At the time Courtois went down DdG was probably holding out for a longer contract not just a one season deal like Madrid were probably looking at. He can't afford to be that fussy now, leave it much longer and doubts will creep in from clubs about how long it'll take him to get back up to match spee...

Hi Ken.

I probably better for a Championship manager's career if they don't get promoted to the Premier League.

I'm taking the cynical approach that it's harder for him to get sacked if he's owed wages.

General Football

There was a match being played on the pitch next to Jnr II's before they kicked off last week and a player got sin binned.
We were all a bit bemused by it as we didn't realise it was a thing. Guess it might be getting piloted at some grass roots levels.

HJK Helsinki vs Aberdeen was a more entertaining watch than you'd think. Started watching it just because it was snowing and the pitch was getting covered and I was hoping for a dodgy penalty decision where the ref couldn't see the lines. Aberdeen were 2-0 down about halfway through the first half a...

My solution to the handball rule is as follows. Any handball in the penalty box by a defending player when trajectory of ball is goal bound = penalty Any other deliberate handball deemed by referee = penalty Deflections off party parts to hand like last night = no penalty. I don't think this works....

If anything i think its getting worse from own experience. With so many junior leagues now setup, tagged with "academy" brandng, coaches think they are the next Klopp, and a win at all stakes mentality is forming, which is passing through kids and parents. It's definitely getting worse. W...

paultheroyal You might be thinking of Ashley Williams, was it 2 years ago he was seen coming onto the pitch remonstrating at a young official for an U13 game or something?

Yes, I think it was the Ashley Williams incident I was thinking of.

The on field referees need to be empowered to stick to their guns. They are so frightened to go with their gut. ^ This. We can blame VAR all we want but the ref watched the replay and changed his mind. He could have said, nah, the defender is pulling out of the challenge and Wilson has deliberately...

https://preview.redd.it/e3xvirmgkp2c1.jpg?width=640&crop=smart&auto=webp&s=f9684bb0a360afca0078ad59e61d780bd2dd3508 And this was before losing Bentancur again Its a bit of a stretch including Sessegnon on that list isn't it. Not like he's been anywhere near nailing down a starting place...

An under 12's game was abandoned at HT yesterday after the level of abuse that had been given to the 15 year old referee by one of the managers, former Wolves midfielder Karl Henry Sounds very familiar, has he got previous form for this or was there another ex-player a few years back that did the s...

I'm imaging a sitcom where his dad accepts a job without properly checking the location and the family have to leave Stains for Staines.

Maguire critics gone quiet in recent weeks. Almost like he wasn’t as bad as the media (and others) liked to portray Sure, he has limitations and will likely come unstuck against the top teams but he’s still a decent defender, the witch hunt against him was embarrassing He was still shit for England.

Winston Biscuit 19 year old Mohamed-Ali Cho has been one of Real Sociedad's stand out players this season. From Staines

Wikipedia seems to think that's Stains the suburb of Paris not Staines the shithole near London.

As much as Southgate is being a bit belligerent, I can't see a scenario where Henderson should be in the squad next summer, and I'd argue Maguire too, but at worst I expect the latter to go as backup. Problem is that although we seem to have strength in depth in some positions in others its paper t...

Guehi was excellent. I've only seen clips of Bobby Moore, but there is something very Moore-like about the way he moves with the ball. Glides, almost as if there is no-one else on the pitch. I wasn't that impressed with Guehi last night, but granted he does look like Bobby Moore but only in compari...

They should have had a penalty for Maguire bundling over a player not the Lewis one. We've been dreadful. Saka always cuts back on his left foot to try and get to the corner of the box to shoot. Grealish always slows down play so defenders get back into position and then passes backwards. It's just ...

Have Everton been accumulating debt while City and Chelsea have ridiculously wealthy owners willing to spunk their money without burdening the club with the debt?