The Football Thread.

scrumhalf

I've had a look at the charges against Citeh and a lot of them look to be procedural, it's not as if they did what Forest and Everton did many times over.

However, their dispute does seem to be a case of "we'll back down if you do".

guitars4you

scrumhalf said:

I've had a look at the charges against Citeh and a lot of them look to be procedural, it's not as if they did what Forest and Everton did many times over.

100% in that they did not/have not created big losses FFP/PSR, as per Everton and Forest and those pending Leicester any time now

But they have severely exploited the rules and seriously 'distorted' how they apply 'fair' funding from a potential sugar daddy

Excessive stadium sponsorship, +  shirt sponsorship - Both from a company/business they also own - Add to that 'potential/probable' wages/bonus paid to Pep/managers/players/agents via UAE, so as not to show thru' the City books, as such

As such they keep relevant expenses, paid via the UK account, at an acceptable level, coupled with a 'sugar daddy' bending the rules as to funding - Hence FFP/PSR is all good at their end

How illegal is all this, then maybe down to interpretation - I suspect the City lawyers will be streets ahead of the PL team and as such they won't be charged/penalised 

I suspect the whole audit trail will be complicated, as per tax evasion etc, hence the time taken to produce a relevant prosecution and so many charges - 115 

UnclePsychosis

City to win their case and bankrupt the PL just for the lols, please. 

victorludorum

I wonder what the forfeit rules are for the PL? I was speculating on how the other clubs could deal with this and I had the crazy idea (never going to happen of course), that if this goes through, maybe the other clubs should just forfeit their matches against City, so they'd win the league by miles, but never actually play a game.

guitars4you

victorludorum said:

I wonder what the forfeit rules are for the PL? I was speculating on how the other clubs could deal with this and I had the crazy idea (never going to happen of course), that if this goes through, maybe the other clubs should just forfeit their matches against City, so they'd win the league by miles, but never actually play a game.

Similar but a bit of a tangent - When we get to the FA Cup and no replays for drawn matches after 90 mins - All the EFL clubs, if playing a PL Club, should walk to their fans in the stands, give them a round of applause and thanks then walk off - A protest of course, but if the elite PL clubs can't be arsed to respect them, then they can have the result, so eff off - Great moments like Ronnie Radford's winner would never have happened without a replay 

So the EFL team forfeit ET and potential penalties and of course the game - If no replay after 90 mins, you don't respect us, so we won't respect you 

guitars4you

VAR remains 
vote is 19  - 1
Hope Man City appreciate that is democracy amongst a board of shareholders 

thecolourbox

guitars4you said:

VAR remains 
vote is 19  - 1
Hope Man City appreciate that is democracy amongst a board of shareholders 

Assuming Wolves are the 1, would be amusing if they said they'd sue because the rules are infringing them! See what Man City think of that?

Obviously i know Wolves won't do that, and do feel for them as they've had a particularly bad rub of it this year from VAR by all accounts, but it was always going to be a difficult one to convince them to get rid of it altogether.

As with the poor referees in the championship, of course the obvious answer always seems to be that we just need better people doing it

thecolourbox

I need to pick my team to support in the Euros. In theory and on paper, Austria or Hungary should be my choice, being smaller teams who i think might surprise people a bit. However Austria seem to have a hard group with France and Netherlands, and Hungary...well i vaguely recall some controversy around when they played England? Am i misremembering? I live in Austria for a while and they were absolutely hopeless back then (I was there in 07 and 08, came home just as the Euros were in full flow) so I'd like to see them do well. I'm just concerned that I'll be having to switch to France or Netherlands too early on if the group finishes how I expect it to

Türki̇ye could be another good option for me to support, they are taking a West Brom player in their squad and also Türki̇ye seems to be a country who upset the people in my quiz team (can't think why) so that would be fun. 

Any other good tips for underdogs who might do better than expected?

DrCornelius

thecolourbox said:

I need to pick my team to support in the Euros. In theory and on paper, Austria or Hungary should be my choice, being smaller teams who i think might surprise people a bit. However Austria seem to have a hard group with France and Netherlands, and Hungary...well i vaguely recall some controversy around when they played England? Am i misremembering? I live in Austria for a while and they were absolutely hopeless back then (I was there in 07 and 08, came home just as the Euros were in full flow) so I'd like to see them do well. I'm just concerned that I'll be having to switch to France or Netherlands too early on if the group finishes how I expect it to

Türki̇ye could be another good option for me to support, they are taking a West Brom player in their squad and also Türki̇ye seems to be a country who upset the people in my quiz team (can't think why) so that would be fun. 

Any other good tips for underdogs who might do better than expected?

Ok , I’ll bite …… why not England ? 

guitars4you

thecolourbox said:

guitars4you said:

VAR remains 
vote is 19  - 1
Hope Man City appreciate that is democracy amongst a board of shareholders 

Assuming Wolves are the 1, would be amusing if they said they'd sue because the rules are infringing them! See what Man City think of that?

Obviously i know Wolves won't do that, and do feel for them as they've had a particularly bad rub of it this year from VAR by all accounts, but it was always going to be a difficult one to convince them to get rid of it altogether.

As with the poor referees in the championship, of course the obvious answer always seems to be that we just need better people doing it

Lol and wiz both appear to be suitable

I only recall 2 obvious errors in the EFL last season for us - One went our way and one didn't 

guitars4you

thecolourbox said:

I need to pick my team to support in the Euros. In theory and on paper, Austria or Hungary should be my choice, being smaller teams who i think might surprise people a bit. However Austria seem to have a hard group with France and Netherlands, and Hungary...well i vaguely recall some controversy around when they played England? Am i misremembering? I live in Austria for a while and they were absolutely hopeless back then (I was there in 07 and 08, came home just as the Euros were in full flow) so I'd like to see them do well. I'm just concerned that I'll be having to switch to France or Netherlands too early on if the group finishes how I expect it to

Türki̇ye could be another good option for me to support, they are taking a West Brom player in their squad and also Türki̇ye seems to be a country who upset the people in my quiz team (can't think why) so that would be fun. 

Any other good tips for underdogs who might do better than expected?

I'm always club first country 2nd when it comes to football - But think this is potentially our best squad for years

In Pickford, Rice, Kane, Bellingham, Foden we have world class players with Shaw, Saga and Walker there or there about - The centre backs worry me and as such expect Southgate to protect them with Rice and Mainoo holding infant - hence a bit negative - But Southgate likes that set up

thecolourbox

DrCornelius said:

thecolourbox said:

I need to pick my team to support in the Euros. In theory and on paper, Austria or Hungary should be my choice, being smaller teams who i think might surprise people a bit. However Austria seem to have a hard group with France and Netherlands, and Hungary...well i vaguely recall some controversy around when they played England? Am i misremembering? I live in Austria for a while and they were absolutely hopeless back then (I was there in 07 and 08, came home just as the Euros were in full flow) so I'd like to see them do well. I'm just concerned that I'll be having to switch to France or Netherlands too early on if the group finishes how I expect it to

Türki̇ye could be another good option for me to support, they are taking a West Brom player in their squad and also Türki̇ye seems to be a country who upset the people in my quiz team (can't think why) so that would be fun. 

Any other good tips for underdogs who might do better than expected?

Ok , I’ll bite …… why not England ? 

Well because I usually like to follow the tournament through to the end and typically supporting England is not the best way to do that. So I pick an underdog to support and then when they go out, I swap to the team who beat them, and so on until the final. My only vetos allowed are if it's a team I don't like as they are dirty/cheats etc or if it's England, as I just don't feel any reason to support them when I'd be jibing and cheering against them every week if my club side were in the premier league.

The final of the last euros was obviously a tricky one to navigate given those two vetos haha

It just means I get to enjoy it as a football fan, and I don't have to join in with all the rubbish about something coming home or the public dressing down the press will inevitably dish out when England don't win it again.

It's just more fun basically

DrCornelius

thecolourbox said:

DrCornelius said:

thecolourbox said:

I need to pick my team to support in the Euros. In theory and on paper, Austria or Hungary should be my choice, being smaller teams who i think might surprise people a bit. However Austria seem to have a hard group with France and Netherlands, and Hungary...well i vaguely recall some controversy around when they played England? Am i misremembering? I live in Austria for a while and they were absolutely hopeless back then (I was there in 07 and 08, came home just as the Euros were in full flow) so I'd like to see them do well. I'm just concerned that I'll be having to switch to France or Netherlands too early on if the group finishes how I expect it to

Türki̇ye could be another good option for me to support, they are taking a West Brom player in their squad and also Türki̇ye seems to be a country who upset the people in my quiz team (can't think why) so that would be fun. 

Any other good tips for underdogs who might do better than expected?

Ok , I’ll bite …… why not England ? 

Well because I usually like to follow the tournament through to the end and typically supporting England is not the best way to do that. So I pick an underdog to support and then when they go out, I swap to the team who beat them, and so on until the final. My only vetos allowed are if it's a team I don't like as they are dirty/cheats etc or if it's England, as I just don't feel any reason to support them when I'd be jibing and cheering against them every week if my club side were in the premier league.

The final of the last euros was obviously a tricky one to navigate given those two vetos haha

It just means I get to enjoy it as a football fan, and I don't have to join in with all the rubbish about something coming home or the public dressing down the press will inevitably dish out when England don't win it again.

It's just more fun basically

I dont agree with your logic but as long as you enjoy the tournament thats the main thing :-)

I'm lucky usually as my Dad is Italian, mum is Irish and my wife's family are Welsh so there is usually a back up team for me in the Euro's at least

guitars4you

Interesting - make up of which players from which team - Palace top the table

Arsenal: 3

Aston Villa: 2

Bayern Munich: 1

Brentford: 1

Brighton: 1

Chelsea: 2

Crystal Palace: 4

Everton: 1

Liverpool: 2

Newcastle: 2

Manchester City: 3

Manchester United: 2

Real Madrid: 1

West Ham: 1

No Maguire - Can understand with injury issues - No Grealish - Probably a surprise but has not been on fire this season with City - But still surprised as he could have had an impact as a sub - Who else will get us multiple free kicks now - Glad Bowen given a chance - Excited for Anthony, Eze and Palmer - Don't expect any of them to start but some will have a part to play 

thecolourbox

Yes it makes it much more fun. I get enough footballing disappointment from watching West Brom, I don't feel the need to subject myself to even more of it with national sides, where these big tournaments are literally supposed to be about enjoying the best of the best against each other in quick succession. 

I'm not patriotic in the slightest though so I imagine if people are then it's a slightly more difficult method to follow, but it's nice to just let go and enjoy the matches rather than really caring who wins

Shrews

England will of course win it, but my long shot to do well are Slovakia

Will finish 2nd in their group: 

Belgium
Slovakia
Ukraine
Romania

In the 2nd round will play The Netherlands (beatable)

In the Quarters will play Portugal (beatable)

In the Semis will play Germany (this will be the "shock" game of the tournament)

In the final they will play England

swiller

The teams attack is very strong. Right to drop grealish and Maguire. Pair of tw@s, mentally not right.
Trippier and gordon very happy with and imho massive assets to england. Gordon deserves starts for sure and establish an understanding with kane. I can see him becoming the english ryan giggs and look at his scoring record this season.for nufc and general contribution. You may not know but trains his brain as much as his body, ensuring attitude, self belief, bravery is correct in the psychology. Its howes way as well. The exact opposite of grealish and maguire. 

Glad eze going, palace on fire in latter half of season, he is ripe mentally and like gordon, willing to run at defences and just frighten the opposition  get in the box. You could see wharton in midfield and eze up front for same familiarity reasons as trip/gordon.

Defensive midfield is the weaker spot imho, with the 2 no brainers in midfield mainoo bellingham, does need the likes of gordon mainoo who can come back and help out. Best players in defence are trip and the man city lads. Keeper i think is a problem. Nick pope all day if he had come off a full season.

I hope he plays the familiarity game between players from teams and sculpts his options/ subsititute strategies. Needs to do that early really, no time to settle in or gel a team.

I have England as potential winners. I just see defence and/or tactics perhaps the shortcoming. Engalnd should do well if southgate doesnt make significant blunders tactically. 

guitars4you

Group B probably the kiss of death group - Yet maybe Croatia and Madrid are just getting a touch long in the tooth - But pick teh top 2 from Italy, Spain and Croatia - Yet 2nd place in Group A, C, E and F look very wide open - Then add 4 best of the 'loosers' can still go thru' to the KO stage

In fact when you look at it like this 24 teams start - Only 8 get kicked out early 

mikeyrob73

swiller said:

The teams attack is very strong. Right to drop grealish and Maguire. Pair of tw@s, mentally not right.
Trippier and gordon very happy with and imho massive assets to england. Gordon deserves starts for sure and establish an understanding with kane. I can see him becoming the english ryan giggs and look at his scoring record this season.for nufc and general contribution. You may not know but trains his brain as much as his body, ensuring attitude, self belief, bravery is correct in the psychology. Its howes way as well. The exact opposite of grealish and maguire. 

Glad eze going, palace on fire in latter half of season, he is ripe mentally and like gordon, willing to run at defences and just frighten the opposition  get in the box. You could see wharton in midfield and eze up front for same familiarity reasons as trip/gordon.

Defensive midfield is the weaker spot imho, with the 2 no brainers in midfield mainoo bellingham, does need the likes of gordon mainoo who can come back and help out. Best players in defence are trip and the man city lads. Keeper i think is a problem. Nick pope all day if he had come off a full season.

I hope he plays the familiarity game between players from teams and sculpts his options/ subsititute strategies. Needs to do that early really, no time to settle in or gel a team.

I have England as potential winners. I just see defence and/or tactics perhaps the shortcoming. Engalnd should do well if southgate doesnt make significant blunders tactically. 

Keeper is a problem ? Pickford has always been solid for Engerlund 

guitars4you

mikeyrob73 said:

swiller said:

The teams attack is very strong. Right to drop grealish and Maguire. Pair of tw@s, mentally not right.
Trippier and gordon very happy with and imho massive assets to england. Gordon deserves starts for sure and establish an understanding with kane. I can see him becoming the english ryan giggs and look at his scoring record this season.for nufc and general contribution. You may not know but trains his brain as much as his body, ensuring attitude, self belief, bravery is correct in the psychology. Its howes way as well. The exact opposite of grealish and maguire. 

Glad eze going, palace on fire in latter half of season, he is ripe mentally and like gordon, willing to run at defences and just frighten the opposition  get in the box. You could see wharton in midfield and eze up front for same familiarity reasons as trip/gordon.

Defensive midfield is the weaker spot imho, with the 2 no brainers in midfield mainoo bellingham, does need the likes of gordon mainoo who can come back and help out. Best players in defence are trip and the man city lads. Keeper i think is a problem. Nick pope all day if he had come off a full season.

I hope he plays the familiarity game between players from teams and sculpts his options/ subsititute strategies. Needs to do that early really, no time to settle in or gel a team.

I have England as potential winners. I just see defence and/or tactics perhaps the shortcoming. Engalnd should do well if southgate doesnt make significant blunders tactically. 

Keeper is a problem ? Pickford has always been solid for Engerlund 

I agree with you mickeyrob73

plus I don’t have an issue with Rice and Mainoo in that DM holding role - The only negative with it is Gareth and his safety mentality coupled with a pair of centre backs that have not developed a relationship and Stones has not been prolific this season - But Rice is now world class but for England he will have to stay deep and let Foden plus Bellingham and Saka run the game in front of him