The Fish

Honestly think that shocking start means we can enjoy a long stretch of games against beatable sides where we can pick up points. Hopefully the top sides will suffer because they'll have more internationals who're tired from the world cup.

October through November look good, as does 2nd of February onwards. Only really Arsenal and Liverpool that stand out as games I'd expect 0pts from in the run towards the end of the season.

Nice to end the season with a trip to Fulham on the final day.

That's a rough start, but at least we get them out the way early doors. At least we won't be going into the final few games needing to get something from Man City

Been busy.

I like Mitrovic and it's a shame that he won't be a success at Newcastle under Benitez, but if it's a straight choice between the two; Rafa or Mad Mitro, it's not a choice at all.

Well, you couldn't have worded that more threateningly if you tried.

I thought Xia was loaded, why can't he just pay the tax bill with the loose cash down the sofa?

Unchained Melody Robson Green & Jerome Flynn Fuck right off. Had some decent songs to be fair. following year was the Fugees, Two Tribes on my 3rd birthday, but the last one that was any good was Bulletproof by La Roux on my 28th. Had some shockers an all, Captain Sensible was No.1 on my 2nd birthday, and Robin fucking Thicke on my 32nd.

"Every penny the club generates"

Probably mine too

Clearly wrote his acceptance speech beforehand. Bit cocky, like.

Good signing, glad it's been done early doors as well. Although it would surely have been impossible for Charnley to fuck this one up. Cheap, fee agreed, manager wants the players, the player wants to join.

Is there greater change in the teams making up the Premier League? In the past few years we've seen a number of settled Premier League sides replaced by the likes of Bournemouth and Huddersfield. Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Villa, West Brom have all gone. Southampton, Watford and West Ham were in in very real danger of the drop too. Has the Premier League really split into the group chasing trophies and titles, and the other 14 in genuine danger of relegation?

Theirs is a "No True Englishman" take. All English players should be Stuart Pearce-like. Anyone not fitting that model will be needled at for the benefit of Len from Swindon.

Shite.

This went well.

Took Touching Distance and Tunnel of Love with me on holiday, burned through them in double quick time. Great reads.

Just had a quick nosey around and in 2016 Sunderland employed 480 people. I'm guessing the figure is lower now, but their owner's modest wealth will be stretched pretty thin to cover even half of that number.

Them being excited about this takeover is like being excited about going to a Harvester. I know Short is vilified on Wearside, but he fired managers they wanted rid of, backed the new manager in the windows, and covered their cash shortfalls out of his own pocket. Now they've got a bloke who's apparently pretty frugal, who can't back the manager in the windows to anything like the same degree, and surely isn't able to cover the shortfalls that Short took on. £40m is nowt for a recent Premier League club, with a 40k+ stadium, and all the trappings of a top flight club. It doesn't sound like he's backed by billionaires, the fans will sharp fuck off if results don't go their way (plenty of them won't be going back either way), so where's the money coming from to cover their costs? I mean Rodwell's annual wage is £2.08m alone. FWIW this new owner might have enough to make them competitive in the 3rd tier, he might even oversee a promotion within the next few years, but he hasn't the finances to be able to fund a rapid return to the Premier League, and the longer they're away from the riches the top flight provides, the harder it will be to return. Every season, the teams in the top flight grow richer, the teams who yo-yo between the leagues grow richer. The Championship is quicksand and they're going to have to crawl out of a tarpit just to get there.

Kid's got talent but he's like nearly every single talented kid ever. Skips and tricks his way past a few challenges and is in the box at a very tight angle, instead of passing to the now open man for a simple assist, he takes a 100/1 shot and misses. Needs to grow up a lot.

The kids have just beaten Leicester kids in the "HKFC Soccer Sevens" to get to the final. Final is live on youtube.

Change in the laws of the game at the beginning of the season. It's a yellow card if the offender makes an attempt to get the ball. Means you're not double punished (goal down and a man down).