Baba Yaga

I see that Everton are really struggling now, pretty much confirmed that Everton were being bankrolled by Russian oligarch Usmanov and Moshiri was largely just a front man, now the money has dried up and they are seeking investment (from US groups, although its a risky climate to control a proportion of anything with current owners so not even sure its true). https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65473716 https://www.theguardian.com/business/2023/may/03/oligarch-funded-everton-football-club-while-barred-from-uk-alisher-usmanov Anyway my question is this... do you apply the ffp rules strictly and go after them asap or do you go soft to help ensure their half built stadium is completed before taking action?

Is Wrexham really that downtrodden and neglected? I think there are many places worse off in that area within say a one hours drive. The reason I say this is because I suspect this is a myth being exaggerated by the creators of the show to make the story more marketable to the american audience (and people believe it). I agree they have created a real buzz around the town and I suspect the bbc and others are pushing this story so much because they want to see how far it can go and if it can result in actual benefits to that area (but also the owners deserve a lot of credit here too), however a lot of this 'revitalising' is just hype at the moment and may not last for long/result in the gains hoped for in tourism/economy.

Shocker of a miss but really hoping Sam Bell can work over the summer and make more regular runs and crosses like that for us next season. Not comparing Cornick to Haaland but even he had a bad one in the community shield at the start of the season.

Good news for the club that they made it back into the top flight. Hopefully the Man City hidings in the cups gave them valuable experience that will pay off next season on the pitch. Should be big crowds to look forward to especially if England have a good world cup.

Thanks for the info, I don't think speaking with the community with cameras everywhere whilst filming a TV show should be considered too kindhearted on their part. Fair play for other things but lots of owners do similar things without the benefit of it improving their TV series. Just for some perspective I think Reynolds paid 100k for a private jet flight lately so I would argue that most of this is small change to him too. Learning Welsh is somewhat a token gesture when a very small proportion of Wrexham speak Welsh and they all speak English anyway, but I am sure the locals will appreciate the effort as it plays into their Welsh identity. Not trying to be negative as these people are skilled actors with a great understanding of showbiz things and are clearly top class at marketing as seen in other areas like the gin company. I probably wouldn't watch the TV show ever so have to concede there is a lot I don't know about it but I am genuinely fascinated how far they can push this project. The hype created is pretty amazing, even a small thing like getting Ben Foster for a few games is genius due to his Internet following.

Think I have complained about the media coverage they have had in the past which I stand by, 2 people from Hollywood show up and suddenly a 5th tier team become relevant. ? Also I keep reading people saying they are investing in the community but never any specifics on how or how much which makes me think the slick marketing machine working behind the scenes is very convincing to the people who tend to lap these things up. However I like that they have given exposure internationally to the lower leagues when everything is usually prem dominated, and their project is very interesting and I will be watching to see what level they can get up to and also if they can pull off revitalising that area of the country. As already said things will be much more competitive when they hit the top half of league 1 and their commitment and their pockets will need to be much deeper by then I would guess. Fair play to the Wrexham fans though because 15 years in that division it must have been a great feeling to finally get over the line. Personally I won't mind too much when they overtake Cardiff and Swansea and they are the no 1 team in Wales again. ?

I don't think the entire 25m is for the new stand, sounds like it's for other things too, also the funding is not completely from the Welsh gov? https://news.wrexham.gov.uk/councillors-consider-new-package-to-finance-key-parts-of-wrexham-gateway-project-including-new-kop/ To be fair if it means hosting international games in North Wales again then the gov could chuck a bit a few million at improving the stand and it wouldn't hurt.

I forgot him to be honest.? Was thinking about the GJ signings and how Lee was never the most popular and Jevons/Weale where it didn't really work out. But I think with the likes of Fontaine and McAllister going to Yeovil later in their careers and with GJ going back there again too I had a positive impression of them and usually liked seeing them do well. A long way back for them now, will have to see if this is even their lowest point. Guessing there will be a few gasheads with long memories who won't have forgotten this too...

Was chatting to a Yeovil fan this time last year who was disappointed their manager Sarll had left and was worried for their future. Looks like they were right as Yeovil will be down and the manager left for Woking who are now 4th. Got to admit I don't mind Yeovil after those games in the mid 2000s and us getting Gary Johnson off them (some of their players we had not so much). Will be an interesting conference south next year if both Torquay and Yeovil are there and can get their acts together.

Last 18 league games for Port Vale, 2 wins 5 draws 11 losses. 4 games left for them, still have to play the top 2 sides. Oxford and Cambridge both still have to play the bottom 2 sides. Vale could absolutely still go down so I can see the logic in getting rid because their record for nearly half a season is worse than relegation form. But I guess their fans still appreciate him getting them up last year and the commitment he showed them in his worst moment, and if you have certain principles you won't like the way he has been treated here at all.

Looks like this animal rising group is just extinction rebellion, same people but under some different branding... https://www.animalrising.org/our-history

I think smaller clubs like Wycombe, Burton, Yeovil etc have done it in the last 10 years without massively overspending so it's not impossible, but none of them were big enough to stay up beyond a couple of seasons. It will be a really tough ask for Salford while League 1 has this many big clubs and for every little club that makes it to the champ there are many more who lose momentum and fall down the leagues again. If I was Lim I would be very worried about Valencia being in the relegation zone in Spain at the moment. ? Guessing his experience at Valencia might also put him off backing Salford more than he is now.

Looks like they are losing around £3-4m a year going from the last few seasons, apparently money from directors can count as turnover under ffp in leagues 1/2 and the ex-man u players are probably all very wealthy but they should have got paid something for selling Thomas-Asante to WBA at least. I see them as a smaller club with money like Forest Green and it took them 5 seasons and 2 play off losses before getting out of League 2, looks like Salford are in with a shout of the play offs and this is their 3rd League 2 season. I can't see Salford getting past the glass ceiling in League 1 when you start competing with the likes of Ipswich, Wednesday, Bolton etc. With Wrexham though I definitely think they could one day compete in the championship at least (and with their high profile sponsors would be interesting to see where they would stack up financially against other champ sides), would laugh if they somehow missed promotion this season though having their owners already being given the freedom of Wrexham after beating Notts.

Nobody likes an arrogant American, and depending on tonight's result possibly a deluded one too, feel bad for him as he probably didn't have time to think and just gave an off the cuff remark but I can't see their fans being very forgiving towards him if they get embarrassed tonight.

To be fair Turkey have built lots of new stadiums in the last 10 years or so and haven't hosted a major tournament before. It wouldn't be a walkover to go up against them in a fair bidding process, especially when 4 nations with 1 stadium each are trying to get in. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_of_football_stadiums_in_Turkey

To be honest I see most of the clubs mentioned as average sized league 1 clubs that have got 5-6k crowds playing City at some point in the last 20 years. Technically not relegated out the league so probably doesn't count but Wimbledon got bigger crowds than all the clubs mentioned so far in the premier league era and a better trophy than Luton/Oxford in 80s.

Listening to Mark Cooper on the way home the other week I think he was asked why do you think you're staying up and he said 'because I have to', not the most convincing answer. ? And looking very bad for them now. Also got to agree with the Scott Parker shout, has 2 promotions on his cv but he had 2 of the best teams in the league with parachute money and maybe harshly I am just not convinced by the way he speaks. A good chance he flops at a club like City.

Forest (tough run in very likely they go), Southampton (4pts to make up probably too much), Wolves (last place too close to call really and could be any of about 6 teams).

Just a side point as well Everton paid 20 mill plus add ons to Burnley for Dwight McNeil in the summer. I know lots of money has been pissed away over the years but that deal seemed quite generous and its interesting that it happened soon after all this other stuff.

Obviously the covid losses excuse is flimsy to put it kindly but reading the below bit from the article does this present a problem for the Premier league? If the prem already advised Burnley that Everton complied then are they not liable and does this give Everton a defence? I guess the Premier league didn't want relegation questions to linger in pre season but now does it make it harder/more messy to prosecute Everton with points deductions? https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/65068357 "Last year, rivals Leeds and Burnley wrote to the Premier League asking for Everton's accounts to be independently investigated, although they later dropped their threat of legal action. The two clubs had been advised Everton complied with profit and sustainability rules after meeting with the Premier League."

At the time it looked to me like Nakhi Wells goal away to West Brom had gone straight in, if I had never watched it back then that would have been my champagne moment.

Their last 10 games after the international break couldn't be much kinder. Lots of pts to be had here... Leicester H, Leeds A, Southampton A, Everton H, Wolves A, West Ham H, Spurs A, Bournemouth H, Fulham A, Forest H I would be interested to know what the players think about this because I can see this unsettling them if they still wanted him, presumably their fans are not very happy either.

Looking at their record no wins in 11 premier league games (5D 6L), however 9/11 of the games were against top 8 clubs and the other 2 were away against Chelsea (10th) and Villa (11th). And they're playing Arsenal this weekend too so very bizarre run of fixtures. Unless some stuff happening internally then I think its a little harsh.

Think I was one of those who criticised the euros going up to 24 teams but to be honest I did end up enjoying lots of the last tournament. Looking back there were some really good games in the last 16 so in theory a last 32 with the rest of the world included should be similar quality. It definitely makes the qualifying process less exciting for a club like England though. One thing I think is a negative is that it makes it harder for nations to host tournaments by themselves because of the increased number of games, but I would rather that than 3 team groups which I think would have been a disaster. From the point of view of the people who matter at fifa I suppose the 2 options were to either keep the gravy train running by expanding the tournament or to continue picking host nations who give the best backhanders, and after the political pressure from the previous bids they decided to expand the tournament. ?

I have my doubts that Wigan brought at least 320 to Ashton Gate the other week and same with Preston I don't think they brought anything close to 464 earlier in season (although that one was rearranged).