TheBrownBottle

Yep. First side since the mighty North Macedonia to achieve that Herculean task.

There are some depressingly thick Geordies out there … https://mobile.twitter.com/RightToon/status/1638844393116385280

Just turned this on for the second half, Jesus wept I forget just how shite Maguire is. How Southgate is still picking some of these is beyond me - almost as if he’s a failed second division manager.

I’m calling for NUFC to return to wearing blue shorts. We won loads wearing them.

I’m trying to think of which clubs have changed their first team kits in recent years. Cardiff were very recent, Liverpool and Leeds are relatively recent (in my dad’s lifetime, anyway) edit: Villa occasionally play in stripes. Same colours though.

Just what I was thinking. Hurst would change his own name never mind the club’s if he felt it would get him into the club boardroom for an afternoon

Self-awareness isn’t one of their strengths. They also fail to mention the SOS’s greatest appeal to away fans - it’s a short walk from the Metro station, which means you can drink in Newcastle before and after the game with a convenient half hour or so train ride to the game and back

I’d want Man Utd to beat the Smoggies, it has to be said. They’re not proper rivals but that doesn’t mean I want them to succeed.

It’s perfectly easy to argue against - where did the previous figures come from? Which decisions were reviewed in order to come up with the ‘decreases in diving’, etc? What was the solid basis upon which a dive was judged to be a dive? Which leagues were used as a control group? I meant it when I said pseudoscientific. It’s completely qualitative and built upon suppositions. You see cast-iron facts - I see fundamentally flawed amateur research. NB VAR being the root cause of the reduction in WC FKs - how often is VAR used on FKs? How many times has a FK - not a pen - been ruled out or given by VAR? The answer, of course, is zero - it doesn’t rule on them. But apparently the 30% reduction is down to VAR? Correlation mixed up with causation there.

The Forest game had Anderson’s goal changed because of a ‘clear and obvious error’ - i.e. the defender ‘didn’t deliberately play the ball and therefore Longstaff was offside’. This obviously was incorrect, but it didn’t stop them chalking it off. It doesn’t improve the game one bit - it simply means that more contentious calls might be called correctly at a cost to the spontaneity and democratic structure of the footballing pyramid. I’m far less bothered about that - I enjoy the human element of sport. The only ‘fans’ I can imagine enjoying this nonsense are those who’ve never actually been to live football matches, and therefore football to them is just another TV program to watch. They can go and grab something from the fridge whilst the VAR official makes up their mind.

Again, you can cite all the studies you like - they’re still making qualitative and not quantitative arguments. ‘Diving went down’. Completely qualitative, pseudoscientific shite. Also, a reduction in the number of fouls given is not proof that foul play has decreased - it is just as likely to be that referees won’t blow for anything which is not absolutely blatant knowing full well that their mates in the booth can pick up the slack - see Forest v Newcastle.

Yep. Correlation doesn’t equal causation and all that

It used to take a hell of a lot for me to criticise a referee - it usually had to be epically bad; a Trelford Mills on a bad day type of performance. Now, it’s every few games I’m fucking fuming - it’s increased the indecisiveness of the whistleblower and they know they can be ‘saved’ by the incompetent twat watching behind a monitor. It works in cricket and rugby because neither sport has a pyramid structure and both are naturally stop-start. Oh, and refereeing / umpiring those sports is a shitload easier as you’re not covering several miles a game with constant flowing movement across the turf.

He definitely did for me - he moves his leg towards the ball to clear it.

But again, you’re never going to get a standard application, because it’s still open to interpretation - like any other set of laws. One person’s ‘clear and obvious’ is not another’s - you’re always going to get varying use depending on who is the VAR ref that day. You’re assuming that the laws of the game are not open at all to interpretation - when they absolutely are. Irrespective of which league they’re operating in, this will be the case. PS 50 seconds is a LONG time to be stood waiting to know whether or not you can celebrate. The spontaneity of the moment is gone - I can’t believe that anyone who’s actually been to a football match can’t see this. This is meant to be an entertainment at the end of the day

It was explained on the PL international feed. Former ref Chris Foy had spoken to them and confirmed this was the case, and also said he agreed with them. I’m agreeing with you that an instinctive action would make it not offside - the VAR referee, match referee and Foy all said that Felipe didn’t even act instinctively- they said the ball bounced off him, because he didn’t try to hit it with his foot. Total bollocks, of course

I’ve now seen the full Conte interview. That’s a cracker. Eviscerates the owners, players, the club in under five minutes. Perfect summation of everything wrong at Spurs - and also a summation of why he shouldn’t have took the job in the first place. He said what most already know. Cynically, I think it’s also an act designed to leave him blameless when he goes, but it is thoroughly entertaining nonetheless.

In folklore they’re also associated with grabbing and taking silver objects, so I wouldn’t worry about it - those folktales clearly have no truth to them

The nickname comes from the kit, but the nickname was around for decades before we even started having a badge on the kit at all. Completely accept the points you’re making, though.

Yep, I agree - but the owners are playing nice, no doubt because the PL could also start playing hardball on other matters. It’s anti-competitive nonsense that other clubs can judge what is a reasonable amount for a club to earn.

It’s not the instinctive nature of the action - the VAR panel didn’t think there was an action at all. They thought that the ball basically bounced off him when moving at speed. It’s onside if he instinctively hits the ball.

Yes, according to Chris Foy on the international coverage. He spoke to them and then said he agreed with their call.

I still run with incompetence before corruption. The fact the VAR team would happily go on the record stating that Felipe didn’t deliberately play the ball I reckon fulfils the criterion of embarrassment, and shows that they don’t realise how stupid they sound.

The magpie one always looked nice and European - but I’ve never been a fan of the NUF(upside down)C we had when I was a kid.

I’d prefer the city crest, but my understanding - and I’m happy for anyone to let me know I’ve got this one wrong - is that we can’t make money from the city coat of arms, and therefore while we can use it, we can’t trademark it or make money sticking it on things to flog.