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  1. Ken Early: City’s domination has been bought – and they’re paying the price It’s time to accept that oil-funded success and mass popularity will never go well together Pep Guardiola at Wembley Stadium on Saturday. Pep looked less like a happy football coach watching his side make history and more like an anguished scientist whose prototype civil defence robot has just run amok at a trade show. Photograph: Neil Hall/EPA Ken Early about 3 hours ago The strangest moment of Saturday’s FA Cup final came in the seconds after Manchester City’s sixth goal, when the camera cut from the mob of celebrating City players to Pep Guardiola, who was slumped on the bench with his head in his hands. Pep looked less like a happy football coach watching his side make history and more like an anguished scientist whose prototype civil defence robot has just run amok at a trade show, slaughtering several bystanders. It looked as though he understood that the very scale of the victory had begun to devalue it, that City were now in the territory of negative marginal returns, that the reaction to this turkey shoot would go beyond appreciation and congratulation, towards accusation and perhaps even condemnation. And so it proved. The Cup-winning manager’s post-match press conference is usually laudatory, but Pep’s ended with a journalist asking whether he, like his predecessor Roberto Mancini, had ever received any extra payments from City’s ownership group on top of his regular salary. Angry Guardiola looked about as angry as anyone has seen him since he arrived in England. “Do you know the question you’re asking me?” he hissed. “If I ever received money for another situation, right now, today? Honestly, do you think I deserve to have this type of question happen – what happened with Roberto I don’t know, the day we won the treble – if I received money from other situations? Oh my God. Are you accusing me of receiving money?” You could say he did not dignify the question with a denial. This was not supposed to be happening. For Pep, the whole point of moving to City was to prove that he could succeed at a club that seemed to lack the advantages of the established giants. “For a man who has spent his life in clubs steeped in history, Manchester City might indeed seem an unusual choice,” writes Martí Perarnau in The Evolution, his fly-on-the-wall account of Pep’s latter period at Bayern. “Perhaps the question answers itself . . . [Pep] feels attracted by a club less bound by tradition and custom . . . he knew that he would be able to work without feeling that he was shattering long-established customs and practices.” Club legends At Barcelona, he was carrying on a tradition of excellence inherited from Johan Cruyff; at Bayern he had to contend with club legends peering over his shoulder, commenting and criticising. At City, the history was waiting to be made and the only club legend he’d have to contend with was Noel Gallagher. “City was a blank canvas and he would be free to create as he saw fit . . . By creating a new brand of City football and the language that goes with it, he could begin to build his own unique legacy.” It must therefore be frustrating to see that this new “legacy” has not won universal acclaim. Related Ken Early: Guardiola’s joy will be tempered by Champions League regret Ken Early: Klopp must find way of improving his finished product Ken Early: Football’s new age neutralises philosophies of the past Lately Pep has taken to complaining that the media in England are biased against City in favour of the traditional big clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United. When he noted in his pre-Cup final press conference that the Daily Mail website’s top story last Monday had been about Paul Pogba rowing with Manchester United fans rather than City winning the league, he was making, in more polite terms, the exact same point that an angry Man City fan shouted into the Wembley press box on Saturday: “We’ve done the domestic f**king treble, no one’s ever done it before, but you’ll all have Mo Salah on the back of the f**king papers tomorrow!” On one level it’s obvious why media outlets might cover Manchester United and Liverpool more than City: these clubs have much larger fanbases and far more people are interested in what they’re doing. But it also needs to be acknowledged that, unlike the confrontation between Pogba and that enraged United fan, City’s story lacks the essential elements of drama. Whether they like it or not, most people see their treble as more transaction than triumph. At Wembley, City brought on three substitutes – Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sané and John Stones – each of whom would have been the best player in Watford’s team. There’s no magic or mystery about why their squad is so strong. They have a net transfer spend of more than £1.2 billion over the 11 seasons since the 2008 takeover. That’s almost 50 per cent more than their closest rival over that period – the Qatar-funded PSG – and half a billion pounds more than the team in third place, Manchester United. Closest comparison Football has not seen anything like this before. The closest comparison is with Chelsea after the 2003 Abramovich takeover, but their spending was nowhere near as sustained or comprehensive. Yes, in the 11 seasons from 2003-4 to 2014-15 Chelsea were football’s biggest spenders, but their net outlay of £751 million was only 10 per cent more than City’s in the same period, even though City spent very little between 2003 and 2007. Chelsea’s net spend in those 11 seasons was 64 per cent of the total combined net outlay of Real Madrid and Barcelona, whereas City’s since 2008 is more than Real Madrid’s and Barcelona’s put together. Guardiola might see the apparent obsession with City’s spending as yet more evidence of the pervasive bias against his club. After all, Manchester United under Alex Ferguson enjoyed a near-hegemonic position in English football, yet their financial power was not held against them as City’s has been. The crucial difference was this: everyone knew that United’s power and success had grown out of years of intelligent decisions. They had the best manager. They were the first club to understand the commercial potential of their brand. They invested in expanding Old Trafford at a time when that was the best economic move a club could make. They turned youth team players into sporting and commercial stars. Even those who resented United’s domination understood that it had been earned. Alleged rule breaches City’s domination has been bought, and that would feel unfair even if they were not currently being investigated for alleged rule breaches by Fifa, Uefa, the Premier League and the FA. On social media their fans often respond to criticism with variations on the theme “We won the lottery, you’re just bitter”. But bitterness is a natural reaction in the circumstances. To neutrals, City’s success is not an inspirational sports story. It’s just another depressing example of the Matthew principle we see at work in almost every economic arena, with the rich leveraging their wealth and power to get richer, and the rest left further and further behind. Free markets might sound good in economic models, but in real life they always seem to end up getting cornered, and City have had this one where they want it for a few years now. City victories are now the default outcome in this rigged game and there is not much left to say about them, so it’s not really surprising that the focus has increasingly turned to issues surrounding their funding and ownership. It’s enough to make you question the whole concept of sportswashing. Abu Dhabi might have got involved with City as a way to project and improve its global standing, but is that how things have played out? If you had polled football fans in 2007 about what they associated with Abu Dhabi, you’d probably have received a lot of blank looks. Now they’ll mention Yemen, slaves, the abuse of human rights and so on. Was it really worth it? City do at least have an army of sky-blue advocates fighting their cause on social media. When the New York Times reported last week that Uefa’s investigatory chamber was set to recommend a one-year Champions League ban for City, the response from many fans was to lash out: Uefa were corrupt, Financial Fair Play was an establishment stitch-up, the NYT journalists were Liverpool fans, and this disgraceful hit-piece on City had only been published because the NYT owned shares in Liverpool (the NYT did at one point own shares in Liverpool’s ownership group, but sold them in 2012). Clearly, many fans would rather latch on to any conspiracy theory than wait to see if the stories had substance. You shudder to imagine what might happen if Saudi Arabia ever does buy Manchester United, and that enormous worldwide fanbase becomes weaponised along similar lines. It’s been the most successful week in City’s history, and the pity is that their manager, fans and PR department have seldom sounded more angry. It’s time to accept that oil-funded success and mass popularity are never going to go together. It’s as though City are perched on the back of a dragon, peering down at a sullen populace, wondering incredulously why they are not loved. Shouldn’t it be obvious?
    14 points
  2. The thing with Martin Samuel, though, is that he's a fat, lardy, arselicking cunt. That's the thing.
    9 points
  3. 5 points
  4. On my last trip to Vietnam a few months ago, a friend asked if I would talk to the children at her sisters little English private school. I love Vietnam and the Vietnamese people who are just unbelievably friendly so I jumped at the chance to repay a little of the kindness I've received. I enjoyed it so so so much, I returned for a couple more weekends before I went back to Australia. I returned to Vietnam a couple of weeks ago and went to the school for a class on the weekend. As soon as they spotted me, I was mobbed by the kids welcoming me back, it was magic, a truly terrific feeling. Needless to say, I'll be going back.
    5 points
  5. I have been playing golf and refusing to speak Spanish for years
    5 points
  6. Dont think anyone has posted this yet, I read a series of articles a couple of months ago on Der Spiegel Online about Man City and their dealings. Since it is being discussed thought some here may find it interesting. It is pretty damming if true, lets face it they have form for financial breaches, we now have the alleged bullshitting of UEFA in addition. Most of the info used was from Football Leaks. Der Spiegel - Man City Exposed C1 Der Spiegel - Man City Exposed C2 Der Spiegel - Man City Exposed C3 Der Spiegel - Man City Exposed C4
    5 points
  7. Mission accomplished.
    4 points
  8. 4 points
  9. At first I wanted Joffrey on the Iron Throne. Then I wanted Ramsay The Bastard. Then the Night King. Out of the hundreds of wonderful characters there were only 3 whom I absolutely loathed: Euron fucking Greyjoy, Sanza fucking miserable cunt, and Bran fucking Evel Knievel Stark. Fuck my life.
    4 points
  10. My milkshake brings all the boys to Farage.
    4 points
  11. Got it finished. Had an absolute blast making this with her.
    4 points
  12. I'm devastated Greyworm is still alive. Miserable, dickless cunt.
    3 points
  13. Wasnt sure whether to dig up the world of a woman thread but im a lazy get so this will do My Mrs has attached a feeding device for birds to our bedroom window. Yes our bedroom window. So now at the crack of dawn there are all manner of winged bastards headbutting the fucking thing. I suggested it be moved but she wont do it because she says that they are used to that source of food. I'm stopping all sexual favours and fucking off to the spare room. That will teach her.
    3 points
  14. £5.25 for a milkshake should be the story here.
    3 points
  15. Opinions eh? The Shield's gave a very satisfying closing to each and every character for me. Truly exceptional.
    3 points
  16. There's no such thing as destiny, karma etc. I used to think there was but i'm too long in the tooth to fall for that shite these days. Stuff happens and you can apply any kind of narrative that you want to it. If we win the CL then the narrative is that we missed out on the league but then conquered Europe, Klopp finally overcame his issues in finals etc; if Spurs do it then all of the breaks they got during the competition will be used as some kind of explanation. You can make any narrative you want out of it but it will mainly be nonsense. Stuff will happen during the final and the team who scores more goals (or penalties) will win the thing.
    3 points
  17. Danny Murphy is a bad Tory, so no surprise that he's wanting to ignore all of this.
    3 points
  18. I saw Kiefer Sutherland on a breakfast show promoting a new country music album he’s recorded. I haven’t cried like that since 1992.
    3 points
  19. That should be long enough to assassinate someone and inadvertently start a world war.
    3 points
  20. As ever work means I cannot attend more than a handful. if anyone wants a season ticket for next year let me know
    2 points
  21. So here we are again, another season over and the wait for the title goes on. The season has flown over again and our lads were incredible from first game to last. I could just about handle the stress of watching our games, it was the feeling of helplessness whenever City were playing that was tough. Relying on other teams for favours isn't something I ever want to do again, so next year we'll just have to win every game. Or at the very least make sure we beat City twice. Easier said than done, but after what these boys did this season I'm not going to doubt them, and after the way City’s players conducted themselves this week I’d imagine our lads can’t wait to get another crack at them. Hopefully City win the FA Cup so we can smash them everywhere in the Charity Shield. It’s hard to take knowing we aren’t Champions after a season like that, but I’m not too disappointed or disheartened. I’m resentful because I feel as though we’ve been cheated out of something we deserved (financial doping or a Manchester ref doing them favours, take your pick), but putting that sense of injustice aside I feel fucking great about where we are. I mean think about it. We lost once all season. We haven’t lost at home for over two years. We’ve made back to back European Cup finals. We've got Andy Robbo. All in all we’re in fucking great shape and the bond between team and fans has never been stronger. Meanwhile, over at Old Trafford….. It's only when you see something like that it fully hits home just how good we've got it right now. We've got a squad of players who never once short changed us this season. Not once. They might not always play well but they always leave everything they have out on the pitch. All those clips you see of other teams being highlighted on MOTD (usually by Shearer, he loves a bit of shirker bashing) for their lack of work rate and half arsed closing down or not tracking back. You don't get that with our boys and I love them for it. Even more so when I look at how United's players are cheating their crowd. While we were winning our 30th game of the season they were losing at home to already relegated Cardiff City. And while that was happening, their fans were cheering for City’s goals at Brighton. How the mighty have fallen. Good way for Cardiff to sign off though. Warnock said he asked his players to make his last Premier League game a memorable one and to win it for him. They did him proud. As I said last week though, this was a game they should have been looking at as the one that kept them up, but because they blew it against Palace it was a dead rubber. Brighton hate Palace but they've got them to thank for still being in the league, because Brighton would be gone if Palace had rolled over last week. Still, it says everything about the difference between Cardiff's players and United's that they were the ones who wanted it more. Mendez-Laing won a penalty and picked himself up to score. He added a second with a tap in after the break and all United had to offer in resistance were a couple of decent efforts by 17 year old Mason Greenwood. Pogba did fuck all as per, and was lucky to stay on when he flung Murphy to the floor and then shoved him in the face. Classic case of a player doing something aggressive just to try and fool the fans into thinking he cares. He doesn’t. He’s half arsed his way through 3/4 of the season but one little spell of decent performances got him a spot in the PFA team of the year. I don’t agree with fans hurling abuse at players and I’m not condoning the behaviour of that United fan in the clip above, but I completely understand how he could be driven to acting like that. If I had to watch that preening twat every week and then listen to people telling me how great he is and that it’s the manager’s fault for not getting the best out of him, I’d probably go all Michael Douglas in Falling Down too. Pogba was even preening when the fella was hurtling insults at him! Fan: “You’re fucking shite!!!” Pogba: *nods his head sarcastically* Fan: “FUCK OFF!!!” Pogba: *applauds* Fan: “FUCKIN SHIIIIITE!!!!” Pogba: *thumbs up, pats hand on his heart* Fan “You’re not even average!! FUCK OFF!!” That finished me off that did. The perfect put down for someone like Pogba and exactly what I’ve been saying about him for years. Every now and then he looks boss. Every now and then he looks like the worst player in the league, and sometimes he’s a bit of both even in the same game. If you add up the overall body of work, it comes out as less than the average for a top six club midfielder. So yeah, not even average. He’s a product of the FIFA / Social Media generation. I know Roy Keane and Graeme Souness hate loads of modern day players, but you can see why their disdain for Pogba in particular is off the scale. He doesn’t even do the basics without the ball (Cardiff’s second was a direct result of him standing still and letting his man run off him into the box) but all he has to do is ping one 60 yard pass or hit a decent shot from distance and the FIFA virgins are tugging themselves off. It’s going to be a long road back for them as United’s situation is truly dire. Mourinho said this week “I said that finishing second with Man United was perhaps my greatest achievement. Now people understand.” The man has a point (although typically he’s completely exonerating himself of any blame for how shit they are). I couldn’t believe they finished second last season as they were obviously shite, but much like Solskjaer’s little honeymoon period it was unsustainable and it caught up with them. They’re so, so bad right now. Look at their team and tell me who you’d even want. I’d have Rashford for the bench and that is quite literally it. At one time I’d have taken Martial too, but fuck that. His attitude stinks. Their squad is dogshit. Ashley Young is their captain and no-one can even argue about it because he's the best candidate, even though he's Ashley Young. Imagine being that shit that Ashley Young is your captain. They’re just a shambles. They used to be such a well run club that it was difficult to see any way past them. Now they literally can’t get a thing right, even their kit. Next year they have a kit to commemorate 20 years since they won the treble. They won the treble in 1998/99, and next season is 2019/20, so even by my GCSE grade E maths (what can I say, I was a lazy bastard in school) that’s 21 years. You couldn’t make this shit up. What a mess. Still, never mind, eh? Right, what’s next? I'm sure you'll be relieved to know I’m going to completely skip over City’s win at Brighton. I have nothing to say about them at this point as I’ve said plenty all season. I fast forwarded through the highlights from the game and I’ll be doing all I can to ensure I never see any footage of their post match celebrations. So far so good. Maybe at some point I’ll accidentally be subjected to a split second of it (probably the MOTD credits next season) but by and large I’ll be avoiding this like I avoided any footage from our 2007 CL final loss to Milan. To this day I think I’ve only ever seen those Inzaghi goals once, and I’m pretty sure I haven’t seen them lifting the trophy. So yeah, I’m ignoring City completely in this and just concentrating on the other games. First up, Wilfried Palace v Bournemouth which was a cracker. Eight goals, five of them to Palace. Not sure they'd managed five goals at home in the previous 18 home games combined. Batshuayi volleyed in a deflected Zaha cross and then slid in to convert a low centre from Wan-Bissaka to double Palace’s lead. Their third was a weird one. Zaha went racing through and stabbed a shot at the keeper, who wasn’t expecting it and could only parry it onto one of his defenders and then watch helplessly and it rebounded into the net. Zaha’s shot was just weird though, he had time to set himself but deliberately took it early. Had it gone in it would have been a brilliantly improvised finish, but in reality it was a bit shit and he got lucky. Jefferson Lerma pulled one back with an absolute belter from 30 yards that went in off the bar and then - and I’ve had to rewind this just to double check - Jordon Ibe found the net to give Bournemouth hope. Zaha then teed up Van Aanholt to restore Palace’s two goal lead but King stole in at the back post to make it 4-3 and keep the game alive. Zaha then got into a bit of handbags with Lerma and was given a booking for his trouble. He was fuming, and the next time he picked up the ball he just powered past two players (including Lerma who unsuccessfully tried to foul him) before teeing up Townsend to make it 5-3. He’s reportedly told Palace he wants to leave this summer. Where to hough? Chelsea would be the most obvious destination but they’re banned from buying anyone. He won’t go back to United, he’s too good for Arsenal so that would leave us, Spurs and City. I’d be made up if we went for him but it seems unlikely as he’s never been linked with us even tentatively. City don’t need him but since when has that stopped them? Spurs would seem the most likely, and I’d hate to see him there as he’d improve them a lot. Ideally Palace price him out of a move and he stays put. Arsenal ended with a win at Burnley. Aubamayeng scored twice to grab a share of the Golden Boot with Mo and Sadio. Ashley Barnes pulled one back but Nketia wrapped it up with the last kick of the game. Not a good week for the Gunners though, who put out a statement saying they'd love to know how UEFA came up with the decision to play the Europa Final in such a far flung remote location, only to have it pointed out that their then chief exec was part of the committee who made the decision. Man United behaviour that. Meanwhile, a tough day for the Blues at Spurs as the poor buggers didn’t know who to cheer. Some will have wanted to cheer their own team while others will have been rooting for Spurs as a show of solidarity ahead of the Champions League final. That could have caused some infighting in the away end, but thankfully they all found common ground by cheering for Man City instead. Dier put Spurs ahead but Walcott equalised. Is there a more pointless footballer on the planet than Theo Walcott? That’s a rhetorical question by the way, because clearly there isn’t. He's the only player in the history of football who has gotten progressively worse with each year as a professional. What an absolute fucking waste of space. Tosun bundled in to give Everton the lead but Eriksen found the bottom corner with a free-kick to ensure it was honours even. The Spurs players did a lap of appreciation at full time and were given an incredible send off ahead of the CL Final. Spine tingling stuff, wonderful support. The reception they got from their own fans wasn’t bad either. Mark Noble set West Ham on their way to three points at Watford with a nice individual goal. Lanzini doubled their advantage with a header after a brilliant effort from Antonio had been tipped onto the bar by the keeper. Antonio’s form these last few weeks has been top class. Deulefeu’s clever finish got Watford back into it immediately after half time, but two minutes later Antonio got away from Holebas and was brought down. Not much contact and Antonio’s touch was shite, but a red card for the Watford man, who now misses the FA Cup final. Harsh that like. In hindsight, Javi Gracia should have put the reserve side out for this one as why risk something like that happening? Nothing was riding on the game for either team. Arnautovic scored from close range and Noble made it 4-1 from the spot after Antonio had been fouled. Strong end to the season for the Hammers after a terrible start. Across London, Shelvey’s first goal in over a year set Newcastle on the way to three points at Fulham. That Ayoze Perez loser (ah that felt good) prodded in number two after poor goalkeeping from Spider Rico. Schar headed in from a corner and Rondon added a late fourth. Fulham have been improved of late but they gave Scott Parker the job permanently and he’s immediately gone and pulled a Solskjaer on them. Fair play to Huddersfield who gave all of their travelling fans a free shirt. How come the smaller clubs can afford to do things like this but the big clubs would never dream of it? Those fans deserve it, they’ve been great all season. I'd have no issue whatsoever if they came straight back up, but I can't see it. They ended with a draw at Southampton which was a decent way to finish. The Saints led when Redmond lashed one in from 18 yards, but a howler from Angus Gunn allowed Pritchard to equalise. Channeling his inner Ben Foster there. Finally, over at the KingPower Stadium Higuain had a great chance to put Chelsea ahead at Leicester but he frauded it up as he’s a big fat fraud. It ended 0-0 and was your classic end of season nothing game. Chelsea aren't in as dire a situation as United, but they'll have their work cut out staying in the top four next season, especially if they keep Sarri. So that's that then until August. When you look at it, we basically single handedly salvaged the season as it would have been shite without us. The relegation battle was crap, the 'race' for top four was like watching four drunks at closing time, throwing wild haymakers and knocking themselves out. The title race was the only thing of any real interest and quality, and that's only because we've made such massive strides. Had we just been average like the other top four challengers, maybe then people would actually look at what City have done to distort the competition through foul means and actually take issue with it? Instead, they were seen as the fucking white knight riding in to save football from us winning the title. One day they'll realise just how much those cunts are ruining the game, but it won't be any time soon I suspect, not while we're so fucking good and pushing them all the way, Roll on August and let's do it all again. Meanwhile, some awards: Player of the Season not named Big Virg - Andy Robertson Young Player of the Season - Trent of course. Goal of the Season - Can't choose between Townsend's stunner at the Etihad and Big Div's derby winner. Aaron Ramsay’s against Fulham was great too. Best Shit Player - Ashley Barnes retains his crown. Shittest Good Player - Paul Pogba Twat of the season: 1 Iheanacho, 2 Kompany, 3 Guardiola. Biggest over achievers - Watford Biggest under achievers - United. ‘My Boy’ of the season - Ryan Fraser Best fans - Huddersfield by a landslide. Palace create a good atmosphere too, but everyone else is shit. Worst fans - Man City, not even close. Twats of the Season XI Ederson - Shit tattooed, ugly, offensive looking twat. Kyle Walker - Over rated, ‘banter’ loving twat Vincent Kompany - Bulb headed dirty twat Harry Maguire - Big foreheaded, red card escaping twat Lucas Digne - Constantly lying about turning down Liverpool twat. Paul Pogba - Style over substance twat. Ander Herrera - One last time for the road, twat Bernardo Silva - Snide twat. Richarlison - Diving, stupid faced twat. Sergio Aguero - Bird shit headed, still non-English speaking after eight years here twat Kelechi Iheanacho - Deliberate chance missing twat Non-top five team of the season: GK: Neil Etheridge (Cardiff) - He’s really good, half the teams in the division should be looking to bring him in this summer. RB: Ricardo Perreira (Leicester) - Brilliant player. If we didn’t have Trent I’d be pulling out all the stops to try and land this guy. CB: Aaron Wan-Bissaka (Palace) - I know he’s a right back, I don’t care, it’s my team so I’ll pick who I like, where I like. He’s got all the attributes to play in the middle anyway and long term my prediction is he’ll end up there. CB: Sol Bamba (Cardiff) - I know he shouldn’t be in here but I like him and Neil Warnock reckons he’s as good as Big Virg, so that’ll do for me. Besides, if the alternative is that Harry Maguire goon then that’s not an alternative I’m down with. I like his name, I like saying it. It rolls off the tongue. Sol Bamba. Say it with me. Sol Bamba. LB: Lucas Digne (Everton) - Second best left back in the city, which is nothing to be ashamed of when you play across the park from the great Andy Robbo. Just edges out Ben Chilwell, who I really like too. RW: Wilfried Zaha (Palace) - I think he’s brilliant. Not everyone agrees but they’re wrong and that’s ok, we can’t all be right all of the time. I’m not right all the time, but I am right that Zaha is brilliant. CM: Abdoulaye Doucoure (Watford) - I like him. I’ve liked him for a couple of years. We were linked with him last summer but I don’t like him THAT much. Good player, not a great player. There was a shortage of midfielders to choose from though so he gets in. CM: James Maddison (Leicester) - Loves a dive but the lad can play. Very smooth. Good on the ball and can pick a pass. Reminds me of Danny Murphy, apart from the diving and not being bald. LM: Ryan Fraser (Bournemouth) - I never used to like him because of that time he came off the bench and tore us apart. It was the big club snob in me. I was offended that a little fat Scottish lad who looked like he lived on a diet of Irn Bru and battered Mars Bars could do that to us, and I was unkind about him for a while after that. I was wrong. For all I know he might live on Irn Bru and battered Mars Bars, but he’s a good player and he’s deservedly earned the title of ‘my boy Ryan Fraser’. CF: Callum Wilson (Bournemouth) - He’s only in the team because my boy Ryan Fraser has a great understanding with him. He’s a quality player in his own right but he can thank my boy for his spot in this starting eleven. CF: Jamie Vardy (Leicester) - My favourite non-LFC player and someone I always enjoy watching. Reminds me of Rushy. Settle down now, I’m not saying he’s as good as Rushy, but he’s the closest thing I’ve seen to him in terms of style. subs GK: Lucas Fabianksi (West Ham) - Every week I watch MOTD and see keepers making clangers. I can’t remember any from this guy though. He mightn’t be the best keeper in the league but he’s on of the most reliable as he rarely costs his team goals. RB: Matt Doherty (Wolves) - He first caught my eye in the opening weeks of the season, but because I’d never heard of him before I thought it was just a case of ‘the sun even shines on a dog’s arse some days’. I was wrong though, he’s been good every time I’ve seen him and he was boss against us last week. LB: Ben Chilwell (Leicester) - As with Ricardo, if we didn’t already have someone boss in his position I’d be all over this lad this summer. Good player with a great engine. The only player in the league to make more sprints this season than Robbo and Mo. CB / CM: Declan Rice (West Ham) - Good player. Not sure why they keep playing him in midfield though. I mean he can do a job, but he looks like a potential top drawer centre back. CM: Joao Moutinho (Wolves) - Toss up between him and Neves. I went with Moutinho for no particular reason RM / LM: Gerard Deulefeu (Watford) - I always joke about him looking like the best in the world for maybe two games a season and then doing fuck all the rest of the time. This year he’s been much more consistent though. He still doesn’t do it as often as he should, but he had a good season. CF: Raul Jiminez (Wolves) - Good all round striker who can do a bit of everything. Would have had a shot at making the starting eleven except he wore that wrestlers mask as a goal celebration. I’m ok with him doing it, but then they started handing them out to all their fucking moron fans. Honourable mentions to Andros Townsend, Felipe Anderson, Ashley Westwood, David Brooks, Diogo Jota, Ettiene Capoue and Nathan Redmond.
    2 points
  22. It's not appropriate to attack politicians in the street because you don't like their views, no.
    2 points
  23. Just watched the last one so letting it sink in. Initial thoughts are it was weak. Dany death underwhelming and poorly acted IMO. Should've been a crescendo to the whole fable. Kind of suspected that Jon would go back north of the wall. Didn't expect that for Arya though, spin off series beckons? Seemed like they were going for the "a better world beckons" ending like the end of LOTR but they didn't do it overly well. 8 seasons done. I think I'm going to watch them all through again as soon as I can. I haven't been riled as much as some by the last few series but there has been a drop off and a rush to completion. Will go down in history as probably the best fantasy show produced and one of the top 10 in most people's lists.
    2 points
  24. The reaction to the vandalism of a model railway group. People have donated loads to help replace the damaged tracks. Rod Stewart donated £10k and so far they’ve got £60k.
    2 points
  25. Stealth Brexit thread.
    2 points
  26. Klopp has never been in this position before as a manager. Who knows what he will do. I agree that he values loyalty extremely high. I think he loves Gomez too, maybe he does rate him higher De Ligt, not sure - wouldn't surprise me. Wouldn't surprise me if he wanted him either. Who thought Klopp would spend £75m on a CB before he did or that price on a GK? Many dismissed it as it was against his past approach. In the past t Dortmund he didn't have these resources. He didn't have the luxury to attract the elite, fund to get them. He wasn't competing with a City squad where it seems you have to get over 97 points a season to have a chance to win the title. We need the best as that's what City are doing. If Klopp thinks De Ligt is someone who can help us do that for the present & future, I wouldn't rule it out happening. I wouldn't rule out it not happening too - I don't know. But we can't judge what Klopp has done in the past. Before he came to LFC everyone thought he'd play 4-2-3-1 here. We've mostly seen 4-3-3. He's pragmatic with everything. He doesn't like sending players on loan & then he shifted that idea too, he said himself as the youth league wasn't good enough to make players progress. His transfer spending has changed too used to be bargain buys, more recently that hasn't been the case - we've paid big prices as we need the elite. I think it's best to not assume with Klopp as he's about as pragmatic as it comes.
    2 points
  27. thats 6 points in the bag for next season
    2 points
  28. Funny how for over the last 24 hours City fans have wanted all journalists tarred and feather but now Bluto comes along and he's suddenly better than sliced bread....Although to be fair to the saviour of journalism Samuels has had more than his fair share of sliced bread, usually with a tub of anchor butter and chips
    2 points
  29. That euphoric domestic treble feeling.
    2 points
  30. We don't need De Ligt, Garth Crooks likened Gomez to a young Bobby Moore. He has to be right at some point.
    2 points
  31. The EARLY bird caught the worm, Rojo.
    2 points
  32. And so it proved. The Cup-winning manager’s post-match press conference is usually laudatory, but Pep’s ended with a journalist asking whether he, like his predecessor Roberto Mancini, had ever received any extra payments from City’s ownership group on top of his regular salary. Angry Guardiola looked about as angry as anyone has seen him since he arrived in England. “Do you know the question you’re asking me?” he hissed. “If I ever received money for another situation, right now, today? Honestly, do you think I deserve to have this type of question happen – what happened with Roberto I don’t know, the day we won the treble – if I received money from other situations? Oh my God. Are you accusing me of receiving money?” You could say he did not dignify the question with a denial. This was not supposed to be happening. For Pep, the whole point of moving to City was to prove that he could succeed at a club that seemed to lack the advantages of the established giants. “For a man who has spent his life in clubs steeped in history, Manchester City might indeed seem an unusual choice,” writes Martí Perarnau in The Evolution, his fly-on-the-wall account of Pep’s latter period at Bayern. “Perhaps the question answers itself . . . [Pep] feels attracted by a club less bound by tradition and custom . . . he knew that he would be able to work without feeling that he was shattering long-established customs and practices.” Club legends At Barcelona, he was carrying on a tradition of excellence inherited from Johan Cruyff; at Bayern he had to contend with club legends peering over his shoulder, commenting and criticising. At City, the history was waiting to be made and the only club legend he’d have to contend with was Noel Gallagher. “City was a blank canvas and he would be free to create as he saw fit . . . By creating a new brand of City football and the language that goes with it, he could begin to build his own unique legacy.” It must therefore be frustrating to see that this new “legacy” has not won universal acclaim. Related Ken Early: Guardiola’s joy will be tempered by Champions League regret Ken Early: Klopp must find way of improving his finished product Ken Early: Football’s new age neutralises philosophies of the past Lately Pep has taken to complaining that the media in England are biased against City in favour of the traditional big clubs, Liverpool and Manchester United. When he noted in his pre-Cup final press conference that the Daily Mail website’s top story last Monday had been about Paul Pogba rowing with Manchester United fans rather than City winning the league, he was making, in more polite terms, the exact same point that an angry Man City fan shouted into the Wembley press box on Saturday: “We’ve done the domestic f**king treble, no one’s ever done it before, but you’ll all have Mo Salah on the back of the f**king papers tomorrow!” On one level it’s obvious why media outlets might cover Manchester United and Liverpool more than City: these clubs have much larger fanbases and far more people are interested in what they’re doing. But it also needs to be acknowledged that, unlike the confrontation between Pogba and that enraged United fan, City’s story lacks the essential elements of drama. Whether they like it or not, most people see their treble as more transaction than triumph. At Wembley, City brought on three substitutes – Kevin de Bruyne, Leroy Sané and John Stones – each of whom would have been the best player in Watford’s team. There’s no magic or mystery about why their squad is so strong. They have a net transfer spend of more than £1.2 billion over the 11 seasons since the 2008 takeover. That’s almost 50 per cent more than their closest rival over that period – the Qatar-funded PSG – and half a billion pounds more than the team in third place, Manchester United. Closest comparison Football has not seen anything like this before. The closest comparison is with Chelsea after the 2003 Abramovich takeover, but their spending was nowhere near as sustained or comprehensive. Yes, in the 11 seasons from 2003-4 to 2014-15 Chelsea were football’s biggest spenders, but their net outlay of £751 million was only 10 per cent more than City’s in the same period, even though City spent very little between 2003 and 2007. Chelsea’s net spend in those 11 seasons was 64 per cent of the total combined net outlay of Real Madrid and Barcelona, whereas City’s since 2008 is more than Real Madrid’s and Barcelona’s put together. Guardiola might see the apparent obsession with City’s spending as yet more evidence of the pervasive bias against his club. After all, Manchester United under Alex Ferguson enjoyed a near-hegemonic position in English football, yet their financial power was not held against them as City’s has been. The crucial difference was this: everyone knew that United’s power and success had grown out of years of intelligent decisions. They had the best manager. They were the first club to understand the commercial potential of their brand. They invested in expanding Old Trafford at a time when that was the best economic move a club could make. They turned youth team players into sporting and commercial stars. Even those who resented United’s domination understood that it had been earned. Alleged rule breaches City’s domination has been bought, and that would feel unfair even if they were not currently being investigated for alleged rule breaches by Fifa, Uefa, the Premier League and the FA. On social media their fans often respond to criticism with variations on the theme “We won the lottery, you’re just bitter”. But bitterness is a natural reaction in the circumstances. To neutrals, City’s success is not an inspirational sports story. It’s just another depressing example of the Matthew principle we see at work in almost every economic arena, with the rich leveraging their wealth and power to get richer, and the rest left further and further behind. Free markets might sound good in economic models, but in real life they always seem to end up getting cornered, and City have had this one where they want it for a few years now. City victories are now the default outcome in this rigged game and there is not much left to say about them, so it’s not really surprising that the focus has increasingly turned to issues surrounding their funding and ownership. It’s enough to make you question the whole concept of sportswashing. Abu Dhabi might have got involved with City as a way to project and improve its global standing, but is that how things have played out? If you had polled football fans in 2007 about what they associated with Abu Dhabi, you’d probably have received a lot of blank looks. Now they’ll mention Yemen, slaves, the abuse of human rights and so on. Was it really worth it? City do at least have an army of sky-blue advocates fighting their cause on social media. When the New York Times reported last week that Uefa’s investigatory chamber was set to recommend a one-year Champions League ban for City, the response from many fans was to lash out: Uefa were corrupt, Financial Fair Play was an establishment stitch-up, the NYT journalists were Liverpool fans, and this disgraceful hit-piece on City had only been published because the NYT owned shares in Liverpool (the NYT did at one point own shares in Liverpool’s ownership group, but sold them in 2012). Clearly, many fans would rather latch on to any conspiracy theory than wait to see if the stories had substance. You shudder to imagine what might happen if Saudi Arabia ever does buy Manchester United, and that enormous worldwide fanbase becomes weaponised along similar lines. It’s been the most successful week in City’s history, and the pity is that their manager, fans and PR department have seldom sounded more angry. It’s time to accept that oil-funded success and mass popularity are never going to go together. It’s as though City are perched on the back of a dragon, peering down at a sullen populace, wondering incredulously why they are not loved. Shouldn’t it be obvious? Was just going to post that. Another very good piece by Ken Early.
    2 points
  33. All the best Alex, have a grand day.
    2 points
  34. Rio Ferdinand would do this time.
    2 points
  35. I've got one for him - try to be less of a little cunt.
    2 points
  36. That's some "Ibe is better than Sterling" level revisionism right there. Gomez has never got anywhere close to outshining Van Dijk. If our defence was Gomez, Lovren and Matip we'd concede 40 goals a season. It's no coincidence that every one of them look quality alongside Van Dijk.
    2 points
  37. Great that but me being the dope I am showed it my lad....
    2 points
  38. The amount of money they’ve wasted on shite, they’d probably be doing themselves a favour.
    2 points
  39. Deep breath: Mowgli, Maray, Wreckfish, Italian Supper Club, Italian Fish, Leon, Lunya, Salt House, Rocket & Ruby, Bacaro, The Art School, 60 Hope St, The London Carriage Works, Rojo Pintxos, Bakchich, Deli Fonseca, Röski, Etsu, Oktopus, Pen Factory, Panoramic. That’s just the independents that sprang to mind. I’ll have forgotten loads. Also a couple of decent chain gaffs that are always consistent like Wahaca, Wagamama and Pizza Express. Then there are all the little cafes and coffee shops that do limited menus.
    2 points
  40. Started making ours today.
    2 points



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