Midfield_General

New instalment of the Human Centipede franchise described as ‘lower budget’

I'm going to stick my neck out and say that I think he'll deliver a better points per PL game ratio than RM. So on that basis, I'm in.

I used to find watching La Liga boring as a kid. Very slow, very tactical, not as much tackling, just nowhere near as fun to watch as the 100mph blood and thunder of English football. Now there are hardly any English coaches/managers at the top of the English game, and most top clubs here have foreign coaches, it makes sense that the overall style of play throughout the league has changed too. It's generally slower and more possession-based now because the foreign managers have brought that with them, not only by playing that way themselves but also by influencing how others then think the game should be played. It's slowly turning into La Liga. Which may be more technically pure, but the focus on 'control' means it's far less fun to watch, in my opinion. Give me a tactically inept end-to-end three-all ding-dong any day.

This whole thing about ‘he would have done better if he had better players’ is just mental to me. Any manager can say they would do better with better players, that’s just obvious. Good managers make the players they have, better, and find ways to make them greater than the sum of their parts. That’s literally what makes them good managers. Martin never got that, and literally made the players he had worse by forcing them to do stuff he wanted to do but that they weren’t comfortable with or capable of. The absolute opposite of good management.

Club can't even be bothered to spell Brereton-Diaz's name right, lovely stuff.

Totally agree. What's the end game for the owner of club like ours, unless money is literally no object? I've always thought of Crystal Palace as a similar sort of club to us, and - whatever you think of him - Simon Jordan's book about realising his dream and becoming owner of Palace, his lifelong club, is a really interesting read. He spent £40m of his own money on his club, and ultimately his reward was losing the lot, which nearly bankrupted him, and being spat at in the street by Palace fans. The book's called 'Be Careful What You Wish For' and is a very eye-opening account of the reality of football club ownership.

My money's on Plymouth after they sack Shrek

Literally feels like no-one is really running the club at the moment. The days off, not even bothering to consider a managerial contingency plan until Dragan saw first hand how shit we were and phoned up at half time to say ‘sack him’. It’s amateur hour. Given that Rasmus and Co’s only jobs are to run the football clubs under their stewardship, you have to wonder what they do all day if they aren’t getting ahead of basic operational stuff like this. It’s basically negligence at this point. If I was Dragan and it was my money, I’d be cleaning house about now and starting again with a whole new team. The current lot have failed at every conceivable level this season. As a ‘leadership’ team they aren’t fit for purpose.

Sky TV hasn't had any connection with Sky Bet since 2018. They sold their remaining stake six years ago and now they're completely separate companies.

I'm ambivalent about Corberan but what's more alarming in that story is this bit, if accurate: "Saints are still in the early stages of seeking a replacement for Russell Martin, who was sacked on Sunday after an emergency meeting of the board, in the wake of the 5-0 home defeat to Tottenham. That performance hastened a decision that the Southampton board were reluctant to take and, as such, the club had not been actively working on finding a successor." I know everyone thinks SR are a bit shit, but are we really to believe they hadn't even thought to start putting the feelers out until half-time on Sunday?

If that’s accurate then I’m sold. Get him in. (Apparently this sort of simple competence is the depressingly basic level to which my standards have been lowered)

Quite. I don't think we ask for much, despite hearing a few times that we are somehow deluded or entitled as a fanbase to expect better than the shit show that this season has been so far. The general gist seems to be that we've basically all accepted we're going to get relegated, and that's life, we just don't want to look like cunts doing it.

I would like a manager who: - Thinks passing to a defender who is under pressure and a few yards away from his own goal is suicide, and tells his players not to do it - Doesn’t sneer at the concept of a newly-promoted team considering finding ways to ‘grind out results’, in order to put a few points on the board Not too much to ask is it

Really? Well that’s a newsflash, you should have mentioned it.

Which is weird, considering their keeper has just been voted the best in the world for the second successive year.

It sounds basic but we could do a hell of a lot worse. We are extremely lucky to have a talent like Dibling. He is basically the only player we have who makes things happen every time he gets the ball and that the opposition are clearly afraid of. Telling the other dross to just give him the ball and let him run at people would draw the opposition towards him and create space for others (like Fernandes), and let us win more free kicks in dangerous areas and just generally have teams on the back foot more. We’re so average everywhere else that we should absolutely make him the focal point of everything we do going forward, as he’s not going to stick one in the top corner from 40 yards like Le Tiss did (though who else could do that), but he’s the only real potential game changer we’ve got, and the only one who repeatedly runs directly at people and gets them backing off which can actually to damage to a defensive shape.

So this OP was bullshitting then GOSH THAT’S A SURPRISE

And of course the legendary Knightwood Lounge*, where for just £300 you can step into a space where the sophisticated hues of emerald green and rich forest tones immediately transport you to a serene woodland. A beautiful pitch facing space, thoughtfully designed with wood elements and natural light, captures the essence of nature while maintaining an air of opulence. (* Brought to you by Costa)

Random internet twat known for being a wind-up merchant breaks major nationwide sports news story before any news outlet, the club or the betting industry. Yep, seems plausible 🤪. Why on earth hasn't this been locked, it's very obviously a lie.

Not going to try changing anything then? Just keep doing the same thing, and trust it'll come good. Cool.

Zero shots on target, and if they hadn't been so inept in front of goal it would have been 3 or 4 nil. Can't wait to hear Melchett smugging on about how much he enjoyed it, the cunt.

Oh no you haven't

On comes Muffin the Mule, terrific

Defensive mistakes leading to a goal: one. Shots on target: zero. Another superb half of football under this dickhead.

I'm feeling about it the way one might feel about an impending colonic irrigation appointment. Not expecting to enjoy it in any way, but morbidly curious to see just how awful what gets produced will be.