angelman

Heard a faciating interview with one of the England national players. She said that they could compete with everyone up to the age of about 18. After that, the physical strength of men was too much. She also said that because women weren't as strong, then if the pitch was reduced in size, and maybe the goals (I can't recall), then it would be a better spectacle. It was then put to her that if you did that, then it would be a different game, to which the reply was, that men and women were so different anyway, that it was already a different game. Well, that's how I remember hearing it.

True, but what exacerbates the problem (at least in my eyes) is that those outside of the PL tend to go to lower leagues and the money stays within the British game much more. The PL going abroad seems just to help overseas clubs and overseas football development. I do think that there should be a surcharge for all players brought in from abroad. I used to think 10-15% which would go to grass roots (that is if the FA didn't pocket it first). I am now thinking 25-30% would be better. It is all part of my disenchantment with football.

We all know Ramos is a dirty player - just look at the number of red cards he has got. Looking on Google, as of December 2017, he had 24 which is impressive. But for anyone to say that he deliberately hurt Salah with a judo throw is pushing it a little. But really with the money they have spent, the size of the club and depth of squad, what they are effectively saying is that they are a one man team. I appreciate that losing your talismanic striker is a huge set back. Or when substituting Salah, maybe the manager could have used one of the forwards he brought with him, rather than putting on a midfielder? Why take Danny Ings, Dominic Solanke and Ben Woodburn if you are not going to have any intention of using them? Maybe he expected Mané to step up more than he did (inspite of his goal). It was Mané's chance to really shine, not least as he isn't hugely happy playing second fiddle to Salah.

Over 328k now..... I find them a little strange, and it certainly plays into the "victim" cliché. And then on the other hand, to send death threats to their goalie and his family...classy!!

Here's a novel idea.....why not develop their own keeper via their academy and coaches. But no, just get the cheque book out and go buy someone. Same with all PL clubs.

Funny. Got the Skates all excited. But .... sad state of affairs when foreign owners come in and are completely clueless about the English game. They might know about soccer but not the English game.

That's what it might look like from Califronia, but the reality is very much different. "If the Saints were better, no one would leave" - if you seriously believe that, then you have little idea of how things work.

Very pleased for Bale. Madrid have treated him pretty poorly sometimes, both the club and fans.

3rd goal **** up was a little irrelevant.

FFS BT commentators still spunking over Liverpool.

Ahhhhh.

Would love it to end a draw....2 equally unattractive clubs.

Grealish is Villa through and through. Would he leave??? Is his attitude good enough???

The BT commentary....**** me!!!

Looking forward to seeing the ex-Saints academy player winning the game.

BBC news **** fest already boring the hell out of me. Wifey telling me that I should want LFC to win because a friend supports them!!

I do find players amusing when they try and ingratiate themselves to the club's supporters by ****ing over the last club and its supporters. Reinforces the fact that they are not the sharpest tools, but just big ones.

Who is.are "thesaintscentre"? I see their instagram account (no idea who uses instagram other than my kids and z list celebs), and that their previous post was about a possible 3rd strip for next season. Now judging by that, I am not sure how many 3rd strips have the same main colour as the 1st strip, so I guess they are spouting BS

Given that the owner offered Hughes £1m for 8 games to keep us in the league, I suspect that the owners are aware of what is what.

renewed earlier this week. I always say that I probably won't, but seem to always renew.

I'd go further and say I couldn't care less about any other team (English or not) other than Saints.

100% with you eric. We are in a competition (the PL) that we have little to no chance of winning. We have little to no chance of joining the CL, although granted it is more likely than winning the PL and can be done. 3 clubs outside of the top 6 have done it this century. So why would I want our competitors in the PL to get EVEN richer and widen the gap EVEN more?? I definitely like seeing English teams fail in the CL, with maybe the exception being Leicester's recent attempts.

Spurs might be interesting. I have heard from a little dickie bird that they have been sold and that the paperwork is being completed. £2bn to a NFL franchisee (which I presume includes the new stadium).

3 honours with Man City isn't a great thing to go by. OK, 1 league win, and 2 league cups. More telling I would have thought is zero honours while he was at Real Madrid. And before those 3 honours with City in 13/14 (2) and 15/16 there was the rather irrelevant Intertoto Cup in 2004. Given the money that City were spending you would have to be disappointed in just 1 League Cup in 2 seasons (14/15 and 15/16). Another of those wins was a one off game between North and South American teams. He did win the Argentinian league a couple of times at the turn of the century.

Unless the rules change, academies and PL are pretty useless. The rewards on offer mean that a rookie academy player is going to find it increasingly hard to break through. That is unless they are an exceptional talent, rather than just being good. All clubs have enough money to go out and buy players with experience. We were a rather different case, where many of our academy had played in different leagues and got experience that way. It was also helped by Pochettino who did blood many. But he seems to be the exception, and did it at a level where the club could afford him to do so. At Spurs, while he has brought one or two through (Winks) he won't reach the heights he did with us, where one game IIRC 5 started and 2 came on as subs. So to me, the rules should change. More than the 8 home grown players in your squad. You should be made to start players that have come through your academy in the starting XI (although I realise there are complications with that). As it is, the PL does little for developing English football. If a club has a problem, they won't try and coach their way out of it, they'll just go and buy a ready replacement. We have got to the stage where coaching plays second fiddle to the cheque book.