Abacus

I spent a year sat next to a Sunderland fan at work. Like most, he was a nice fella - until talk turned to football, and I was surprised by how blinkered he became. He once asked me about my favourite ever match. There were a few, like Man U 5-0, beating Barcelona, even the 4-3 loss to Liverpool, as heartbreaking as that was at the time. So I asked what his was. With a look of triumph, he said that he and all his mates had agreed in the pub that their favourite match was when Newcastle threw away a 4 goal half time lead to draw 5-5 with QPR. I gently asked him why they hadn't picked a game involving their own team. This was met with a look of genuine confusion and no answer. He really didn't seem to even understand the question. I just assumed he was an outlier, until I saw RTG.

Sounds like Juventus are desperate to get rid. Has warning flags all over it. Hopefully it's just his agent trying to drum up interest

What I don't understand is, refs have been given more leeway before awarding soft fouls. Why doesn't that apply in the box too?

Dive!

He'll be like a new player.

Get in!!! It's like a last minute winner!

Isn't Edwards the one with mates in the PL? Hope he's right.

I expect the Saudis know a thing or two about the sun.

How come? All I heard from Clattenburg was some argument about how he hadn't tried to win the ball, but was in front of the ball, which is a new one on me. Presumably there's a distance rule now about how close your lunge can be when you aren't trying to win the ball. Genuinely a bit confused by the way, not trying to be an ass. NB I wonder about the point of getting ex refs from the PL to give their opinions on decisions. They're all part of the same club, and I'd guess their default, after years of taking abuse from pundits, managers and fans would be to come up with a reason why it was right. As if they were instinctively thinking about how they'd explain it themselves. I'd employ Collina for his opinions instead, if he's still alive.

He was out of control. That's a red. Rudiger, that is. You can't say he missed the player so it's fine, like they just tried to

I suppose it's good news in the sense that we will probably still have to buy a replacement, and he might be available to help out from March onwards without rushing him back. Definitely rather have him in the squad for the run in. (As well as it being good news for him, of course.)

I was thinking the same - imagine if this had happened on 1st Feb. Wish him all the best, hopefully it's not as bad as it sounds and he can make a cameo before the end of the season. An excellent player, and seems to have a great attitude.

Yes. More than harsh, exactly what sort of question was that? With what other player would it be acceptable to say something like that?

Absolutely immense, all over the pitch, and the only one you trust whenever he had the ball. Unstoppable right now. If only he hadn't been managed by the BFC for two years.

And how many teams could a Sunderland fan successfully mark on a map? Including Sunderland.

Botman and Rodon sound like just the crime-fighting duo our defence needs.

This lot have their quarter final against Arsenal in the current Omicron central, London Town tonight. Coming from a region which has very low Omicron rates to start with, I think it's a bit shabby that it's been allowed to go ahead. Not least because it means sending down a bunch who don't even understand how not to dive headfirst into a 6 inch concrete fountain, let alone how to wash their hands for 20 seconds.

What a comical team.

That's an amazing thread. They are arguing that they can't afford to give up £700, that the person who posted it must be a mag, that the people from Crook are all mags and that they are sick of being taken advantage of (probably by mags). It's as if they are so stupid that their heads have exploded, and I Iook forward to their ongoing rivalry with Crook Town, and the North Sea.

No, and a loan doesn't count as income anyway. So they could inject all the money in the world through loans, and it would make no difference to the ffp spending cap.

There's no easy way of establishing the market value of a sponsorship, so many factors to consider and it's a unique market. It's basically unworkable, I reckon. The concern is that it needs to be agreed by the PL lawyers, who will indeed take their time and try to tangle, block and obstruct for as long as possible. So I'm agreed with the idea that we just sign something and let them pick the bones out of it after. I mean, what can they do? A points deduction? Well, I'm fairly confident that's a bit like threatening Kojack with a hair deduction.

They should just put Peter Walton on VAR. Then he can simply agree with every refereeing decision anyway, so it's like it wouldn't be there. They could even change the name to the See-no-evil Waltonometer.

Really think we need at least a point here - not for the league table as much as for morale given the games coming up. I know we're not really expected to beat many of them, but we're on the up right now and a series of drubbings could turn that into reverse. But something here, something at Everton, and some fighting performances against the rest would put us in decent shape come January.

Could it not put Shearer in a bit of a conflict with his MoTD role? But yeah, get KK in all day long.

It's dated 7 October, takeover day I think. So old news, and yes, a way to raise cash from the owners by selling new shares (to themselves) rather than by taking on debt.