Whitey Grandad

Someone is being conned here and it isn't me.

We bought Aribo from Rangers. How is he viewed by their fans now?

Disproportionately more tax though. It's almost as though they don't want you to work harder and earn more.

And a lot more work. Is it worth it?

That's the point. I kept in in the business and it was taken from the business. This was when I was a sole trader.

Of course xG is subjective. Somebody sits in front of a TV screen and decides whether an incident should have resulted in a goal. A different analyst would give a different interpretation. A video doesn't begin to show all the factors that can influence whether an attack can result in a goal.

I understand it well enough to know that it's a con. shouldn't line up perfectly but over a large sample of games it ought to. I understand it enough to know that it is closer to meaningless than reality. There was a game recently in which Chelsea were 5-0 ahead despite at that stage having an xG of well below 0.5. The extreme example that you give is a form of reductio ad absurdum but that can have its uses. It also shows the ineffectiveness of xG in this instance. Let's face it, it doesn't matter who we play in goal anyone with our Saint's defence in front of them is starting with an expected three goal deficit anyway.

I understand it well enough to know that it's a con. shouldn't line up perfectly but over a large sample of games it ought to. I understand it enough to know that it is closer to meaningless than reality. There was a game recently in which Chelsea were 5-0 ahead despite at that stage having an xG of well below 0.5. The extreme example that you give is a form of reductio ad absurdum but that can have its uses. It also shows the ineffectiveness of xG in this instance. Let's face it, it doesn't matter who we play in goal anyone with our Saint's defence in front of them is starting with an expected three goal deficit anyway.

That had a lot to do with it.

I suppose Musk cannot ever be President because he's foreign born.

Yep. You're just an economic work unit. I've been self employed mainly for 43 years and in all that time I've had a couple of better years but I had one good year in particular. HMRC clobbered me with a tax investigation and stole nearly £50,000 from me. That was money that I was going to invest in expanding the business but instead it hamstrung us. I learnt then that hard work and sacrifice didn't pay off and I wound back our ambitions significantly. They killed the goose.

That's true even with a flat tax rate be it 20% or 40%. The problem is that we have a progressive system where the marginal rate gets progressively higher. It's almost as though they don't want you to work hard and make something of yourself.

Deep fried preferably.

Nothing from this season?

Stephens in goal and Bazunu in central midfield?

We finished 4th. I suspect that wouldn't be good enough for Rangers..

"Please see" Yes please.

Now you're being childish. "Shackled by having to pass backwards" would perhaps more realistic.

Exactly! Far too many variables. And here's one for the real statisticians. Why, after a match, does the xG differ so much from the actual number of goals? There will be some who will try to say that the difference is meaningful and that useful information can be gleaned from it. But the same is often said about tealeaves. Or chicken entrails.

He's nowhere near the best, and he's not the worst. Whichever, we need better.

Or that the figures are completely random.

Don't you dare try to patronise me you little bead of naivety. Xg is meaningless. That's why it's never been used before. I know perfectly well how electronic tickets are supposed to work. They will work most of the time, just like any modern technology. But the time will come when they don't.

You could not be more wrong. It's completely subjective. And done from a video signal no less. 'Similar chances'? Who compares the similarities? It's all bollocks.

I know what it's supposed to mean but as statistics go it's as meaningless and arbitrary as it could be. It's all down to the interpretation and bias of the person making up the figures.

What the hell is 'negative xG' ? Whatever it is it has nothing to do with football. He wasn't brilliant but he was nowhere near as bad as you make him out to have been. He was an important part of a team that finished in the playoffs.