nudge

I think you meant "dire" Anyway, it's a long story with quite a few nuances. Short version: we always had limited resources and depended on good scouting and smart dealings in the transfer market. Due to domestic achievements and regular participation in CL/UEFA Cup in the early to late 2000s, we generated a healthy stream of income and our financial state was healthy, so we were able to attract decent players and offer them decent salaries. On top of that, during this phase when everything was still was going well, the club decided to expand the stadium. The estimated costs were around 50-60 million, but due to various factors (increased steel prices, etc.) it wasn't feasible and in the end a simple modernisation of the stadium (even without the planned capacity increase) cost us 80 million instead. It was still all fine as long as we were finishing in the top 6; in fact the whole club expenditure was based on a somewhat naive belief that it's going to be the case for years to come. Unfortunately, we were regularly losing our key players to bigger clubs (usually for much too low fees too), the replacements weren't good enough, our performances started to drop, we started missing out on European spots and financial rewards that come with it, all while the squad was still largely made of players with salaries fitting for a club with CL ambitions. So essentially, we brought in players on high salaries who mostly failed to deliver (so we struggled to sell them for profit as well), we hired and then sacked managers each of whom turned out to be worse than the previous one, we failed to reach our sporting goals as a result, so the expenditure kept on growing while the income was decreasing massively. We went from making profit to making huge losses each year, so it was not sustainable and the club went on an extreme saving course. The financial situation got better after a while and we stopped making losses in recent few years, but then corona hit in 2020 and it meant that we lost around 40-50 million last season, which for a club of our stature is a loooooot of money. So now we're back to where we were a few years ago - poor financial state, no sporting achievements, danger of relegation.

No, that's certainly on the manager - but going into full panic mode after conceding the first goal once again signals issues with mental strength of the team as well, especially since it's been a recurring theme.

What if someone not in the UK watches it?

Welcome to the forum, @fearfull! Any news of what's happening with the legal battle between Kruse and Fenerbahce? I read that Kruse sued the club for allegedly unpaid wages, and then Fenerbahce sued him for 18 million due to him canceling his contract and signing with Union Berlin.

This was a great race, even if we were missing quite a few participants and the fans due to the circumstances worldwide, but the drama alone was worth it. Gutted with Porsche being so poor this year. Toyota win was expected, but the Rebellions did well, and GTE Am and LMP2 classes truly delivered in terms of excitement. Missed 4 hours as had to have some sleep early in the morning.

GT Am battle for podium with less than 20 minutes left is incredible!

The last hour is crazy. Safety car now with 36 minutes to go...

To me it seems that both the manager and the team still have some sort of a mental block when it comes to competitive matches. Not sure how to explain it otherwise.

I'd normally agree, and I'm generally not the one to call for the manager's head, but the way I see it, this is a continuation of last season without learning from own mistakes and making any changes. If it comes to it, I'd rather sack him two matches into the season than witness another 32 matches like that and get relegated or barely avoid it again, only to repeat it over and over again. The problem is, our dire financial situation means that the replacement would probably be even worse, so I honestly don't see a way out.

One would expect that, but since Werder is a gift that keeps on giving, I reckon the answer is no...

I love the night phase, the concentration levels start to drop, anything can happen...

Yep

Depends, tyre allocation is different for each class. 48 tyres for LMP1, 56 for LMP2, 60 for LMGTE Pro and Am. Are you sure? try running it at the max on the racing track for 24 hours and see how it goes many cars make it, many don't. Reliability is a huge thing in endurance racing.

Well of course you need to be in front in terms of done laps too the point is, many cars don't make it to the finish in the first place...

I'm watching it on Eurosport... There's also an official stream on WEC website, but it's geoblocked for the US, I believe

"The car stopped on track, the driver exited the car and phone called his team. A member of the team met the driver and supplied a component which the driver fitted to the car. The car was then able to continue. During the hearing the team representative admitted to these facts. He also stated that the car would not have been able to continue without this fix. This is a breach of Art. 12.3.9 of 24 Hours of Le Mans Supplementary Regulations. The penalty in the Regulations is disqualification." Wow.

Dominique Bastien, Dempsey-Proton car #88, has become the oldest driver in the history of Le Mans. 74 years old Still more than half of the race left, it's been a bit quiet in the last hour or two. Still no rain And as I type that, there's black flag for car #37!

Porsche top speed on the straight is just awful, must have been screwed by BoP surely? If not, then it's just piss poor. Gutted for Signatech Alpine, to have technical issues at the start of the race is so frustrating, and then the drive through penalty on top of that... Unlucky for Proton Racing car 88 there, did well to avoid the spinning Ferrari there but couldn't avoid the barriers. Rain is expected later today and also at night. Will be fun...

The broadcast has started, beer is in the fridge, pizza is in the oven... Race starts in less than an hour, it's going to be a loooong 24 hours...

15 minutes to go

Haha I planned to just take my Pentax ME Super and shoot on film, but now that you asked, I'll bring my DSLR too

Will do!

@Mel81x Going to a robotics and futurology exhibition next week. Basically a demonstration of the newest robots, Tesla coils/Faraday cage show, virtual reality, holograms, bionics, etc. Was given a short demo by Boston Dynamics Spot the Robot Dog today, fucking impressive. Really looking forward to it...

Pole sitters:

Snitches get stitches.