Dr. Gonzo

Weren't Chelsea a shambles defensively with him at the helm? Isn't being decent defensively a big part in avoiding surviving relegation? Seems like a match made in hell, I'm going to get some popcorn ready.

Okay I do remember the way it used to load up like that as it loaded the game. I've got a Spectrum emulator on my PC now because the last time I was home my dad was so excited they existed and showed me the games he used to play and that I used to watch my brother play (and I probably also used to play, but I don't remember playing until we had a Super Nintendo... so maybe my brother was just a dick).

I remember my dad’s Spectrum - but I don’t remember the tapes. Must be my memory fading me.

I've got to be honest, after this whole debate all I can think of is getting a job as Assistant Manager with @RondónEFC Fuck it, I might be a red - but I'm a professional. Sign us the fuck up Moshiri. We'll boss it.

I think you're right - these troubles of Moshiri's tenure were probably going to come about sooner or later. Ancelotti leaving and appointing Rafa, despite the DoF's objections, and then sacking everyone you mentioned to back Rafa, then sacking Rafa... it's just mental. I usually think things fall apart for clubs when they don't have long term plans. But Moshiri is absolutely insane because he not only seems to lack the ability to plan long term for Everton... but he's got no clue about what the short-term vision for Everton should be either. And with someone like Kia Joorabchian in his ear... there's got to be a worry because almost every (if not every) club he's gotten involved with has a bit of a horrible time while he's got a strong influence there. City before they were good, Newcastle under Ashley, and now Everton. That man doesn't give a fuck about any club's long-term or short-term planning. He's just trying to move clients to clubs that'll pay them well so he can get a chunk of money without really doing much. Weirdest thing about this is I've met Moshiri's ex-wife before and while I know fuck all about their relationship or anything about Moshiri's personal life & business sense (which has to be pretty decent given the fact he's a very very rich dickhead), she seemed to be a very level-headed, down to earth, reasonable sort of person.

Everton are only 4 points from safety (granted with 3 games in hand, but given how things have been for them this season I don't think any of those matches should be taken for granted as an easy 3 points). If they're willing to give him time, that's all well and good... but he's never ever really been in that sort of position and I'm not sure his "close but no cigar" tenures at Derby and Chelsea prepare him at all for a relegation dogfight. Because giving him time and hoping he grows into the job only really works if he doesn't manage to get them relegated. And they should be staying up considering some of the other crap sides in the league - because on paper they should be better than those sides. It's a massive risk and I'm a fairly risk averse person, so if I'm Everton board I'd be voicing my aversion to that. But chances are Moshiri would ignore me anyways and just go ahead and appoint Lampard. No idea how Lampard feels about the risk assessment, tbh, and I'm sure he's got enough faith in his ability to see this as a good opportunity to prove himself at a top-flight club that has ambition & resources (once they sort their FFP issues out). But those FFP issues do loom pretty largely over Everton for any potential manager tbh. And it's not going to be like his time at Chelsea where he's got a fairly balanced squad with pretty decent depth and a talented group of academy players to call on.

Yeah but by the same token, Lampard went to one of the strongest sides in one of the strongest leagues, spent a lot of money, and managed to leave the club looking worse off until he was replaced. Neither are really a great choice for Everton... but the way Everton have operated the last few years, they're probably not going to have many great choices wanting to manage them. Ancelotti really fucked them ditching them for Real Madrid & they fucked themselves with the FFP rules & fostering one of the most toxic atmospheres I've ever seen at a football club by appointing someone 99% of Everton fans fucking hated whilst football's moved on from when he went.

Tbf @RondónEFC we make a dynamic duo, I think we'd hit 60-70% win ratios at most clubs

Yet it's a better win percentage as a manager than Frank Lampard by about 7% points.

He didn't relegate Fenerbache? They were 5th when he was sacked there. He relegated 1860 Munich - but on reddit Bundesliga fans there have said that side were totally dogshit. I think Everton aren't great right now, but they've got enough quality to stay up considering the other shite sides in the league. His record for most top flight sides is significantly better than Lampard's tbh & if not for the fact that blueshite fans are scared shitless of anything Moshiri and Kia Joorabchian touch he'd probably be viewed in a better light. Tbh, I think Lampard going to Everton right now would be a disaster for both Everton and Lampard. And that sounds quite good to me, so sign me the fuck up for that.

I also support Lampard joining the shitshow that is Everton.

What the fuck?! Games on tape?!

I like the sound of this. I like every game Respawn's released - even Apex, even though I only played that for a brief while for a free to play Battle Royale game - but so far they've got a really really great track record. And Jedi Fallen order was the first game they did that was a 3rd person action-adventure style game and it was absolutely brilliant. Giving them 3 Star Wars games sounds very good to me.

If true that just makes the video even more fun

Good: but is 3 years enough?

Here's a fun video of 131 failed corner attempts from Man Utd in 2021: https://streamable.com/z0om0y

Tbh I think the board have asked him to do these interviews. It's looking increasingly likely that a decision's been made and it was leaked early to gauge the fan reaction - which has been largely negative. Saying things like "seeing the fan reaction makes me sad, but it shows the passion they have for their club" I think is the board's way of getting Everton fans to have a bit of sympathy for him. It's a farce but that's sort of been the theme of Moshiri's tenure at Everton - it's a rich guy thinking he knows better than the people he's hired to advise him with football decisions & Bill Kenwright, who's time as Everton chairman has been objectively poor yet he's still got his job despite a new owner. Honestly, I feel for Everton's next manager - whoever it is. It's an absolutely massive task to turn Everton around and make them an ambitious club - they've got a lot of deadwood to clear out and I think they've got to do that before they can make any serious signings due to FFP. With no DOF, the manager's probably got a lot of authority on signings... but we've also seen that Moshiri's the kind of owner that'll go and make signings that the manager doesn't ask for. Which isn't really great for a manager making their own stamp on a side. And by appointing a Liverpool legend to fill in after Ancelotti's departure, the fanbase's toxicity is at an all-time high... a few poor results and I expect the pressure on the manager to be overwhelming. And Everton's higher ups have really done nothing to clear up any of the toxicity in the air. They appointed someone that they knew the fans would hate, they've ignored people who know more about football than them to make a series of strange decisions that have led to a squad that's just so unbalanced, when fans call for transparency they've rolled Kenwright out to gaslight the fans which is going to do nothing but create even more toxicity. And the decision to sack Rafa after backing Rafa and getting rid of Digne in the Digne v. Rafa feud I think has only served to fuel the toxicity. Pretty much every Evertonian I know would have much preferred to keep one of their better players, and a fan favourite, over a manager that most of them absolutely despised. And instead they lost both because the board makes decisions after huffing glue. Every Everton fan I know in real life has this mix of anger and despair at their club right now. There's a huge lack of trust with anything this board has done because this board has given fans reason to think there's no way they can be trusted regardless of how much money Moshiri has. So anyone this board picks that isn't popular with Everton fans is going to suffer from the disconnect the board's created between the fans. They feel like their club's been hijacked by rich morons... and I don't blame them. But I think the calls for Lampard and Rooney are a bit weird, though. I think this job opening is a pretty massive ask and the chance of an inexperienced manager coming in and failing is pretty high. But I can't see a potential manager doing this before officially getting the job unless he was asked to by his future employers, tbh. It's just insane otherwise. And the Everton board asking a manager to sort of make himself look like a clown fits in with the way Moshiri & co have operated.

We're the first premier league club to hire a mental health professional to help the players deal with the abuse they get online: https://www.thisisanfield.com/2022/01/liverpool-hire-mental-health-therapist-to-deal-with-online-abuse-first-in-premier-league/ I hope it helps the players, but I'm not surprised we've done this - if you go onto Trent's instagram or Mane's instagram there's so many comments on their posts that are just horrificly racist. When Alisson's dad died trolls went on and mocked him for losing his father. Lovren shut down comments on his insta so many times because of the abuse he'd get after he'd make a silly mistake. If anything I'm surprised we're the first club to do this. Honestly, I think United should look into doing something like this too because the only one of their players I follow on social media is Rashford because despite playing for a club I despise... I respect the fuck out of the young man as a player and a person. And the amount of abuse he gets is fucking horrific - it honestly blows my mind... it goes far beyond what I've seen of any of our players.

When @Rick and I are being pessimists it’s actually good luck

I think you’ve got considerably more faith in the electorate than me, but I hope you’re right.

I think you should still play the first one. It's one of the best games I've ever played, it's absolutely brilliant. It's not as massive as RDR2, but it's got a great story with several really really memorable missions. But like @Bluebird Hewittsaid - you don't really need to have played the first one, although they definitely make lots of nods to the first game and do a shitload of forshadowing John Marston's story in RDR1 (which I guess is to be expected because it's a prequel thats written way after the first one, which is a beloved game). They don't give Oscars to video games, but RDR1 should have been given Best Motion Picture the year it came out despite being a video game.

The amount of money they're asking for after spending almost $8 In more serious news, is this Ukraine-Russia stuff going to boil over in the way some headlines make it seem it's going to boil over?

I'll be happy when he's gone for sure, I will probably drink a few beers in celebration. But yeah you're right, I don't have much optimism about the political atmosphere in the UK (and honestly in most places around the world).

I think Boris is just a symptom of the disease of American style political rhetoric flowing into the UK. Now that we’ve had a PM like Johnson, the floodgates are opened and I think there’s no turning back. Like with the US and Trump’s political rise - the ultra-conservatives there (because I think most democrats are actually very conservative) have fully embraced Trumpism… I suspect Boris and Farage style politicians are here to stay with the Tories and we’ll probably see politicians like them for the rest of our lives. I think it’s a byproduct of the media treating partisan politics like it’s the same as supporting a football side. Tribalism and divisive politics makes them money and people like Boris tap into that.

Is LOST good? I’ve never seen it