ponsaelius

Honestly I think that's worse. It's basically using insider knowledge to allow your mates to defraud betting companies. Not that I have any sympathy with the companies. Betting on your own team to win (if that's what it is), especially if you're not even involved, is a lesser act. Not that it should be allowed.

I think not allowing the players to train is ridiculous. I didn't realise they did that with Toney. Sure, ban them from playing, but isolating them completely is counterproductive if you're dealing with somebody who has an addiction and a vice they routinely fulfill during their time off.

Phillips is a DM not a #8 though. He can also do a job at CB. I think he's a repair job which worries me because we haven't really gone for these kind of big club cast offs. But he arguably gives us a bit more balance in midfield options as somebody who can genuinely play #6.

Don't massively rate Phillips but would definitely take him loan-to-buy if we're going to be without Tonali for the rest of the season. I think Howe rates him. We need numbers in midfield. Miley isn't ready.

He's a £55 million investment on a 5 year contract though. You have to be tactful here. Even if it costs us in the short term. Not paying his wages and just allowing him to go back to Italy for a year. Imo that is tantamount to writing off the player. You're basically giving up and we'll be loaning him out on the cheap. We need to bite the bullet to stick by him and try to keep him integrated fully - as difficult as that will be. We need to at very least contest his ability to train and be amongst the team on grounds of helping the player's wellbeing.

If it's a ban for a year because he's betting on football then it's fair enough and you just have to accept it like a big injury. Shit but it is what it is - deserves punishment. He however needs supporting and given the help required if it's an addiction. The thing that worries me about it is if he's also banned from the training ground and being around the club completely. I don't think that will be helpful at all for the player. He needs support networks and to continue to be integrated into his new country. It's only likely to exacerbate the problem if you take away his day-to-day routine and job. The authorities need to see that when dishing out these punishments. We also need to pursue compensation under the presumption Milan knew something about it. Milan already had Bennacer out for a while and were obviously staring at his midfield partner being out long term too. They cashed in and used it to fund a rebuild. Dirty trick but I think it's absolutely clear they knew about it. It was a weird transfer from day 1.

That's exactly it. The reports say he bet on Milan while he was unavailable to play.

We'll be fine as our underlying numbers are still great. But they're great mostly because of players we already had. We have probably missed an opportunity to improve - might cost us over a full season. I'm not even saying I'd have necessarily done anything different. We've gotten very unlucky with the Barnes and Tonali signings. The other two were and will be good investments.

Tonali long term ban. Barnes long term injury. Hall and Livramento subs. I know a lot of this can't be helped but it's pretty annoying we spent £150 million and still have the same team as last year. Actually worse when you consider the injuries and no ASM.

Gambling is very highly regulated and I think it's quite difficult to get license to operate. Although it has been loosened significantly since mid 2000s, it's still pretty recent that you've been able to play online poker etc. Even now I think where games are entirely dependent on luck there are still heavy restrictions - so some forms of poker aren't allowed. I don't understand what the motivation would be to use an unlicensed platform though - unless it's to access luck based games that are otherwise restricted. Or if it allowed for anonymity or something. The latter is what would worry me - if they'd been using it to bet on football because it was unseen.

They will probably have to manage traffic and parking significantly going forward if they're looking at attendances going up further. It's very well served by the Metro station so is hardly a terrible location for a football stadium if managed.

They're pretty much well set up in terms of infrastructure and support to be a National League side now. Pushing up into the EFL will be harder without him around though you'd imagine.

It's pretty much confirmed at this point that he bet on football. It's not looking good at all tbh. Always seemed a weird signing from the outset for a host of reasons. I wouldn't be surprised at all if Milan had some knowledge of this.

Apparently Fagioli, the player originally caught up in the scandal, has said it was Tonali who gave him the betting app.

https://football-italia.net/tonali-to-negotiate-plea-bargain-but-faces-lengthy-ban-report/

Depending on arrival time Edinburgh - Newcastle is pretty easy and cheap so you've probably made right call.

Lol fantastic stuff.

Hosting Euro 2028 is a bit of an irritance tbh in terms of timing. I think you're going to be pushed to get work completed before then, while starting any work after that puts it years down the road. Hopefully we sack it off if necessary to get the stadium expanded.

Leazes Terrace is actually an enormous structure. I don't think people even realise it's an entire rectangular block not just a single front/back street. Then take into account the fact that the park and Leazes Crescent are both Grade II listed, and there's hundreds of mature trees. There'd be nothing left of it all by the time you were finished. The age old 'take it to Beamish' joke is genuinely a more reasonable suggestion. There's no doubt that the club has the money and means to do it. Demolishing and rebuilding stuff in fascimile isn't even particularly difficult. But it doesn't mean they'd ever get consent to do so. The club will be focusing on what they can do with St James Terrace as that is the more immediate, and more surpassable barrier. Along with what they can do with the metro to extend the Gallowgate.

Tbf that was a class last minute winner

ESR is very left sided, either LCM or lw, which makes him weird link imo.

Palace don't sell cheap mind so you're probably looking at £50 million. We'd probably have a better shot at getting Tomori of a similar profile.

Been playing left side for Palace but is right footed so could probably play the other side.

Withdrawn from Sweden squad due to injury.

Didn't hate the Olympic Stadium anywhere near as much as I thought I would. Obviously as a football stadium it's undoubtedly bad. The temporary nature of the stands to be able get close to the pitch is very naff. I stepped on a seat to get to the row in front as you often do and very nearly clean snapped it off. It's extremely difficult to generate an atmosphere in an away section with such a deep and narrow allocation separated by big open space. I was two rows from the front and my view was poor - while it seems if you're at the back it's like watching from another time zone. That being said I've been in traditional stadiums with worse atmospheres. They've tried hard to make it feel like a home stadium with the fan parks inside and out. I arrived via Victoria Park and Hackney Wick and the latter is a very decent spot for a pre-match drink, while the area east towards the Stratford stations on the other side is really nice in terms of landscaping/public realm. As always the level of investment in London in the built environment blows my mind when you're used to the north. There seemed to be a decent post-match buzz all the way from the stadium up to Stratford International. The weather definitely helped, mind. It felt a bit like being at an international tournament in the middle of summer. Can imagine it's nowhere near as nice to go to as the cold weather and dark nights creep in. That's when you want a ground where you can walk straight out and into the pub next door rather than across huge expanses of open space.