Aye just watching SSN, Shitting hell
Aye just watching SSN, Shitting hell
South Korea are out.
So does that mean military service for him or was he already like pardoned on that
I thought he was exempt for good after winning the Asian Games. I hope so anyway.
Yep thats right. He had to win either that or this to be exempt.
Was just about to say that only Spurs could drop points at a time when City slip up and Chelsea get battered, but they've turned it around. All is forgiven Llorente.
Chelsea decided last year's battering against Bournemouth wasn't enough!
As much as Zaha was a plonker last night, JWP pissed me off more with his reactions.
So happy for the bloke because he missed an absolutely ridiculous sitter earlier in the night. Weird thing is he is playing absolutely terribly BUT despite lacking confidence he has missed a hatful of chances he would expect to take under normal circumstances, as well as scoring two in four, so there is potential there for him to do well...with a bit of sharpness and hopefully a confidence boost after last night, he might actually be decent. Not "stop praying every minute of the day that Kane gets back ASAP" level, but at least not looking like an absolute clown as he has done since he came into the side.Originally Posted by Chris
Huge win for us last night, particularly with the rest of the top four dropping points. Much better placed to stay in the top four now, which has to be the main aim.
Definitely the main aim.
Llorente's hold up play is pretty decent too.
Another huge game Saturday now.
Hope we manage to stay third and the stadium is sorted soon. As messy as things are at Chelsea, the Bournemouth result surely won’t be a common occurrence and they would have been likely to catch us quite soon if we had continued the bad run from the cup exits. Great to have Son back.
I could have sworn you were a Liverpool fan Chris...I think at some point I must have conflated you with Chris Scott
I've been here for over 15 years, as has Chris, and I had no idea he was a Spurs fan.
You weren't always, right? As in, you didn't follow footie much back in the day?
Chris and Chris Scott, both good people.
Bloody Johnny-Come-Latelys jumping on the Llorente bandwagon.
Yep I’m embarrassed to say that I only got into football during the 2013 - 14 season, where Liverpool finished second. No one in my family is a fan so it was never something I followed when I was younger. But MOTD gradually became a nice escape when my marriage was breaking down. I think the 5 Live Football Daily played a big part too, as I started listening to it during a time when I had a lot of travel with work. Found the Moyes fallout fascinating.
I’m a Spurs fan and I like a bit of Bournemouth too. With my keen football insight, I always knew that Llorente would come good. I may or may not have questioned whether he had some kind of visual impairment after his 84th glaring miss. But my faith never wavered
Good stuff, you've picked a good time to become a Spurs fan ��
5 Live Sport Daily is the best football analysis going IMO. Monday Night Club and the Friday preview show are great - intelligent insight that assumes the listeners are dedicated fans without getting too heavy, all the pros are intelligent and interesting pundits unlike what you get on TV and the shows always have a nice atmosphere without sounding too chummy. I had a bad couple of months mentally recently and honestly the Football Daily podcast was one of the things that kept me going, something I could melt into for an hour or so each day and just enjoy without thinking.
It’s so good. Their World Cup coverage was fantastic - insightful but fun and they just sounded like they were having a blast. They have such a good core team of presenters and an interchangeable bank of pundits that so many different combinations work smoothly. The Premier League show on BBC2 is hit-and-miss for me because it lacks that element - they decide to bring in Z list celebrity fans and do random sketches and “comedy” videos in amongst the interesting stuff like interviews or trips to a particular club.
The voicemail he sent from the plane, Jesus.Aye just watching SSN, Shitting hell
So Nantes are demanding payment for Sala from Cardiff, saying they'll take legal action if they don't receive it within 10 days.
Fucking hell.
Double post
Well who the fuck pays in this situation? He literally wouldn’t be dead if Cardiff didn’t buy him? Surely this is what insurance is for?
Good point. I guess though that would take some time to pay out (as insurance companies always do) and Nantes want the money now and then Cardiff to chase the insurers?
Not sure whos insurance would be liable here.
Cardiff has already said they will pay. They are just waiting for the appropriate paperwork. Until they actually recover the body, they probably can't get the insurance.
https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/47146614
It's Cardiff who I'm finding distasteful here, not Nantes.
Neither are being distasteful. Its a totally oddball situation where neither of them will know what to do. It's not as if it happens every day.
For those having a go at Nantes, well you never know who is knocking at their door wanting money.
Someone is going to be out of pocket either way. It's a crap situation for all concerned, especially with Nantes having to give a % to Bordeaux too. You'd assume there would be some insurance that would kick in for one or possibly both.
If not surely FIFA could step in and compensate both clubs due to the nature of it all.
It's Cardiff's leaking of the request and playing on the grief of the families which I find distasteful.
The only body that's going to be out of pocket is whoever Cardiff had Sala insured with.
Imagine what'd happen if a crazed fan didn't like a future signing!
Oh yeah I mean FIFA are always doling out money where it's needed rather than keeping it for themselves, this will definitely happen.
I did find it strange that the Nantes chairman bought a surface-to-air missile the day after they sold him.
Everton after Marcelo Bielsa to replace Silva apparently.
What is it about going to football that makes peoples inner cunt rise to the surface? I mean would you see people make plane gestures to Cardiff fans in the street?
Sickening, isn't it. I can't really get my head around it either.
Scholes new Oldham manager. Will be interesting, he has been very critical of lots of teams, let's see how good he is.
I wouldnt say its restricted to inside the stadium only. It can happen on the street or online on social media. But even then, it is strictly only in the name of football that this sort of behaviour comes out. Nowhere else would people mock things like Hillsborough or the Munich air disaster.
Yeah I mean I personally have seen someone call a opposition player a poof because of their hairstyle ffs,And to my absolute shame I didnt report it through pure cowardice.
To be fair, thats probably quite low on the list of offensive things people say there.
It's not that complicated - a lot of people are cunts, they get more lairy when they're pissed and they're thick enough to think that crowds = anonymity. The vast majority of these incidents are one or two people out of five-figure crowds (though obviously there are probably more incidents not caught on film), so I'm not sure you can really put the blame on football, or individual clubs. It's not possible to vet 30,000 fans at St. Mary's and prevent a couple of cunts slipping through the net.
The only incident I've seen recently that looked 'systemic' for want of a better word is the Millwall one where what seemed like an entire stand was singing "I'd rather be a Paki than a scouse"...at that point, when that many people are involved, to me it's a club issue and they should either take measures to fix the issue, or be punished. Smaller-scale than that, I'm not sure what clubs or football bodies can be expected to do beyond banning the individual fans and spending the next few weeks highlighting why racism(/homophobia/whatever) is still a relevant issue that needs to be combated.
There's maybe a more general problem with football fandom though - those fans probably don't find it funny that Sala died, they just want to get a reaction out of Cardiff fans by any means necessary, and that attitude is something that is probably worth investigating
Last edited by Simon; February 11th, 2019 at 11:04 AM.
You're right about it being done purely to get a reaction. But it seems like people dont think there are boundaries when it comes to football "banter" (for a lack of a better word). I feel like the same people who say some of racist stuff at football games, might suddenly become more aware of how insensitive it is all of a sudden, if they were in a different environment not related to football.
I'm sure they would - you only have to look at the coverage of the abuse Sterling got at Chelsea, where a strand of the debate was "actually he didn't call him a fucking black cunt, he called him a fucking Manc cunt", as if that made it absolutely fine. I see it on Twitter from time to time, people earnestly defending their right to scream abuse at players/referees/opposition fans because "it's the football", as if the moment you set foot inside a ground you are no longer subject to any rules.
Part of the problem is fans in general, I hate to use this term but the 'whataboutery' is mental, when that Southampton thing happened at the weekend every article about it on Twitter was 90% responses from fans of other clubs complaining that their clubs weren't defended the way Cardiff were, as if being protected from disgusting behaviour is a rivalry issue rather than a human issue. I don't understand that attitude at all, when I went to Spurs/United last year I saw a load of arseholes sitting in front of me who screamed all sorts of abuse at the United players, the ref, sometimes the Tottenham players...my instinct isn't to defend them and point out the bad behaviour of Arsenal fans or Chelsea fans, it is to think "I hate these cunts and I hate that they're part of my club".
Gordon Banks had passed away. Sad day, one of England's best ever players and a true legend
Aaron Ramsey signing for Juve. What are people's thoughts?
I always thought he was a very good player. It's a good move for him. Well paid and a Champions League contender
Shame that the club let him go for nothing, but that is another story
Football fans are human.
Humans are twats.
There we go.
As others have said it’s not football specific. I’d say most sports fans are like this. It comes down to sports being at its core tribe va tribe. You support one tribe so everyone on the other tribe gets your full disdain. Plus there’s so many of you that you think others must share your inner twat so you aren’t ashamed of being a twat and think it’s all just a part the event.
There are some sports where it doesn't happen. Rugby and cricket matches don't have that kind of vitriol
The reality is those sports are much more middle-class, they don't have so many disenfranchised, angry underclasses gathering together to get smashed and let out a bit of frustration. As shit as most hooligan films are (sorry Glen), I always thought this scene from Football Factory had some truth to it.
Plus rugby fans are too busy pissing in each other's mouths to bother getting into fights.
All good points there Simon.
I was listening to the Game Podcast recently and someone (might have been Marcotti) said why not put mics in the crowd?
That way you wouldnt have lip-readers trying to decifer what fans are saying
Declan Rice has declared for England. That's huge I think, just the sort of player England need.
I was going to start a thread about him the other day. I don't see it myself, very basic player. His career will end up:
West Ham 52 (15) 2016-2022
Middlesbrough (loan) 4 (12) 2020/2021
Rotherham (loan) 24 (6) 2021/2022
Derby County 89 (6) 2022-2028
Leyton Orient (loan) 32 (0) 2026-2027
Charlton 2 (2) 2028-2029
England 6
Ireland 2
Yes very amusing puttindg Derby in with that guff
Don't see that at all, I'd argue he's already performing at a higher level than Dier or Henderson and could justify a starting place for England (don't think he will go straight in as Southgate is fairly conservative is loyal to the players he knows, but there's at least an argument for Rice), and he's justifying the links to big clubs with his performances. He's one of West Ham's best players already.
If you're taking a negative POV of how his career might go I'd be more worried about him going to a top club like City before he's ready, not making it into the team regularly because the competition is so strong, and seeing his career stall for years as he lacks the chance to develop. But I don't think that will be the case, he seems to have his head screwed on and comes across as intelligent in interviews, so I'd like to think he would stay at West Ham until he's ready to play regularly for a top side.
Definitely don't see him as a 'basic' player at all, he's not flash but he's already very strong defensively and uses the ball simply but effectively. I'd be interested to see whether he ends up staying at DM or moves back to centre back, that's the position he's been trained in throughout the West Ham youth team and if he's nailed down the basics there then he could be a good ball-playing centre back.
It basically sounds like you described Michael Carrick. That would be a very fine player to turn into if I'm Rice.
It was important to include as many feckless clubs aimlessly throwing money at the Championship as possible.Yes very amusing puttindg Derby in with that guff
Chelsea have just been hit with a transfer ban for the next two windows. Apparently Hazard's contract ends there too. So either they sell Hazard now and not be able to sign a replacement for over a year, or they hold onto Hazard until they can sign players but then see Hazard leave on a free.
I think you sell him and use next year as a chance to blood the youngsters. It needs done. The club and squad are crying out for it
But then one year without Hazard or even a replacement could seriously dent their chances of making it into the Champion's League, so more money lost on that end as well. They're already playing in the Europa League this season, and United and Spurs look like favourites to take that last two of the top four spots going into next season. They really cant afford to be missing out 3 years in a row.
They'll need Hazard to do them a favour and extend his contract for another year (for the sake of getting a transfer fee), or they appeal the ban and hope they can at least delay it for another window, in which case they'd have this summer to sell him and get a replacement in.
Chelsea will appeal and then get reinforcements in before the ban takes effect, won't they? I swear that's what usually happens.
That usually tends to happen, yeah. Another interesting thing is what happens with Sarri, who is expected to be let go at the end of the season. Could they attract another manager who's willing to take the job with a transfer ban? Do they now have to stick with Sarri?
I think investment pattern is changing with them anyway. This genuinely feels like a nice reason to take a rebuilding year. I know there's risk and not making CL next year could be bad but if you're under an embargo are you going to make a good fist at that as is?
Is there a chance that Pulisic is the Hazard replacement already? It's the fact Pedro, Giroud, Kovacic and Luiz are all potentially off that makes the squad look light to me.
Do Ampadu, Loftus Cheek and others get a real go now? Could Abraham or is it likely to be Morato again.
You can get away with not making the UCL as a one off, but potentially three years in a row is quite bad for any of the other top 6 teams, let alone Chelsea who pretty much always comfortably make the top 4 (at least every season besides the last one of course and Mourinho's final season).
If Chelsea were going to take a year or two to start rebuilding, they should've started already while City and probably Liverpool dominate the competition. If you start now and take another few years to refresh, that's too many years out from competing with the best, as they should be. If the fans or the club are ok with that, then fair enough. Its like when Simon going on about how United should've been doing better and challenging for the title, while I (as the United fan) was ok with us taking our time rebuilding as long as it was done right. This is just an outside perspective of someone looking at Chelsea and thinking they should be doing better.
Regarding Hazard's replacement, I'm not sure Pulisic is the guy for the job. Hazard is Chelsea's talisman and most valuable asset. They need a bigger signing to fill that void. I'd have thought Pulisic would've been looked at as a long term replacement for someone like Willian. And the goal should've been to have a front line of something like Hazard/Higuain/Pulisic. A straight swap between Hazard and Pulisic looks like a huge step back in many ways.
Could be wrong but it seems like Hazard would like to get out especially if they aren't making the CL. If they don't this year why would they necessarily be ready for it next year when under an embargo you know? Selling Hazard doesn't necessarily make that team weaker if it changes the pattern of play and spreads the creative burden around a bit more. They are overly reliant on him currently.
It's the only reason I can see Lampard being a real choice because they want to change tact if Roman isn't going to be splashing the cash. I think the fans have shown a desire for youth players to start to come in so gut feel is they would get warm and fuzzy if Frank went in convinced Hudson Odoi to play and started bringing youth through. How long they would be happy with that before title challenges again I couldn't tell you. Lampard would get that job purely because of who he is as a person not as a manager right now. It's a cross-roads do you sack Sarri and go balls to the wall for Zidane or Simeone knowing cash may get tight sooner than later? Or do you cut back now use the transfer embargo as a nice excuse and use goodwill from someone like Lampard to get a couple of rough years done...
I'm interested to know if you're (or anyone for that matter) a Chelsea fan, how would you feel about Lampard taking the job under these circumstances? To me personally it sort of mirrors my thoughts on Ole getting the permanent job at United in the sense that I like the sentimental aspect of the appointment and he's currently getting the results, but I know long term expectations are high and things don't take long to turn sour, especially if he doesn't get the signings he wants. So if we're basically putting the new manager's head on the chopping block, I'd rather it not be someone who's near and dear to the fans.
Not ready, Still learning.
I think the expectation is that the appeal will see the ban delayed and reduced so it'll only be next season's January window for which we are banned. I'm not sure that'll be all that devastating to be honest. Far more worrying is the complete lack of anything resembling long term planning, which has been the case for a while now. At least since Emenalo left, probably before that when we brought Mourinho back. Seems to be generally accepted that Emenalo was behind the wave of talented young players we brought in over two or three seasons (Hazard, Oscar, De Bruyne, Salah, Lukaku, Schürrle, van Ginkel), a number of whom weren't fancied by or allowed to truly blossom by Mourinho. I was at the game last night and have been for almost all the EL and cup games where our young players have featured and they have received by far the loudest ovations and support (Hazard and Kanté aside, perhaps) from the home fans. Chelsea fans are crying out for these top academy players to break into the team and we've seen Loftus-Cheek, Ampadu and Hudson-Odoi all stand out so when the senior players they're trying to displace aren't performing it's not surprising that people are at a loss trying to work out what they need to do to get starts in big games. Of course, can you really blame Sarri for not risking them when he knows a few bad results could spell the end of his tenure? And today he's come out and said that starting Hudson-Odoi means we'll have to sell one of our wingers, which appears to be a thinly veiled reference to Willian or others kicking up a fuss if they're left out. I say Willian because we all saw how he responded on Instagram when Conte dropped him.
I find it hard to believe that Zidane would come anywhere near us at this point but I guess if they're willing to throw enough cash at him there's always a possibility. Perhaps Hazard would consider staying then as well. He's made it very clear that Zidane was his childhood hero. I think most Chelsea fans are apprehensive about offering Lampard the job anytime soon because we'd all hate to see it end in tears after a few months. Poor Zola might have to take the reigns for the rest of the season if they get rid of Sarri. It's telling that I've seen absolutely nothing from Sarri to suggest that he's the man to oversee such a big transition and invest in his philosophy while overhauling the squad but we've got to try something different soon surely. I'm not sure where we go from here manager-wise. I do think Lampard would be allowed a lot more time from the supporters, obviously. But that would ideally be after he's at least achieved something as a manager. Promotion with Derby, perhaps. Anyway, it's all very well splashing out millions if you don't have much of a long term strategy in place. That can paper over a lot of cracks. But it doesn't look like we're prepared to do that anymore (at least not on the level of City or whoever). It's always been mostly speculation over what Abramovich wants but now it's less clear than ever. He hasn't even been to a game this season. Anyone's guess.
Last edited by Ringo; February 22nd, 2019 at 2:12 PM.
I would have accepted the money for Willian last summer or this Jan. Particularly this Jan. Imagine selling him and then saying to Hudson Odoi this shirt is yours mate. Tell us if you still want to go in the summer.
I also would probably play Ampadu and Loftus Cheek beside Kante in the middle and say fucking have at it boys. BUT IM A MENTALIST.
Not going to happen now but I would think ideally you sell Hazard, Willian and probably bloody Pedro too and sign some pacey strikers/forwards (Callum Wilson to lead the line) and just be fucking rapid. Gives you a change to get wage budget under control as well.
Luiz and Cahill going then end of year? Now makes sense why that Ake story came out. Wonder if Tomori would be on the bench next year.. interesting
Ampadu in midfield seems to want to play Kante's position. Based on his Wales performances.
This is all assuming Chelsea actually put young players on the team. They don't
The last person to make a breakthrough is John Terry.
Bertrand, Loftus-Cheek, just off the top of my head.
Yeah, assume he means into the starting XI for a sustained period of time because Christensen was a starter last season as well.
Yeah starting 11. No one has done that consistently since Terry
It's not assuming they do it, it's assuming they'll see that as the best option to build the team if they money has dried up.
Breakthroughs at Chelsea don't really count. Christensen had played two years of top flight football and played internationally before Chelsea even looked sideways at him. His development can hardly be claimed by Chelsea.
Surely for something like that to take place, the club's structure needs to change. You need coaches, a director of football, etc who're all on board with the idea of promoting youth players, along with some belief and patience from Roman. No manager alone will make this happen. The club as a whole needs to commit to that idea.
Personally I can't see such a drastic change happening over one summer, or even two.
I think you would need a head coach who is ok with it and a Director of Football who understands it's a different remit. Not something I can see them sticking the handbrake on for but if they decide to get rid of Sarri that's potentially half of the positions free then and so that's when they may decide it's time because of the way situations with Roman are going post his residency issues.
I'm not sure Abramovich is that much of a concern in terms of his patience. Could be wrong but seems like he doesn't give much of a fuck these days. Probably would be happier if the club was generating profit so he could take some of his money back.
Someone needs to check Sarri’s blood pressure. Looked like he absolutely lost his mind when Kepa refused to come off.
That was bloody hilarious
What a couple of absolutely bollocks games they were.
Hope Sarri tells Chelsea to get to fuck tonight.
Jesus Sarri is actually pretending that it was all a misunderstanding. He should be burying Kepa right now. He’s been publically humiliated by him and the other players who didn’t even bother trying to help.
But thanks to Kepa for providing the only bit of drama all day. Actually thought Sarri was leaving the arena to walk into the nearest body of water.
Well there was also a bit of drama with Aguero having a perfectly good goal ruled out. VAR showed him in front of the yellow line. Bollocks system.
VAR is pointless if its still a bunch of knobheads looking at the screen and making the final call.
The problem with them showing these things at home is that people misinterpret them, mainly because the commentators often misinterpret them. The yellow line WAS Aguero's heel not where Rudiger was, which is counter-intuitive. Also it was flagged offside so if anything they kept the initial call.
That being said I think he was onside all the same and that angle they showed was absolute shit and hopefully they have other angles in the VAR box to make that determination because if not it's absolute shit.
Fair point.
He can't bury him because they spent £80mil on him and Sarri has to continue working with him. Sarri can only say what he did or say they'll deal with in internally.
Sarri needed to command the respect in the first place (or communicate better with his medical team) that Kepa comes off. As soon as the player refuses there's really nothing he or any other manager can do about it, because of the money spent that is never just going to be tossed aside.
They should never have bought the goalkeeper at that price in the first place.
Ranieri sacked twice within three years of winning the Premier League then. There’s a quiz question in ten years.
I don't get that decision at all.
They were already in dire straights when he came on board. Got the initial new manager bounce, but them fading back away had to be factored in as a possibility, their squad is imbalanced and shallow. If you accept relegation is a probability for them now, why wouldn't they want to keep hold of good manager and have stable base for attempting an immediate return?
That's the end of Uncle Claudio in the PL surely.
If Wilshere were a horse he would have been taken round the back by now
Shit derby as usual.
I'd rather chase anyway then be chased.
Last edited by Chris Scott; March 4th, 2019 at 4:00 PM.
This is why BBF won't let you make your own decisions in RFF
Thats why Rosk helps me obviously.
1 year to go for Wycombe to pull off the signing of the century tick tock @MMH
He has not lost his pace yet to be fair...
BBC piece on Bale;
Tottenham chairman Daniel Levy tried to bring him back to the club with a one-year loan deal and a payment of not much per week, a cheeky proposal that did not reach Real Madrid as everybody knew what the answer was going to be.
Assuming he doesn't move to the content in the next few years he's on for over 100 goals and assists in the PL. BIG BOY NUMBERS (well he's got 42 assists which is less than I thought so who knows)
Think only 2 players have done that. 75 and 75 isnt bad either you know. You go gettem Raheem.
Ahahaha superb work.
@Alex likes reminding me that I once said Bentaleb was better than Dembele. A couple of years later and Bentaleb is competing in the Champions League while Dembele has disappeared off to China. Vindicated.
There used to be a 'shit shouts' thread where we owned up to bad calls we've made, I might see if I can dig it up.
Wayne Routledge will have a better career than Ashley Young was a pretty strong one of yours.
It's not my fault Routledge decided to wear shirts five sizes too big for him which made him unable to play properly.
Ryan was diddling his wife and yet Rodri comes across the bigger cunt with these adverts
Anyway just tuned in, in time to see the pen
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