TheBrownBottle

Yep - and I don’t remember any collective whining or grumbling from Mackems or Smoggies re leaving Joker or Ayresome. And Roker was comfortably as historic as SJP, and arguably more linked to Sunderland’s identity (they were the Rokerites until they needed a new nickname due to the move, and asked Soccer AM to vote on what it should be …)

All that matters is that the players don’t underestimate the opposition. Personally, I think they’re shite who’d struggle in the old second division. European club football is increasingly lopsided due to massive wealth disparities - there’s a lot of dross in the Champions League, and the dull new format has meant even duller early knockout games. This is a tie which wouldn’t look out of place in the Conference League. We shouldn’t be doing anything other than knocking these out with something to spare.

He might be a Rolls Royce defender, but he’s got a Lada’s chassis …

Agreed, but I think we’ll price him out, and the lad won’t agitate for a move.

Tbf the Mackems did play in the first and second round of the FA Cup for a few years 😁

I don’t think Hall is going anywhere, but there’s a good chance the other three are

Best FB we’ve had in my lifetime, but he’s a liability at the back at this point. There was a few times vs Villa when it was heart-in-mouth stuff.

Unless you are curling dumbbells, none of that muscle is of any use in football.

Shilton played in the 60s/70s/80s/90s - he also sits in a similar place on the political spectrum to Emre

Yes, adding very little usable strength, reducing dexterity but getting into contention for a Playgirl spread is what needs to be done

As predicted, then. Fuck our luck.

If he’s on a coaching salary, no problem. £100k pw? Nah.

That’s not how it works - the player isn’t forced to sign for them.

I don’t Joelinton was ever worth the money we paid tbh - nor do I think he was ever one of the best midfielders in the country. His best form came with him ahead of Willock which was more like a LW.

We voted for it, in the long run yes, it’s worse than PSR as you don’t get allowable losses over a rolling three year period - and if you don’t qualify for Europe the rules are even tighter. The old rules effectively allowed owners to make up for just over £100m of ‘losses’ (PSR book losses) over the three year period. There are no allowable book losses going forwards - in fact, spending is capped within income levels.

I’m not someone who dreads anyone leaving tbh - but it’s as obvious as the nose on my face what his agent has been up to; and he hasn’t sacked his agent yet …

😁

But just like Joelinton, you don’t pay a top centre forward’s money for a good midfielder.

I know - but I can absolutely understand the confusion, too. Ryder is a useful shield for NE football hacks in that he can barely string a legible sentence together, but they’re mostly shite writers.

You absolutely do not need VAR for those decisions, like. A vaguely competent official with open eyes would’ve made the correct calls. You could pull any linesman and ref from a pub league match and they’d call it right. VAR’s defenders actually have a stronger case for more difficult calls - those calls would be infamous for years at any time in the past.

Tbf it’s obvious only based on what we know - Hope’s article is so poorly written that if you didn’t know that already, then it actually makes it appear that it’s Howe saying it, as the use of ‘he’ established in the clause before is clearly referring to Howe as the subject of it. It’s incredible the piss poor writing and sub editing which passes for journalism these days.

It was a shocking decision, but watching the punditocracy missing entirely why VAR isn’t part of the FA Cup tells me all I need to know about their understanding and respect for the competition.

Yep, happy for Howe to do exactly that - we just have some crazy fixture congestion and a second bite if we lose an away tie. These are shite, ultimately - Howe always respects the opposition, but a weakened XI should be able to make a game of it.

Knackers would be screaming for it to come back - the rest of us enjoy it as a part of football. It removes immediacy from the game - VAR is shite whether it gets things right or wrong.

Pre-dates me as I was a toddler - but my uncle would still spit blood about Mills decades later