coachpotato

What a refreshing change. We’ll pay for it later on.

The Suarez incident was another clusterfuck by the club. Suarez should have been taken to one side and told to say fuck all to anyone immediately after the game by the club management. The club PR department did nothing to refute the rapidly built and entirely predictable condemnation of him by the media. He was guilty before he’d taken his boots off. The T-shirts might have been seen as a good idea by some, but ultimately made Dalglish and the players look ridiculous because there was no concerted response from the club, and the media circus had a free hit because of that. Suarez was then an idiot making his comments in South America at a point where, even though there was massive bias against him, there was still no real evidence and then he tried to justify his remarks by saying he said “Negrito” or similar which was close enough for the Independent (!) committee to say it was probable he had abused Evra and that he was guilty. Was it 42 cameras and microphones failed to pick anything up? So Suarez was banned for 8 games on a probability, whether he was guilty or not. Had it been the other way around with Evra accused of racism against Suarez, I doubt anything would have been done.

Would anyone be surprised if Greenwood and the girl split up in the near future? I certainly wouldn’t be.

He’s a predator. Hardly ever seems to score outside of the 6 yard box. You need a bit of that.

That’s so sad. Poor kid, scores the winner in the biggest game she can play in and gets to find that out after the game. Unbelievably tragic for her.

I should have said savvy instead of streetwise, but in either case, Spain went against what some would have you believe in that the women’s game doesn’t have shithousery in it. Spain, and others, have shown that isn’t the case, certainly in this tournament. I didn’t wish to come across as patronising, and I agree as far as the women’s game goes, England have been one of the better teams, but even the captain said after the game that they weren’t at it today, they gave 100% though, no doubts about that, they didn’t try it on as much as the Spaniards so they were honest, they got stuck in, legally, so brave too. Having your better players out will always be a handicap, it likely explains why they were struggling at times, I thought Spain had them pretty much at arms length for most of the match, but particularly in the closing stages to see out the game. Yes, the referee made some baffling calls, (but don’t they all!) and the Spanish girl was lucky not to get a second yellow when she kicked the ball away, but overall, sad to say, Spain were a level higher today and were worthy winners. That there are several young players already in the squad and more likely to come through due to the increasing standard of the professional league in England and some also playing abroad, augurs well for the next World Cup I think, and if Weigman can be retained there should be optimism they can go one better next time.

This. Spain - Technically superior, tactically superior, more streetwise. England - Plucky, honest, brave.

And then stood there while Spain went on the attack instead of getting her arse into gear and chasing back.

Probably the sending off yesterday affected his minutes on the pitch, we might have seen him on earlier without that happening, but I noticed him as the final whistle went, he went straight down the tunnel with hardly a word or acknowledgement to anyone else. Seemed pissed off.

Was running everywhere when he came on initially, then settled down a bit, (think Virg had a word), just did the simple things well, got a couple of decent challenges in, caught the once, but it could’ve been given a foul as a couple of similar were to Bournemouth. Steady.

Is there a club that has worse injury problems to its first team squad than ours? Don’t suppose there’s a website that does stats like that?

Totally agree and something I and many others have sad. Some say you should never look back, but you could also say, learn from the lessons of the past. Shankly, Paisley, Ferguson et al knew their shit, it’s no disgrace to adapt their thinking to the present day.

Could regret this, but I think we could be positively surprised by Endo. Not based on any knowledge or previous observation, but I think he could be an asset. Hope he’s not the only one I think that about in the coming fortnight.

The term Mentality monsters just about covered the team from 2017 onwards until 2021. I agree that the away against Villa, the season we won the league (which I was fortunate to be at) was sheer force of will and we just knew after that game we were going to win the League. Ferguson, not that I ever liked him, brought in players that had that will to win, were capable of committing “professional fouls”, had the never say die attitude that set his teams apart from the norm, and currently, aside from the massive money they have, City or Guardiola, also bring in similar players. They bully teams, and it’s that kind of attitude that we need to be identifying when we sign players as much as their ability to run, jump, fight or ride a bike.

Mate of mine was involved with the Main Stand rebuild, company he was working for were contracted to do the glasswork. I remember him telling me that there were more than a couple of contracting companies that would have gone bust if they’d have incurred penalty clauses. That’s how close they sail to the wind to get on to prestige sites.

And by the time it’s all sorted, a Partridge in a Pear Tree.

Just the odd (very odd) few.

Don’t know anything about Endo, but maybe our recruitment team see a comparison with Wijnaldum in him? I think most on here were a bit nonplussed when Gini signed, journeyman and all that, but he turned out to be a very shrewd buy. And this Japanese fella at least sounds like one of the two we’ve lost recently. I’m in.

So could BMD be finished before the ARE? Asking for a friend.

Round pegs in round holes please. You know it makes sense.

You just know they’ll wriggle out of any meaningful punishment, and I suspect that’s how it will be for any other big hitters with influential state backers. Bigger pictures and all that.

And before him, Jimmy Hill?

Awkward when it’s someone who’s in a delicate position I guess. Doesn’t surprise me that it’ll be dealt with on the QT though, save the brand any embarrassment.

Transfer ban? Points deduction? Demotion to the Championship? Rescinding titles? Don’t think they’d take that too kindly or mutually somehow. Monetary? If so, what a waste of time.

Promote the idiots up out of the way. Businesses do it all the time!