1960maaan

As I said earlier. This seems a recent development . Sportspro , who effectively take over from Elite as distributors , head hunted some of Elites top staff apparently. That means since November there has been no guarantee of supplies etc going forward. City have made the decision to change, makes sense to me. Not sure how long you wait to see what happens, some Club shops have been closed as Elite were running the shops and online sales. Southampton and Millwall have big sales on ATM, so maybe they will change too. They did, it was only Everton that didn't go through Elite, it was reported that they had terminated the deal with Hummel when Elite went into Admin. Coventry originally closed shops due to lack of stock. Just had a read and they had announced their income had increased 4x since the link with Hummel, you can see why they were keen to continue. End of the season will be interesting to see who else sticks with them. They may have linked up with Sportspro in time to save some link ups, but if Clubs wanted assurances that they'd have new stock come the end of the season, maybe not all of them.

It's OK BT having the rights , but surely they should have an early highlights show. IMO Sky coverage is streets ahead, yes they repeat things but for overnight games I love the review & highlights shows. Anyway, enough moaning. Another great day by the look of it. I'd love to see Jimmy get another 5 for.

Kits are way to expensive IMO, and we shouldn't change all 3 kits every year either. This is different. We haven't had kits to sell for ages, and possibly because they sell match worn shirts every week (for charity I believe) they were worried they wouldn't have the stock to cover the first team. I don't think this is profiteering at all. TBF another thing loads on here have moaned about is being able to buy the new shirt to wear on holiday in the summer, at least that will be sorted.

With Brook just gone but in a great position to Bat NZ out of the game, Stokes thrashing at everything. He is a great bat and would still score at a good rate, surely there is a case for reigning it in a little and not smash everything for 6. Can't argue with recent results but just occasionally some steady 3 an over scoring maybe.

Might have had an impact on the decision. Any imports have been made massively more difficult from Europe so using someone from the UK would make sense. Even though thanks to everything even that isn't easy.

Because the World revolves around the Prem as they invented football. They own nearly everything, and want more.

Cowboys International - Today today.

I don't listen to the Radio, but did listen to KB on trips. Loved Popmaster, and tried to time leaving to when it was on. Even had to tune the Mrs car into his new channel. Very smart of him to keep the rights to the quiz. I wonder if that's why they are getting him to leave early.

This makes a nice change, not moaning about the Ref at football. The Ref is shit, nothing wrong with the Try, never a knock on. Bloody Refs

For those that don't want to click the link to the Daily Racist. EXCLUSIVE: EFL television rights are set to DOUBLE in value to over £200MILLION per year after several broadcasters joined Sky Sports and BT Sport in the race to secure live coverage of England's lower tiers Sportsmail understands EFL have been inundated with expressions of interest Companies such as Viaplay and DAZN are battling it out with Sky and BT Sport Sky would have to double their current £119m-a-year deal to retain the rights The EFL's television rights are set to double in value to over £200million-a-year as they prepare to issue an invitation to tender [ITT] to broadcasters next week. Sportsmail has learned that the EFL have been inundated with expressions of interest from broadcasters since beginning the sales process last October, with streaming companies such as Viaplay and DAZN joining Sky Sports and BT Sport in the battle to secure live matches. Sky have held the live rights since 2002, but will have to almost double their current £119m-a-year deal in order to maintain exclusive coverage from the 2024 as the EFL are considering a hybrid model involving multiple broadcasters. As Sportsmail revealed last year the tender document to be issued next week will make every EFL game available for purchase, which could lead to the end of the 3pm Saturday blackout. The EFL tender will invite offers for all three divisions, the play-offs, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy, which have been split up into 20 separate packages. As a result the different divisions and cups could have different broadcast partners for the first time, with a streaming service opting to buy all League Two matches for example, with Sky focussing on retaining the Championship games outside the 3pm blackout. The EFL are inviting bids for between three and five years, and will decide on the length of the contract depending on the offers they receive. The clubs were informed earlier on Thursday that the EFL are confident a five-year deal could raise close to £1billion due to the emergence of a number of new players into the market scrambling to secure live content. The EFL are convinced there is demand from broadcasters and viewers for more live matches, as the current Sky deal for 138 games-per-year involves just two Championship matches being shown each weekend, with very few League One and Two games broadcast live all season. The EFL would require permission from the FA and UEFA to drop the 3pm blackout that has been in place since the 1960s, a controversial move which would be opposed by the Premier League as they believe that limiting the number of matches broadcast increases the value of their live rights. The blackout only applies when 50 per cent of Premier League and Championship matches are due to kick off at 3pm on a Saturday however, so shifting half the programme would also enable all games to be televised. There is plenty to be concerned about. Multiple platforms could make watching expensive. Some worry over sustainability of some bidders. To get the 3pm blackout lifted there would be a need to move half the games. Hello odd kick off times . three divisions, the play-offs, the EFL Cup and the EFL Trophy, which have been split up into 20 separate packages could be carnage trying to watch, and expensive. One things for sure, the ease of fans getting to games will not be a concern for the negotiators.

Crazy how I'd forgotten that, specially as that's my video

I'm still shocked Hirerite was ever black, this is the only image I've found so far. Oh there's this.

I loved him down here. the goal against Palace, the goal at York. I was gutted when he left.

I see it, and I would have watched most games that season, and it still looks odd and unfamiliar . Don't drink kids, and don't get old ?

I don't remember a black logo, not on Historical kits either

Coventry bought up stocks from the administrators, not sure there were stocks of ours to buy up, that may have allowed them to see out the season. That partnership (Sportspro/Hummel) must be fairly new, or I missed it. I did search to see but hadn't seen anything, the Cov announcement was the first mention I could see. I think City just lost confidence in Hummel , they have potentially lost a lot of sales (this time not their fault) . Plus it could be a better deal.

I know less than you ( think that's a fairly safe bet) but wouldn't the fact that Hummel , through Elite Sports going into admin , can't fulfil the contract be an easy out ? Coventry apparently bought up stocks from the Administrators in December , when they announced they would have to get a new supplier. Newport stopped selling all merch as the shop and online was run by Elite. So City saying they were concerned about being able to continue to supply kit for the first team, I imagine the League would at least look kindly at a change. TBF they allowed us to wear that horrible Centenary shirt so they do have a sense of humour. The designs thing might be different. We have had input in the kits I believe , that could mean the ownership of design is ours, rather than leaving it to the Hummel designers and them just dropping a kit off to us. I wonder if Hummel have to wait for the outcome with Elite, before they can look for a new UK distributor. Elite themselves were suing Rangers for about £20m last year, not sure how that impacts on anything and I can't find any updates.

Looks familiar.

It's the UK distributor that has gone into Admin, Everton use one based in the USA and are fine. Every Club using Elite , the UK based distributor are in the same boat. Now I don't know the ins and outs, manufacture etc, maybe it isn't possible to shift to the US distributor , but you would have thought that Hummel would have made a priority of finding a new company to take over the in the UK.

That would be great. I used to take some but they ended up mainly as the insides of Pubs I couldn't remember ?

I think that £50 that we charge is bloody expensive. TBF the Rangers shirt is similar to Everton at £65, Liverpool charge £100 for a shirt , it's the way things are going sadly. I agree with you though, some nice stuff on there. We haven't been known for being reasonable with pricing lately, but drop those prices a bit and I think they could sell loads.

If we play a high press, they are experts at breaking lines. We sit in, they will pick us off. We can't out pass them. We don't have the players to go direct. We can't man mark their best players, they're all top quality. We could pack the MF in a 4-5-1 system and hope for a break or some luck.

Basically saying what we (as fans) have been complaining about for years. Players coming in and seeing it as a Nursing home, an easy end to wind down a career. Decent money for little effort. There have been, are and will be players like that. But as @Aaron-Bcfc mentions, there are some that genuinely want to play football. He's against players coming to wind down their careers, but also says that age isn't a problem. Basically , they will do due diligence, which they should have been doing anyway. Portsmouth FC ‘That’s what we’re moving away from’: Portsmouth boss lays recruitment plans on line ahead of summer business Pompey will no longer be a home for players looking for one more payday as their careers wind down. Blues boss John Mousinho has made it clear the club will move away from signing experienced players stepping down from a higher level this summer. Mousinho expects to see a shift in target being recruited, as the reshaped football operation at Fratton Park implement their plans. And, although not completely shutting off landing those heading towards their thirties, that means stepping away from the type of players Pompey supporters with long memories will be familiar with. ‘That frustrates everyone,’ Mousinho said, when asked about signing footballers looking for a final payday.‘Sometimes you get those, they’re brilliant and do really well for the football club. ‘Other times it doesn’t quite work out.‘Sometimes you look at players from a higher level. Are they going to come down and perform? ‘They don’t quite do it and that can be really frustrating for everyone. ‘Age doesn’t really come into it. It’s a factor, but it doesn’t mean we wouldn’t sign a 28-year-old. ‘At the same time, probably what we’re moving away from is the older player coming down who’s already had his career. ‘They’ve got huge benefits to a lot of football clubs, absolutely no doubt, and we have some good ones here as well. But just in terms of the direction the club is going we’re trying to move away from. ‘That’s the reason, if you look at this head coach appointment, we’re going to go younger and more development focussed. That’s what this thing is all about.’ The signs have been clear in Pompey’s January recruitment, the direction of travel being taken under Mousinho and sporting director Richard Hughes. Mousinho added: ‘We’re looking for that development profile. ‘We’re looking at players, regardless of where they’ve come from, who haven’t quite yet hit the peak of their careers. ‘That’s what we’d like think we’re going to sign. ‘If it is a player coming down from the Championship, it will be because we think they haven’t necessarily managed to hit the highs yet and we can develop them.’

Thought we'd blown it with the pen, great win, great day. Remember coming out and seeing loads come over the car park towards us. Our gates opened and our lot came steaming out and they changed their mind. We were in a Pub across some Railway lines somewhere. Obviously saw a few of us go in, but didn't realise there were more already in there. Came steaming through the door to quickly turn on their toes as everything near to hand hit them. Funny thing was the Landlady apologised to us after, as we looked at a scene of broken glass and crap by the doors. Had a quite walk to the ground after that.