Mic09

I'm a big critic of Southgate's management, but tournaments are funny business. There is no shame in losing to Italy in a one off game. Regardless of the overarching opinion on Southgate, he has done very well on paper. And that's what history books and stats will remember.

I wonder, with the Euros now confirmed, could that change the already made plans? Surely there would be funding that goes towards stadium developments, maybe ownership might wish to use that. Unless we build the new North Stand as planned, and make future plans accelerate before 2028?

INGERLAND, INGERLAND, INGERLAAAAAAND

You must keep in mind that by 2028 we will probably see a 64 team tournament with invites for USA or Australia, so we might need a few extra stadiums

I fully agree with this, so I always prefer to take the approach of 'it's all fu****'

Well, foreign influence and funding being covered by major media does happen all the time, you are correct. I think people should be a bit more outraged. Look at the Ukraine conflict - how much reporting is there that germany, france or italy have been selling russians military equipment in spite of sanctions over the last few years? I would leave the question of Rogan from the discussion, that's a Pandora's box in itself. What is worrying is that major media, especially big tech, does have a history of silencing those stories. We'd need to know more about Biden's story to make an informed opinion on it. And the question of the story is has main stream media covered it enough.

Villa saw that winning it is not that straightforward. The Everton team is lacking more than good players (which I think they have). Smith is a good manager and will no doubt be up there when they get relegated. I hope he does anyway!

Best of luck to Dean Smith wherever he goes, and he has proven he is a solid manager perfectly capable of managing major teams. I think he will win promotion with Norwich next season.

I never understood this 'protecting players' take. There are rules of the game - it shouldn't matter if your name is Ruben Dias, Bednarek, Saka or Grealish. The rules are the same. It's a foul or it isn't. If you are an attacking player, it's only logical you will face tougher treatment as you will go against the best defenders in the country. As long as rules are followed, no player should get 'protection' whatever that means.

The bear of Russia and Syria. However weak Russia now looks, there is no particular need for Israel to get itself involved. Other than purely moral question of 'Russia is bad' and 'We should support Ukraine' it doesn't have much interest in increasing geopolitical tensions. Israel is a very powerful country with high military capabilities. But it looks like Israel prefers to look after Israel in the first instance which is an observation rather than 'having a go' at their politics.

It seems to me, for better or worse, Israel is concentrated on caring about Israel. It's not a PR friendly tactic, but one that works well for them in their geopolitical situation. For Israel, there is no much use in poking a bear.

I think that, contrary to the popular belief, the DM midfielder position is not as key for us now as the striker role. We could really benefit from a strong power forward who could hold the ball and open up play for Coutinho, Buendia et al. Watkins did much better in the old Dean Smith system. Someone like Antonio would work better under Gerrard (obviously we won't get Antonio) but someone similar - unfortunately Watkins can't hold his own against top defenders.

I would not be surprised if we see Man City banging their heads against a wall for 180 mins. If Palace can do it, so can Atletico.

Could be worse - you've gone past Four Oaks and are stuck at Blake street due to a broken train and wait in line of 30 people wanting to catch the same Uber. I'm sure there is a Villa analogy here somewhere.

University trip to Barcelona, guy pissing on the coach stairs somewhere in southern France. God knows how many beers were consumed. Havertz ain't seen shit.

But he did make it in the PL for a short while with Villa. His goal return was good while playing in a struggling team, especially as that was his first season and he was a young player. I feel like Wes could have been another Ayew. Not that good, but a solid mid table striker to get 10 goals a season.

Ronaldo is an excellent player, that could do a great job in any team in the world. And probably will do for the next 2 seasons. He just plays in a broken team.

See, small cars aren't an issue. There is plenty of small electrics to choose from. 2nd hand market is also growing. I have a young family, and we frequently travel longer distances. I need an estate that's got a long range. And that isn't possible unless I splash £30k. Might settle for a 2nd hand plug in in the next year, depending on the economy, but that's still 5/6k more than an equivalent petrol. But that's not on topic Back to Russia!

I can think of something more embarrassing, posted just under a year ago; ''Chelsea FC has today joined eleven of Europe’s leading clubs in forming a new mid-week competition, the European Super League.'' https://www.chelseafc.com/en/news/2021/04/18/club-statement?utm_source=tw&utm_medium=orgsoc&utm_campaign=none It amazes me that supporters of clubs like Chelsea are surprised by anything that the owners decide to do. Last thing they care about is fans, how can anyone think any different?

Really poor. UEFA won't do shit about it.

Chelsea withdrew the request after discussions with FA. Honestly, do they sit down in the executive lounges, smoke cigars, drink whisky, and think they can do anything? Is there no one in the room to say "boss, this isn't a good idea, maybe we should think about that one?"

They are gonna f it up aren't they?

If it was Elphick playing, that kick would have missed him completely.

I said it at the time, but I thought it was a big mistake for the FA to not even talk with him about potentially playing for England. Matty said there was no contact from anyone. And this is coming from a polish guy!

I'd suggest watching Real - PSG. I can call CL badly organised, but last thing I'd call it is a bore.