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Wtf were his parents thinking, coming up with a name like that when he was born? 

Martin Jol has brothers called Cock and Dick.

Forgot about that. 

Everything is so globalised and sterile.

You look at the likes of Sterling and Jesus, two class players who have contributed a lot to Man City's success over the last few years. Both are just cast aside because the latest and greatest young striker needs to be signed. Halaand is class for sure, but in 2/3 years time there will be some other young superstar mercenary and the process will repeat itself.

I'd genuinely love to see the whole thing crash, burn and start over. 

City would also be criticised for their net spend and having too big a squad/stockpiling players if they didn't sell those players on top of what was signed. 

They gave 7 and 5 years of service, won plenty and it was decided that they would move them on for a good fee as both had 1 year left on their contracts. 

Nothing that hasn't been done before over the years. I recall Ferguson getting rid of Ince and Kanchelskis one summer to freshen up the squad

I do agree with some of the jist of your post though

Same. I the amount of games I have watched is getting less and less. Same with champions league.  I could easily see myself not watching any game this year. 

Rarely even watch Match of the Day any more.

Cucurella now the most expensive full back of all time, £55m + £7m of add ons

Seems excessive for a player with 1 international cap 

They also have Chilwell who plays there and was signed for about 50m a few seasons ago 

A curious one.

Tuchel is a rarity in that he genuinely  doesn't want to get involved in a club's signings i.e. he is strictly a continental-style Head Coach, rather than an old-style British Manager.

But because of the changing of the guard at the Bridge, apparently Boehly has roped him in to help with this (no Director of Football appointed as yet, I believe).

I suspect Boehly is being very cute here: ideally the new signings will work, in which case everyone will be happy.

But if they don't then he can blame Tuchel. Either way, he must have some ego if he thinks he can step in and instantly get how "sawker" works in Europe.

I hope he loses his socks!

I can imagine the real local supporters of Premier League clubs must feel pushed out and alienated over the years.   I am sure pre Premier League you'd pay your 2.50 terrace ticket and stand with your mates and you could relate to the players. They were on decent money but lived in normal houses, drove Ford Sierras and would be seen in the town now and again.   all the players were from these islands as were the managers.  The clubs had very little turnover and everything was ''humble''. 

Then you come into the premier league era and prices of tickets increase to pay for all seater stadia, then foreigners come in, prices go up more, then foreign coaches, then foreign owners until the club you used to love is gone and its now a corporate monster.  The club you no longer recognise as your own and you are pushed out for tourist fans.  Players are all foreigners on mega money and no longer relatable or likeable but spoilt brats.

Money ruins sport.

The EPL the most over hyped league in the world.

Cucurella can apparently play LCB but I'd also say it's because Alonso is on the way out and they probably think Chilwell's injury was that severe they need a contingency

https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2022/aug/09/david-squires-on-the-opening-weekend-of-the-premier-league-season?CMP=Share_AndroidApp_Other 

I’m not sure if I preferred the Liz Truss thing or the Mitrovic one.

Ah the good old days of brand building. We play till UTD get a winner!

Has a heavy touch on him 

Elliot a trier but not really going to reach the level of majority of City's midfielders. 

Nunez I think will come good but at the moment not up to the Mane level.

Think this will be a bit of a transition year for Liverpool in terms of not being at the level for a title push 

Thought Elliott was superb tonight, particularly in the first half. 

Still early days and Thiago to come back. Carvalho as well could end up being important, not far off getting a lovely goal near the end

Aguerooooooooooo, was the logical conclusion.

 

Im truely flabbergasted at this. I had to look it up as i couldn't believe it when i see it in Sky Sports. HOLY FCUK. i mean im speechless. How in any world could a club pay that for a player of his quality. I mean 5 million is probably more his worth. How are these clubs so fooking stupid in payjng so much for English players. I still cannot believe this one..

I remember in the 90s when valuations were set in stone.

7 million would get you a top striker.

5 million for someone decent.

A good right back he is

He isn’t a midfielder 

Must be changed at HT

All over the place here. Surprised they haven't spent on a rb this summer.

I’m not

He’s been close to flawless the last 4 or 5 seasons, one of their best players 

I assume the idea was to play Cucurella left back and Cancelo right back! Walker has been a mess here.

Cancelo has played most of the last two years at left back as he couldn’t get his place at right back 

He actually looks better at Lb as well 

You’re reading too much into one game 

It wasn’t studs up which probably saved him but still dangerous enough type of challenge when you’ve a player running at pace 

Decent point in the end for City given where they were after 60 mins 

Bollox. Its part of the game, take your granny down, take the yellow. Its cast in stone, to quote an earlier post.

City are the worst team in the league for making tactical fouls so they can hardly complain when they are targeted. 

Was a bit more than a tactical foul from Trippier is the point 

Don’t see too many of them in every game

Both feet off the floor and knee high connection 

Could have gone either way

Below the knee, studs down, yellow all day long.

Will be interesting to see if other clubs do the same against City 

 

Isak's signing would double Newcastle's spending this summer to just short of £120m after already signing Matt Targett, Sven Botman and Nick Pope, and bring the total to around £200m since the new owners took over the club in October 2021.

FFP still applying?

https://theathletic.com/3532690/2022/08/25/arsenal-ffp-rules-uefa/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16614662552118&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F3532690%2F2022%2F08%2F25%2Farsenal-ffp-rules-uefa%2F" rel="nofollow - https://theathletic.com/3532690/2022/08/25/arsenal-ffp-rules-uefa/#amp_tf=From%20%251%24s&aoh=16614662552118&referrer=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.google.com&ampshare=https%3A%2F%2Ftheathletic.com%2F3532690%2F2022%2F08%2F25%2Farsenal-ffp-rules-uefa%2F

Prett sure different rules apply for English teams.

The club could spend £600million in the three year period after the Saudi takeover and still comply with FFP. Follow the Swiss Ramble on twitter, he does some good pieces on it. 

This is exactly the point the Swiss ramble account makes

That fella who West Ham signed from PSG is having a shocker since he came into the team. Gave away a peno on his debut and just scored an OG against Spurs.

A fairly kind fixture list - Starts getting harder for them now. 

Nottingham Forest have signed Ivory Coast defender Willy Boly from Wolves.

The left-footed centre-back, who can play in a back three or four, has signed a two-year deal and is Forest's 19th first-team signing of the summer.

Ye it was an easy run of fixtures. They have United, Spurs, Liverpool, City and Chelsea over the next month so that'll give a more accurate assessment of how much they've improved.

Embarrassing is the right word.

How they’ve not given Leeds a penalty and disallowed that West Ham goal 

The Newcastle disallowed goal was the worst of the lot.

doherty wrote: Are the refs worse for agreeing with these VAR calls when a lot of them esp yesterday are obvious to all of us?

Ostensibly yes, but under the politics (small "p") of refereeing, they are very loathe to do so, since the refereeing hierarchy (FIFA, UEFA and PGMOL etc) has decided that VAR is a "good thing", and so feels compelled to support it come-what-may. (There's also been a lot of money spent on it)

And since the hierarchy decides which referees get preferrment, it take a brave referee to stand up for himself and tell the bigwigs in Stockley Park that it'is they who've got it wrong.

That said, Michael Oliver stuck to his guns and refused to overturn a decision yesaterday, even after being called over to the monitor.

I suspect he'll get away with that one, both because he's generally regarded as England's top young referee, but also because the outcry from the weekend's outrageous decisions has caused PGMOL to backtrack:

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62787324" rel="nofollow - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/62787324

Flaws were exposed in Arsenal's system yesterday. Jesus was excellent in his hold-up play but then there's no focal point/threat in the box while he's doing that. Odegaard and Sake need to stop trying the little passes and take shots on when in good positions. 

Zinchenko's inverted position works fine when you have the ball but Arsenal aren't City so will lose the ball easier. His position causes the midfielders to move wider, leaving big holes in the midfield which is where United's goals came from.

United were ruthless in front of goal in fairness.

He's now the youngest player in the history of The PL.

Arsenal were excellent today. Saliba is classy.

Exactly Man U can't live with city.

Think it could be a procession to the title in this World Cup season 

Don’t see it being a classic EPL season 

He was part of a defence that conceded 3 to a poor United attack.

You could have thrown in any bang average centre back and he wouldn’t have had much trouble dealing with Rashford today. 

I wasn’t only talking about today

He’s been very good in every game so far for City, including today 

He’ll start when everyone’s fit the way he’s going 

Don’t worry. Newcastle will start winning everything in about 5 years

Fatnacho wrote: The chiefs of the EPL will be hoping that there will be some title race this season. If City win by 20+ points, more serious questions will be asked about City’s financial affairs and the competitive nature of the league. City and the league were blessed that Liverpool challenged them over the past few years. However, things are beginning to look too heavily skewered in their favour.

Too late, I fear.

City's financial doping mostly occurred in the first few years after the Sheikhs took over - facilities, management, marketing, processes etc.

And whatever else you think of them, they applied this money very cleverly, unlike those other big Gulf dopers, PSG.

Meaning that with the basics in place, the success achieved from their results on the field (prize money, TV, CL and sponsorship etc), I suspect they're now a lot closer to paying their way within the present financial restrictions.

Swiss Ramble explains it better than I can in his analysis of their 2020/21 Accounts, including:

Only injuries can stop him achieving this because defenders can't.

60.

Everton's form around that period was crazy, with Dean's goals/appearances seemingly a major factor:

1926/27  1st Divn. - 20th, Dean 21 goals in 27 games;

1927/28  1st Divn. - 1st, DD 60 goals, 39 games;

1928/29  1st Divn. - 18th, DD 26 goals, 29 games;

1929/30 -1st Divn. - 22nd, DD 23 goals, 25 games;

1930/31  2nd Divn. - 1st, DD 41 goals, 37 games;

1931/32  1st Divn. - 1st, DD 45 goals, 38 games;

1932/33  1st Divn. - 11th, DD 24 goals in 39 games.

In that last season, DD scored 5 goals in 6 FA Cup games, incl 2 in the final, where Everton beat Man City 3-0.

In all, Dean scored 350 goals in 400 league games and 33 in 33 FA Cup games for Everton, plus 18 in 16 England caps :

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Dean" rel="nofollow - https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dixie_Dean

Trivia Bonus:

At age 32, Dean signed for Irish team Sligo Rovers in January 1939 to help the club in their https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAI_Cup" rel="nofollow - FAI Cup campaign. On his arrival, the Railway station in https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sligo" rel="nofollow - Sligo was said to be filled with locals trying to catch a glimpse of him. Dean scored ten goals in seven games for the club, including five in a 7–1 win over https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Waterford_F.C." rel="nofollow - Waterford (which remains a club record for the most goals scored in a single game). He also played in four Cup matches, scoring once (in the 1–1 final against https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Shelbourne_F.C." rel="nofollow - Shelbourne , who won the replay 1–0). Dean's runner-up medal was later stolen from his hotel room; on a return trip to Ireland to watch Rovers 39 years later in the 1978 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/FAI_Cup" rel="nofollow - FAI Cup final, a package was delivered to his hotel room with the medal inside. He is considered a legend at https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/The_Showgrounds_%28Sligo%29" rel="nofollow - The Showgrounds (Sligo) and is featured in the club's outdoor museum.

till 2025 I'm surprised at that though I wouldn't be surprised if they sack him at the end of the season if Forest get relegated!!

What about the rape charge ?