Segun Oluwaniyi

Enough to kill any meaningful anger against Ashley, and that is the whole point. Why else would he spend money on compensation for manager with a record of failure in the top division? The geordie leader AKA Stev Bruce is probably the one card up the sleeve Ashley had left, and the perfect way to deflect from Rafa leaving and the fakeover. It's perfect. That is about what I figured. As far as I can Ashley has never paid to bring a manager from another club, it would be an unnecessary expense for him. He nearly let Carver relegate the club to avoid paying out for McClaren, so you figure that there must be a strategic element or ulterior motive behind this.

What percentage of matchday and local supporters do you think will be happy with the appointment just because Bruce is a Geordie and a local boy? Obviously, people who follow football intently enough to post on forums like this will probably look at his managerial record and be ambivalent or worse (depending on their affection for rafa), but this clearly seems a move to placate supporters. It would not have been difficult to find someone from the continent who would have adhered to the "structure".

Surprised that Dutch woman of partial African descent with short blonde hair did not start. I saw the highlights of the women's CL Final and she was maybe the best player on the pitch. Ripped Barca with her pace. Heath

Madagascar are serious, man. They've been the better side again against DRC, and Amada just knocked the goal of the tournament. Very organised and well-drilled side who are a threat. DRC aren't playing badly though, Bakambu equalised and Mbemba should have scored.

Great finish.

Huge difference between mens and womens WC final the mens probably has a global audience of over a billion the womens maybe 10% of that Gee I wonder why. Couldn’t be that even developed countries like England have told women for years that they can’t play the game. Outside of gymnastics and ice skating, the male version of every sport is massively more popular than the female version. Males are the better athletes, and are more interested in sports generally. This can be true without some massive patriarchal conspiracy. If the women's game can grow to be self-sustaining at a professional level, this would be a positive start. What theoretical other international match that people care about could be scheduled on the same day as the actual WC final? Male players will not complain if the women's Copa Oro is on the same day. The male football calendar is crowded and lucrative, and the matches on this date do not overlap at all. It is a nonsensical complaint, the WWC has had plenty of time and media coverage, despite three other major male continental tournaments occurring at the same time. They could’ve easily scheduled those other finals yesterday, too. Would’ve cost them nothing and been a bit of goodwill. It is costing the Women's final nothing. The controversy is fabricated and idiotic. Says the man, to be fair. The actual women playing feel differently. There’s a lot of catch-22 involved with women’s soccer. Need to play better to prove to men they deserve more funding; need more funding to improve the quality of play. Anyway, I’m fine holding the unpopular opinion. Ok o. I feel like 40% of this forum is mocking the misguided opinions of of current and former footballers, I won't spare Rapinoe. Anyway, I am enjoying the match with my wife and two daughters while watching/following the other football on now and later. It is alright. Interesting match thus far, tbh. The US dominating but haven't created a ton of serious chances. Holland are dangerous on the counter. edit: Very poor defending to give away a penalty there. No reason for it.

Huge difference between mens and womens WC final the mens probably has a global audience of over a billion the womens maybe 10% of that Gee I wonder why. Couldn’t be that even developed countries like England have told women for years that they can’t play the game. Outside of gymnastics and ice skating, the male version of every sport is massively more popular than the female version. Males are the better athletes, and are more interested in sports generally. This can be true without some massive patriarchal conspiracy. If the women's game can grow to be self-sustaining at a professional level, this would be a positive start. What theoretical other international match that people care about could be scheduled on the same day as the actual WC final? Male players will not complain if the women's Copa Oro is on the same day. The male football calendar is crowded and lucrative, and the matches on this date do not overlap at all. It is a nonsensical complaint, the WWC has had plenty of time and media coverage, despite three other major male continental tournaments occurring at the same time. They could’ve easily scheduled those other finals yesterday, too. Would’ve cost them nothing and been a bit of goodwill. It is costing the Women's final nothing. The controversy is fabricated and idiotic.

What theoretical other international match that people care about could be scheduled on the same day as the actual WC final? Male players will not complain if the women's Copa Oro is on the same day. The male football calendar is crowded and lucrative, and the matches on this date do not overlap at all. It is a nonsensical complaint, the WWC has had plenty of time and media coverage, despite three other major male continental tournaments occurring at the same time.

Gotta say though, Jean Beasajour’s trophy cabinet is quite impressive. A League Cup with Birmingham, FA Cup with Wigan and two Copa Americas! For a player who’s average at beat, it is quite incredible. I have missed most of the Copa other than Brazil and Argentina, and cannot believe that he still plays for Chile. I haven't heard of him in 4-5 years and he wasn't particularly good at that time either. It will be interesting to see what direction they take ahead of the Copa next year and the start of World Cup qualifiers around the same time. I agree with Deuce that they should forcibly retire a lot of this team, but there does not seem to be comparable young talent around.

I still have not forgiven or forgotten the 2000 AFCON final from my childhood, so it is always special to beat Cameroon. Close match, but outside of a 5 to 10 minute spell of defensive madness when Cameroon scored twice, I thought the Super Eagles were a better side than the Lions. Iwobi, Ighalo, and Musa have been rightly criticised for their performances thus far, but did really well today along with Etebo. The manager needs to wake up and play Chukwueze the rest of the way. 100%. Egypt had been unconvincing and Salah looked sick or unfit today. It is still stunning they have bowed out so soon, but honestly Morocco losing was the bigger surprise to me. The rest of tournament will be miserable in terms of crowd, there won't be any locals at all. Credit to Bafana Bafana, they are a good side, usually the problem against top African sides is that they are not physical enough. They've done very well against Nigeria recently as well. I'm not sure it's an easier draw, should be a good match.

NUFC will now trouble whatsoever attracting good managers and players to the club if they so desire. The allure of Premier League pound sterling is stronger than ever, and the reputation of the club has not been sullied enough by Ashley's reign for it to damage them in pursuit of middling managers and players. Mate, just because a man who's basically won everything wants to take a 2-3 year hiatus in the far east to make a fuck load of money doesn't mean they are ready to pack it in. FFS, it's a job for a short period of time. Sounds more like you are trying to justify Rafa than mourinho, IMO. They are in the same situation essentially. Mourinho has been passed over by the clubs that would make sense for him and by the time Rafa left, there were no top positions for him to take. The only negative of the arrangement is that they have to live in China rather than someplace pleasant. I cannot begrudge either one taking big cheques until something better is available.

Morocco are out and Benin through on penalties, 1-1. Crazy match and big upset. Ziyech had a penalty to win at the end of normal time, but Gyan'd it off the left post and one of the Benin players received a red card in extra time for no apparent reason. Benin were well organised, but Morocco have wasted a big chance here. Fennecs were my pick to win, but I was born and raised not even 100 miles from Benin, so I don't begrudge them going through at all.

We do not talk about this. Praise god the group stage is over. It was rubbish. A glut of boring, low-stakes football matches in scorching heat to arrive us at the tournament we should have had from the start. Anway, the matches are now set for the round of 16, and the fixtures look much more interesting: Nigeria-Cameroon derby is the big match of the round, this game is always a war, so I am expecting the same on Saturday. Morocco (best team) and Egypt (hosts) should be the favourites, imo. I favour the North Africans in Egypt, generally (though Algeria have looked fragile, imo and Tunisia have been horrible). All of the typical West African giants (+Cameroon) have the talent to beat these teams and have advanced, but to me these sides have all either laboured through the group or been poor. It will be interesting to see which ones wake up now that the real tournament has started. Of the outsiders, Uganda have looked strong and could be a threat.

This offsides business is absolutely wank. No advantage gained whatsoever. If it’s offside, it’s offside, should there be an advantage? Would be like goal line technology just deciding it’s a goal if 90% of the ball crosses the line. The whole of the ball over the whole of the line. Offside should be the same. That’s not the law though. I know but I'm saying I'm of the opinion that it should be. I think the game would be better for it. I don't want every single decision to be absolutely perfect, especially if it takes several minutes and 50 replays to determine whether something was or wasn't. Goal-line technology - yes. Clear and obvious errors - yes. Really subjective/too close to call decisions - hell no. Think I said before, now that we’ve got the technology for offsides, the law should just change to there has to be clear daylight. "Daylight" is far more subjective than the current rule. What number of millimetres would you define as daylight now that we are measuring offside to that standard? Congratulations to the US, I hope Netherlands defeats them in the Final.

Saint-Maximin reminds me of a Haitian Thauvin. Very talented player (great pace and very tricky dribbler), but his success would depend on whether he works with the right manager and is given time to adjust to the England. The reality of the situation is that he would be dumped on the pitch and asked to create everything for a manager that has few options and has only been with the club for a short period of time.

So at the moment, there is no manager, essentially no owner, the club has lost its two best attacking players for nothing and 15 million repectively, and there is no hint of potential incomiong transfers? Choas is the way of life at Ashley's NUFC.

He hasn't been in a job of his ability for the last three years. He is going to a club that will spend more on his wages than NUFC will on transfers. Sacking someone doesn't mean you don't pay them. That doesn't make sense at all. How does someone go from being an assistant at Belgium and linked with mid-level Ligue 1 positions to one of the highest paid managers in the world?

I do not know if it is outshining the other two, but the current iteration of the tournament has been positive. It is good to see the lower tier of teams in North America be more competitive. It has always surprised me that the Caribbean nations weren't better. Haiti is a good size and loves football. Several of them also have a good base of players from immigrants abroad. Curacao is another Algeria, essentially a team of foreign born players from a serious football country. Jamaica has done well with players born there like Blake and Bailey, and I am surprised they are not able to pull more English players who are of Jamaican descent. It will be a positive step for Mexico and the US if that region can build.

It will be quite funny when the club reverts back to signing 21 to 24-year old talents from Ligue 1 with the intention of reselling and Dyche refuses to play a single one of them.

Another boring 1-0 victory for Nigeria against a markedly inferior opponent, especially since Naby Keita is clearly not fit. Easily through and job done. This tournament is atrocious thus far. Boring and poor quality. Seems like most matches have been workmanlike wins to nil for a "big" side against a lesser opponent. On paper, it should pick up with big clashes the next three days, Senegal-Algeria, Morocco-CIV, and Ghana-Cameroon. The bigger problem is that almost every match is in a stadium that is 80 percent empty, it is too hot for the teams to leave first gear in half the matches (all decent matches have been at night), and third place teams going through means low stakes in the group stages generally.

It's a very difficult situation, but I am inclined to agree with you. If say Gattuso or Vieira came in, I would find it very hard to be against them. I just wish MA would leave man. The whole thing is so toxic now. Personally, I will give the new manager the same deference I've given all of the past managers, as long as the appointment is reasonable. It is possible to find temporary and partial success under the constraints of this regime, as we've seen under Rafa, Pardew, Hughton, and the flash under Keegan. The false reality presented by Ashley will prevent sustained growth, but this is still a big club in the world's richest and likely best league. Attracting accomplished and talented managers really should not be an issue, even if this is a poisoned chalice. We will have to take the small scale successes for what they are, while understanding the horrible state of the people running this club on the larger scale,as we done for the last decade, since the truth of Ashley was exposed in the 2008-2009 season. I will always respect Rafa for what he has done at this club. Today, I am more surprised that he stayed 3+ years at this club, rather than upset that he has left. Truthfully, there was never any reason for him to be here at all. He was not desperate and did not owe the club anything. He could have walked away after nearly saving a side that was already doomed, but instead navigated through the lower level for reasons I will never understand. He could have left after bringing a Championship side to 10th and should have left after not receiving proper investment last summer. This was the natural conclusion of his time here from the day he signed on in 2016; I have always thought this.

He was injured toward the end of the end of the European season and isn't fit. Poor result for Guinea tbh, but they still have a good chance with four third place sides going through. The minnows have been resolute thus far. Samuel Kalu for Nigeria collapsed from dehydration in training and was taken to hospital already. The matches at 16:30 local time are terrible for the players and the quality of the football. All of matches need to be in the evening. Of course, this is the first tournament with 24 teams as well as the first in June, so probably not possible. Both teams were disappointing today. DRC were atrocious and play Egypt next. The tournament could be over before it starts. I am not surprised Uganda played well, though. They pushed Egypt and Ghana hard in the last World Cup qualifiers, good side. Nigeria won 1-0 after a brilliant backheel assist from Ola Aina, but the problems persist. Ighalo is probably the best option upfront, which is disheartening despite his goal today, and the keepers are very poor. I'm not sure you can fit Mikel, Etebo, and Ndidi into one midfield against the sides that will bunker. Bigirimana was the best player on the pitch today, fwiw. Unfortunate his career didn't progress when he was here.

Two African sides to the last 16, after only 1 in the prior history of the entire tournament. Congratualtions to the Falcons and Lionesses.

Great goal that could very well send our Falcons home. Presumably more of the top female athletes in America play football compared to the men. Is football the most popular sport among females in America? Also obviously not as competitive as the men's game I don't know what the most popular sport is but it's definitely up there if it's not. And not at all harsh to say the women have a better than feel for the game than the men. They definitely do I would say that it is easier to have a "feel for the game" when you have vastly superior athletes. The gap between the US and either other top level sides is staggering, they are relentless.

I am not even sure it is legal for the keeper to stand fully behind the line if we are now treating the "laws" in this manner (not using common sense). I believe it says that the keeper has to be in line or have one foot touching the line, and mentions nothing about standing in front of it or behind it. I don't understand the problem with the striker and keeper using their natural techniques to score/save the penalty and referees using their human brains to intervene when someone violates and gains an advantage. It worked fine until it was haphazardly changed for no reason. Scotland are out because of this nonsensical rule and Nigeria are now given a lifeline to possibly advance, which they only need in the first place because of the same nonsense. This is FIFA's version of the highest level of our game in 2019. I cannot wait for the next Premier League title to be decided because we determine that someone meant to touch the ball with their hand when looking at it in 10X slow motion. The first penalty shootout in this tournament will interesting when we are calling off every save or watching professional atheletes ignore 20 years of technical training and stand in the goal to try and save a football because of this.