chinapig

Absolutely deserves our thanks. She stood firm against pressure from the Premier League throughout and saw through measures that have led to them acting seriously on FFP for the first time (unless anybody believes no club had ever breached the limits until now). It's a little out of character for a Tory MP to want to regulate the rich and powerful so good for her for going against the grain also. On the down side Kieran Maguire will be heartbroken.

I believe Ben Jacobs is a sports (i.e. not just football) journalist but I'm not sure he is any kind of financial expert. I give more credence to Swiss Ramble as quoted in the article I linked above, specifically this: For 2023-24, though, they would appear to be in big trouble, with Swiss Ramble estimating their losses for the three-year assessment period at £201m – and that was on an assumption they would finish sixth, which now looks extremely optimistic. So they're going to have to generate an awful lot of transfer income to spend £200m. This is going to have to come mainly from home grown players as pure profit. Spurs are keen on Gallagher but knowing Chelsea's plight may drive down the price. They're said to want £50m for Broja; no chance of getting that.

Point 1 misses the fact that the independent commission makes the decision not the PL. We're used to fans not getting this but you'd think Dr Wilson would. Point 4 ignores the fact that the PL Board proposed such parameters but the clubs voted against, including Everton.

Given that we can't replay the second half without changing the shape we can't draw a firm conclusion either way. Which is why I posed it as a question rather than a conclusion. Maybe we would have won more comfortably if we had not changed or maybe we would have been too open and lost. We can't know so neither of us can claim to be right.

Some people get irritated when managers say they focus on performances over results but your post shows why they do that. Saying we won therefore it was the right thing to do doesn't necessarily follow. Though we deserved to win the game on the excellent first half performance alone it's worth considering whether we made it harder for ourselves than we needed and maybe learning from that. I'm sure Liam and his staff do exactly that after every game anyway.

People's views often tend to be results based - either we won therefore we played well or we lost therefore we played badly. The reality is often somewhere in the middle. I don't see any problem in pointing out things we did well despite losing or pointing out things we didn't do so well despite winning. It's certainly better than the binary happy clappers vs moaners nonsense.

Given the vast amounts of information available to clubs these days I doubt you can keep any secrets. Southampton will have analysed our games in detail and will be prepared for a variety of scenarios.

He was clearly trying to get out of the way of the shot, which hit him and deflected in. A lucky goal then.

It wasn't entirely clear as he tends to give short answers and wasn't asked why but Liam said in the club interview that the plan was to let them have the ball and defend (which we did well). But at another point he seemed to suggest the plan was to let them have the ball and counterattack (which we didn't do well in the second half). So the only conclusion I can come to is - I don't have a clue why he changed the shape!

Hard to say after one viewing but they are certainly quick and very good at pressing. Possibly a bit more flexible than Liverpool, they played a false 9 yesterday partly due to missing players, and players were constantly switching positions. Very much about the team not individuals but Wirtz is outstanding and lots of big clubs will be after him. German media think Alonso will stay and wait for the Real Madrid job but we'll see. I'm with you on Tuchel btw.

This is from a poster who seems to be articulate but is still deluded. Why would they need another stand when they can't fill the recently opened bus shelter? And why do they need a 15,000 capacity when their gates are about half that? The owners really need to step up PDQ and deliver at least a new East stand and improve The Quarters. A 15,000 capacity with 10,000 seats should be fine for a while if funds are tight for a complete revamp.

I watched the game and you can certainly see why Xabi Alonso has such a big reputation as a coach. Leverkusen were brilliant, and Tuchel had nothing to offer in response.

Have they called the 'facilities' Championship ready yet?

There was clearly a case for using our subs well given the likely player fatigue but that didn't require a switch to a back 3 and surrendering the initiative. Especially as the first half was probably the best we have played under Liam. It always puzzles me when coaches decide to sit on a lead for an entire half but Liam is obviously keen on a back 3 and I assume we will see a lot more of it. I'm not convinced it suits our players but time will tell.

Of course they can, even if what they say is contradicted by the evidence. It's rather that their case falls down particularly if we have actually seen the evidence with our own eyes, as you describe. But perhaps I'm being pedantic

I'm not sure what is pedantic about facts, which is what Dave stated. Unless you are a fan of George W Bush and his objection to the 'reality based community'.

Only the other day Gary Neville said Ferguson did very little coaching but employed the likes of McClaren and Queiroz to do that. But what does Sir Alex know compared to Jon and Brian eh?

I don't know as this guy Rand Tand was the only one who got to eat.

On a side note, Premier League clubs have voted by 12 to 6 with 2 absentions to tighten the rules on associated party transactions (sponsorships and transfers). One club is rumoured to be threatening legal action. You guessed it, it's Man City.

My abiding memory of the crumbling Ayresome Park was the sign on the outside of the stand that read: RAND TAND EATS. Quite a symbol of the trouble they were in that they couldn't afford to replace the missing letters.

I see Cardiff have settled their claim against Willie McKay but their negligence claim against Nantes goes on. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2024/feb/08/cardiff-city-emiliano-sala-transfer-willie-mckay-settlement

Apparently using a baked bean tin and a very long piece of string.

Though Come On Eileen came later their first album Searching For The Young Soul Rebels is a classic imo. And who can forget The Nabob of Sob? Well most people actually apart from you, me and Kevin Rowland!

Poor old Johnnie Ray .. ... as in the lyrics of this song? Top post if so. Bravo!

Absolutely. There's plenty of interviewing skills training available (though most interviewers in the media don't seem to have had any). But what BT and JL both need is training for interviewees. That might at least stop them blurting stuff out without thinking like Tinnion did, as you say. It might also have stopped Jon saying this was the first time in 20 years that they knew exactly what they wanted from a head coach, apparently unaware that he was admitting they had been getting it wrong for 20 years! Hard to believe I know but it's just possible though that they would not be up to the job even with training.