number37

Is it just me or does that camera angle make it more difficult to see Salah's penalty? Seems counterintuitive but it's almost like they've overcomplicated it from a technology perspective. Obviously hilarious he missed (I assume he missed).

There's no one else I want managing the club right now than wor Eddie. The injuries are going to take a toll but I honestly think we'll get the half dozen signings we need in January and really push on, whether that's enough to keep us up is another thing entirely but things seem to be starting to click and the whole club feels in sync. Even when Rafa first came in it took him a few games to figure stuff out but now we've got the time, money, will, ownership and we're still in touch with the teams around us (I actually pity their games in hand). All this is based on absolutely nothing, I have to say! I'm actually buzzing a bit after this game, it's Christmas, been on the red wine for a few days and just witnessed Joelinton boss it like prime Viera.

"I didn't think you were that good". Opening line from the interviewer there. Longstaff totally bigging him up too!

Is it still a ten month ban for a failed drugs test? It's a bit of a shitter we'll be without him for so long but it's the only explanation.

He's from Ashington. I've always had a bit of an irrational (although slightly justifiable) dislike of him, unfortunately. Objectively he looks to be a pretty good referee though whenever I've seen him on TV and he's done a load of high profile international games. Anyway, it is good that he's approachable and seems like he's a decent enough guy.

It was always a bone of contention before the World Cup was expanded in the 90s (I think) that the whole of Africa would be allocated maybe 1 or 2 places but the UK alone was and still is allowed to enter 4 teams that could all qualify. No wonder we're sometimes accused of arrogance but it's a legacy of when we joined FIFA, they were so keen for legitimacy by having British involvement that they gave into our demand of four entries or no entries. Germany at the time weren't keen as they gave examples of having Prussia, Saxony, Bavaria, etc as members but such cold logic was discarded. Anyway, anyway, that's done now. Having a British Cup would be great, personally. We could remove the UEFA problem by just not awarding a European spot to the winner and instead offer vast sums of cold, hard cash throughout - we've got a lot of that, somewhere, apparently. To help the less well off sides, we could regionalise things first so we'd still maintain the respective League Cups in England, Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland but for the round before the quarter final of each, the winners instead progress into an open draw for the British Cup and continue on that path whereas the losers (non-winners) simply continue on the path of their respective domestic League Cup. Very similar in principle to how bowl/plate competitions work in rugby, if you're familiar with that kind of thing. There'll be no drop downs like in UEFA competitions, so if you get knocked out of the British Cup semi then you don't go back into the Scottish League Cup, for example. Once you're out, you're out. British Cup final at the Millennium Stadium in Cardiff, broadcast live for free on terrestrial television with Ally McCoist commentating.

Would be hilarious if UEFA and CONMEBOL just choose to enter the "properly timed" World Cups (2022, 2026, 2030, etc) and not Wenger's new additional ones. They can incentivise via the brown envelope method all they like but I can't see how a Trinidad v Denmark final generates that extra $3bn for FIFA.

Even if our academy prospects just have their careers fade out after a couple of games at Cheltenham Town rather than Newcastle Benfield then that must surely be progress.

Conversely: Trent.

I do understand people being underwhelmed by being linked to candidates from Brighton rather than from elite clubs in Spain or The Netherlands, for example. We do have sizeable financial backing so you'd have thought we'd be able to attract the best but we're also knee deep in a relegation battle with below par 20th century infrastructure and so that might not appeal to a lot of the more elite directors of football, which is understandable too. Although it does present a good challenge someone can really sink their teeth into. Maybe an issue with candidates based overseas is they may have a certain degree of reluctance to move abroad, certainly to Britain, whilst there's still uncertainty surrounding whatever wave of covid we're amongst at the moment or that is being faced in the country they're residing in now. Could be further complicated if they have children in school or other such logical factors that are made a wee bit more tricky at the moment. Eddie Howe himself has similar concerns/experiences and he's just travelling within the country. Probably just installed Zoom or Microsoft Teams though. There are many factors, loads that I don't comprehend or understand, I'm just excited to see how it all works out!

Would Dan Ashworth be more palatable if he'd played centre midfield for Barcelona? We all know that's a key skill for a director of football, it's what held Dennis Wise back. I do get that having a foreign sounding name is just better, sounds cool and exotic, and gives a 15-20% uplift but I reckon this guy could still be pretty good at his job despite his many obvious drawbacks. Brighton are a well run club, we've had a decade and a half of the Ashley-Charnley Show, if Dan Ashworth gives a shit interview or ultimately just doesn't fancy it then we move on. I think we'll be fine as long as we're not heading down into 12th choice territory.

Jason Tindall definitely looks like he wants to punch Mike Dean, as we all do.

It'll be like that Tottenham away game we won 1-0 at White Hart Lane, I think it was Remy that scored but we got absolutely battered the entire match and Tim Krul broke the record for number of saves in a game.

They've heard Michael Masi is on VAR.

Everyone is raising a variety of interesting points here but I really can't help but smile that there's such a back and forth about the merits of signing a current England international who plays for the champions of Spain. We've been taken over, we've got our club back and I'm loving it. Of course there's the very real threat of relegation but if the we're now in the position where it's realistic and plausible for us to sign a player of this calibre to help get us out of this situation then I can be fully on board with that.

Yeah, I'm sure the Big Five & Tottenham have played those International Champions Cup friendlies in recent years all over the world for crazy money. We played Crewe Alexandra at Queen Ethelburga's instead.

Maybe I've misremembered (or deliberately tried to get that bellend out my mind) but wasn't something like this how we bought Michael Owen? We had that new Northern Rock deal which they paid upfront and that's the money we paid Real Madrid (minus any alleged Jonathan Wooodgate alteration).

Killer Kilcline was a similar age when he signed. Admittedly the circumstances are a wee bit different but Trippier would improve us massively both on the field and off it. Having him in the dressing room and around the training ground (assuming we only show him that after he signs) would do wonders for the younger players. They say you can't buy experience but, in this case, you really can. Thiago Silva at Chelsea is probably older than me but more than does a job. Class is class.

The guide wasn't called Johnny, was he?

Yes, that's very true! Post match interviews are hardly Frost/Nixon, the interviewers just say stuff to the managers and players.

One of them is Robbie Savage's son, I don't think it's been mentioned yet. Also, I think they all only have one single surname rather than being double barrelled so their regen potential is halved, sadly.

Yeah, I think there's almost an unhealthy obsession over statistics at times. Antonio Conte was interviewed after Tottenham's game at the weekend and he was questioned about how he felt about only having 40% possession at home against a side like Norwich. He gave a very long, very diplomatic response when the executive summary was along the lines of him not really giving a shit, which is correct. Tottenham won 3-0.

I'd love it if we displayed our honours (and years) like they do at some grounds, the Emirates, for example: Admittedly, it might not be the biggest display but it would be nice to see our Edwardian dominance at the very least! My child-like Paint skills but hopefully you get the idea:

I hope he spent loads on the gloves, ended up not liking them when he got back home but was unable to return them because he'd already had his grubby (probably too oily) little mitts in them. I hope the sales assistant gave him shit for even trying.

It Trill be a fitting end.