Jackie Broon

It was allegedly about him drinking and getting into bother on nights out.

Not with the rumours around his exit from Burnley, the FA will only go for someone squeaky clean after what happened with Allardyce.

Very unlikely yes, but not zero chance. I think the only thing that would make him take the job, if it becomes avaliable, is if he feels he has a patriotic duty to take it. I don't think there's zero chance of him thinking that.

I don't think it's fantasy, quite the opposite, if Southgate doesn't stay on I have little doubt that Eddie would be offered the job. He's currently the most highly rated English manager and the main strengths he has shown in his coaching are in the areas England has been most deficient, I can't see any reason why he wouldn't be the FA's first choice. I don't think it would be what he wants right now in his career but I think there's an outside chance that he might see it as his duty to take the job.

I don't think the Freemen had any issue with the Castle Leazes proposal in 97, it's unlikely that it would even been proposed without their agreement because they own the land. It was stopped by John Prescott's decision for the application to be determined by an inquiry, rather than by the Council, and John Hall then throwing his toys out of the pram and withdrawing the application.

IIRC Germany was mentioned when we signed him.

Was there much concern from that point of view about the Castle Leazes proposal back in 97? From what I remember it was generally supported by the fans at the time.

And only part of it, there's probably over 100 different owners in total.

This Saudi team are great to watch. Polar opposite of England.

Wales especially, they're terrible.

How the fuck did that take so long and require VAR? One of the clearest reds I've ever seen!

That's not corruption, its just cuntary and capitalism. Corruption in its normal use implies an illegal level of dishonesty for personal gain.

You're not going to get much sympathy from supporters who had to put up with Mike Ashley for 14 years. I wouldn't call him corrupt, just a terrible owner.

Mike Ashley levels of cuntary and contempt for the supporters from their owners. Glorious

I'm not for wishing injury on players but I'll made an exception for Rohypnaldo, I hope he snaps a leg in three and misses out on his last big payday, the odious cunt.

Saudi Australia!

I'm more excited about seeing a brief cameo from this lad than I was about the England match yesterday.

Actually, whether a footballer is eligible for a work permit is determined by criteria set by the football governing body. So it is actually a devolved policy.

This tournament is a fucking farce, if a player is being given smelling salts they're clearly in no condition to be on the pitch.

Counting the ghosts of migrant workers maybe?

Can't be offside from that, even if there were no Qatari players in the picture, Valencia is clearly behind the player winning the ball.

None and none, but I imagine it would be taken into account if we apply for an exception.

Not saying he wouldn't, we could apply for an exception for a talented youth player, he just isn't likely to qualify by international appearances by January.

The rules do actually take into account the ranking of the national team, a player playing 30% of Brazil's matches in the past year would automatically qualify, a Cook Islands international playing 100% of their matches would only get 2 points towards the 15 needed to qualify. To qualify by national appearances Kuol will need to have played in at least 40% of Australia's matches where he was available for selection in the previous 12 months before the application. I think they'll need to get to the quarter final with him appearing in every match for him to be over 40% in January.