I have lost track- what is this competition supposed to be?

Colombia beat France in a game of five soft goals-

The extent of the failure of the Russian World Cup to attract fans: https://skift.com/2018/06/14/russia-faces-an-uphill-climb-to-turn-world-cup-into-tourism-win/?utm_campaign=Daily Newsletter&utm_source=hs_email&utm_medium=email&utm_content=63749517&_hsenc=p2ANqtz-_o1JbNyttaz27U9jHGSs93EYKiZFU40-_GGAB4gZIz1oSVtXhmhZwhXYVOb52lcacQ2B_SQB4C6AX1UxKWyG_BAaGz5Q&_hsmi=63749517

http://www.newsweek.com/russian-women-warned-refuse-sex-foreigners-during-world-cup-974800?utm_source=email&utm_medium=morning_brief&utm_campaign=newsletter&utm_content=read_more&spMailingID=3536475&spUserID=MTI0NzM3MDEwNDYS1&spJobID=1050514009&spReportId=MTA1MDUxNDAwOQS2 Perhaps explains why none of the "Characters" I know have bothered with the WC this year...

Reputably inaccurate if not a tip-off from the nameless one.

It looked like a bubble before- still is bubble-ish

Well done Scotland's cricketers. Belting wicket too.

Agree re Shelvey and also agree with jim re Sterling at City. Rashford is potentially explosive from the bench taking off a midfielder in the 60th minute to turn a lead into a rout.

https://www.nytimes.com/2018/06/07/opinion/sunday/world-cup-fifa-corruption-russia.html?em_pos=small&emc=edit_ty_20180608&nl=opinion-today&nl_art=7&nlid=51793659emc%3Dedit_ty_20180608&ref=headline&te=1 Why the Steele Dossier has the credibility it has.

So this looks like Everton, Spuds, Citeh, Leicester, Spuds, Liverpool, Spuds, Manc, Citeh, Spuds, Spuds. Good for making chips from.

Brilliant piece on Douglas. Was enjoying my early Saturday morning walk and realised the World Cup starts five days from now- zero buzz or evidence of it. Not seen any adverts or merchandising relating to it. Ok only been in five countries recently and all did not qualify but still... Tried another thought experiment and realised that this is the first World Cup I have been old enough to know about such things (ie since 1962) that I know nobody going to the World Cup to watch it from the stands (as opposed to watching from the subs bench...).

England will have a decent world cup by recent standards until the second knock out round when they face either Brazil or Germany. Both are beatable by England but won't be. For once unless Colombia show hidden capabilities, coming first or second in our group isn't going to matter much for getting through the first knock out round. I expect England v Belgium to be a draw despite Belgium being comfortably the better side.

Group A analysed by American statos- https://fivethirtyeight.com/features/uruguay-got-the-world-cups-ultimate-prize-russias-group/?ex_cid=SigDig Russia v Saudi Arabia matches the two lowest ranking nations for the tournament opener. It could be a kick and run classic... or probably not.

What World Cup? FIFA dropped a clanger giving it to the evil empire- zero merchandising and promo

Playing in skins this season

I was right about Chaddy signing on a free then.. Congratulations Chaddy!

Watched 1H Austria v Germany from sodden Klagenfurt. - wouldn't be surprised if there isn't a serious injury; both sides making tasty challenges in treacherous conditions - Germany have some man mountain defenders - Ozil scored which says everything about a pretty disjointed looking German attack - three seriously bad defensive mistakes by Germany which Austria failed to make anything of - we all know the Germans start slowly but this looks a bit more like needing to raise the dead

A keeper if we have the £

Just flicked through this thread and I am right in concluding we are signing Chaddy on a free?

Two relegations in succession? Extremely rrosy

VLL has £149m paid and allotted. That is undoubtedly cash ploughed in. In addition, there is the lending by the State Bank of India which is totally secured by Rao-owned assets which I would forecast the likelihood of being repaid without recourse to the Raos as being all but zero. Even though the bank provide the cash, in effect the Raos are denied the use of that money or assets for any other purpose. So I am sticking with my quarter billion figure.

Glad to hear we are impoverished. Helps with the transfer negotiations...

Molly McKewVerified account @MollyMcKew Russia says it will use electronic warfare tech tested in Ukraine and Syria during the World Cup. That isn't just about "preventing drone attacks". No one should be going to Russia for the World Cup.

The seven years 2010-17 can neither be forgiven nor forgotten. Having reduced the club to where we are now, we finally have had 15 months of Venky's consistently good decisions and we should acknowledge that. Venky's have supported the club in a way in which financial and footballing oblivion have been decisively avoided and we should be enormously relieved by that. There is only a fairly weak moral obligation on them to try to right their past failings and return us to the Premier League. There is probably a greater obligation to Tony Mowbray to back him with what is necessary to give him a decent shot at getting us up to the Premier League quickly (within two seasons). I am persuaded by the point which was made that both sets of accountants will have pointed out that the only opportunity to get cash out of football is in promotion to the Premier League- either to do an Oyston and pocket the riches or realise cash through selling the club. Even a newly promoted Rovers to the PL would probably command a price approaching £100m. There is little evidence of Venky's buyer's regret so I don't get the feeling they have a burning desire to get their £250m back- they can't even if they want to! Which begs three questions: - do they want to sell? All the evidence from past behaviour is a resounding NO and therefore this is not a motivation of the owners - do they want to risk £30m (throwing out a number) on a Premier League attempt which even if successful will put them into a League which has returned to making net losses (this fact might be the killer)? - do they judge TM as capable of mounting a Premier promotion challenge from the Championship and trust him to make a decent honest attempt with their money? This also could be a killer if they think he is too unproven at the top end of the Championship. Also possible their judgement of how much £££ is required to make a serious promotion bid is awry and given the way they seem to trust/like certain people there might also be emotional attachments to players and the Mowbray team spirit which clouds their assessment of what is really needed to finish 1st to 6th in the Championship. Based on past Venky's behaviour, this could go any way and possibly even now throw up a bonkers answer only Jerome Anderson could come up with. Venky's put cash into Rovers for a few weeks after they took over, backed Shabby Singh, and as Revidge pointed out were not that stingy with Gary Bowyer either (although the State Bank/land security money engine was working then) so they have gambled in the past. They couldn't have got to a net £250m out of pocket position on Rovers if they hadn't had a reckless streak- imagine if they had done the obvious and put into the management team they inherited £250m net over 2010-2018.... Agreed this is a well-balanced thread with excellent points made. One thing is for sure, there is going to be an awful lot of Pune tea leave reading happening in and around Blackburn this summer.

Not £250m in debt. Venky's have spent £250m+ on Rovers since 2010 but £130m of that is shareholders' funds, not debt. Without going back to the accounts, overdraft plus debt is about £100m but as this is all owed to Indians without much security, it is not particularly dangerous debt compared with the type of debt most football clubs are burdened with.