RandoEFC

It's very different because Curtis Jones went in high enough on the Spurs player that his foot rolled over the ball and into the middle of his shin. It was unlucky and not deliberate but this challenge isn't on the same level.

Next season if at all.

Racked up 35 points from 31 games. Had 8 taken off us. I think our treatment overall has been pretty scandalous but we would have been dead and buried either of the previous 2 years. Trying to look at the positives. Two points ahead of Forest and Luton with a much better goal difference than Luton and home games against Forest, Brentford and Sheffield Utd as well as Luton away remaining. We shouldn't get relegated from here but if we do then it's because of PSR. By the way, our two breaches combined still add up to less than Forest's breach and that's counting 2021 and 2022's accounts twice. We've lost 8 points and they've lost 4. Talk about fit for purpose, eh? Not to mention the fact their breach was for actually spending on players and ours is mostly interest on stadium loans but old ground, old ground.

There are four different combinations of Sainz, Leclerc and Perez finishing on the podium out of the six different ways you can organise them but nobody quite nailed the PER-SAI-LEC order. Results will be in a bit late for this one as I get home on Thursday.

Saw a good point that Everton should be appealing to have any points deduction suspended until next season given that no other club will ever be given penalties for two different time periods in the same season and that being inflicted upon Everton would come purely as a consequence of the Premier League's administrative processes. I assume we'll appeal any points deduction given today which means that teams in the relegation fight have to wait on the results of both ours and Forest's appeals during the last 6 games of the season. I know I've been going on about it all season but it's ridiculous and it destroys the sporting integrity of the league so it needs to continue being called out. However, we're probably better off getting hit with 2 points now and taking our chances than starting on -2 next season with Leicester and Leeds to contend with instead of the shambles the Championship has had to offer this season and after our squad has been asset stripped just to keep the club afloat yet again.

Everton second charge drops tomorrow by the sounds of it. I assume some people have inside knowledge as our relegation odds dropped from 7/1 to 5/1 in the last 24 hours despite Forest losing today. Points to a 1-2 point deduction to me. Hopefully nothing worse than that and hopefully we appeal.

Genuine question - does anyone, be they United, Liverpool or neutral fans, actually enjoy it when they put Neville and Carragher on commentary for this fixture? Neither of them are remotely capable of staying impartial although Neville at least remembers to take a step away from the microphone when they score, you can still hear it. It just comes off as really unprofessional to be honest. Sacrificing insight so that they can post "reaction videos" of them both in the commentary box. I assume this is a symptom of having hundreds of millions of Liverpool and United fans ("fans") across the world watching the game but just wondering whether there's any reason to actually like it. Having them in the studio for me is fine but I want my co-commentators to bring some insight. The fans in the stadium provide enough "reactions" to what's going on. You don't need biased pundits to do the same.

Chelsea have dropped points against Burnley and Sheffield United now. I really hope we don't play like garbage down there next weekend while Luton go to Man City because there's something to be had there.

Yeah I thought this on the replay. It looked like he got a touch on it but he was outside the area. Probably a red card if he ends up preventing the goal and then a draw at best anyway for Liverpool and presumably their 3rd choice goalkeeper in the next game.

Agreed. Probably the most temperamental team in the league. Quansah is a bit unlucky to be honest. It's a pretty innocuous misplaced pass and the only reason it's become a goal-costing error is an unreal finish from Fernandes. Liverpool only have themselves to blame for dropping points. Nunez put in one of his Nicklas Bendtner tribute acts today. Arsenal have it in their hands now. People cry-arsed about their tactics last week but now they're top on goal difference because they've got the best attacking and defensive records in the league. Personally think City will still come through and win this. I don't see either Liverpool or Arsenal as the finished article and I think both will drop further points whereas it wouldn't remotely surprise me to see City win all of their remaining games.

0 shots in a half for any home team is incredible. For Man Utd.... wow. Sometimes you watch them and think it's amazing that they're as high as 6th. I don't think any team makes the headlines for the wrong reasons as often as they do.

Absolutely mental that footballers still do this. If it's a leg break or a head injury then let the referee blow up. If not then the player is almost certainly faking it. Not 2 minutes after play resumed, Diaz got on the end of an attack almost scored against them.

Okay race thanks to the tyre strategies.

Hopefully a Forest loss tomorrow keeps us 4 points clear of both before the rumoured drop of the second PSR judgement on Monday. 7 points over Luton would have been a nice buffer. Fucking Bournemouth.

Gruesome win but we got it. That should be Burnley buried now but Luton coming back to beat Bournemouth is pretty devastating.

1-0 at half time. Calvert-Lewin with a hilarious goal, just like the one Nunez scores in midweek, after a turgid 45 minutes of football from both teams.

Really we should beat Burnley this weekend and put some space between us and the relegation zone. That would effectively kill them off I think as well. We should then be able to get a good haul from Sheff Utd, Brentford and Forest all at home. As long as we avoid defeat at Luton then I think we'll be good even if a couple more points get deducted. I don't trust us to do any of that though and am emotionally ready to go into Sheff Utd at home needing a win to guarantee safety before we go to Arsenal on the final day. The prize? Looking forward to another relegation battle and likely points deduction next season, but after we've sold Onana and Branthwaite and can only afford 35 year old free transfers to replace them.

A salary cap or general budget cap would be great in theory. The problem is that if the Premier League agree on that then you might have a more competitive league but you won't have nearly as many of the world's biggest players come. Some of us would be much happier with the state of the English game but the league and the clubs are never going to go for that unfortunately. It would be great if all of the leagues across the world would agree to follow the same budget caps. The likes of Celtic and Rangers, the Turkish clubs, Portuguese clubs, Greek, Dutch, etc. could actually be properly relevant again in European competition - imagine! Even if you could get the UEFA members on board with that though there's always a Chinese Super League or Saudi League waiting in the wings threatening to offer these players unregulated amounts of money. The horse has bolted. The very best scenario that's vaguely realistic is that PSR is implemented in a way using some sort of live accounting where clubs are banned from signing or registering players or offering any of their players or staff bigger contracts once their losses cross a certain threshold. The only way we get football back is if the Super League actually happens, the teams involved take all the rampant capitalism with them and the English pyramid is ripped up and reformed with a lot less money swimming around in it.

The modern fan has such a short attention span and a disproportionate interest in online "banter" and bragging rights. They don't watch football for the sport of it, they watch it so that they can be a part of the storylines and the manufactured drama on social media. Leicester will never generate the same sort of buzz as the breakaway teams (to varying extents). Leicester winning the league was a nice novelty for most but yeah, the modern football fan doesn't want too many Leicester City's. Football is a drama more than a sport now and people want familiar characters that they recognise, not a different cast every season. The whole sport vs brand is the root cause of most of what us "legacy fans" would call the issues with football now.

Didn't watch the last part of the game but just watched the goals back. What the fuck . The lack of professionalism in both of those squads is astounding.

It wasn't more marketable though apparently. You'd think it would have been. This article explains it to some extent, there's probably better ones out there but I'm too lazy to look harder than I have. https://www.forbes.com/sites/grantfeller/2016/05/04/what-leicester-citys-unlikely-triumph-can-teach-all-sports-brands-need-competition/ The key passages: In terms of business Leicester’s victory has, so it’s argued, breathed life back into the predictable and boring business of Premiership football. It is 21 years since any team other than Arsenal, Chelsea, Manchester City or Manchester United won the top-flight title. The narrative to each season was being written before a ball had been even kicked. When Davids have no chance against Goliaths, it gets boring. Well, now David has won and already doubts are being raised as to whether it is a positive thing. One senior economist I spoke to believes the outsider’s triumph is good for the game but bad for business and could well lead to a decline in football revenue, especially on television. “The reality,” he told me, “is that Sky viewing figures are slumping – everyone likes Leicester but no one watches them in live Premier League games. And BT (which shows live games between Europe’s top clubs) is very worried about the Champions League next year because although Leicester has qualified as a top seed it doesn’t have as broad an international following as well-known British clubs such as Manchester United.” ... Some commentators consider Leicester’s triumph to be the kind of shot in the arm motor racing’s revenues need – plucky David conquering all-powerful Goliath. The next six months will show whether that’s true or whether, as astute economists predict, brands desperate to bask in the glory of an unlikely victory suddenly realise that the paying public wants what it always had. A Goliath-controlled status quo.

Yeah and don't forget the caving in to the five subs rule, getting rid of various extra time, replays, two legged cup ties that all play into the hands of the clubs with the biggest squads and the biggest fixture lists and limit further the chances for clubs down the pyramid to earn the gate money lottery. I'm still yet to hear a word from any of the Super League Six managers about having six group games in each of the European tournaments, and extending said tournaments by allowing teams that finish 3rd to drop down to the one below for the knockout rounds. All unnecessary bollocks to generate extra lucrative fixtures but when it comes to travelling down to Bristol Rovers for an FA Cup 4th round replay because your second string of £150k a week players couldn't put their £15k a week squad to bed at the first attempt, it's "inhumane what we're asking of these players with this fixture list". You could go on all day really.

I've heard a few people mention this around the various episodes of the PSR discourse this season, the sort of "in the know" types who know people in football and can attest to the powers that be not liking the Leicester storyline. I didn't realise one of them had actually said something to that effect publicly. Incredible really.

Not sure what's more embarrassing, the first 25 minutes of Man Utd's performance that had me thinking Chelsea were going to win 4, 5 or 6 nil, or Chelsea somehow fluffing a 2-0 lead in the blink of an eye to a team who had put them under no pressure up to that point. Two quite embarrassing and ridiculous teams. Good entertainment at least.

His trump card was to hit Everton with 10 points because his idea of showing the league can govern itself is just handing out harsh punishments to look big and strong. There's clearly much more to it running the league than that and even that one gambit failed because the response was universally negative. He's not a man to provide strong leadership of any sort. The fact that at least two of the "big" clubs lobbied for his appointment tells you all you need to know.