Smiley Culture

Chelsea to score 2+ goals (vs West Ham) - 8/13. 

Chelsea have scored two goals in 9/14 away games and West Ham have conceded two goals in 9/14 at home. Chelsea are also only behind Leicester and City in terms of shots on target away from home, too. 

Also, on the subject of pubs, are they going to have plastics instead of glass? 

Anyone actually arsed that pubs are re-opening? How they’re going to operate sounds like hell. 

17 hours ago, Dan said:

The super league would definitely fail as well by the way. You've got a group of clubs in there supported largely by people because they win all the time - who are no longer going to win all the time.

It may work for a year or two but it would fall to bits after. Absolutely no doubt at all.

Isn’t the Champions League hugely successful and only one side can win that each year. 

Went large on Over 1.5 Offsides (8/13) for Newcastle and O3.5 Offsides (4/6) in the who match vs Sheff Utd. 2nd v 3rd in terms of highest offsides in the league. Buying money. 

Read up on Asian Handicaps the last couple of weeks, so I’ve got a few very small bets on. 

Barrow promoted to the Football League, Kings Lynn Town and Wealdstone promoted to the National League. 

36 minutes ago, West of West Ham said:

The Premier League is a closed shop of elites where every other club is there to prop up the league and provide a sense of competition, when there isn’t one. 2016 was a one off and the only way to complete is to win the lottery by having a Sheik, dodgy Oil Barron or American entrepreneur with $billions takeover. 
 

You know this is the unpopular opinion thread, don’t you? 

23 minutes ago, Stan said:

Isn't that the plan now anyway? Have the third competition for those clubs that don't usually get in to Europe?

My main concern is that once the CL is closed off to try and angle it for the elite clubs (if that hasn't happened already), what's the criteria to break in to that elite? Or even if they go off on a tournament themselves, how do other clubs try and break that glass ceiling?

I'm not sure it's that unpopular to be honest. The way football is/was going was pointing towards a select elite of clubs forming their own 'clique' and continuing to get money plied in to them through sponsorships/TV while the others are left to just do what they can.

No idea. 

Maybe I should have been clearer, the elite sides  pull up the drawbridge on their competition and it’s no longer a competition you can qualify for by league placings, it’ll be decided in boardrooms rather than patches of grass.

They pack up and have their own competition that leads to even further financial disparity and then your next crop of clubs, your Leicester’s currently, have the Europa League as best case scenario for European competition and then the third one to satisfy the next crop of clubs whom otherwise would be even further from continental football than they are now. 

I genuinely think the introduction of the third European club competition is all pre-planned. The elite will pick who they want and go off and have a Nations League type competition between themselves, the Europa will be the premier club competition for the rest of the clubs and the third competition will be the secondary competition, much like the Europa is now. 

Anyone been on furlough and gone back? I had eight weeks off and went back to working from home yesterday but getting back into a routine is hard. 

Good book if you’re into stats and numbers. Only coming up to halfway through, as it’s not just a book you can pick up casually, you need to pay attention to it. 

Related to what I said yesterday, I’d much rather find a value bet that’s potentially going to win me money than spend my time playing Fantasy Football. 

7 hours ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

Fantasy football is for bored husbands and sad singles.  

This. 

Some lad I went to school with and have on Facebook  is bang into it and always talking about the “FPL Fam” and shite like that. 

 

13 minutes ago, Stan said:

 

It's only crap if you end up forgetting though and that's on you

Also, there are several leagues out there with draft competitions and personalised where it can be small amounts of people in there.

If it was any good, I wouldn’t. 

Genuinely don’t know anyone that gets beyond September with it. 

Fantasy Football is pretty crap. The initial enjoyment lasts about three weeks before you forget to change things and you’re bottom of the league. 

Phil Foden’s been warned about playing beach football with a load of people not from his household but he can go to a supermarket and go to work and play football with a load of people not from his household. 

1 hour ago, RandoEFC said:

Football will boost the nation's morale though and that will surely cure the remaining Covid 19 cases.

Does ICU have the Pick Channel then? 

https://www.itv.com/news/2020-05-31/almost-two-thirds-of-care-homes-have-had-no-staff-tested-data-suggests/

As long as we know that Ashley Barnes is okay to start playing Football in two weeks, fuck everyone else. 

Does this get good at any point? Watched the first one and nothing. On par with the soaps. 

1 hour ago, Burning Gold said:

It wasn't until after he saw red that he started lashing out at everyone. Pretty sure he grew up an Everton fan as well, and QPR were in danger of going down if they lost. All told, I think this is a bit far fetched.

That said, I had a mate at uni who was insistent that Mark Hughes (then QPR manager) instructed his players to lose after he learnt they were assured survival by results elsewhere. Apparently he held a grudge over something that'd happened at United

A Scouser, regardless of the colour, who’d played for City for years is just too fishy. 

He was sent-off at 1-1. A draw, IIRC, was enough to keep QPR up and meant City were 2nd. I’m not sure that I believe that he tried to take a City player with him, I don’t think he has that brain power to think that, this is the man who used a teenager’s face as an ashtray remember. 

7 hours ago, Devil-Dick Willie said:

Wait @Dan @Smiley Culture are you implying that the refs were biased towards city or that barton had money on a city win?

He’s always maintained that he attacked Aguero with the intention of him reacting (a bizarre idea because he’d never shown up to that point that he was that sort of player) and then City being down to ten men too. He tried to get Kompany to react as well and again, completely failed.

It’s always been a bizarre idea that the best way for QPR to stay up that season was for him and a City player to get sent off. Barton is certainly not the brightest tool in the box but it all seems convenient that a Scouse ex-Man City player would get sent off against City in a game that City need to win to take the title from Man United. 

Union Berlin v Bayern Munich 

- Over 2.5 Goal kicks for Bayern in the whole game. 
- Over 10.5 Goal Kicks for Union in the whole game. 
- Over 0 goals for Bayern in the whole game. 

Odds of 1/2. 

FC Köln v Mainz 05 

- Under 7 cards in the game for both teams. 
- Over 4.5 Goal Kicks in the game for Köln. 
- Over 4.5 Goal Kicks in the game for Mainz. 
- Over 0 cards in the match for both teams. 

Not the best odds but 4/11. 

I know he got banned for betting but Joey Barton’s red card against City in that Aguero game is as close to match fixing as you’re going to get in modern English Football at the top end.