Ace

12 hours ago, geordiesteve710 said:

 

We "imported" that Jared Gillett from Australia (granted he spent two years in the EFL before reffing Prem games) and he's one of the worst in the league.

 

There's something toxic in the English game which is absolutely fucking up the way VAR is used. It's certainly not abuse from the fans but I don't think it's because English refs are intrinsically or genetically blinder/more incompetent than other nationalities.

I agree that they can in theory be good but the culture is toxic and needs to be changed.

it’s hard to grow good crops on bad land . 

1 hour ago, joeyt said:

 

I think dissent of referees should be punished harsher I agree but the article states that most red cards have been given for a second bookable offence, which indicates to me that Spanish referees are giving yellow cards out too easily

 

The suggestion that VAR and refereeing is working fine in other divisions, it's just the PL where it's failing is clearly not true

Or they are correctly punishing fouls, I think a lot of bookings aren't given when they should be in the prem.

Its interesting to note in that article also at no point does it imply the refs are doing a bad job just that they are being more strict in following the law, for me thats a good thing.

My issue is more with VAR and again I have to disagree at every other level Ive seen it used it works much better than in the prem.

Just now, Infatuation Junkie said:

Goal line is fine apart from when the ball crosses the line and the refs watch buzzes and they still don’t give the goal. Like the other week in the europa game. 
 

Cant remember what match it was but took ages to sort out and they still didn’t give the goal. 

Didnt see that, if thats the case and the watch is buzzing and he hasnt given it, that is deliberate incompetence from the ref

The only time I can think of was villa vs shef utd where it didn't go off till later and the point ended up relegating bournemouth

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

 

Yeah, goal line tech is fine. Offsides are alright but I don't think the spirit of the offside rule is reflected in the way it is applied down to the millimetre now.

 

Maybe for offside we could look into ways to change the rule so that perfectly good goals aren't disallowed for someone leaning the wrong way. Like handball, that's probably an example of technology showing up that the rule itself isn't fit for purpose.  

Yeah I remember when it used to be the attackers advantage. Something like the hawkeye system could surely be adjusted to give an advantage to the attacker again

I hate what we have where the lines seem to suit to whomever is playing

3 minutes ago, joeyt said:

You've just said yourself you don't watch other leagues week in week out. If you did and supported a Spanish team you'd hate the referees too. Their referees are getting criticised

 

There's been 112 red cards in la Liga this season. That is an obscene number. We've only had 28 in the Premier League

 

https://en.as.com/soccer/why-is-laliga-leading-the-red-card-count-across-european-big-leagues-n/

If the decisions were the right decisions I wouldnt. The number doesnt matter in the slightest to me its whether they were the correct decisions and consistent with other decisions.

It is Good article but the point isn't about the number of cards its about the number of wrong decisions. The article even states that there are more reds because of a consistent level to punish challenges that may cause injuries and a harsher stance on dissent/abuse which is a good thing dont you think? 

2 minutes ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Players have been abusing refs since well before VAR. 

 

I would personally have gone with accepting that refs make mistakes and that decisions are subjective, rather than trying to pretend a replay can solve anything. Especially one so badly implemented. 

 

I find it difficult to believe there's any difference between our refs and other countries, doesn't seem to make much sense. It's possible they have better VAR implementations though. 

Do you agree with simple factual things like goal line tech or the hawkeye offsides or are you just against it all?

4 hours ago, joeyt said:

 

Completely agree with this.

 

The comments in here and on social media that it's just because English refs are hopeless is why VAR is not successful and refereeing is working fine in other countries is nonsense

 

I  disagree with both you and the article on this. The article makes out that if there isn't abuse the refs will be better. I agree that players shouldn't be being abusive to the refs (putting in an only captains can speak to the ref without being spoken to would be a great idea IMO) but a referee is one of the few jobs where the consequences for incompetence is so low. Its not like removing the abuse makes the refs suddenly better. The VAR officials arent getting abuse and they are getting it wrong so much.

As for your point about VAR, I dont watch every game in other leagues/european football but there never seems to be the sheer amount of wrong decisions and they never seem to take as long either. Personally think the English refs are getting it wrong big style as evidenced by week after week of bad decisions.

3 hours ago, AyeDubbleYoo said:

Forgot Ramsay played for Nice. 

 

That's the other Thuram innit? Marcus is the one we've been linked with. Agree about the hair though. 

weve been linked to both, Marcus is the winger/forward who is on a free

Khephren is the box to box centre mid who plays for Nice

Both good players, Todibo the CB is the one Im most keen on from Nice though.

4 hours ago, The Prophet said:

 

Wonder how many times it will mention the nonce they had playing in all 6 and how their fans cheered for him ?

3 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

Spurs are decent at home, I could even see them beating Man United down there. They have some tough away trips to SJP, Anfield  and Villa Park though.

Think them vs Liverpool is a coin flip as both have none existent midfields based on recent games but both have quality forwards. 
 

Hopefully Villa can do them (hopefully after not turning up vs us) 

11 minutes ago, brummie said:

 

Yeah, he's a fucking dreadful political operator who looks after number one, and - and I don't know if this happened with you, but it did with us - even used to get his idiot fucking son weighing in on twitter.

 

Gerrard was a clueless, obnoxious cunt, but Bruce was a different type of obnoxious, 'not my fault' wanker.

Yeah his son was terrible and his mates in the media just chatted shit. 
 

You kept hearing he was a nice guy but every time he got a question that wasn’t sugarcoated he’d strop like and radge like a bairn.

Nothing was his fault. 2 years in it was Rafas fault we were negative yet Howe cast off all his shit in a couple of months. Dean Smith did similar with you. 
 

Also he’s a slumlord so doubly fuck him 

3 minutes ago, brummie said:

 

The Midlands one is clearly Villa Park, which will be at 52k by then (rebuilding North Stand this summer).

 

Fair point re 12 v 10 grounds, it's probably part of the wider picture in terms of what UEFA insist on.

 

TBH it's probably only political reasons that make this a UK and ROI bid rather than just an England bid. England could easily host this on its own, but looks like multi country bids are the new 'thing'

Sorry I didn’t make myself clear, I meant as a potential second ground in the midlands if they did go for 12? 
 

I was thinking of Euro 2020 but that was 12 venues due to its unique set up. 2016 was 10 and 2024 in Germany will be 10 

I wonder if it’s a multi bid because of the Euro 2020 drama 

2 minutes ago, The Prophet said:

 

5 wins should do it. If anyone pipped us on 71+ points we'd be very unlucky. 

 

It would mean Spurs would have to win 6 of their last 8 and better our goal difference. 

5 wins and beating Spurs  would. I like to air on the side of caution 

Spurs have struggled but it’s not beyond the realms of possibility they win 6 of 8 and draw one of the other 2 if the beat us. 
 

Brighton winning 9/10 seems tougher so 5 should see them off. 
 

Anyone else would need us to collapse. 

Just now, brummie said:

 

Manchester and Merseyside together encompass an enormous population - 5m (3.5m + 1.5m), with god knows how many professional clubs in that area. The West Midlands and surrounding area also has a huge number of clubs.

 

Ultimately, as it's not just an England bid, they are limited to six venues, so i think they've done a pretty good job.

 

They've ignored the south west because it basically isn't football territory and as a result doesn't have any stadiums even remotely close to big enough.

 

If anything, I am impressed they resisted the temptation to give London 3 venues.

Which particular one in the midlands? Didn’t think any of the others were near 40k never mind 50k? 
 

My initial point was why didn’t they go for 12 grounds rather than 10 as it fit the tournament better but if there is 6 in England it’s hard to argue with the 6 locations

Think the worst part of Bruce was how he just peddled Ashley’s lines and played on all the media biases against us to try and excuse his incompetence while pretending to be one of the fans. 

6 wins should do it

Going to be a challenge as every team we have to play has something to play for.

Next 2 games are the biggest indicators of how it will go for us. 

2 minutes ago, brummie said:

 

There's one stadium in the West Midlands - population 3.5m, one in Greater Manchester, population almost as much, and one in Merseyside which also has a large population, and two in London, population 10m.

 

There's just no political argument to have two stadiums in the north east which a much, much lower population. Maybe if this were an England only tournament, but it's not.

 

 

 

Thing is Manchester/Liverpool are pretty close together so there’s 2 in a similar region.

Is there any other stadium suitable in the midlands? As would think that region would make the most sense for an extra one other than Yorkshire 

South-South West could have been a shout but only really Bristol City of decent size and that would still need expansion 

1 hour ago, Optimistic Nut said:

Unless you're based in Sunderland, it's a fucking nightmare getting to and from events.

When the metro is running with extra trains Ive found it no worse than getting out of town on a match day personally 

2 minutes ago, brummie said:

 

Sunderland isn't one of the grounds because there are all sorts of other criteria around things like hotel rooms and public transport etc etc which Sunderland would never fulfill.

 

It's also not just "enough hotels", it's enough hotels of a certain quality. If you look at, for example, the requirements around UEFA competition final grounds, it's about 4 and 5 star hotels.

 

There's also no way they'd have 2 grounds in the north east, they need - politically - to spread the load geographically.

 

I think they also insist on 50k+ capacity, but I think they may make an exception for Belfast (again, politically).

 

If they need 4/5* hotel it could be the difference maker.

The metro runs to Sunderland and they have a decent bus network so public transport links are reasonable and not much worse than Newcastle.

The political side of it could be true, could maybe go for Leeds with an expansion as another area but still relatively close.

Would be a bit harsh to rule out a 49000 seater on a 50k limit. 

3 hours ago, Stifler said:

You can’t have both SJP and the SOS hosting international matches. There isn’t enough hotels, the public transport would crumble, and the police force would be on their knees begging for mercy before KO.

Think that’s a bit of an exaggeration. Public transport and policing can survive both us and them at home with 80k+ at both combined. They may need to pay a bit overtime but it’s definitely manageable.

As for hotels there are loads of towns on the metro in striking distance which can ease the burden. It’s not like they all have to stay in Newcastle or the dark place. 

Another option instead of SOS could be bellend road like Euro 96. 

1 hour ago, TRon said:

Has anyone seen much of Manuel Ugarte as an option for the DM role? I saw some stats which looked outstanding, but of course that could depend on the standard of football he plays at.

Obviously stepping up to the prem needs to be taken into account but I think he'd be ideal for what we are looking for to unleash Bruno, very press resistant on the ball and really strong on the defensive side of things.

Sporting seem to have a conveyor belt of good midfielders having Ugarte after selling Palhinha and Nunes

4 hours ago, Jack27 said:

https://news.sky.com/story/euro-2028-uk-and-ireland-submit-final-bid-as-stadium-list-revealed-12855731 

St. James' Park on the shortlist
 

 

 

 

 

Think its a bit strange going for 10 stadiums when there are 6 groups, surely it would make more sense having 12 grounds so each group has 2 stadiums and each stadium gets 3 group games and either a second round or quarter final game. If you added Parkhead and the oversized B&Q stadium you could have 6 nice regional fits:

Scotland: Parkhead/Glasgow

London: Wembley/Spurs

South West/wales: Villa/Cardiff

Ireland: Dublin/Belfast

North West; Ettihad/Kings Dock

North East: St James/ SOS 

3 hours ago, Jack27 said:

 

Putting a statement out saying they arent sacking someone very Watford

Chris Wilder has had a fall from grace, everything he touched seemed to turn to gold but failed miserably at the smoggies and has Watford sinking

1 hour ago, Kid Icarus said:

imo Mings is one of those players who'll make a big mistake and everyone goes 'aaaaaahhh he's shit' but in between making those mistakes is usually really solid. 

I used to think Titus was like that, used to watch him and think hes looking good and then he'd do something incredibly stupid and you'd feel like an idiot for thinking he might be good.

On 08/04/2023 at 23:38, The College Dropout said:

We need him to pay the majority of the remaining games man.  

I agree with this as though he can be inconsistent he offers something different to our other wingers and adds to our creativity