CSA96

FIFA President Gianni Infantino: “I have seen the public comments regarding the decision of the independent FIFA Disciplinary Committee related to the suspension of Folarin Balogun, and I would like to reiterate a fundamental principle of FIFA’s governance. “FIFA’s judicial bodies are independent. They operate autonomously, apply the FIFA Disciplinary Code, and decide cases based on the applicable regulations and the specific facts before them. Their independence is essential to the credibility and integrity of football, and this must always be respected. “Yes, I regularly discuss matters related to the FIFA World Cup with the President of the United States, and on this matter, I did receive a call from President Donald Trump, just as I receive calls from heads of state, government officials, football stakeholders and business executives from around the world on many different issues. During our conversation, I explained that there was an ongoing legal process involving FIFA’s independent judicial bodies and that the case would be decided in due course by the competent bodies. That is how FIFA’s system works, and it is a principle that I will always uphold. “I read the decisions of the FIFA Disciplinary Committee when they are issued. Sometimes I am surprised by them. Sometimes I agree with them, and sometimes I disagree. “What I always do, however, is respect those decisions and the autonomy of the bodies that make them. Whether we personally like a decision or not is irrelevant. Respect for independent institutions and the rule of law is what protects the integrity of our competitions and the credibility of FIFA at all times.”

It gets worse!

42 days... investigation was formally opened on May 21

Suppose this belongs here too... update:

Update:

Daily Mail: Leeds submit new offer of £23m guaranteed + add-ons for Shea Charles, getting them closer to Southampton's £30m valuation

Could he? We play with one up top and they need to be someone to play up to and off of Adam Armstrong couldn’t hack that role despite having a better scoring record and more physicality than Ballard People need to pump the brakes on Ballard a bit I feel

U-turned and decided to sign for Rangers instead… ah well, don’t want people who don’t want to be here enough. European football and closer to home in South Shields, fair enough I suppose

Yeah fair point, they do like a Thursday kit release so it's stocked up for the weekend

Based purely on the fact they posted about it for the first time on Monday encouraging people to sign up for alerts, I reckon next Monday. A week of promoting that it's coming and trying to harvest some data from fans and maybe doing some players returning for preseason content at the end of this week, then drop the new kit next week, a little under two weeks before the first preseason friendly.

Paul Joyce has confirmed in the Telegraph that Middlesbrough and Everton have reached an agreement for Hayden Hackney £16.5m guaranteed initial fee £5m based on Everton appearances £3m possible in event of England caps + UCL qualification with Everton

Genuinely not sure if this is an attempt at banter, but Saints are playing Eastleigh in the first preseason game on Saturday, July 18

They usually launch in the first week or so of July, not long before the first time they're worn in preseason (Eastleigh, July 18)

Selling the shirt and stadium sponsorship to themselves in a roundabout way via Etihad Airways probably helps

It's a bit different as it has nothing to do with profit and loss, rather it's focused on connecting your football expenditure to the overall revenue of the club PSR worked on the basis of a club being permitted a maximum amount of allowed losses over a 3yr period of time SCR works on a maximum of 85% of your club's annual revenue being allowed to be spent on footballing costs (manager's salary, transfer fees, player wages and agent fees). Owners are allowed to top up annually with a c. £10m cash injection. An owner would be allowed to put that money in up front or later in the reporting period to alleviate the possibility of their club narrowly failing the SCR rules (by less than £10m), but the money must be a no-strings cash injection and not a loan

Daily Mail: Leeds United have submitted a second bid for Southampton's Shea Charles, worth £25m

PSR has been abolished as of this season, replaced by SCR (Squad Cost Ratio) rules

Jander is a true box to box midfielder, does his best work winning the ball higher and running at opponents. Downes looks at his best in deeper areas, breaking up the play. Neil also looks good in deeper areas, but has a better passing range than Downes and is more of a playmaker. Based on what we've seen with Tonda, he sees Bragg as a defensive midfielder who sits in front of the defence and holds his position rather than marauding forward like Jander If you want to try and get through a whole season with only Flynn Downes as your only Championship-proven DM when he is liable to sudden bouts of sickness and shitting his guts out at a moment's notice, then I'd suggest signing another known quality, good Championship midfielder is a pretty sensible way of giving yourself some insurance against those periods where Downes looks out of sorts and is ill (or suspended)

You'd hope and think so, but preseason is a week out now and still no indication... although the FA's disciplinary process did issue a ban to an ex-Watford player today for racism incidents last season, so it seems they're back from their holidays and are actually dealing with their in-tray now

He's a holding midfielder mate I'm not sure how overwhelming it could be, tbh

No YouTube yet?

Guy who sits just across from me in the office is a Sunderland fan, his response was: Dan Neil can be a Rolls Royce. Will help you win the Championship, classy on the ball, great passer, rarely loses it under pressure and keeps the team ticking over from deep. Knows his role and delivers. Think he’s got it in him to be Prem quality but just wouldn’t get in our team anymore over Xhaka He said that Neil was the hometown hero and Sunderland captain before they signed Granit Xhaka and promised him the captaincy. That experience seemed to have knocked Neil's confidence a bit, so probably just needs some building back up