leffe186

You’re missing the point. Idiots are going to idiot, when you’ve got a large number of people. The vast majority of people in that crowd - in any such crowd - are going to be people who just want to watch a footy match and paid through the nose to do so. When you’re in that crowd you go where the Police/authorities make you go. Despite decades of crowd control knowledge and past big games at the same stadium they fucked up, and fucked up in the same ways they have always done. I don’t think the police ignored that it was the same set of fans. I think the police treated Liverpool fans differently, and this is the result. I’m sure there were plenty of Liverpool fans with snide tickets and (it sounds like) a fair few locals trying it on. That has always been the case and will always be the case. It’s up to the authorities to come up with a system to deal with that while keeping everyone safe. It’s not impossible. We’ve done it before. We knew Hillsborough was coming. Only questions were when and to whom. If the authorities are back making the same mistakes again then it’s only a matter of time again. At least we’re not back in fucking cages I guess.

I love that there’s a chance - however tiny - that this might actually be true

Liverpool look like they’re going to absolutely piss this tbh.

Peter Schmeichel looking like he had a late, late night. Is this just what he looks like now?

Got rellies in Cleethorpes. What do you mean by a pointless club?

Can’t get over the number of times people will have had to go “yeah, that’s good” while they were making that flag.

This seems like a distinctly paranoid take. Everyone gets linked with everyone, particularly those with money. That’s how this works.

The big chance Newcastle have - apart from the access to money - is the stadium, crowd and catchment. Leicester are behind on all three, West Ham are closer in capacity at least. There’s a chance those nine start to separate from the rest.

Yeah maybe. It does feel a bit more bridgeable with so much TV money going to Premier League clubs now. Plus at least you could guarantee at least two out of the six wouldn’t get CL money as well each year, although that might change in a year or two as well.

Spurs only posted pre-tax losses in the last couple of years due to the pandemic, like almost everybody. They were profitable for the seven years before that (and most of the preceding decade as well. The debt is entirely because of the stadium. It’s not related to profit/loss over the years before and after FFP came to being.

Only four years though. And Man U were second last year (somehow). Presumably people talk about a big six because for a decade or morethe same six teams have nearly monopolized the top six places. And in doing so they’ve “generated” significantly more revenue than other clubs. It’s definitely a big two right now. It was Jackie Broon who cited the Big Six cartel and he was using it in the context of FFP which started more than a decade ago.

What’s your point though? There’s a clear argument that FFP was encouraged by top clubs to prevent another team breaking into their little cabal by doing what Chelsea and Man City did and having some rando throw money at them. That’s not what ENIC did and that was my point.

Lest we forget, Spurs managed to break into that “Big 6” while staying within both the spirit and the reality of FFP.

Welcome back to being a club that buys players. They’re going to post anything about anyone.

You misspelled “laughing”.

Have you seen the internet before? You know that if someone is wrong then people are obliged to respond

IIRC at first everyone was very unimpressed because he’s not great on the ball. He was something of a pariah tbh. Eventually people came round to him somewhat just because he always tried and occasionally bludgeoned an opponent into submission but even those who liked him accepted he was overpriced and limited. Useful squad player. Had a quick look - some relatively recent quotes:

ESPN talking about Liverpool? I think I’ll pass.

Almost every single football conversation I have over here tbh.

Is Man U’s squad really that shit? Genuine question. Conte just closed out the season with a back three of Ben Davies, Eric Dier and Davinson Sanchez. I can’t believe a top manager couldn’t make something good out of whoever they’ve got.

Yeah Man U do seem to have a big job on their hands, but they’ve also got the resources to make a couple of big additions. Top 4 is already in doubt for anyone other than Man City and Liverpool tbh. Chelsea still have a billion good players out on loan who could be recalled, but have really struggled in recent weeks. Spurs have got to strengthen their squad to even think of coping with CL and the PL. West Ham and Leicester will be better next year with fewer distractions and you’ve got money. On Spurs, if either Kane or Son go you’re left with Conte, the other one, and a shit-ton of cash. If Conte goes then it will depend upon who comes in but it’s a pretty strong first XI either way. The problem as always with Spurs is that up to now there have always been at least five teams willing and able to spend significantly more on transfer fees and wages.

Yeah, this is where me not watching much footy recently doesn’t help . I do take the point about Conte being more able to make short-term improvements, but the whole “Spurs would be nothing without Kane and Son” narrative is slightly weird. Heard it or variations of it a million times and I never know exactly what to say. Yes things look massively different if we lose our manager or our best players? If the point is that a team only got top four because their manager and best players are really good then I find it hard to argue against. If the point is that those individuals are more likely to leave Spurs because they can go to somebody better with more money then I find it hard to argue against. It sounds like you’re arguing that Spurs are different from the other “top” teams like Man City or Liverpool (or Man U, or Chelsea) because their success is on weaker foundations?

“I like Arsenal”

He really shouldn’t, although I guess that depends upon what you think his goal should be. They’ve got loads of money and the name, plus presumably their youth facilities are terrific. The team just got 6th. For all their obvious issues it really wouldn’t take much to have them be properly good again. Look at Conte. It seems to be hard for people to remember how many problems there were at Spurs pre-season and early season with all the Kane stuff and the obvious lack of faith in Nuno from all angles. Now look at the difference. Ten Hag should be spending next year setting himself up for the 2023-24 season. He has three transfer windows and a year in which he can use the Europa to blood youngsters or whatever he wants. Nobody should expect them to be guaranteed top four next year, but you should be able to see a significant difference by the end of the season, both on and off the pitch.

Who was it who was talking about Arsenal doing it “the right way” compared to Spurs the other day?