benjii

WTF?!?!?! I log in and see we're winning again in a mid-week match?!>?!?!?!?!?1111 WTF?!?! WTF?!?!? Something must be seriously amazing about us. Must be fitness and sports psychology. How's the Mark Fry statue getting on. WTF?!?!

FFS. You can: Go to the match Watch the match on SKY on the telly (this will require going to a pub or club that shows SKY - you probably know the chances of this being feasible where you live better than any of us) Watch the match on some other TV channel where you live (see above for comment on assessing the relative merits of this) Watch the match on an internet streaming site (HINT: Google is useful for finding stuff on the internet)

I think that's a pretty poor choice of phrases. Implies to me that there's something not quite right. I agree that the answers are not public at the moment but Fry has to file a report at some point soon I believe.

Whether it did or didn't, the creditors agreed to accept a certain amount. A deal was reached. We tried to sort our costs out which cost us relegation in the first place - we didn't try to deny our financial troubles like some do. We got a points penalty which has IMO, probably cost us promotion this season. So that's two years of punishment for what was ultimately a very small default on an overdraft facility. No one personally benefitted from the admin. It wasn't done in order to pull a fast one. It wasn't initiated by unscrupulous directors. It didn't leave other clubs in the doo-doo. It didn't cheat the public purse. It was done because the laws of the country provide the process to companies in financial trouble becuase they recognise that a recovery process is better than winding-up, where possible. I wonder if Leyton Oreint have an overdraft? I wonder what would happen if their bank withdrew it immediately?

Really? How odd. We are the archetypal example of a useful application of the points penalty which looks as it may very well stop us making the play-offs this season.

That's great but Ian Huntley isn't a serial killer so it's not very relevant. That news reader picture is bloody funny though.

True, but I doubt all the investigating that needs to be done will have been done by the time they join the FL. Also, it's an extra £1m that Chanrai has to find to fund them through administration and an extra million less in the pool available to creditors. The train to CVA hasn't pulled out of winding-up central yet.

Yeah, but let's not worry about the practicalities... After all, some lawyers once won a ruling in the European Court relating to personal freedom of movement in the labour market.

I think the problem is Chez, you rave about him after every match when he is patently quite average fairly often. He may well have been wonderful against MK Dons but I don't believe you.

I take the point about pikcing up suspensions but that's little help to the team that has been subject to a deliberate foul in the match in question. Obviously they might be lucky enough to be benefitting from the suspension of another player, or they may not. The sanctions system in football is silly. You can accidentally foul someone moving away from goal 17 yards out and at an obscure angle and it costs you a goal. If you do what Mascherano did yesterday and deliberately foul someone, recognising that they are in a dangerous position it costs you a yellow card and a free-kick (unless the ref gets it wrong and gives a penalty). What I would like to see, is a situation where deliberate, cheating fouls outside the box are either punished with some sort of goal scoring chance (a free shot from 18 yards perhaps?) or tougher sanctions on the player committing the foul. The problem football has with that sort of system is that it requires greater discretionary decision making from referees (they have to interpret the foul rather than just award whatever free-kick is prescribed): couple this with the shocking lack of respect exhibited by most players and managers and the televisual microscope and it's difficult to introduce. I would get around this by also introducing video replay facilities so that the ref gets more decisions correct.

Exactly - that was the real cheating. Most sports have greater sanctions for that kind of foul. It is completely deliberate and is seeking to gain an advantage. A different category of foul from simply being a bit late with a tackle or being over physical in a header etc.. Those sorts of fouls should attract a sin-binning like in rugby and hockey. They are inherently dishonest and deserve greater punishment than a free-kick and a yellow card.

A much more interesting question would be: should defenders be allowed to commit cynical and deliberate fouls on players about to enter the penalty area, knowing full well that the only sanction will be a yellow-card? Good for Fonte, good for Valencia.

I love the well-reasoned and compelling argument put there. Not bad for an 8 year old.

Wrong sort of forum to explain that.

Will I be ok?

I think it's a great idea but only if it looks professional and cool. After all, the bar's been set pretty high on this sort of thing

To hear how amazing Schneiderlin is?

Exactly. It's what professional footballers do. It always makes me laugh when people apply Sunday league refereeing norms to our matches. In the type of football most of us play you need to be assaulted before you get a free-kick. In professional football if there is contact and you go down you will get a free-kick 90% of the time. If Fonte felt some contact and won us a pen then good for him. Hope he does it a lot.

It is certainly an interesting line of thought. I posted something on here about Zhahavi and Al-Faraj a few million posts ago. Football is basically just full of complete ****s.

I've got two pairs of them. I use one for five-a-side and one for working in muddy fields.

'tis ever thus with football television. Gravy train for dinlos.

First bet on this year's Festival today... £5 each way on Sanctuaire at 7/1 (SP 4/1). Happy days! Might have a cheeky flutter tomorrow lunchtime when I collect my winnings. Nothing serious though. Will be there on Friday... hope the weather holds off!

The last 25 matches? We average awhisker under 2 points per match apparently. Now go and have a look at the league table. Anyone who thinks we would struggle to make the play-offs next season with the current squad is seriously lacking in fortitude and bottle IMO.

We don't need to. We have Championship winning form over the last 25 matches (since the current team minus Puncheon, Barnard, Fonte and Seabourne) bedded in. Maintain the status quo and the OP is right.

Chris Marsden went there on a Wednesday once. Fact.