Kaizero

Willock might have outscored Murphy in the Bruce season, but beyond that the stats tell a different story. And yes, I'm aware a lot of people aren't fond of how analytics has become a part of the game. I even agree to a certain extent as xG and xA when used alone doesn't actually mean anything regarding either a team or player's skill/performance, as a player getting hit in their arse with the ball without even knowing and either scoring or assisting a goal will have effect on xG and xA without taking context into the equation. However, "x" analytics go much, much, deeper than just xG and xA – xGChain90 and xGBuildUp90, especially the latter as it doesn't take shots or goals into account – just the quality of chance creation stemming from the choice(s) ab individual player make when possessing the ball. In every other metric than goals scored, Murphy outperformed Willock. In certain areas, by a lot – such as a Murphy involvement in build-up being 45.2% more likely to lead to a shot on target (by another player) than a Willock involvement.

It 100% is, Murphy has outperformed Willock in every metric in all seasons they've both been playing for us.

Having reviewed his stats as a player for us in combination with my personal opinion and thoughts on him as a player, I've landed on D- to E+ Chose to go "E" as whilst I do believe he could work as squad filler for teams in a PL relegation fight, in my subjective and personal opinion, he just feels like a player that failed to reach PL level – but could still do a decent job in the Champo for one of the teams down there. The latter of those scenarios struck me as the one that felt "most natural" for me, as such; E.

"Assists" = "Chance Creation" The ability a player has to create chances for their team is not "borderline meaningless", or a "weird old metric". It's a great measurement of what a player can add to the quality of any given team when playing. This season, Jacob Murphy's xA90 has been 0.30 – the player in our squad with the second most assists this season, Guimarães, has an xA90 of 0.20. Murphy's xA90 is the 10th highest of all PL players with 5 or more assists so far this season. – 11th highest for players with 4 or more. – 16th highest for players with 3 or more. – 18th highest for players with 2 or more. - 27th highest for players with 1 or more. And that's without taking into account if the players are considered "starters" for their teams or not. When applying that metric and only including players with at least 1350 minutes of playing time so far this season (15 games), his xA is the 11th highest of all Premier League players. In addition, his xChain90 is the 47th highest among all players in the Premier League (xChain90 = xG average per 90 minutes from any pass-chain involving the player). And the above is only his stats for this season, his overall stats are even higher. Last season he had the 6th highest xA90 of all players in the Premier League with game time equal to at least 10 matches played. Averaging all measurable "x" stats sees Murphy 47th of all Premier League players this season. If we use that stat as a theoretical measurement to theorise his "level", with each team starting with 10 outfield players, his "team" would be 5th – which by this measurement would make him a must-start player for a team expecting to finish between 3rd and 7th. He's very underrated. So underrated that after breaking down his ability for this post, I've changed my vote from C to B

Absolutely love me some cherry-picked stats to serve a narrative If we look at our last 5, we're behind Forest, Villa, Chelsea and Brighton – level with City – with Bournemouth bein the only team out of those with fewer points on the board than us. The above is also a perfect example for my hatred of people's obsession with fixture lists, as all teams play all the other teams twice throughout a season.

They've undressed our tattooed merch boy: NUFC clearly doing their best to push the lad into an OnlyFans career with the way this is going

Murphy is extremely underrated given the fact the guy's got one of the best assists per minute ratio of any NUFC player in history, and by virtue of that is also holding his own amongst the best assists per minute ratios in modern football as a whole. He's not a flashy player beyond that ratio though, and I'm quite influenced by the overall consensus about him over the years – meaning that even after learning the above fact, I've still gone with a "C", not a "B"

Liking how Bodø/Glimt's looking in their second pre-season match tonight, already one-nil up against some Greek team they're playing on the annual pre-season warm weather camp. ...legit, though... this time of year is the time all the Norwegian teams usually have a kick-about with random semi-pro teams based in Malaga or something Olympiakos were unbeaten in all competitions for 26 straight matches before Bodø/Glimt rolled them over 3-0 last week, four months after the Norwegian season ended and two months before the new season begins – and now they're 1-0 up in Athens, 4-0 on aggregate. This isn't normal

Second hand info from a U21 Serb, so felt safe enough it was solid inforto post it. Thankfully it seems iike it wasn't 🙏🏼

Went to sit down after saying he "needed some rest" at training this morning, then keeled over before he got to the chair. Given immediate CPR and reportedly breathing in the ambulance en route to hospital.

The fact Bodø/Glimt are knocking out teams like Twente and Olympiakos from the Europa League whilst using the knockouts of the competition as a substitute for what would normally be pre-season friendlies? Genuinely unbelievable to witness

Olynmpiakos undefeated for 26 straight matches in all competitions, then they had to go face Bodø/Glimt...

My mother just made one of the more amusing (and true) statements I've head from a casual football-watcher in a long time; the commentators mentioned that Nikita Haikin, Bodø/Glimt's keeper, will be applying for a Norwegian citizenship next year as he hopes to play for Norway. To which I asked my mother, who isn't usually the most "immigrant-friendly" person given the fact she's from the generation pushing 80 this decade, what her feelings were about that. To which she replied: "The guy's voluntarily chosen to move, and live, in Northern Norway. He's more of a Norwegian than most Norwegians; let him play."

The French FA knows how to handle cunts like Slot, wish the English FA would take notice: "Olympique Lyonnais coach Paulo Fonseca has been suspended for nine months by the French Professional Football League (FLP), following a confrontation with referee Benoit Millot during his team's recent 2-1 Ligue 1 victory over Brest. The FLP said in a statement on Wednesday that Fonseca will be barred from accessing the bench, the officials' dressing-rooms, and participating in any official functions before, during, or after matches until November 30th. Fonseca was shown a straight red card after a review of a potential penalty for Brest - which the Brittany side were not awarded - for his "intimidating attitude," according to Millot. "He came at me with an intimidating attitude and I decided to send him off straight away. It got out of hand," Millot told French sports daily L'Equipe." https://www.flashscore.com/news/soccer-ligue-1-lyon-boss-fonseca-handed-nine-month-ban-for-confronting-referee/bVr0vXhd/

This isn't really a reply to the quoted post more than it's me having finally seen a chance to post this TikTok as the response to someone actively having chosen to use Gemeni for AI purposes:

i dare you to go tell a police office to their face after they've stopped you for speeding, telling them in the heat of the moment "You've fucking stopped me?! Hope you're proud of your performance, if I don't make it home in time for tea I'll fucking blame you!" You aren't a robot, telling off the person responsible for applying the laws of the game society isn't that bad, it's nothing, really. Whilst taken a bit to the extreme with my example scenario, the general concept runs true. The referee is in charge of applying the laws of the game if they believe they've been broken, only to get a bald-faced cunt come shouting obscenities and threats directly at their face for just doing their job. It's bad, it's not understandable and (I hope) none of us would react like that regardless of the stakes. It's absolutely something, and that something is utterly disgraceful and a stain on the professionalism you'd want, and would expect, to see from overpaid millionaires at the highest level of the sport. That behaviour wouldn't be understandable even on Sunday League level, it's disgraceful and the behaviour of a person with the personality of a fucking shitstain middle school bully.

Ended up reading about the most violent football derbies in the world and was reminded that the one that very much deserves both crown and title is a derby extremely few without special interest in derbies even know exist, namely the HŠK Zrinjski – FK Velež derby in Bosnia's spiritual capital, Mostar. The city is divided by the bridge above, Stari Most, a 16th century bridge (damaged during the Yugoslav wars and essentially rebuilt after the war). On one side you have a the supporters of Zrinjski, right-wing ultra-nationalists. On the other side, you find the fans of Velež, ultra left-wing and multiethnic. In the post-war rebuild, the Zrinjski ultras managed to force the new Bosnian government to "give them" Velež old stadium as it was placed in an area of the rebuild where Croat/Serb people were being re-integrated into the city, forcing Velež to give up their claim to their original stadium and move to a hastily built new stadium on "their" side of town – going from a 13k capacity stadium to playing at a "stadium" that didn't have any stands until the first stand was built in 1999, four years after Zrinjski forced them out of their stadium. For the record; FK Velež was formed in 1922, whereas HŠK Zrinjski was "reformed" in 1992 after not having existed since it was disbanded 47 years prior, in 1945... The level of hatred between the clubs and their supporters can be explained with a single example of an incident that occured, in the middle of a match, as a muslim player scored for Velež in a match between the two clubs just moments before half-time – only for said muslim player to be violently attacked, kidnapped and held hostage by Zrinjski ultras for several days. Naturally, the match was abandoned after the incident – but where you'd think Zrinjski would be penalized for the actions of their fans, or that the match would resume play at a later date picking up from the time it was abandoned (half-time), you'd be sorely wrong. Through political pressure from the Zrinjski ultras, the Bosnian FA decided that the match was to be replayed entirely from scratch. This meant Velež no longer had a 2-0 lead with 45 minutes to go and instead would start with a 0-0 scoreline and having to play the first half all over again. This time, Zrinjski left the field victorious after 90 minutes + extra time had been played. Granted, the above story is from the time period before HŠK Zrinjski was disbanded in 1945 and as such there's not much source material to read up on regarding the incident. As such, a modern day example would be a fixture between the clubs in 2011 that got abandoned after Zrinjski ultras stormed the pitch and attacked/chased Velež players around with a variety of melee-related items. This time Zrinjski was fined and Velež was awarded a 0-3 victory without the need to resume play at a later time. Wiki articles (even those in local languages) are sadly far too "professional" in their content, so reading up on the violence occuring between the set of supporters ahead of each match-up isn't the easiest thing to do. I had to scour Bosniak/Croat/Serb sites to find news articles reporting on them to satisfy my need to "confirm" the level of hatred between the clubs/supporters and the degree of violent incidents occurring between their ultras even in modern times. One of the more flamboyant incidents I read about was a group of young Zrinjski ultras forcing three young muslim Velež supporters to jump from the Stari Most bridge. All three got away without any major injuries, but I mean... when a group of people do that to someone else, just because they're muslims, it's just straight-up a hate crime and no longer football-related, IMO Either way, thought it could be of interest to some to read a little about one of the most hateful football derbies in professional football – especially given the fact it may not even have been aware existed. Caveat: I became aware of the derby in the late 2000s when me and some friends were doing Interrail in the Balkans and had a stopover in Mostar. I'm sure there might be several people on here that are way more clued up about this derby than I am, and that for all I know some of the incidents reported on might've been embellished by the media reporting on them, depending where on the political bias spectrum the media reporting on it might occupy. if anyone on here happen to know more about this derby and the ultras hatred of each other, as well as about the history between the two clubs, I'd love to learn more about it – even if it were to crush my mental image of just how much vitriol and hatred really exist between the two set of supporters

Read through some more of the articles on that Russian site in their "Around the World in 60 Derbies" series, and was pleasantly surprised to see the series end with an article on the Tyne-Wear derby. So, without further ado, enjoy the Google Translated version of Russian Sport website's take on our own derby from our darker days, all the way back in May 2012: https://www.sport-express.ru/football/reviews/804427/

Found a decent article about the derby, but this particular part of it doesn't bode well for the derby being a heated one: "Interestingly, Sparta and Slavia have played quite a few friendly matches, which is not very typical for derbies, but which once again emphasizes the lack of fierce hatred in the relationship between the clubs." https://www.sport-express.ru/football/foreign/reviews/795838/ Google Translated:

Posted this in the "General NUFC stuff" thread earlier, then realized it probably fit better in this thread than that one so reposting it Extraction of key information, structure format and chosen highlights are all courtesy of ChatGPT: Newcastle United Financial Summary – (Year Ending June 30, 2024) Key Financial Highlights - Turnover: £320.3m (+£70m / +28% from £250.3m in 2023). - Operating profit before amortisation & impairment: £28.8m (+£7.2m from £21.6m in 2023). - Operating profit/loss: £1.2m profit (vs. £64.9m loss in 2023, a £66.1m improvement). - Loss after tax: £11.1m (significantly reduced from £71.8m loss in 2023, +£60.7m improvement). - Staff costs to turnover ratio: 68.3% (down from 74.0% in 2023). - Cash at year-end: £15.4m (up from £13.4m in 2023). - Average home league attendance: 52,115 (similar to 52,205 in 2023). - League position: 7th (down from 4th in 2023). Largest Increases & Decreases in Revenue Revenue Increases: 1. Commercial Income: £83.6m, up £39.7m / 90% (from £43.9m in 2023). - Growth due to new sponsorship deals (Sela, Noon, Fenwick, InPost, Adidas). - Boost from Amazon Prime documentary "We Are Newcastle United". - New in-house retail and catering operations contributed further revenue. 2. Matchday Income: £50.1m, up £12.2m / 32% (from £37.9m in 2023). - Boosted by three home UEFA Champions League (UCL) matches. - Increase in domestic cup games. 3. UEFA Champions League Revenue: £29.8m (compared to £0 in 2023). - Direct result of UCL participation. Revenue Decreases: 1. Media Income (Excluding UEFA): £154m, down £11.5m / 7% (from £165.5m). - Due to dropping from 4th to 7th place in the Premier League. - Fewer live TV appearances (24 vs. 26 in 2023). Major Cost Changes - Operating Expenses: £291.5m, up £62.9m / 28% (from £228.6m in 2023). - Staff Costs: £218.7m, up £33.6m / 18% (from £185.1m). - Increased due to first-team squad costs and 115 new employees. - Other Operating Expenses: £67.8m, up £27.7m / 69%. - Linked to increased commercial activities and stadium operations. - Player Amortisation & Impairment: £97.5m, up £8.2m (from £89.3m). - Reflects new player signings (Barnes, Tonali, Livramento, Hall). - Profit on Player Sales: £69.8m, up massively from £2.8m in 2023. - Key sales: Elliot Anderson, Yankuba Minteh, Allan Saint-Maximin. Strategic Investments & Developments - Training & Stadium Infrastructure: - £16.4m invested in stadium improvements, training ground, and new fan park (St James’ STACK). - Further enhancements planned for St. James' Park expansion or a new stadium. - Retail & Sponsorship: - Adidas partnership launched in May 2024, with expected significant revenue increases. - STACK fan zone opened in August 2024, already boosting food & beverage sales. - Women’s Team Growth: - Turned fully professional in 2023. - Achieved second consecutive promotion, now in the FA Women’s Championship. Other Notable Changes - Board & Leadership Changes: - Dan Ashworth left for Manchester United, Paul Mitchell replaced him as Sporting Director. - Amanda Staveley stepped down and sold her shares. - Brad Miller appointed as COO. - Cash Flow & Debt Management: - Net cash inflow of £2.0m (2023: £8.4m). - Equity funding of £97m received (2023: £127.4m). - Loans of £50m in place with HSBC & Deutsche Bank. - Risk Factors: - Premier League performance crucial for revenue sustainability. - Player recruitment & retention risks. - Compliance with Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) under close monitoring. Summary & Outlook Newcastle United made substantial financial improvements in 2024, reducing losses and significantly increasing revenue, mainly driven by UCL participation, commercial growth, and new partnerships. The club continues investing heavily in infrastructure, aiming for long-term financial sustainability and competitiveness.

Courtesy of ChatGPT: Newcastle United Financial Summary – (Year Ending June 30, 2024) Key Financial Highlights - Turnover: £320.3m (+£70m / +28% from £250.3m in 2023). - Operating profit before amortisation & impairment: £28.8m (+£7.2m from £21.6m in 2023). - Operating profit/loss: £1.2m profit (vs. £64.9m loss in 2023, a £66.1m improvement). - Loss after tax: £11.1m (significantly reduced from £71.8m loss in 2023, +£60.7m improvement). - Staff costs to turnover ratio: 68.3% (down from 74.0% in 2023). - Cash at year-end: £15.4m (up from £13.4m in 2023). - Average home league attendance: 52,115 (similar to 52,205 in 2023). - League position: 7th (down from 4th in 2023). Largest Increases & Decreases in Revenue Revenue Increases: 1. Commercial Income: £83.6m, up £39.7m / 90% (from £43.9m in 2023). - Growth due to new sponsorship deals (Sela, Noon, Fenwick, InPost, Adidas). - Boost from Amazon Prime documentary "We Are Newcastle United". - New in-house retail and catering operations contributed further revenue. 2. Matchday Income: £50.1m, up £12.2m / 32% (from £37.9m in 2023). - Boosted by three home UEFA Champions League (UCL) matches. - Increase in domestic cup games. 3. UEFA Champions League Revenue: £29.8m (compared to £0 in 2023). - Direct result of UCL participation. Revenue Decreases: 1. Media Income (Excluding UEFA): £154m, down £11.5m / 7% (from £165.5m). - Due to dropping from 4th to 7th place in the Premier League. - Fewer live TV appearances (24 vs. 26 in 2023). Major Cost Changes - Operating Expenses: £291.5m, up £62.9m / 28% (from £228.6m in 2023). - Staff Costs: £218.7m, up £33.6m / 18% (from £185.1m). - Increased due to first-team squad costs and 115 new employees. - Other Operating Expenses: £67.8m, up £27.7m / 69%. - Linked to increased commercial activities and stadium operations. - Player Amortisation & Impairment: £97.5m, up £8.2m (from £89.3m). - Reflects new player signings (Barnes, Tonali, Livramento, Hall). - Profit on Player Sales: £69.8m, up massively from £2.8m in 2023. - Key sales: Elliot Anderson, Yankuba Minteh, Allan Saint-Maximin. Strategic Investments & Developments - Training & Stadium Infrastructure: - £16.4m invested in stadium improvements, training ground, and new fan park (St James’ STACK). - Further enhancements planned for St. James' Park expansion or a new stadium. - Retail & Sponsorship: - Adidas partnership launched in May 2024, with expected significant revenue increases. - STACK fan zone opened in August 2024, already boosting food & beverage sales. - Women’s Team Growth: - Turned fully professional in 2023. - Achieved second consecutive promotion, now in the FA Women’s Championship. Other Notable Changes - Board & Leadership Changes: - Dan Ashworth left for Manchester United, Paul Mitchell replaced him as Sporting Director. - Amanda Staveley stepped down and sold her shares. - Brad Miller appointed as COO. - Cash Flow & Debt Management: - Net cash inflow of £2.0m (2023: £8.4m). - Equity funding of £97m received (2023: £127.4m). - Loans of £50m in place with HSBC & Deutsche Bank. - Risk Factors: - Premier League performance crucial for revenue sustainability. - Player recruitment & retention risks. - Compliance with Profit & Sustainability Rules (PSR) under close monitoring. Summary & Outlook Newcastle United made substantial financial improvements in 2024, reducing losses and significantly increasing revenue, mainly driven by UCL participation, commercial growth, and new partnerships. The club continues investing heavily in infrastructure, aiming for long-term financial sustainability and competitiveness.

This is the reason AI shouldn't be as accessible as it is Over half of those don't even make sense within their own contexts, which... I'll do everyone a favor and not go on a rant about AI's lack of ability to understand context/humor

Even so, the goal's being taken away because it wasn't a goal? Meaning that if VAR takes a goal away, there wasn't actually a goal to celebrate to begin with? I guess at the end of the day the main problem might just be me not understanding human psychology

My personal biggest gripe with VAR is how horribly it's been implemented and that it lacks a universal framework of rules for its implementation. Please don't mistake my annoyance/disbelief at the one particular anti-VAR sentiment I'm complaining about here as me being pro-VAR no matter the circumstance, as I'm extremely fed up and frustrated with the way it's been (and is being) implemented at the top level. IMO it was implemented waaaay before it was ready to be implemented, and the lack of guidelines given referees regarding how to make use of/implement VAR into their refereeing has been, and is, a total shambles. A refereeing team from England officiating a CL match between Spanish and German teams will be utilizing VAR in a very foreign way to both set of fans, as well as the players/staff on both teams. Same goes for a Norwegian refereeing team officiating, say, an EL match between Dutch and English sides. There should be a universal framework given referees of all nations making use of VAR that they are to follow when it comes to utilizing/implementing VAR into their game, but there isn't, and it's all a complete shambles.

Just want to say that I really appreciate the effort it appears you've put into this post, this is the kind of rebuttal I hoped to receive as it genuinely gives a lot better insight into things than the standard type of response given in a discussion like this That said, I was along for the ride with you all the way up to this point of your post: "Add in the hope, worry, paranoia, and pessemism that comes baked-in to being a football fan, along with the previous experience of goals being taken away from your team and you're basically at the point of inevitable human behaviour." The bold+cursive part of inadvertently restarted my mental loop of "not understanding", as it felt like you essentially said/owned up to the fact that goals could be taken away before VAR was a thing, as well. Whilst I do accept and understand that at the present time, technology isn't advanced enough to avoid there being a "waiting period" if a goal gets sent for a more in-depth VAR review that requires a period of uncertainty to take place before a decision gets made. I'm sure most are aware of this, but just in case they're not; all goals scored in the PL undergoes a VAR review before "officially" counting – the ones that require waiting for a decision are just the most uncertain on-field calls made by the on-field refs. But, yeah... when all is said and done, goals could be overturned/given before VAR, just as they can after VAR. The issue I'm left struggling to understand is perhaps what makes it so much different than knowing refs could overturn a goal before VAR? To me, the fact that the VAR reviews are as "visible" and "disruptive" as they are, combine to create an illusory effect that "VAR" is the reason a goal scored could be overturned and not just the fact the goal wasn't actually a goal and rightly got overturned by the refs/VAR? I mean that in the sense that, even with VAR, goals do still get overturned by on-field referee/linesman calls – and that fact just entirely undermines the argument against VAR when it comes to "ruining goals", for me, as incorrect goals can and will get overturned; be it by use of VAR or on-field calls by refs/linos TL;DR the complaint aimed at VAR for "ruining goals" feels like complaining to have something to complain about because in the end, the complaint boils down to "I can't celebrate a goal before I know it's a legitimate goal", which would be the case both with and without VAR.