leffe186

Looking at how excited and proud Gordon is, does anyone know the story behind Ben White saying “no thanks”?

Yeah, that’s clearly the reason why he‘s still there, which is a pity. Make him a coach or something Goalkeepers…whatever, not inspiring but nothing better out there. Defenders bit thin but presume Tomori is still injured. Don’t particularly rate Gomez but he’s probably partly in because of versatility. Konsa didn’t look great against us either but isn’t he versatile too? Happy to see Branthwaite but would love to see a proper fullback out there - Livramento? Midfield - feels like we’re missing someone here even allowing for giving a mascot a place in the squad. Henderson is presumably just in there as a leader. We feel like we’re one “holding” midfielder short. Forwards…and one too many here. I suppose Foden and Palmer could be included as midfielders. I do think Rashford can do a job as an impact sub though. Overall fair enough I guess.

Nice one, thanks. I’d expect the Chelsea one to come down this year but will be interesting to see how the Liverpool one changes.

Where are your figures from? I don’t think that’s true.

It’s still really disconcerting when European refs add literally no time on.

Never a free kick that.

Tbf all those years of growth hormones probably helped Messi out too.

No, that's adrenochrome. Agendachrome would have to be a specific human, maybe one where the agenda overrides all else. Like say Hitler. Or Alex Jones. Or Gary Neville.

I’m just not sure the European Super League or whatever silly name they want to call it has much to do with this decision.

Dunno man, not sure Bournemouth or Crystal Palace will be up for the Super League breakaway. Don’t know enough about the deal or the reasons why these 10 clubs and not the other 10 have cropped up. Levy is definitely a bastard though. Not sure that makes him all that different from other Chairmen . Rest of the Board seem Ok.

Agendachrome who do you have to sacrifice to get that?

I'm genuinely sorry, it just blows my mind that I actually didn't know. I'm 50 and been a footy fan since the late 70s, essentially, and a pretty serious one. Feels like I should have known

This all made me think of something. I sort of knew the Fairs Cup format was weird and changed over time but never bothered to look up the details. You probably all knew this already but Today I learned that Newcastle actually finished 10th the year they qualified for the 1968/69 Fairs Cup. Man City won the league, and so qualified for the European Cup. In theory the next four would go into the Fairs Cup. However, Man U also qualified for the European Cup because they won it that year. Then Everton in 5th weren't allowed in because they came from the same city as Liverpool in 3rd. Then Spurs in 7th weren't allowed in because we were from the same city as Chelsea in 6th - likewise Arsenal in 9th. Then West Brom in 8th won the FA Cup so they went into the Cup Winners' Cup I knew it was a bit weird, but I didn't realize quite how silly it was . I just never bothered to look it up until now.

Glad that's clarified.

This isn’t really true though. In 21/22 they were significantly lower than the top four - but they were still fifth. The years before that they were third or fourth. They offloaded some high earners…but they had to, because they’d just finished 8th two years in a row and hadn’t finished in the top four since 2016. Then cut to now - I believe they’re back to third, behind Man U and Man City. The wage to turnover ratio in 21/22 (remember, their lowest relative wage bill in God knows how long) was excellent but still not as good as Man City ( ) West Ham or Spurs. They were relatively low - relative to only four other teams - for a year or two. Still higher than everyone else. Relatively very low compared to Man City and Man U I guess so…well done?

Do you know where the figures are available? I wanted to check ours too. It’s bonkers. Just a search online brings up articles from years and years ago saying your record is abysmal. Don't know why you bother watching any more. At least if you go you get to sing and dance.

Well played sir.

Sheffield United did that for the entirety of our game against them. Wanted to play it short on goal kicks but if we were in the vicinity the keeper would just stand there and wait. The manager tried to argue something along the lines that that was perfectly OK. Absolutely infuriating.

Jackson is absolutely fucking shite. I guess he’s young so there’s still time.

Yup. Gusto and Palmer on that side. Switching Almiron has helped a bit.

Oof. That would have been some goal.

Classy finish, shambolic buildup Chelsea CBs are so unconvincing. Look at how they dealt with that hoof just then. Very exploitable.

Those crosses are definitely the way to go. Chelsea CBs don’t seem particularly convincing.

How is it that Almiron and Murphy both have a face like a muppet?

Ouch.