Cf

We're pretty much half way through the season and are equal on points with Spurs, 1pt ahead of Man Utd, and 2pts behind Villa. Seems like we're competing with them to me.

Also given we've basically been on city's side when it comes to PSR stuff so we think they're more likely to "do us a favour" when it comes to transfer fees? Or nothing in that?

Feels like we'd be the ones holding all the cards here given how city's season is going. It would hurt to lose Bruno but given how Tonali seems to be making the position his I don't think we can turn down silly money plus maybe a player or two.

I was in genuine suspense when he walked up the stairs. Was convinced something was going to go wrong.

You do know this is NUFC right?

Basically where I am. Think it's also fair to say, without wanting to be harsh because he's been a model pro for us, that in an ideal world he wouldn't be starting games for us this season, and certainly not next season.

City

That's as clear a penalty as you'll ever see

Which is why a lot of us would rather fuck off VAR. But if you are going to have it then you can't just have VAR look at an incident and just go "fuck it, this is quite tight, just give whatever whether it was correct or not". It's the main reason imo that VAR is proving so controversial. It's one thing to have a decision go against you on the pitch and then later see that it was wrong. The ref is only human and mistakes will be made. We can accept that. It's much harder to accept though when they review an incident and still get it wrong.

Murphy could have had 5 based on MOTD. And I'm glad he scored it and he took it well but I couldn't help but wonder why we'd have that fancy set piece routine and put Murphy on the end of it

"I think it's a foul but I like that the ref played on and that VAR didn't intervene". Sorry, what?

Sounded pretty lost and defeated on MOTD. His comment about how his players need to perform above their level didn't come across well at all. Basically called them shit.

As ever: I'd happily bin off VAR. But going with the on field decision is just arbitrary in situations like this. If you're going to go to the effort of checking an incident at that point you are committed to coming to the correct decision. In terms of an offside it's pretty black and white. There's more nuance to fouls and the like but even here they're fucking it up. If you do have a situation which is too close to call for an offside I'd say rule should be benefit of doubt to the attacker: give the goal.

The fact this discussion is even happening is pure PSR.

They say they care about his welfare. If that was the case they would: Some sort of rehab/training to do with the drugs use. Actually back him up against Klopp. Point out the abuse received by referees is not acceptable (there's a reason they're starting to try and clamp down on it) and that Klopp has been one of the worst offenders. Whilst they appreciate his language is disrespectful and embarrassing to come into the public domain it's a highly stressful job. Some sort of public statement/apology from Cootes to allow him a route back. Instead they've basically thrown him under the bus and diminished themselves as a body, handing power back to abusive managers/players. I've not seen many "Did Coote Maybe Have A Point?" stories exploring the abuse managers constantly throw at refs.

Did he show bias? He said he thought Klopp was a cunt. Is there evidence of that affecting his refereeing? Unless we expect all managers to be truly devoid of emotions and totally neutral I would expect all referees to have thoughts about the teams/managers they're officiating. (Obviously don't get caught on camera saying this)

It's not something I think you should lose your job over.

I feel for him. I get that his position was basically untenable and he was a fool to find himself in that spot but at the same time I don't really think he did much wrong, or at least nothing that probably goes on all the time.

It felt harsh and was borderline both for him and Almiron but the question I asked myself was "would another PL team sign him"? And apart from a newly promoted team who were desperate I think the answer is no.

Obviously things are difficult at the moment so I thought I'd go through the squad to see the overall quality of it. The rankings are simple: top 4, 6, 10, 20. Essentially would that player easily start for a hypothetical team who finished in those positions. e.g. Isak I think would find a place in a top 4 side, but I think Gordon would struggle to. My rankings are below. My takeaway is whilst we have a number of good players overall quality is a bit thin on the ground. And this is where PSR starts to hurt us. Most teams aren't going to have a squad full of Top 4s - but ours is skewed too much towards the bottom. Top 4 Isak Botman (pre injury, remains to be seen following) Hall (given more development) Top 6 Bruno Gordon Tonali Top 10 Livramento Joelinton Barnes Willock (glass) Top 20 Pope Schar (age a factor) Burn (age a factor) Longstaff Wilson (age/glass a factor) Trippier (age a factor) Kelly Targett (maybe) Krafth Lascelles Not Good Enough Murphy Almiron Dubravka Future Prospects Miley (looks good) Osula Murphy

Wtf was that punch by Pope. He allergic to catching the ball?

Wtf was that.

We did spend most of that 5 minutes feigning injury tbf. I dunno. I'm struggling to put too much on the ref yesterday. The VVD one, meh. Probably intended a bit cheekily but didn't seem a huge amount in it. Probably should be a yellow but VAR won't intervene for that. Isak penalty I can see why not given. Contact is minor and one of those where the attacker is actively looking for and leaning into the foul. Prob gets given the other way mind. Blowing at the end. I'm not entirely sure when the whistle went but we were at time and if he's blown not seeing the attack was on I can forgive him it. I thought he was otherwise decent. Let the game flow, gave them yellows when they deserved them rather than let them go, didn't give their pen claim either. Was one of the better performances I remember seeing recently to be fair.

It had ticked over 95 before Pope threw it. I'm not entirely sure when the whistle went. Really it should have been before the throw. But once the ball has been thrown and there is a clear attacking chance on convention is to allow that attack to happen, especially as time was only just up and there had been stoppages in there too.

Switch which teams Salah and Murphy play for around and we more than comfortably win that match.