Saint Pete

This seems positive to me. Definitely looks like the Stewart replacement who we can use to rotate with Larin which is what we need. And if as it seems we are signing both this guy and Dobbin, then that indicates Dobbin is intended primarily in other forward positions or in support of Larin or Azon if we go 2 up top in some games. Also must mean both Archer and Downs will be moved on one way or another you would think. Not a stellar goals record but Larin didn't have that either. And some of the comments of Ipswich fans posted above actually give me hope as sounds like he is another that contributes well to the team in other ways like we have seen with Larin/Stewart, which is important to how we play.

I agree with you about the time taken, the facts of the case were pretty much all out in the open at the start of the summer, especially after Tonda and Solak's public statements came out. So no reason at all why it should have taken so long to reach a verdict, which in itself makes me nervous of what the FA may be planning and also suspicious that they want it to have maximum impact and publicity post World Cup and pre season. I'm a little surprised Dragan or someone else from the club hasn't publicly pushed the FA on the timescales rather than it appearing to be open-ended allowing this situation to arise where they could drop a big ban on him on the eve of the season leaving us right in the shit. I just fear that we don't have much legal argument to fight a further punishment that would hurt the club given that Tonda has admitted his guilt and hasn't yet been punished personally, but I agree a long ban would have a disproportionate impact on the club given the punishments we have already received.

Problem is EFL punishment was for what the club did and the FA investigation is looking at the individuals behaviour including Tonda. So they will argue Tonda personally hasn't been punished yet. Our other problem is that we broke the rules and Tonda has admitted he was at the heart of it, so that limits our legal arguments against any punishments handed out, just as it did with the EFL investigation. Don't get me wrong, I don't agree that a further punishment that will affect the club's season is proportionate to what happened given that we already have a points deduction. It's just I'm not convinced there is much we can do about it if the FA do go full beans on Tonda, which I suspect they will, but hope I'm wrong.

It's pretty obvious they are going to drop their judgement just before the new season starts for maximum impact and so that the FA can get some headlines and be seen to be taking the matter "seriously" rather than it get lost during the World Cup.

He beat his man, but he then stopped "running" in my view, watch the way he positions his right foot, cannot be described as a normal way for anyone to run. He intentionally pushes his right leg backwards between the defender's legs rather than continuing to drive towards goal. The defender then has no way to avoid contact and Spence's body position is already on the way down anyway! Spence's only intention there is to go down and get a penalty and it would have been wrong for him to be rewarded for that. It seems to be becoming more common that pundits and fans are arguing "he has every right to go down" once a player beats a man in the box and that pushing your leg into a defender and then falling over is the same as being "tripped". This narrative should be resisted in my opinion if we don't want even more cheating in the game.

Yeah, it's odd Mainoo is not getting a look in given Rice's struggles with fitness and illness. He seems a much more obvious sub for Rice that doesn't disrupt the position of our best player in Bellingham. Maybe Tuchel doesn't rate him?

Argentina taken to extra time by 10 man Switzerland. I'm sure they will scrape through but they are very average and were lucky to get this far due to Egypt's implosion in the last 16. Every chance for England to make the final if we turn up on Wednesday night.

It's a shame as they looked good earlier in the tournament and particularly vs Brazil in the group stage where they were much more positive and I thought the better side. I remember they have been similar to today in knockout stages in previous world cups, they seem to retreat into their shell and not believe they can compete in the latter stages.

Apparently there might have been a handball earlier in move but no replays emerging to assess it. How surprising.

Shite.

This does have the feel that it could be an upset. But can Morocco be positive enough to sniff out a goal and then not shit the bed in defence Egypt style towards the end?

Apparently the reason for 2 game ban is because it has been classed "as serious foul play" which carries that suspension. However, Balogun's red card was also for serious foul play, but as we all know Fifa then reduced that to 1 match and then suspended it for a year for reasons that I'm not aware they even bothered to pretend to explain... other than saying they could do it according to their regulations! The worst thing for me is the complete lack of transparency, I don't know how they are getting away with it. I hope there is follow up from Uefa and other federations to halt Fifa's power in the future after this tournament.

Shaping up to be an "interesting" summer for the Geordies. Already sold both Antony Gordon and Tonali for big money and now Bruno Guimaraes reported to have asked for a transfer with Arsenal rumoured to be waiting in the wings. If they are forced to sell him too, they will be sitting on a major wad of cash and will probably be held to ransom on deals to get in replacements as everyone will know they are desperate (and minted). Maybe we can get them interested in Charles to fill one of the midfield gaps to drive his price up more?

Well, actually if you watch the pens again, both Davinson Sanchez and Akanji did stutters in their run ups to their awful penalties!

Akanji 🤣