Howay

Aye there's literally no other reason, additional tactical adjustments ffs it's just more time that people will be getting a coffee/beer/pie/duck pizza and wishing the match would hurry up and get back on.

That's it like there are plenty of changes they could make that are things people have complained about for years but they're either not adopting them or have been painfully slow to do so, yet some of their lot come out with ridiculous proposals like what Van Basten is on about. I'm not sure if it's completely serious or if it's a grab for attention/headlines as you never know with anyone connected to FIFA, however we do already know they love to make shite changes to things that aren't broken like the 48 team world cup.

Spot on.

:lol: SEW had him right, what complete and utter fucking bollocks. Was the offside rule not really brought in because defences just sat ridiculously deep? You'd just end up with long ball football, why are they seeking ways to make football 'more entertaining'? It's the most popular sport in the world, how about they pack in paying people money to come up with ridiculous ideas. One thing that would improve football is if FIFA in its current format was scrapped. Orange cards and 4 quarters ffs.

Imagine the plight of the England team (even more so than it is now).

Suppose that would be the compromise really, in that for International friendlies, tournaments and Qualifiers that cause players to be away from their clubs during the season the countries foot the bill (perhaps helped by a pot of the tournament profits). Of course none of that will happen as FIFA currently boast tournaments featuring the best players in the world without really having to pay them and keep a good chunk of the proceeds from them.

It was somewhere around 10m wasn't it? That's staggering tbh. I like the idea of countries paying the players wages while they're away but I think the hard bit about instituting any rule that insists on wages being paid is it's hard on the smaller nations who have high paid stars (like Armenia with Mkhitaryan and Gabon with Aubemeyang), I suppose the world cups make FIFA a boat load of money and it could come out of that but I doubt it's enough to cover all of the Qualification, friendlies, etc leading up to it. It's a weird area really, I definitely think something needs to be done about forcing players to go if they're selected as we mentioned earlier at the very least (not just to AFCoN but all internationals, it was someone like Makelele who either was threatened with a ban or was banned for rejecting a France call up iirc).

Oh aye I absolutely get Tooj's point, I'm just looking at it from the selfish point that it is an inconvenience to the club I support. I also do find that modern football has made International football a bit of an issue in that clubs have to release multi-million pound assets to go and play for another team and still have to pay their wages while they're risking injury, tiredness, etc, obviously that has always been the case but the money involved nowadays is staggering, International friendlies and the AFCoN tournament are even more of an inconvenience than most tournaments due to their timing.

Aye I'm hoping for that in all, I had a feeling that's what they kept referring to in their past but don't know anyone else that watches the show. I really liked the ending to the episode as it was a better look at his nature that you've only really heard rumours of to that point.

To be fair to Vukic being made out of paper mache makes it hard to be agile.

Another good episode of Taboo, Stephen Graham has come onto it now and he's always good money to be an absolute head case on shows.

Agreed, I get that confidence is playing a part (to a degree I still don't think he's anything special) but we've got better and he doesn't look like he's going to emerge as some world beater so what's the point in carrying on playing him? Darlow is only 2 years older than him and is far better and Elliott has already shown he can cut it at the PL level.

Aye it sounds like absolute bollocks and I'm sorry you and the wife are going through it, really hope your appeal goes well.

True, I am more frustrated with the EFL really it's just easier to take it out on Brighton. I do hope we fucking batter Brighton and they miss out on promotion mind.

It's crackers that basically every single attacking highlight for us starts with Shelvey, he really is so integral to this team and it's brilliant that he's back. The pass that led to the pen is a proper reminder of what we've been missing as without him no one else in our side would make that pass tbh.

The club apparently appealed the decision to put the Brighton game on a Tuesday night and both Brighton and the EFL rejected the appeal, absolute cunts fucking not only the team over and creating a fixture pile up but also the fans who were planning on going and now face one of the longest (if not the longest) away trips in the league on a Tuesday night. I was happy for Brighton to get an automatic spot with us because of Hughton but they can gan and whistle after pulling that.

That too aye.

Aye centre backs going into a blind panic anytime the ball approaches the box doesn't really show up on statistics. I'm going with 3-0, we did struggle to break these down last time mind but I do agree with Fish that we might actually fare better with a big lump up front.

Agreed, it's a bit easier to take when it's more of a squad player like Atsu but if it's someone like Mahrez it messes up the teams game plan etc for the time he's gone and then when he comes back he'll have to get back up to the speed of playing with the team, may have picked up a knock or need a bit rest after he comes back.

I didn't say you said it would put hardship on them I was just meaning that there are not many reasons for them to keep hosting it when they are. Of course it is their prerogative to a degree, the same way I'm well within my rights as a fan of a club it inconveniences to disagree with when they host it, but they should also factor in the fact clubs are paying these players wages while they are off on duty for their countries for a month. Fair enough you can say it's elitism, or arrogance, but in my opinion they're being fairly arrogant themselves holding it when they do knowing it is inconveniencing the clubs who pay the massive wages of the players that are the stars of their tournament for little reason other than it's when they've always held it. Just a quick look and it's in the 30's this week in Gabon, the average temperature in July is 25 degrees and the wettest month is November. We both agree on your last sentence, although I don't like Liverpool I feel bad for them and Matip that they're going through the issue.

Aye it looks like Rafa has definitely prioritized in this game, glad to see Shelvey is getting a run out to get up to match speed mind.

Was it Ferguson that said something a long those lines? It's definitely something that should be considered for key players in a squad, I suppose it depends on if you think their talent is high enough that you're willing to forgo having them for a month or so every two seasons.

It may not be the middle of others like the South American etc but it's still an important time for them as well. Regardless a high proportion of the players that play in the tournament play in leagues where it is the middle of the season, it also bucks the trend of basically every other International tournament. I don't see how them holding it in the summer puts the tournament in any undue hardship, it may even boost the ratings since they'd not be competing for air time with most leagues. Just because it has always been held at this time doesn't mean it can't change, the proposed change of dates for the world cup in Qatar shows that.

I'm thrilled to bits we've lost an impactful player so the 15 people in that stadium got to watch that, what an utter fucking farce of a tournament. The fact that players risk bans for refusing to play in it is ridiculous, if you're going to hold a tournament in the middle of club football season every two years the players should be well within their rights to opt out. Hold it in the summer every four years ffs, the excuse of it being too hot then is absurd as they played a summer world cup in South Africa and surely the players are more used to it seeing as they're from there.

I can't help but feel that is just a further attempt to lump on to the click bait of that other article, the side is doing well and there isn't a lot going on so they're creating a bit of controversy by making it seem like Rafa is about to be fucked right over and walk. Maybe it will happen but until it does this is all just the papers, I'm not sure how they would really know what was discussed at that meeting and they seem to be reading a bit too much into what Rafa was saying imo. They're using the fact we've not brought anyone in to help fuel this sort of talk but as the Fish said it could also be Rafa thinking we're top of the league, doing well, and he feels we have enough to get promoted so why spend 15-20m on Championship fodder like Tom Cairney when we could put that money to better use in the summer. I absolutely do hold Ashley in the lowest regard though and none of this would shock me at all, it would be his most ridiculous decision yet effectively fucking over a Champions League winning manager to give more responsibility to a 72 year old bloke who had us spunking 25m on two shite French players that barely saw the field. You can also point to Carr getting Sissoko etc who we made massive profits on but I don't see why you'd have to fuck a manager over by taking all control away from him to see similar results.