RandoEFC

Came here to basically say all the stuff above after tonight's draw but it turns out I already did and I've just forgotten about it. Another year, another concession to the "elite" clubs. It's asking far too much for them to play FA Cup replays or simply take part in the League Cup without them whinging about schedules and feigning concern about player safety. Not heard a peep about the extra two Champions League fixtures that have been added this year because . Load of shite.

Everton 3-0 Doncaster. About par considering League 2 opposition but better than we coped with them last season. And "par" is a marked improvement on what's been served up in our first two league games. Ndiaye's goal was a particularly nice individual effort. Yes he skins two League 2 defenders but to be brutally honest it's been a while for us since we had attacking players who could even do that. My greatest fear for him is that Dyche fails/refuses to utilise him properly because he doesn't run around as much as Doucoure or whoever but tonight is a step in the right direction.

They've replaced him but with Colapinto. I don't see how Colapinto is going to give them a huge improvement on Logan for the remaining races and there's no plan to give him a seat next season. Strange one for me. I guess there may have been availability issued with Lawson due to his Red Bull contract. Rolling the dice on Mick would have made some sense though.

If he turns out to be a lunatic as well then I don't know if I can be fucked anymore. It'll be such Everton for us to have two of the worst owners in this history of English football back to back and to go into administration or something the week before the UK government actually passes some legislation to stop British football clubs from being ruined as the play things of moronic billionaires and venture capitalists. No point getting knickers in a twist until any of this actually happens though. Textor is supposedly looking to raise funds to complete an equity backed takeover whereas most of our other suitors have been looking to fund it through borrowing which just piles yet more debt on the club. Textor also has to find a buyer for his shares in Crystal Palace before he can have anything to do with us. I remain far from convinced that this latest takeover attempt will even go through.

Everton are desperate to cash in on Calvert-Lewin as he's been offered a lucrative new contract and has no intention of signing it. Unfortunately he skewered a potential move to Newcastle earlier this summer. He's been left in limbo because he and his representatives are bold enough to ask for £140k a week after hitting single figures last season either side of a 15-20 game run without scoring and spent almost two full years in the physio room before that. He's lucky Everton have offered him a figure not far off being in that ball park. Newcastle have turned their noses up at his demands.

Saturday 31st August, 2024 Burnley 2-1 Blackburn, 12.30 Toulouse 0-2 Marseille, 20.00 Sporting Lisbon 1-0 Porto, 20.30 Valencia 1-1 Villarreal, 20.30 Sunday 1st September, 2024 Portland Timbers 3-1 Seattle Sounders, 03.30 Celtic 2-2 Rangers, 12.30 Club Brugge 2-0 Cercle Brugge, 12.30 Copenhagen 3-1 Brondby, 13.00 Feyenoord 2-1 Ajax, 13.30 Independiente 1-0 River Plate, 21.00

Correct in that this all filters down from Moshiri. These fans are cunts and shouldn't have been shouting abuse at these players but when you've got Holgate on £80k a week and Maupay on £60k a week at the club for multiple years while contributing nothing giving it back after a 4-0 drubbing, you can see why they're pissed off and they're probably also drunk as fuck. It's not the fault of those players though. Of course they're going to see out those contracts instead of taking a paycut to go elsewhere and play. The fault is on the people who brought them to the club and offered them that money. Moshiri is an absolute cancer. He's tried to sell the club for over a year and all he's succeeded in doing is creating more debt by taking money off MSP, 777 and Dan Friedkin who didn't end up completing their takeovers and are now owed money by the club. By all accounts, if we can survive one more year without relegation or administration then the cash flow from the new ground should allow us to start digging our way out of the hole. It's going to be another long season though. Our fanbase sells out home and away all season and deserve better than the shambles of this last decade. Any fanbase would be equally toxic when subjected to the same imbalance of expectations vs reality that we've had for this long. Side note - is it normal for a top flight team to be getting a train back from London to Liverpool? Are we so skint we can't afford the petrol for the team coach to do the journey? Seems mental to me and asking for this sort of trouble.

Predictions - Italian Grand Prix Deadline is qualifying on Saturday. Just a reminder I'm posting this from holiday so no Dutch results until next week. @RandoEFC @Stan @MUFC @Tommy @nudge @Whiskey @Dave @Coma @DeadLinesman @OrangeKhrush Pole Position - Which driver will post the fastest lap in Q3? [INSERT DRIVER] Podium - Which drivers will finish the Grand Prix in the top three positions? 1. [INSERT DRIVER] 2. [INSERT DRIVER] 3. [INSERT DRIVER] Random Driver - Predict the finishing position of this week's random driver, Alexander Albon. [INSERT POSITION] Bonus Question - Who will win "Formula B" this weekend? Highest finishing driver outside of Red Bull, McLaren, Ferrari and Mercedes. [INSERT DRIVER]

How did Joelinton not get sent off? Fucking hell.

That Chelsea result another great example of PSR working exactly as the Premier League wants it to.

This is some pace advantage for McLaren. An absolute walk in the park for Norris. If this carries into the remaining races (Monza may be an exception) then the Constructors' is theirs to lose and the Drivers may even go to the wire.

Our fans have lost their minds calling for Dyche's head. Whatever you think of his style of play, the entertainment value, and what he says in press conferences, the proof is in the pudding. With the worst squad we've had in years, we swallowed two points deductions last season and stayed up with 40 points. It was about 12th we'd have ended up with no deductions. What he does has a very low ceiling but it also has a higher floor than any manager we've had since Moyes with the exception of Ancelotti (even that's debatable). Replacing him based on two poor games with an unready and injury ravaged squad would be ridiculous. Any other manager would be a risk and that's before you get into the questions of who would even take that decision when the owner is actively trying to sell the club and who would even consider taking us over. People need to keep their heads screwed on here.

This idea that Liverpool can't find a player that improves them doesn't seem to stack up when people point out that Arsenal and Man City, who were better than Liverpool last season, have managed to identify and sign targets to improve them. I wouldn't panic but I think Liverpool have to be careful here. One or two apathetic or overly cautious transfer windows can kill you for a couple of seasons or more if you're trying to compete in the elite competitions. I'd be a bit concerned if I was you. I just don't think Liverpool's owners are willing to be aggressive in the transfer market and that's what you'll need to stay close to Man City. There's still a week left to change the picture though.

Well Calvert-Lewin seems to be fucking us over in the striker position because he won't sign the contract he's been offered and when Newcastle came in for him his representatives wanted wages of 140k a week or something so they quite rightly got scared off. Buying Nketiah for that sort of fee when we've got some depth there, even if the quality is lacking between Calvert-Lewin, Beto and Chermiti, would have been absolutely ludicrous if we'd not sold Calvert-Lewin first. I dread to think what wages Nketiah is on coming from Arsenal as well. I think we've spent all our money unless we make a sale. Ndiaye was an important purchase because Doucoure is our only option to play behind the striker and even he doesn't really play there naturally. Our defensive record last season was generally really good. Pickford was 2nd in the golden glove, admittedly because one or two top sides alternated goalkeepers but still. Without looking it up we can't have been far from the top five. Today is a poor showing but it's Spurs away with a teenage debutant at right back and a central defensive pairing without Branthwaite and Tarkowski only passing a late fitness test. It's shit but I'm not going to panic and jump to conclusions over it.

Also if anyone doubts that Branthwaite is worth the £70m we wanted off Man Utd for him then just look at the drop-off in our defensive record these last two games .

We lost 6-0 to Chelsea last season and followed it up with 13 points out of a possible 15. It's Spurs away. These results happen. Ange took over a top 6 Premier League side and has had about £200m worth of signings to bolster it. Dyche took over a team in the relegation zone, scraped survival, had to sell players and replace them with free transfers and loans. We have 14 first team players available going into this match. A 19 year old debutant at right back, Tarkowski barely passed a fitness test this morning as well. Everton are a bottom six side and for Spurs/Arsenal/Liverpool away, losing 3-0 is about par. We did this last season. Lost to Fulham at home in the opener, lost 4-0 at Villa then lost at home to Wolves as well. We were fine and I'm yet to see why I should be worried that we won't be again.

2-0. Pickford mistake. Back to my sunbed.

Spurs 1-0. Season starts in October when you're Everton anyway.

Whiskey: Pole: VER Podium: VER, NOR, RUS Bottas: P12 Bonus: BOT DeadLinesman: VER VER NOR HAM 17th RUS

Are Liverpool going to sign anyone? I've read that they have the money and obviously plenty of headroom when it comes to PSR but also saw an article about US investment in the Premier League going "out of fashion" so FSG and some owners of other clubs not wanting to spend to their full capability.

Doohan joins Alpine. Unknowns remaining: Will Perez keep his seat? Will Mercedes opt for Antonelli or someone else? Who will drive for RB? Who will partner Hulkenberg at Sauber? I'm thinking Perez will stay initially, Mercedes will go for Antonelli, Tsunoda and Lawson at RB and possibly Bottas will be retained by Sauber alongside Hulk.

We can argue about shades of left wing and or centrism until the cows come home. Compared to Project 2025 I frankly don't give a fuck what Kamala Harris' policy platform is. Donald Trump, for the sake of the whole Western world, cannot be President again. We just had this in the UK. After the "here's what you could have won" edition of the Labour Party under Corbyn which was "left wing" by our standards (but barely left of fucking centre as far as Europe is concerned overall), Starmer's Tory-lite Labour is a disappointment but compared to the erratic and sometimes borderline evil governance of the Conservative Party it isn't a contest.

We're in big trouble this weekend. Branthwaite injured, Tarkowski a doubt, all three of our right backs unavailable and Garner still injured. Our back four is going to be Holgate, Keane, O'Brien and Mykolenko. Going to be a long afternoon.

@Stan @MUFC @Whiskey @DeadLinesman @OrangeKhrush @Dave @nudge @Tommy @Coma reminder for the weekend.

Norris Norris Piastri Verstappen 17th Russell