TheBrownBottle

It was fucking horrific to go to as an away game, but then so was Stoke and Millwall.

Boro winning makes Bob Mortimer smile. It’s like an angel getting its wings. I couldn’t give a shite about them.

It also has some very ‘interesting’ laws re prostitution. Effectively legalised trafficking

The NL teams are the biggest pisstake of all. Trying to think of a more desperate, stupid and convoluted way of doing what should be a relatively straightforward tie between group runners-up. I’m still thinking.

He’s PIF’s Head of Europe Investments - we’re just a tiny part of his overall portfolio. You’d think PIF would have the money to pay for at least one full time rep to work for the club.

Funnily enough Norway would be a side I’d fancy to get knocked out early doors - WC teams are more defined by defences than attacks (I agree with Jonathan Wilson’s comments from a while back that WC winners can usually be anticipated by looking at the strength of their full backs - if you have the best fullbacks, you’re very likely to do well). That plus the heat when the tournament is played is liable to make sides based on power far less effective. I also think that any result vs Italy needs to be taken in the context of a nation which has failed to qualify for the last two WCs and may be about to miss out on a third despite it never being easier to qualify. They’re shite.

He was a cracking player - and I kind of liked that he clearly loved the smoggies. I always wished we’d went in for him to be Beardsley’s replacement.

Not allowed - football was invented in 1992. Or 2015 based on the OG tweet.

Juninho did - Emerson (and his wife) famously didn’t.

Neither Solis nor YAR are permanent board members - they’re part-timers. So no; PIF do not have permanent board representation.

I was referring to the idea that other owners would be treated differently They also were the ones who talked about ‘being number 1’. That won’t happen organically, the club can’t be grown to be that. We’re further behind Spurs financially than we were when they took over, never mind being number 1. Holding them accountable for their own words seems reasonable to me.

Other owners don’t come with their kind of baggage

‘We navigated the PSR rules well’ yeah, not sure about that one.

They don’t have a permanent representative on the board and have been in radio silence for about three years at this point.

I completely respect your good self WM, and I know you know what you’re talking about - but KSA has a long history of talking bollocks on projects of this nature, and they look very much like absentee landlords at this point. For me it’s a bit like Pascal’s wager - I don’t reckon they will do owt, but fuck it mebbes they will, so I might be pleasantly surprised

Too right - it wouldn’t be at all like the govt of Saudi Arabia to hint that they’re going to build super duper megaprojects and then shrink back when it comes to actually doing it.

Yeah, agreed - none of this is easy.

Shearer’s penalty record wasn’t great when it actually mattered, mind - I’d take Shola on pens ahead of Shearer every time

All of them

I do think that the FB problem is a one of our own making mind - we went into the season knowing Hall was out. £250m spent and not a single FB coming in might not have been the most intelligent transfer strategy.

Howe has done an excellent job within the obvious confines of his job - and plenty mention PSR, but the reality is that this is a constraint against what’s possible. You mention that his structure and beliefs don’t match ours - in what sense is this true? Does the ownership seriously think that we should be challenging on all fronts while our revenue is further behind Spurs than it was when they bought the club (never mind the real elite clubs in the division)? I’m at a loss as to how Howe is responsible for the club’s turnover in the way that is implied here - he’s met his end of the bargain with high finishes (which equals bonus payments) and two CL campaigns plus multiple cup runs bringing in greater revenue. He’s being let down by an ownership which is asleep at the wheel and - while it came in talking big - has been an absentee landlord for some time now. We’ve just fired the commercial ‘whizz’ we hired under Staveley because he proved to be yet another executive appointment who didn’t meet up to the promise. There are definitely ways Howe can improve on what we’re seeing this season and there are ways of reasonably criticising what he’s doing - but we’re not going to reach what you’re talking about under any manager on the planet. If the owners are actually serious (I have serious doubts that they’re prepared to spend the time and money required to get there) then it’s on them to get us there, not the manager.

They didn’t help themselves with KO times at Euro 96, but from memory the crowds at SJP were atrocious- wasn’t one of the games sub-20k? Ticket pricing didn’t help either.

We’re 5th highest net spenders in Howe’s time - and yes, we were starting from a lower base than some of the other clubs, but more than enough has been spent over enough time to warrant that competing for European places isn’t overachievement but a minimum requirement, with some caveats. Again, Howe deserves time to get things right but PSR or net spend don’t cut it in terms of excuses for poor play at the moment. The players are better than the sum total of what we’re seeing - they’re playing within their abilities. If a manager / coach is responsible for anything, surely it’s getting his players to at least perform at ‘par’. I’m pretty confident Howe will steady and turn us around.

Tonali’s in his correct position at the moment - he’s not a box-to-box midfielder. We’ve already seen that.

It would scream ‘we’re not learning’ if that rumour is true tbf