stevegrant

Yeah it originally looked as though they were going to do it on a very simple "one point per pound spent" basis. The way they are going to do it now, based on getting more points for going to the less attractive games, makes a lot of sense, but I'd still expect loads of problems with points not being allocated when bought in a group, etc.

The thing that seems "inconsistent" with the whole thing is that the inquest into Tomlinson's death found that he was unlawfully killed, and that inquest requires the same burden of proof as a criminal trial. If we take the inquest's verdict as just - which seems reasonable to do - it seems a bit strange that Harwood could be found not guilty of manslaughter.

My belief is that any players you sign should be of high enough quality that they are better than you already have. What's the point in buying a back-up player? No player with any sort of ambition and drive will sign for a club on that basis anyway, but doing that doesn't provide much competition for places among the existing squad.

Fair to say it's done and dusted, I reckon

The deal offered has to be of equivalent or greater value to the existing contract.

Reading seem to have decided that they're going to place games into categories as they go through the season rather than announce them all at the start. £32 for adults for "standard", £40 for "gold". From their first 6 games, Spurs and Newcastle are "gold"-rated, with Stoke, Fulham, Norwich and Everton "standard". Given the relatively short distance between the two sides, I reckon we'll end up in the "gold" category

I can only assume that someone else is footing the bill (just to make a change), perhaps the Gibraltar tourist board in an attempt to get more teams over there?

They can "offer" what they like, they're not registering any new players with the Football League for the forseeable future.

He won't be playing competitive games because Pompey can't sign anyone. Assuming he gets games in friendlies, he'll be putting himself in the shop window for other clubs to sign him on a proper contract.

Doncaster will only be paying him for this month. Standard terms of a player's contract in this country is that the club will pay the player for another month after the end of the contract if the player has yet to find another club. As he's officially out of contract at Doncaster, they have no say in the matter.

It's a no-lose situation for the players, go on "trial" with a club you know won't be allowed to sign you any time soon, but with a club with a relatively recent PL record, get your fitness levels up in a semi-competitive environment and then wait for other similar-sized clubs who will actually pay you to come calling.

I don't think it makes any difference, players and managers leave clubs "by mutual consent" with compromise agreements all the time.

They were supposed to be under strict financial controls last time. That went well.

And there we go It's all irrelevant until they actually confirm that someone will be buying the club and taking it out of administration. At this stage, I'll still be quite surprised if they manage to start the season.

It's a rather interesting coincidence that dozens of Conservative MPs own shares in G4S, isn't it?

It varies by club. While, for evacuation reasons, safety personnel will always know how many people are present in each stand, attendance figures are often published in terms of tickets sold rather than turnstile clicks.

I tried to get a ticket for Derby at short notice (about a day or two before the game) and was told by the ticket office that it was sold out. Any that weren't taken on the day would have been player comps.

Worth noting that their 4 big away attendances - at Birmingham, Brighton, Saints and West Ham - were all in the last two months of the season. 719 to Bristol City, 815 to Coventry and especially 943 to Watford is pathetic. The home attendances follow a similar pattern, they only got 20k+ 4 times before March, and every single one of them (Saints, Cardiff, Brighton, West Ham) was when the away team sold at least 2500 (us and West Ham had 4k+). Still, Reading being tinpot is nothing new...

And yet seemingly won't be penalised for their incompetence as they're set to be awarded loads of police and NHS contracts

Some of the comments below that article

3 months of enjoyment followed by an uncertain future or 3 months potential plodding followed by a permanent contract? Simple decision for me, but it's not me who has to make the decision.

No, one doesn't, because it's 99.999999999999% certain that it never happened. You could drive a aircraft carrier through the holes in his story.

London games were always likely to be a problem for non-ST holders this season. I reckon you'll get a ticket for Wigan (up to 5000 if we want them), Swansea and probably Newcastle and Sunderland on general sale though.

Yeah, sorry about that. The sole reason for me moving up here was to end that sodding commute. Two hours door-to-door, made worse because the fast trains don't stop at Clapham Junction, so I'd have to go into Waterloo and back out again on the stopper, change at Clapham Junction for Wandsworth Common. Leave home just before 7 in the morning, get back at 7.30 in the evening. Living in Croydon, I can get to work in about 20 minutes now, hence the staying in bed until 8am thing I can pretty much guarantee you'll want to find a place up here if your contract gets extended.

Indeed. It can be very lucrative