Dr. Gonzo

I actually don't think Maguire's been bad at United and I still think he's a good player - but losing Maguire has allowed Leicester to play with a higher line because Evans and Sonyoncu isn't anywhere near as slow as a pairing as Evans and Maguire. With Ndidi to help out the defenders, they can keep a high line and they have 2 very good fullbacks to stretch the opposition - which really suits how Rodgers likes to operate. Also you have to consider that Maguire was playing behind a much better midfield at Leicester than he was at United (weird to type that one out and be totally serious about it - but it's true). So even though Maguire not being pacey isn't so much of an issue at United, where they defend deeper than Leicester do this season, he's under more pressure defensively because that midfield is putting the United defense under more pressure. I think he was overpriced, he's not worth a fee as high as his, but I understand why they signed him - he's a player that gives them leadership (ironically, Leicester still have a leader at the back in United's youth product Evans) and he'll be with them during his peak years. The defending for United last season was pretty dogshit, this season it's been noticeably better. My post about him holding Leicester's defense back was more in jest than serious - I think ultimately Leicester's defensive success comes down to Evans and Sonyoncu being a better partnership for the system that Rodgers likes to use, more than the quality of Maguire. It was an excellent bit of business for Leicester, getting as much money as they did while they had a replacement ready to go.

Maguire was holding Leicester's defense back:

Awww yeeeahh lets have Chelsea make some panic buys and stop giving the kids a chance

Holy shit they're putting Duncan Ferguson in charge literally minutes after I made that post questioning what the fuck he does at Everton! A member of the Everton board lurks among us!

I don't know if traditional media should die off - the media's double standards in reporting in politics over the last few decades is obviously extremely troubling because it's been massively influential in the shitshow we're in today. But at the same time, a lot of "independent" political journalism isn't rooted in the ideas of journalistic integrity in trying to give people political news - a lot of it is people independent of the mainstream media trying to mislead the public even further and designed to push people to more extreme viewpoints. I do think the internet and social media play a massive part in how the political culture of the western world is being molded. I think what the internet has done is pretty similar to what happened when the printing press was developed: the printing press made it easier than ever for people to spread and receive information. When we think of the renaissance we typically think of the massive strides forward Europe made in artistic and scientific pursuits - we often don't think about how it was a time of notable social struggle and political upheaval. Now we're not coming out of the plague, like the people alive at the time of the renaissance. But we are in a time where a great deal of people feel utterly left behind by the situation their governments have left them in. So people aren't anywhere near as desperate as the dark ages (which is a good thing), but they're still feeling desperate. We're also in a time where we've got information flowing more freely than ever before. Just like with the printing press, that's mostly a good thing for society. That doesn't mean that it doesn't have it's own issues that can be magnified by simple human nature. I think people have always had issues with critical thinking and being able to discern reality from bullshit - otherwise conmen wouldn't be a thing and politicians would be held more accountable for their brazen lying. So while I think people nowadays are generally aware of more factually accurate things than people at the beginning of the renaissance (as they fucking should, considering centuries have passed)… imo people are just as stupid as they've ever been. Just like how people have used exploiting "fear of the other" isn't new. IMO calling for killing off our press is a bit extreme, but I don't know how you'd really regulate the media properly without it stifling the concept of a free press. Any government oversight of privately owned media inherently makes that media less a part of a "free press" - but perhaps rules regarding how many media entites one person/one corporate group can hold would be a start? It's a tricky issue, but it's something that needs to be addressed. Similarly, social media providers have demonstrated they're not to be trusted at "self-regulation" and the effectiveness of the internet at being a tool for the spread of malicious bullshit for political purposes is also something that needs to be addressed. But again, it's tricky to do that while maintaining all of the positive benefits the free flow of ideas and information on the internet provide. That's not to shit on all independent journalism out there either - there are people out there trying to raise journalistic standards considering how badly traditional media has let those standards drop. But there's also plenty of people out there calling themselves "journalists" taking from news stories actual journalists wrote and then throwing heavy doses of their own opinion in it trying to mislead. And even worse are the people who make shit up. I just think traditional media and this new era of online media have their own issues that are all very complicated... and I'm fairly sure the extreme view that traditional media must die, if it ever did come to fruition, would be one of those cases of the grass not always being greener on the other side.

How has Duncan Ferguson survived so many managerial changes? Is he actually a good football coach? I feel like not since Lukaku have Everton strikers really looked like... decent strikers... so he can't be great as a strikers coach, if that's what he's up to? Then again, I know fuck all about the coaching dynamics at Everton, so there's a good chance he's a good coach that has survived so many managers based on extreme competence. I just have no idea what he does really... but he has survived a lot of managerial changes and it does beg the question... why? If it's sentimentality over his competence, Everton need to do the tough thing and tell a legend it's time to go. If he's genuinely good at his job, fair enough. If it's because nobody's got the bollocks to sack him then lol

Imo part of the problem is the tactics. United seem to be at their best against the sides that are more open and come at them with possession, then being absolutely ruthless on the counter. But up against sides that on most days would just be content with winning a point at United that come and are going to sit back deep and force United to come at them... when typically that’s what all of us watching English football would expect United to thrive. Tbh I don’t know if this is a problem with just Solksjaer, or an overall lack of creativity at United right now - this problem existed under Mourinho too. Or if it’s a mentality issue, because his start was pretty fucking impressive. However you slice it, it’s certainly a strange and interesting issue. Because you certainly can’t say a side is all that bad when they perform in big matches. But it’s a weird consistency issue.

I think it says something about either Solksjaer or the squad that they really only turn up for the big games and look pretty shite against clubs you'd expect them to look good against.

@RandoEFC - this might not be the best time to ask this, shortly after a derby match that went just about as poorly as it could have for you.. but the derby got me thinking this while we were 4-1 up: Is Marcel Brands part of the problem at Everton right now? Because yeah, sure, a big part of the issues with Everton right now fall squarely on the manager's shoulders. The tactics being questionable and shite like that. But the issues with recruitment and the overall effort we're seeing from the players are partially on Silva (well, I imagine he has at least a say on who Everton bring in)… but recruitment is primarily Brands' domain. And the players not putting in the required effort to be at a top flight club, let alone a club like Everton... that's on the fucking players IMO. My thoughts are... Brands is probably to blame at least a bit... but how much is his fault, it's really hard to say. It's got to be hard trying to come into a club that's been lacking in stability and try to give it some stability... but right now I don't think anyone can say that's what's happening at Everton. Personally, I actually feel for Silva - although I think he's lost the players and his tactics today were laughable and he probably deserves the sack based on this season's showing. I think if I were an Evertonian most of my anger at the situation of the club would be directed at the players, many of whom aren't fit to wear the shirt. And on another note, here's why I hope Everton don't ever go down - despite being our local rivals: A reminder that while people up and down the country fucking hate us as a club irrationally because we're Scouse, Everton are the ones who hate us for actual football reasons and have stood with us while the rest of the nation wants to shit on Scousers. Brought a smile to my face seeing this banner, especially after Twitter just fucking banned me because I told Trevor Sinclair to go fist himself and called him a Manc cunt after he called us bin dippers.

He's not a fan of crosses

Bad news mate. But if you could beat Citeh that would be cool

Germany's kicked out some Russian diplomats after a Skipral style murder. Wish the UK would demonstrate the same kind of testicular fortitude tbh.

I played a bit more last night, just got to the wild area. I really haven't played a whole lot... but I will say, this does seem a hell of a lot more complicated than I remember pokemon being

If VAR is here to stay, I think something like this is a necessity tbh.

Holy shit, you wanna see something delusional? Look at Tom Hicks’ latest interview. So glad that absolute waste of human flesh isn’t associated with us anymore.

Think they're keeping Silva around just so the new manager's first match doesn't have to be at Anfield? Seems a bit fucked for Silva tbh, if even a good result against a side at the top of the league with a pretty decent gap between them and the next contenders won't even save his job. The bleak despair around Everton/Evertonians right now is totally fucked tbh. Their subreddit is arguably the most depressing place on the internet right now.

One of the biggest reasons for being in favour of deleting twitter from the internet is that nobody in the universe needs to see whatever the fuck is going through Piers Morgan's fucking head.

@RandoEFC loads of my blueshite mates are saying a new manager has been lined up (none of them are saying anything consistent regarding who that manager is, though) and that Silva's last match for Everton, win or lose, will be against us on Wednesday. No idea if it's true or if it's just a rumour that's taken legs here. I guess we'll find out on Thursday, because apparently "win or lose" means even if you win 5-0 against us at Anfield, he's still a dead man walking. The worst thing I've heard about this is... Rafa is one of the names I've heard bandied about as Silva's replacement. And I would absolutely hate that. Tbh though, I'm not sure I believe any of it. But I figure when I'm hearing this from loads of people, there's either something in it. Or it just shows how quickly rumours spread. You heard anything similar, or nah?

I'd not heard any criticism of the game tbh. Granted, I saw just a couple of good review scores and thought "fuck it, I've got a Switch - my wife's got a Switch. Let's play some fucking Pokémon." So far it seems pretty cool, but I haven't really done anything past getting to where we're allowed to trade

A reporter from The Athletic reported it - and considering the reputation those journalists have, everyone else is running with it as it's likely true. A bit sad for him, tbh, to spend 10 years at a club and have a few winners medals, but mostly being known as a lad who didn't really deliver on the potential he had as a young player (which is actually pretty mental considering how great he was when he came through at Blackburn) and instead being known for making some pretty dire errors and having a funny face while you play. But also definitely a bit funny.

I've been playing Pokémon Shield - it's the first Pokémon game I've played since the red one on the Gameboy. My wife's playing Pokémon sword, I spent all yesterday doing the beginning 5 fucking times so we could trade and have all the starters. I still haven't really gotten beyond the point where you can first start trading

The one handy thing about Spurs right now is that while Mourinho's gotten them back to winning ways again... they still look a bit wonky at the back - so there's always a chance to sneak a few goals. But if I were a United fan, what I'd be worried about is you just know Jose Mourinho would absolutely love to leave egg all over Ed Woodward's face and absolutely spank United here. And it's one of those weird situations where I fully believe the opposing manager knows the squad's strengths and weaknesses better than the manager (that comes off as a slight against Solksjaer… and it is - he's got no business managing Man Utd). The same is actually true of City too. But the thing about City is their attack is so ridiculous that any time they go forward they look like there's a good chance you're going to score - and if Ole does the thing he's tended to do where he sets the side up to sit deep and counter, yeah I think United will have 3-4 really good chances in the match... but City will have a ridiculous number of chances and I'm not sure how your defense would do being under constant pressure from that relentless attack. I'm not a betting man, but if I were... I'd guess you do lose to both of them. If that happens, there's a good chance you're looking weirdly close to the bottom of the table and that might be enough pressure to get rid of Solksjaer. The time to get rid of him is now - Poch is available and there's a transfer window coming up. Tbh, this is all reminding me a lot of Hodgson's time with us. A manager that's clearly out of his depth at the level he's expected to perform. A media that's really friendly to him despite this obvious out-of-depthness - which buys him far more time than he really should have. Solskjaer's recent media comments have been strangely Hodgson-at-Liverpool-esque… recently he came out and said he's not bothered with where United are in the league table. That's absolutely absurd to me, it's a step away from Hodgson's "we're not too big for a relegation battle." United are too big for a relegation battle and if they lose the next 2, I don't know if the reality of the league table can be ignored anymore. But this is all really why a manager like Solksjaer with really really limited experience at this level shouldn't have been given the job after a turnaround of fortunes during the honeymoon period at the club - that was the opportune time to just see out the season and ride the high of an unpopular manager being replaced by a club legend for as long as that would last, while scoping out which top tier managers would be interested in spending a serious amount of cash rebuilding United. Instead, United have once again spent a serious amount of cash and are now looking like they'll be handing another massive pile of cash to a new manager. You don't end up with a string of expensive rebuilds that keep failing this badly without serious problems above the manager - although right now, I think the ineptitude of the current manager is probably the most pressing issue at United. There's Poch or Allegri out there - they might not want to come into the job mid-season, but the club should be working on getting on of them into the club ASAP. The issue there is if they want to come in at the end of the season, I still think Solksjaer needs to be sacked and a new interim manager put in place. Because for as good as the form was when he first came in, that honeymoon period is well and truly over - I think he's lost the squad and tactically he's not shown anything special. So really, you'd want whoever is willing to come in to take the job right now. Honestly, it's astounding that a club as wealthy and profitable as United has really been so mismanaged from the top down. When did David Gill step down, because if Ferguson managed to still be successful working with the current crop of morons at the club... he deserves a fucking medal of some sort ("but Gonzo, he's already been knighted"). It's honestly so careless from the Glazers because you've spent the money to be so much better than you are. There really is no excuse other than incompetence. The one silver lining is that while the club have been just so ridiculously careless... you've still got the resources to be successful if you ever do hire competent people again.

A bad losing run. I can get what you’re saying about there’s no evidence the players can do better, but some of these performances are just inexcusable. 3-4 losses in a row and I think Ole’s a dead man walking. Honestly though it doesn’t address the larger problem. Ed Woodward shouldn’t be making football decisions at United

I think Leicester would spend more, but I don’t think you can expect them to start spending like CL regulars just because they qualified for the CL. Leicester have shown they will spend well if they can sustain it, so of course they would spend more. But like when Spurs first hit the CL, I don’t think we would see a radical change in spending. Arsenal will always have cash to burn as one of the big clubs in England. They can’t burn as much as the oil clubs, sure - because they’re a real football club not a rich man’s plaything or a questionable governments propaganda machine - and I think they’ll always be a fairly attractive prospect for a manager like Brendan Rodgers. Having said that, I think he stays til the end of the season because whatever happens this year with Leicester I think he’s going to come off looking really good. It’s a good year for his CV - and then he’s in a good spot to demand more from Leicester or demand more from a new club that can promise him money to burn and massive wages