speeeeeeedie

Part of me wants Carrick to do well. The fans will clamour for him to be appointed full time, the owners will fold and give it to him. Then next season they'll be crap again, restarting the cycle. Speaking of "knowing the club" Wayne Rooney is throwing his name out there asking for a job; ESPN: Rooney would coach at Man U. He also gave a shout out to Roy Keane. I say sign them both up. What could go wrong? Keane, who hasn't managed a team for years, and Rooney who lasted less than half a season at both Brum and Plymouth before being sacked are the perfect people to keep Man U mired in mediocrity.

I'd go the other way. There isn't that much difference from top to bottom, aside from the teams in the relegation spots. Although Edwards seems to have got Wolves playing. They narrowly lost to Arsenal and Liverpool. Drew away at Man U and Everton. Everton have a £100m player in midfield (albeit on loan). Bournemouth's striker cost almost £40m. Brighton and Brentford sold forwards for £50m+ over the summer. Forest have 2 England calibre midfielders. Palace has Gueye and Wharton.

Both Maresca and Amorim left/sacked because of disagreements with higher ups. I have read plenty on both with the overarching summary being that the powers that be directly or indirectly infringed on the first team boss's independent authority over team tactics and selection. Man U haven't won the league since 2013, Chelsea 2017. If both owners carry on as they are it will be a long time before either does so again. Chelsea's owners goals looks to be making money from player sales (I'm sure this plan was put to Venkys in the past) so will only buy young and aim to profit later. It does seem strange though as Chelsea are one of world football's biggest spenders so the market for sales is small, or to league rivals. Ratcliffe and his merry band of analysts running the show for the Glazers want to recreate the Ferguson years by stamping a "philosophy" and "playing the Man U way" onto the club. Good luck doing that whilst changing managers every 15 months, buying sub standard players, and isolating academy lads who made it to the first team.

I wasn't at that game but I was at another at Maine Road when Rovers lost 3-2 after going 2-0 up. I think it was 1992-93 without looking. It was pouring down. I also think it was Patrik Andersson's debut. A Rovers flop who ended up starring at Bayern Munich.

Spurs spent all afternoon trying to kick lumps out of Liverpool. I think that Simons was trying to block an anticipated pass backwards but got it all wrong. It was a sending off. His studs scraped all the way down van Dijk's calf. Romero is a prize idiot. The team captain shouldn't be sent off for kicking out, then make it worse by refusing to leave the pitch. What I found odd about that one is the ref gave Romero his second booking, so he'll only get a 1 game ban. He struck an opponent, shouldn't that be a straight red? I saw a bit of the Arsenal game. They were boring and Everton didn't seem like they wanted to put any effort in. Man U had to resort to bringing on two 18 year old subs. It may be a rough Christmas for them. Mbuemo is at AFCON and he has been a bright spot for them so far.

Every game will be sold out. If I didn't live here there is no way I would travel to the USA for the World Cup. Prices for flights and hotels will be astronomical. Not to mention the hassle people will get from immigration wither at customs or wandering around. Atmospheres will be good, you'll be surprised with the amount of country fans live in the USA. Haiti will have loads. Some stadiums aren't set up to amplify it. Met Life in New York (well New Jersey but NY teams play there) is too open. Stadiums in LA, Dallas, and Atlanta will be good, as will Seattle. It's also a sad indictment of today's world that the USA is linked to Qatar and Russia.

Americans are used to paying silly prices to go to sporting events. The average NBA ticket price is £100, NFL is £120 with concerts being smuch steeper, so spending big money on a once in a lifetime event won't phase an American populace getting more and more interested in watching football. FIFA know this so have priced accordingly. It's not right, but they have a captive audience. Also factor in that the country has immigrants from everywhere who also want to see their country play, and that football fans in America tend to be higher than average earners you have a recipe for FIFA to maximise profits.

Whether it lack of form, a lack of intensity, or innumerable other scenarios it's hard to pinpoint what Liverpool are doing wrong as seemingly every game it's something new. Against PSV last week they were woefully lazy, yet last night it was van Dijk making 2 mistakes in short time that cost them a goal. Slot has to fix it, but I think he's struggling too. What I see is a team that isn't working hard without the ball, and a team that's ponderous with it. For many minutes last night with Liverpool in possession is was like watching a handball match. They kept the ball for long periods passing it to the middle, out wide, then back to the middle again without ever getting the ball into the box. It's so easy to defend against. Last season Diaz and Nunez offered lots of running off the ball, but the midfield behind them did too and the personnel there has not changed, so why is it so bad? I can't see an upturn anytime soon. Slot needs to go back to early Klopp and go for 5-4 wins rather than last season's suffocation tactics.

I have to say I have no idea. It was 20 odd years ago. Maybe even 30. I did go in there last year. Some younger lad had it. Not too sure if he still does. I'd start at the Woodlands. Then work all along Revidge. It was a straight-ish line. West View, Dog, Corporation, Sportsman's, Royal Oak, Knowles, Brownhill, Rising Dead, Bull's Head. As I said yesterday I only did the extras, Wilpshire Hotel and Bonny Inn once. Dukes Brow had 4 pubs, counting the Dog Inn, from the top to East Lancs CC. How far is that? Less than a mile? Amazing to think of now.

I happened to be driving into Blackburn when the Thwaites workers changed the sign after the closure was announced; LET; Thwaites sign changed I used to love the Revidge run. I once made it from the Woodlands to the Bonny Inn in time for one before closing. I also spent a good few nights in Jazzy's too. It was a great place. Tequila shots for £1 some nights. They were awful, but cheap. Sorry for the distraction. Back to the Championship. If PNE are in a playoff spot the overall quality of the division is sorely lacking.

I checked the table for the first time this season yesterday. Rovers are 6 points off 6th, and 6 points off a relegation spot. It looks like a typical Championship year table. 1 team, Coventry, running away with top spot. 1 team, Sheff Wed, miles away at the bottom. The rest are fighting in the middle.

Agreed. It was deja vu from my comments after the City game. Too many players were mis controlling balls, playing errant passes, and generally playing scared. The ball dinged off Konate's shin twice before going out for the corner that Forest scored their first goal from. Mac Allister missed a simple tackle for the second, and Robertson got turned inside out for the third. Their current predicament can be nicely summed up by 2 incidents in the first half. Gakpo pitifully pulling out of a challenge he was favoured to win, and with 20 seconds to go before the halftime whistle instead of getting the ball into the box they played a couple of backwards passes on the left side and the ball ended up going out of play for a Forest throw. They have no heart, desire, or graft. They are ponderous going forward too. They play too many deliberate, safe passes in and around the middle of the opposition half without anyone trying to make anything happen. None of their wide players - full backs or wingers ever get in behind. Salah and Gakpo cut inside at every opportunity further decreasing space. They are very easy to play against. Sit off them and let them pass around in front of the back line.

A good summation. PNE should have had at least 1 sent off. Their number 10 really should have gone late on for a studs up challenge on I can't remember who's calf. Pears is still Pears. Toth being out is not good.

I feel a bit sorry for these two; ESPN: Pompey fans banned for impersonating stewards. 2 brothers have been fined £700 each and are subject to a 3 year banning order for impersonating stewards at the Southampton v. Portsmouth match in September. They donned high-viz vests with "steward" on them, and had walkie talkies. I thought that it was quite inventive.

I think Slot will be fine. Liverpool paid a fortune for what is hoped to be a team for the next 5 years. FSG will give him time to implement that. He came in last year, changed relatively little from Klopp and cantered to the league title. I agree that something is off this year. I'm sure all of new personnel, losing 2 stalwarts, Jota's death, backroom staff changes, and other teams strengthening has had an affect but what I've seen is that too many established players aren't in form. Mac Allister and Salah have fallen off a cliff. Konate looks like he's playing on ice (City let him have the ball yesterday and it worked in their favour). Even van Dijk has had iffy games. This lack of form has led to far too many mis-controlled balls, bad passes, dodgy headers, and wayward shots.