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It's not been the most competitive outside of the top 2/3 in recent seasons. The gap between Championship and Premier League is widening, I think. It's ultra-competitive in the Championship as almost always there's battles going down right til the final day of the season (this season was a bit of an anomaly, mind). This means a 'weaker' side can often find themselves promoted almost as if they're not ready to be because of the gulf between the two leagues. The money in the game has corrupted it beyond the point of no return. I've seen so many fans waver with their support for the game these days, let alone support for their own team. And that's a sad time for the game because it's not what we all know it to be.

@Michael, @Viva la FCB, @Tommy, @Bluewolf, @Coma, @londonerlilie, @nawoo Your weekly reminder!

"40 points for safety" There are 4 teams on less than 30 points. Teams used to win the league with 70 something or 80 something points. City will go over 90 to win the league (again). The divide between the top teams and the middle table and yo yo teams has never been higher, the league has never felt more plastic. What's the fucking point anymore? Everyone supports the same 5 teams, money, the FA, UEFA and FIFA have butchered the game with their tokenistic financial regulations and lack of support to clubs that aren't shoveling cash into their throats. Man City, EPL champions for the 9th time in 13 seasons. Bayern Munich, 11 time champions in 14 seasons. PSG 10 out of 12. Juventus won 9 in a row recently, though ironically Italy and Spain have been saved from outright monopoly by gross incompetence and corruption from the teams who stood to easily dominate.

Weird all around. "Look, we couldn't find anyone else, so do you want to stay after all?" Weird that he agrees to it. Because I think Tuchel is definitely the kind of guy to hold grudges. But maybe Eberl went with the "I didn't have anything to do with your sacking" approach, but that they still went for other managers and got rejection after rejection still must feel like Tuchel is their last desperate choice.

Personally I would rather someone gets away with cheating than a referee looks at any number of the incompetent decisions we have seen this year and decide they are the opposite of what they see on screen. At least with cheating it's part of the game, it's part of getting one over on your opponent, a clattering foul, a dive, whatever, I would much rather that than watch referees go to a screen, see the answer is A and come away and award B. Not only are they getting decisions wrong that they have no excuse for getting wrong, but they are also ruining the match day experience. The flow of the game, the celebrations.

Without any schadenfreude, well actually with a bit of schadenfreude, noticing Hoeneß might have Bayern done a disservice with his debatable tcriticism on a media event nobody called for.

Stuttgart's season has definitely had an impact on membership. They had just crossed the 90k threshold late last year iirc.

Since we've still got a chance, as scant as it is, to finish on 4th spot, which would guarantee DFB-Pokal next season even if we're not going to win the Saarlandpokal final, I'll fucking hope the players pull themselves together and win in Regensburg. Winning Saarlandpokal against Homburg isn't as safe as it might look to outstanding spectators and I'm in fucking love with DFB-Pokal.

Just because a title race goes down to the last weekend doesn't mean it's exciting. There are no ebbs and flows. Man City are usually about 5 points behind at Christmas time. Then they win 23 of their 25 games and draw the other two, while the team leading the league lose a couple and draw a couple and it's enough to see City come through. It's really fucking tedious actually because the "title race" consists of 2 or 3 teams winning 3-0 every weekend except the one that's not Man City drops points once every 4-6 weeks. That's not exciting. Most weekends, nothing happens. The only thing that's actually *happened* in the title race in the last two months was Liverpool drawing at Old Trafford and Arsenal losing to Villa. You can have a close title race but it isn't good or exciting if both of the teams involved winning every weekend is all but a formality. The financial regulations have created an even bigger gulf between the top teams and the mid-table fodder who used to be able to cause an upset to a title contender on any given day. You won't see any of that until that changes. Another sea of talented players (Olise, Branthwaite, Toney, etc) will be plucked from the helpless bottom half clubs again this summer to reinforce the benches of the rich clubs again, and then we'll complain again next season when Man City turn up and spank all of the clubs that sell these players next spring. The whole thing needs a massive rethink if we ever want it to change.

@6666, @Bluewolf, @Michael@Viva la FCB, @Coma, @nawoo Your weekly reminder!

It's the best it's ever been with title races going down to the last day most seasons. FFP is going to ruin it in the long run but right now it;s the best league in the world

What a boring league.

Kopf hoch @Faithcore! Bedauere, daß der MSV abgestiegen ist, anderenfalls wäre unsere Niederlage in Duisburg wenigstens für irgendwas gut gewesen! Hoffe Ihr steigt nächstes Jahr wieder in die 3.Liga auf!

Know it's 12th tier and won't probably interest anybody, stilla father as well as both his sons and his niece all scored, when St. Augustin won their Kreisliga C match. Mentioning it since it be flubbergasted to learn something like a father and his sons scoring for the same team in the same match has happened that often, especially if you add a women from their wider family also scoring for this men's team to the mix.