SteV

Does the taxi driver have to be dodgy? Is there an issue with crossing the border, having a few pints, then crossing back?

Bit of a different interview with Eddie: https://youtu.be/ySpQhrdLgE4?si=c6kqRNe2SDuJfRcs

Yep, looks to be only Bruno, Isak and Trippier ahead of him at present. Seems, like he was on around £35k at Villa, so if it is right, that’s a massive jump. But as I say, getting a PL to PL move is generally where the money is at.

You’re never really going to know for sure, but the main sites generally have overall figures that are similar to what clubs report in accounts. The likes of Capology are a serious company, and whilst they’re US-based where sports people’s salaries are public, it’s still worth taking what they report seriously, even if you can’t just assume it’s 100% accurate.

Unfortunately there is. All the independent wage sites report him to be on that, and whilst they are not conclusive proof, they are usually fairly accurate. You also have to consider that he’s had two PL club to PL club moves, both times for a fee somewhere in the region of £10m - £15m. No doubt he will have clicked a wage increase each time.

Nah, Wolves groundsman…

When you’re playing 5-a-side and changing keepers after every goal, and someone who hates keeping goes in: https://x.com/rangerswfc/status/1771898549959000425?s=46&t=OQLMckSuatbpqWF13Al4mQ

Tbf even in the men’s game there the away end was unreserved seating

When I was there for the league game, there was a pub next to the station, the Bricklayers Arms, which was ‘Home Fans Only’. I nipped in for a piss before getting the train home and bumped into a lad I knew that said he’d been in before the game too and it was decent. Think it did food.

Aye, club said 30% was the average success rate, so you’ve definitely had a decent hit rate.

It’s difficult to know how much applying in pairs hinders your chances. We all kind of assume it must do, but because they seem to want to treat any data relating to ballots as a national secret, and we don’t know the specifics of any draw algorithm, we can’t be sure. 5 from 16 would be more the average return you would expect though, so you’re definitely on the low side.

Be absolutely staggered if he doesn’t sign a new contract with them.

Think they’re currently playing home games at Aveley FC

A scapegoat

Of course, it’s not really a question that most can answer (sensibly) without knowing the specifics of the alternatives.

I thought that Ekwah was their mainstay central midfielder? Why was he playing? Been injured?

100% and Eddie probably gave him more minutes today because, apart from the game effectively being up, the way Man City were playing there wasn’t a huge amount of ‘defending’ to be done. Whilst it’s obvious he has potentially massive quality as an offensive LB (I think his passing range could become Trippier-esque), it’s not hard to assume, even with the limited minutes we’ve seen from him, that he’s way behind Burn in the defensive aspect. As Eddie said recently, patience…

Well, yeah, but as is always the case in these situations, you have to trust they won’t do that if the risk is sizeable. We can’t just sack an FA Cup QF off because it’s a (very) hard game.

Why?

No thanks.

They won’t go back down that route as that was more or less the whole argument for having the ballot in the first place. You know exactly what would happen - someone would get tickets with their kids in the ballot, they wouldn’t get on the site in time (whether for good reason or otherwise) then wouldn’t be able get seats with their kids and the whole thing would kick off on Twitter or elsewhere. The club don’t want any part of that if they can avoid it. If they want to allow people to pick their seats (or a more specific area of seats) - which I do totally agree they should be looking to do - it’s going to have to be done pre-ballot draw.

How do you get round the issue of people (families being the main example) who have applied and been successful as a group and there not being seats together by the time they get on to the site?

Yes, but that’s your choice of whether to apply for there or not. At least you’re making an informed decision of whether to apply for the area you really want, or an area that gives you the best chance of getting in.