Interpolic

Gonna be a wild ride seeing us make up that 1 point deficit.

If you mean PL players then that wouldn't be an issue if the new service was bringing more money into the league than the deals with Sky etc. Which it should even at a lower price point because of increased scale, cutting out the middlemen and their profit margins, getting revenue from advertisers and sponsors direct etc. It would undoubtedly have a knock-on effect on the lower leagues and their TV deals so there should be filtering down of funds to compensate them for that (lol).

And also if they want to eliminate piracy, which they desperately do. At some point they need to realise that the only route to that is a price point that appeals to everyone. It doesn't need to be as cheap as IPTV if the UI is slick enough and the experience convenient enough, but it needs to be fairly cheap.

It's true but it's not really relevant here I don't think? In terms of changing behaviour (rampant piracy) it has worked and it can work for the PL as well if they price it correctly. The PL isn't a complex landscape of thousands of artists, it's one organisation that could make a killing by cutting out the middleman and selling direct to consumer at a sensible price and at huge scale, all but killing piracy.

I work for them (atm ) but can't see anything except their TV business shrinking beyond all regognition. They'll pull out all the stops to not lose PL coverage but I think it's coming eventually. They're losing HBO content on the entertainment side at some point soon as well, I think.

@midds @AyeDubbleYoo @Disco There was actually a reddit thread today about the very subject we were discussing yesterday: https://www.reddit.com/r/football/s/UH5VjkLW26 From a City AM article, thought this bit was interesting as it coincidentally mentions £10 as a price point. Hopefully there is scope for sensible pricing when this inevitably comes around.

Don't disagree but they'd be well advised to get the pricing right if they want to remove illegal streaming as a factor. Those pricing examples you've given are probably not far off what they'd go for if they went down the road of continuing the Sky model, which is outdated and has always been very exclusionary to those without sufficient financial means. Instead I'd love to see a huge rethink. Get rid of this nonsense idea that was invented in the 90s, of the PL being a premium product with a premium price tag. Instead aim to have everyone who loves football watching as much of their product as is possible, with cost not seen as a hurdle to anyone. They'd have an opportunity to achieve absolutely incredible reach with young and old viewers if it was priced at say £10/month and they'd eliminate illegal streaming in the process. Or make a deal with Netflix/Amazon and get it on there at little or no extra cost. They could make more money doing it this way if they strike the right balance, guarantee future fans and ensure almost every single view of their product was legal, exposed to their advertisers and whatever else they wanted to do with it. There are parallels with TV in that Netflix got things very, very right in the beginning and gave people what they had been crying out for. They made people abandon their torrents with their slick UI, incredible library, fair pricing, flexible subscription etc. Then the rest of the industry wanted on the gravy train and it all went to shit. The PL would have no real competition and no excuse for not prioritising reach over outdated pricing from day 1, but sadly I think shortsighted greed will win the day as it generally always does these days.

Nah it's that you're an absolute dweeb about it.

Doubt there's anyone else outside the top 1.5m with this high an opinion of themselves. Joao Pedro was a beyond obvious move this week and you're carrying on like you (nearly) scouted a kid from the U16s. I had him btw

Oh look, Liverpool might not win every single game they play.

That's not what I'm doing. I'm saying it's far too early to judge, but also factoring in that the team we're discussing have staff and players that have been there and done it again and again. If Man City pick up a couple of top players in January including a DM, will you reverse your write-off? Since that could easily happen your write-off is completely meaningless. It's getting your prediction in early for the sake of getting it in early.

No offence but looking at the Europe thread you said in February you didn't think we could make up 5 points on Man Utd. Which is exactly the type of thing I'm on about - having an attention span of about 5 games and projecting it on to the entire season. It appears to be quite common. Just amazes me how most of us have been watching football a long time but many make the exact same misjudgements every single season. The answer is there is no answer yet, but after less than a third of the season there's not a chance I'm writing off Man City or crowning Liverpool.

The point is that nothing is ever won in November but people are always in a rush to get their judgements in about us, or other sides. Liverpool have experienced zero adversity as of yet and are only 5 (probably 8) points clear. Guardiola has a history of finding solutions and is probably the best PL manager ever. January is also just around the corner. If they find a way to shore up their midfield there's no reason they can't push again. We've no idea who will be top in May cos it's NOVEMBER. See also: the bipolar reactions every time we win or lose a game in the Europe thread, every single year.

Can't believe anyone saying Liverpool winning the league is a foregone conclusion in November Every year it's the same, Man City falter pre-Christmas then they go on an incredible run right through to the end of the season. Yes they look particularly bad atm and have some problems but I think they've earnt the right by now not to be written off until about March at the earliest

At least nobody will talk about the dad thing now.

Yorkshires are lush and go well with any roast, why do people create these rules to actively make their lives worse?

Yeah the ballots are a joke this year. Think I won about 40% last year, this year I've applied for all but Liverpool and only won Wimbledon. General sale is generally doable but I'm not always free at the time it's on. Resale has been weird - some weeks easy but some weeks rock hard. Convinced they turned the bot control off for Arsenal. Only got one at 11pm the evening before when 3 popped up at once. Overall I've been managing to get tickets when I want them but it has probably been even more hassle for me personally than it was last year.

Think they need to get an independent panel to determine whether Klopp is a cunt before disciplining the ref. If they say he is a cunt then loads of leniency. If they say he's not a cunt then there's our proof the whole thing is bent.

There's something badly wrong with a system that allows officials to be consistently abused by club staff, those club staff knowing that they'll get more decisions from human beings who don't enjoy being consistently abused. That's what should be being looked at, not some ref calling Klopp a cunt, which he is.

Not being pedantic here @Yorkie, you've prompted me to make an assessment of them both in my head this morning Howe's a bit ahead of Robson atm in my mind, if you take into account that: - Steadying the ship first season was an easier task for Robson who came in earlier and probably had a better squad - Robson's next season was basically us treading water, with new signings not working out and us finishing 11th as we had the previous season (versus Howe getting us 4th) - Re the above point it's probably fairer to judge Robson after Bellamy and Robert came in tbf, since they gave us the pace, energy and quality that we really needed - Both managers got us 4th in their first 2 full seasons but Howe did it quicker - Robson never had to deal with an injury crisis of last season's scale but I'd say Howe getting 7th in the face of that was good going - Howe's cup record is probably better, although Robson did better in the CL - Howe's doing it in a more competitive league than it was back then Robson obviously got us 3rd while playing in the CL in 02/03 and I doubt Howe will match that this season even without Europe to contend with. But like I say it's a more competitive league these days so it's difficult to compare. All of the above is about finishes etc, style-wise I'd say they both created pretty much equally exciting teams. Overall it's pretty close between them atm imo

Hesitant to risk the wrath of Rod but it was reported for several transfer windows in a row that Given was pleading with the club to show some ambition in their transfer dealings to persuade him to stay. Given also said more recently that they were fucking him around on the new contract (offered him less money iirc, or similar). He gave everything for us and eventually he'd had enough. Don't blame him whatsoever, it was an absolute clown show by that point.

Lav Brexit, lav Top Gear, lav the special one cos 'e tells it like it is - simple as.

it was really good. Best this season, easily. Helps having a bit of needle with the opposition.

It's definitely been invaded by bots the last couple of days, and the website bot control has been switched off or isn't working. Since the beginning of last season I've always got a ticket when I wanted one, whether by ballot or resale. But they're disappearing so quickly here, the day before the match. No chance am I being beaten to these by humans