Segun Oluwaniyi

He's 28 tomorrow so you were basically right Until he's 28, he's 27 He's a lot nearer to 28 than he is to 27. That's a fact. This makes no sense. It is incredibly reckless for anyone with a profile to act this way in an era where young girls are recording everything from the moment they rise in the morning. Professionalism regarding drink will always be an issue, especially with the culture of it in England and other countries, but it is just as important to uphold the image of the club. Dummett is a senior player, who is one of the longest serving members of the squad and a local boy as well. This should not be the image he presents. There are ways to enjoy the female fruits of labour without exposing yourself to this.

Almiron is a bit like Sissoko, he'd be very useful with somentechinally gifted and forward thinking players around him. Playing in a side like emphasizes his deficiencies.

I think Newcastle will win now. Brighton have fully wasted their chance here, tbh.

It's not even worth mentioning Ibaka, tbh, basketball is completely dishonourable and lawless in this regard. There are all manner of born and bred Black Americans playing for European and Asian countries. Anthony Randolph plays for Slovenia because of his agent, despite never having been there, and Olajuwon was more Nigerian than Agege bread but played for US. FIFA should change the regualtion regarding citizenship and eligiblity anyway, specifically regarding childhood. If you live in a country ten years as a child, you should be able to play for the national team. Surely long-term residence would be as pertinent as a grandparent.

How about implementing a proper fit and proper persons test? How about instead of postponing games which would gain clubs like Bolton and Bury income, they let them play those games? How about as part of FFP, if your club is showing sings of financial difficulty then an administrator by the league is ordered to take control of the football club until the club is a better situation? How about there is a better trickle down of money to other clubs? How about instead of just sitting on the sidelines when their members go to the wall, they actually do something to prevent it. Both the FA and EFL have stood and watched what has happened at Bolton and Bury and let it happen. The EFL have actively taken action that would hinder both clubs from being rescued. How would that work though? On paper, Mike Ashley would have probably passed easily back in 2007. Mike Ashley would pass today. If you look at it, the club is in nominally the same position that it was when arrived. 13th in the league in 2007. 13th in the league in 2019. Likely in a better financial position with the amount of funds clubs now receive for making up the numbers in the Premier League. The harm in his ownership has been the details of how he runs the club day to day, year on year. It is hard to account for that in any meaningful way with a test before someone owns the club. If the person has liquid funds to show and is relatively free of corruption/criminal offenses, nothing will stop them really.

If they are going to have VAR, the referee needs to be the one looking at the "clear and obvious error" on the screen. I strongly dislike the idea of a third party making the actual call other than the pseudo-scientific offsides decisions.

They turned up with their slippers on. Thought they could just stroll to an easy win, and got turned over. They have done the same against us several times in this fixture, in recent seasons. They did the same in the first match of the season and got an extremely fortuitous draw last weekend. With Eriksen on the bench and the other absentees they have, the side have been struggling in general, tbh. The real surprise is Newcastle having enough to take advantage. Other than a few big performances, Spurs have been in poor form and playing rubbish since February/March of last season and have not markedly improved. I would not be surprised if Arsenal rubbish them in the next match.

This boy is a such a strange and enjoyable player to watch. He looks like a small child and runs like he is about to fall down with his limbs flailing all over, but somehow manages to be the fastest player on the pitch and have better stamina than anyone. In the 85th or so minute of the match, he was sprinting the entire length of the pitch to push the attack forward and protect Krafth. Brilliant effort. We have been saying this for some time, but it he starts to add the quality I believe he has to his sheer force of will, the player will be special.

Other than Knockaert, I feel as though I would trust all of those players in the Premier League for a strong side that was not collapsing upon itself and conceding 3 to 4 goals per match. It is certainly a better attacking group than Newcastle's.

Are stadiums in England also not showing any replays of VAR incidents to supporters? To me, this was the biggest problem at the World Cup with VAR. For the most part, people in the crowd didn't have any idea what was going on outside of the VAR review notification and the end result. During Argentina-Nigeria, a header by Rojo flicked off his arm in the box (would have been a clear penalty under the new rules I believe), but it wasn't anything noticeable for me, sat closer to the other end. Between our players crowding the ref, the referee having to communicate to the VAR official, and the actual review; there was probably a three-four minute break in the match, during which we received no clear explanation as to what was happening. The experience with it is much worse for people who are actually at the match compared with those watching at home or in the pub, which is not acceptable. If this is the way forward, they need to go full Yankee with this and at least engage the crowd and keep them informed. I would think it would be even worse in the Premier League when an incident we did not see is then adjudicated by some third party we also cannot see. It should be the referee for any judgement based decision. This is pretty reflective of my views of the VAR calls for players offside by a millimetre or two. We are reviewing the position of a minimum of three bodies (two players and a ball) that are in motion and stopping time at the indeterminable point in time that a ball is "passed". The idea that this is an exact science is laughable and ruinous to the game of football. Offside is at its essence a simple rule, now we are using freeze-frame and trying to determine the point where Raheem Sterling's scapula turns into his humerus. This is what replay does in a sport. In the NFL, we are stopping the game to determine if the ball touched one blade of grass, and in the NBA we are stopping the game to see if a player's fingernail contacted the ball. Football will head the same way. It is inevitable.

16 year old Eduardo Camavinga with the winning assist for Rennes against PSG. The Parisiens have been average so far, maybe this is a season where a team like Lyon can push them.

His former sides in the Premier League and the promotion battles (Wigan, Sunderland, Villa, etc.) always seemed to be at least fairly organised and hardworking. His teams have at this level have uniformly been quite rubbish in terms of talent, and his record isn't particularly poor given that. An average manager for below average sides. I really do not understand it. The odd part to me is that they are playing fairly open and "attacking" football despite fielding an excess of defensively oriented players. The result is just poor attacking output and gaps at the back for no reason.

The way they are playing in this formation is not working at all. Joelinton is isolated. Almiron is aimlessly sprinting around at full speed most of the match. What is his position meant to be? Those two are also essentially the only two attackers; the three midfielders seemingly are just taking turns running forward ineffectively. The lack of defensive pressure and workrate is also bizarre in a side starting three principally defensive midfielders and five defenders. From his former work, I have always thought of Bruce as vaguely competent, tbh, so the complete lack of organisation is very surprising to me, it seems like he wants to shoehorn the players into three at the back because it worked last season. It is not working now.

If Jetro moves toward the ball like any normal player, nothing comes of the situation and this thread is on the third page where it belongs. The guy actively moved away from it and then stood still. Maitland-Niles makes up about 15 yards in this time. Dummett is fine defensively and the only centreback with any pace.

The pass by Dummett isn't great, but that is embarrassing for a professional from Willems. He could have easily received the pass or even put in a tackle if he moved at all instead of standing still and backing up for no reason. He needs to play in the reserves until he is fit because he is fat and off the pace.

Long term, Shelvey (or Longstaff) needs to be dropped and replaced with another attacker, as it was under Rafa last season. Miggy has looked headless, but he has no one matching his pace in attack. All three midfielders prefer to remain deep and Joelinton is a true target man, not particular mobile at all. Willems looks a bit fat, imo.

The team are playing quite well, tbh, very much a continuation of last season. The biggest concern still is that the two players who actually scored goals are gone. No idea what Dubravka was thinking there.

40 million is a very reasonable price for a talented and relatively young player with an English passport. It is a good purchase for Everton. I love Iwobi as a person and I really hope he develops further and reaches his full potential, but I can't lie, I am worried. Not sure he'll ever have any outstanding attributes. I like the signing of Saint-Maximin a lot better, and for half the fee at that. Albeit Iwobi is an excellent character with absolutely no concerns on that side of things. But still ... Let us be honest, if Allan was born in Croydon or Woodford rather than the banlieues of Paris he would cost 30 million too, despite his shortcomings. Iwobi will do well, imo, and can be a big player for a club at that level, even if he doesn't develop too much more. He is clearly very skillful, a good passer, and is surprisingly strong/quick. He lacks something around the goal in terms of decision making (his return has never been enough in that area), but this is why the player is going to Everton. I find the popular idea that Iwobi is rubbish to be crazy.

40 million is a very reasonable price for a talented and relatively young player with an English passport. It is a good purchase for Everton.

This position directly contradicts with repeatedly posting about football matters on this forum and harshly criticising those holding those holding position A.

They were still a good side despite that, the team is pretty defensive. Balotelli and Plea left last summer with essentially no replacement, and Saint-Maximin had to play upfront for long stretches of the season. ASM is definitely not a striker, imo, he should play on the left. I like the boy as a player, very entertaining dribbler and physically gifted, but I'm not sure if he will translate to the Premier League and specifically a Steve Bruce side at all, tbh. A big risk for a club that never spends. Everything about his profile makes me think he'll be someone the manager won't fully trust. Based only a highlights video, but he looks like a player who has to try and do something spectacular every time he gets the ball, rather than release it early. Not a team player, basically. I would not disagree with you. He's a dribbler above all else. I have seen him lay some good passes and finish chances, but his game is to beat the man in front of him with skill and run into space. The manager can work with him to play more for the team, but it is also important that team understand what sort of player he is and adjusts. I would interested to watch him and Almiron together. Two players that would scare defenses. There have not been enough of them at Newcastle, recently.

They were still a good side despite that, the team is pretty defensive. Balotelli and Plea left last summer with essentially no replacement, and Saint-Maximin had to play upfront for long stretches of the season. ASM is definitely not a striker, imo, he should play on the left. I like the boy as a player, very entertaining dribbler and physically gifted, but I'm not sure if he will translate to the Premier League and specifically a Steve Bruce side at all, tbh. A big risk for a club that never spends. Everything about his profile makes me think he'll be someone the manager won't fully trust.

I thought James McCarthy already played for Palace, before I realised was thinking of an entirely different "hard-working" midfielder.

Algeria were in our WC qualifying group two years ago and were an embarrassment despite all of the talent at their disposal. Their turnaround has been spectacular. Congratulations to the Desert Foxes! They should not waste him in the crowd, they might have won if he was playing instead of Niang, who has redefined uselessness in this tournament.

The semifinals and final have been rife with ridiculous goals and non-goals. Ekong and Broon own goals, crazy Algeria deflection, two missed penalties in Tunisia-Senegal. The only legitimate goal was Mahrez curling into the empty net while our keeper stood behind his wall. Senegal have been the better side outside of the deflection, I think they'll get a penalty or bundle one in for extra time. I'm supporting Senegal on West African pride, but I have already divorced my football self from this competition, tbh. Nigeria has now won silver or bronze at this thing eight times in my life, so it's hard to care about who wins when it is not us. Only three weeks until I can focus on Newcastle's valiant relegation fight.