield too?

Exactly. We had some great away days in the past. Bilbao, Milan, Berlin, Moscow, and of course some success too. We hadn't been in Europe since 2010, so that's a whole generation who've never had the chance. Good for them, I watch all the YouTube blogs they do and go on those trips vicariously through them. Over a decade of watching absolute fucking dog shit football, with owners who didn't give a shit and players who were even worse (Agbonlahor and Richards can fuck off as far as I am concerned). Like you said, it's miles better than how things used to be.

It has been good. A couple of my mates did all the away matches, had some great experiences, which reminded me of great European away trips from the past. It's also not piss-easy. I mean, it's not PSG, Dortmund and Milan, but away in Bosnia (apparently the best of the away trips) and at Legia Warsaw were challenging. Alkmaar too, I guess. It just makes the season more interesting, too. And I'll love it if we win it.