Mbemba Youre A Womble

Wouldn't say it was a shoe-string budget, but probably not as extravagant as being made out there either... Think you're overstating the wages that Hierro and Campo would have been on come the end of their contracts at Real. No doubt, Real were paying big contracts to certain players, but Perez's whole 'Zidane y Pavon's' ethos would state that anyone who wasn't a galactico wouldn't be earning anything that a middling PL club at the time couldn't afford. Also add in that they we're coming in on short term deals, as free agents - they would have got their moneys worth out of the names that we all remember in peak Allardyce time. Any excessive contracts would have more than balanced by the bulk of the squad on relative peanuts as well. Think Bolton's problems started to happen once and after Allardyce left. Their performances in the league after he left could no longer match up to the committed budgets in place, and add in bigger investment being made after he left in the Sammy Lee, Owen Coyle years. Would recon Karl Henry's been on just as big of a salary as Okocha would have been tbh.

His ego is really writing cheques that his football can't cash! "I'd be foolish, and a bad manager if I didn't listen to those comments..."

Everton seem a bit of a cluster fuck at the moment. Bound to be a massive power struggle going on there - Moshiri and Kenwright, then you've got Steve Walsh that's going to be having his say on players (shocking business so far imo), without even factoring in what Allardyce is up too. How can a club seemingly throw all efforts into Marco Silva - obviously thinking he's the right fit for the next stage of Everton FC, and then end up hiring Allardyce - a totally different style coach and different character to be managing your club. They brought in Cenk Tosun, as it would have been obvious to everyone at the club they needed a striker. Decent fee paid for him. Couple of weeks later, Allardyce has said he's not ready for PL football as his hold-up is shit, and might be able to play at end of the season. That all seems very unprofessional to me, and nobody with any power at the club really having the same vision of how on field and off-field performance might meet. Whilst top four was mental in expectations, factoring in Arsenal's capitulation this season that 6th place has been there for the taking - and Everton we're the next cab of the rank, and they've really blown their chances through having no single idea or conviction in what their up too.

Was a little too young to fully appreciate the horrors that he would have been inflicting upon us to be honest. Then there would have been the years of not really giving a toss what he got up too at Blackburn. Always thought he was a bit shit like, but as I've matured my views of Fat Sam have become more rounded and comprehensive.

The whole 'big club' guff bores me to tears. Dozens of clubs in the country can justify themselves to be a big club - we've won this, we've won that, we've a big stadium, we've history etc. etc. All that is ultimately vacuous nonsense that somehow deludes fans, managers and owners into thinking that they have a right to achieve something, and football somehow owes them success. Arsenal fans shouldn't be expecting to win the league or even compete for it in all honesty. Football is a forever changing landscape, and along with that expectation also has to change. The club has been left miles behind from their previous contemporaries, and inevitably been caught up by the investment into Chelsea and Man City, and again left in the dust by them. Most worryingly for them and have even been overtaken by Spurs - previously the perennial middling PL side. On the most basic of levels, for 12 years, since Viera left - good players have left the club, and not been replaced with equal or higher quality. In football if you're standing still, you're going backwards. Simple fact is, Arsenal haven't even been standing still.

That is grim! Can't stand the bloke these days. Never really had an opinion on him few years ago, and thought West Ham fans hounded him out. Since he got that England job just found a dislike for him. Find he has an intolerable arrogance nowadays. Didn't like the whole MNF thing he did. Came across as if he was God's gift to football, and that he was hard done by not to ever be in anything other than relegation scraps. Not even been there 6 months, but seems to have totally gutted that club of any ambition, style or just anything likeable. Recent interviews I've seen of him, he's just thrown the players under the bus as if now he's finally at a 'big club', he's got a divine right to be winning football matches; with his players continually holding him back from getting what's his. Some guy on an Everton forum last week genuinally thought he could take them into the CL, akin to what Redknapp did with Spurs!

Yeah, Liverpool are pretty decent. Used to enjoy watching Man City's one a few years ago - thought their Inside City thing was pretty ahead of the times back when it started, along with their tunnel cam on match days. Not on Twitter/FB/Instagram, so can't attest to what the club get up to on those platforms, but the club's YT channel did hit me as a little drab. Seems a fairly simple exercise to get off the ground for a business the size of a PL club. Can't be that hard to get a couple of media grads to follow the team round with cameras and get regular content out. The clubs going to have an existing media team anyway. Nowadays if done moderately well can pay for itself, not to mention the worldwide publicity viral videos can have for the club.

Our club's Youtube channel is fucking shit! Just watched Klopp's presser for game tomorrow on Liverpool's channel after it popped up, and for some naive reason I thought Rafa's might be on our own. Obviously it isn't, and just remembered/dawned how terrible it is compared to a few clubs out there.

Mark Fish

Tamir Cohen

Distance for players to be away from the ball on a corner. They are optional apparently, go guide for the referee and linesman. That makes sense! Been wondering for years, cheers Will finally sleep safe knowing this now

On a football pitch, what are the markings 10yards from the corner flag, running off the sideline for? What are they used for exactly?

Haven't listened in the last year, but enjoyed Graham Hunter's podcast. Thought that was excellent. Some great interviews when he first started out, remember the Eddie Howe one being good, Gaizka Mendieta was interesting too.

Aye, because Saivet, Doumbia, Lazaar, Hanley, Gamez, Sels we're all great uses of funds. Not to mention the s**** that was peddled through here before. We may not spend big on players and signings, meaning our transfer failures aren't so costly as other clubs around, but we've wasted a fair share of budget on crap that's taken the side nowhere. We're currently footing the bill for to some extent or another for at least four senior goalkeepers ffs, likely still paying a cut on Sels loan, and wouldn't surprise me that Krul's contract at Brighton is being subsidised to a small extent. So potentially 6, near certain 5 Jury has to be out on the three loaned in on January, but on the face of it we've instantly written off fair few million on three players for less than half a seasons work. Clearly I'm going to get canned for stepping off the party line re: Ashley, but he can't be blamed for Charnley or whoever being f***ing inept at getting deals, and right players through the door. Guess him being in a job is down to Ashley, but whilst he's being dealt a bad hand to start with, him or whoever is running the club day-to-day doesn't need to start tearing the cards up into tiny pieces before playing.

Sports betting is singlehandedly the biggest blight on my sporting viewing/listening/reading pleasure. f***ing detest bookmakers, and sports betting sites, and the constant ramming down my throat of their existence. BT's coverage of the Ashes was almost unbearable. 7/10 times, in between overs you'd be blasted with a 30 second advert for a bookie. Beyond the pale. Have no strong feelings either way on the matter of gambling, but just hate the advertising and s*** that surrounds it. It's now got to a point where certain sports are only in existence to serve the gambling industry.

Hmm, would say that Shelvey's at the heart of everything we're doing well of late, but sadly also at the heart of everything that's going wrong. Bossed Man United, but not holding out hope seeing a performance like that for a while over 90mins. Can look brilliant when we are on top, but has nothing about him to arrest situations in games going against us. We're no doubt a better side with him than without, but it shouldn't be overlooked he totally melts away and is a hologram whenever we need to hold on, or control a game (Man U aside). Last 10 games, he's been pretty anonymous in the majority - which has also coincided in us dropping points in very winnable games. Man United, and Bournemouth games - can anyone remember him doing anything of note at all in those games? Personally would be inclined to take Man U out of there, as it's a game of no expectation vs. games where we'd be taking points from direct rivals - to conclude on the whole, he's been fairly bad. Not saying that there is anyone better to come in, but at same time he shouldn't be void of criticism just because he's deemed the 'best of a bad bunch'.

Fully understand how s*** our squad is, I really do! Still think it's a little reaching. All those draws are against Bournemouth, Burnley, Palace, Swansea and Brighton. All games in which we've either not taken key chances, or thrown winning positions away, or just been f***ing s*** (Brighton) Respect that we can't win all games, and on reflection not losing those games could prove important - but I'm not crowning it as some sort of achievement that would merit 'unbeaten run'. Having a shit squad has nothing to do with it. Those are the games that you've got to be taking wins from if you want to stay in the league, and we haven't. Joselu scores his penalty, we don't collapse against Palace and Bouremouth we're as good as home and hosed. Not unrealistic to expect those eventualities. That's not even considering failures in plenty of other games.

What’s wrong with that? We’ve lost one of the last eight PL games; two of the last ten. Both to Man City (who barely count). We're 3 wins in 10, one of which against Man United. We've dropped quite a few points across games against teams around us. Terms like 'unbeaten run' is a bit reaching don't you think?

unbeaten run

The Dwight Gayle one looks like an even more autistic Troy Deeney

Cup replay against a set of cloggers from the league below. It's Swansea. First leg 0-0. Guaranteed second side. Freezing evening. It's on TV anyway. Did I mention it's Swansea? Anything above 5,000 Swansea fans bothering this would be surprising.

Date night in Swansea

Lawrenson is being a grumpy old cunt on BBC Swansea game. Constantly trying to find something to moan at.

Is this in someway meant to be a bad thing? It sounds like you're trying to make it out to be... Yeah, f*** that fat b******, how dare he want us to win football matches Okay dipshit. An honorable 1-0, or 2-0 defeat, and Lascelles is solid again. Of course that's a bonus, for an owner who is watching the lad's value rise (with every performance against big teams). Still, don't get how this could be turned to be a negative on Ashley? All for him being a shitcunt n all, but you can't have a go at him for wanting performances from the team, or player's values to rise