ChrisPY

Far too much emphasis is put on ‘a faint touch on the ball’. A faint touch on the ball doesn’t mean it’s not a foul. No touch on the ball also shouldn’t automatically result in a foul (plenty of examples of neither players being near the ball and just a coming together). Idiots who don’t understand the game are ruining football with their implementation of the laws.

Shocking decision from the VAR not to give City a penalty. The problem with having a junior as VAR when there’s a more experienced referee is that they’re rarely going to have the bollocks to overrule them. Another reason to make the VAR independent to those officiating on the pitch? Think a panel of 3 would work; ex lower league ref (qualified enough to be able to make a competent decision but without the conflict of interest of protecting the PGMOL elite), ex manager, ex player - 3-0 or stick with the on-field decision.

Think Ralph probably gave assurances of a cup keeper and a league keeper. Forster has now become our league keeper but given how we’ve progressed in the FA Cup, would be harsh to also remove him from that team but also unfair to give McCarthy no games. Seems reasonable to use him in a ‘free hit’ games, especially one against a team he has put in probably his best performance of the last 12 months.

Assuming Charles believes Harry to be his son, the physical appearance of a child would be very important considering the rumours around who is Harry’s father. If (as could have been possible) Archie had been born ‘darker skinned’ than Meghan, there’s a chance similar rumours could have started to spread. IF that was the context of the conversation, it seems reasonable and not at all racist given the family history. The context could also have been completely different and disgustingly racist, however, if Harry is adamant he won’t confirm who the conversation is with and in what context, it’s fair to assume it wasn’t anything particularly horrendous. If a relative of mine was hideously racist about my wife and son, I wouldn’t make much effort to protect them.

Given the missus £20 and letting her drive to the shop so she can choose what she’s cooking for our dinner to celebrate this special day. What does everyone else have planned for today?

Considering the coverage outside of the sport, I wouldn’t be surprised if Elliott and James are given lifetime bans in an attempt to show this isn’t the norm in the racing world and in general the horses are treated as kings as the public have been told for so long. So much money has been lost in the last year, racing needs to manage this perfectly or the future of the sport is in serious jeopardy... Elliott’s statement wasn’t a great start to the management.

Surely it’s evolutionary given the need for one biological man and one biological woman being needed to reproduce and keep the great ape reproducing?

As with any short clip, we don’t know how good these refs actually are but given the amount of money in the Premier League, is there any reason we can’t try and get the best refs from across the world to move here if we can give them the financial incentive to do so? Don’t see any reason such a big global brand would limit itself to English officials if there’s better out there.

They won the 2019 competition so they already hold the trophy. Think that means they have the record for holding it the longest. Don’t believe any team has won it two seasons in a row either so could add another record (guess it’s normally won by one of the better teams in League 1 who will focus on promotion, although looking at recent results, that doesn’t seem to be a priority for them).

Having seen Dortmund’s last 2 goals, Haaland must be top of every big team’s shopping list. Haven’t seen a massive amount of him but has a ridiculous goal scoring record and from what Dortmund’s latest goals have shown me: 1- Doesn’t take pens 2- If another player is in a better position will pass and not go for his own glory Could come close to Messi/Ronaldo figures without being selfish and the numbers being boosted by pens!

Correct decision from VAR, however, bizarre for Mason to blow his whistle for the second time. Absolute mess.

Years of mediocre Premier League football vs Success one in every two years. It’s a bizarre business where your consumers are more happy with mediocrity because it’s produced at a slightly higher level over genuine success and joy. (MLG NOTES- Money achieved through staying in the Premier League doesn’t give me joy The success and joy mentioned isn’t guaranteed but the clubs previously mentioned have proved it is possible A regular mediocre season vs success 1 in 2 metaphor - If I bought two melons each from Sainsbury’s and Waitrose and the Waitrose melons were of consistent juicy quality but the Sainsbury’s melons differed, the first being slightly under ripe and disappointing whilst the second being so juicy and delicious it gave me a strange tingling feeling, I’m more likely to want to try a Sainsbury’s melon again (Sainsbury’s melons represent Prem Relegation and Champ promotion))

I guess the issue is when does it become ‘some racists follow football’ compared to ‘football is followed by racists’. Is it an issue specific to football or is it that ‘football’ is doing all that it reasonably can be done to prevent incidents of racism but there will always be racism, there will always be people that think the old stink of piss, there will always be people that think the disabled are useless. There is only so much that society can do in criminalising and objecting to these people and their views but it is near impossible to eradicate. Murder, rape and child abuse have been seen as unacceptable for far longer but our prisons are still full of those who have committed these crimes. That’s not to say we don’t need to continue to show how abhorrent we find these crimes and prevent them where possible but a complete eradication is unrealistic. Football fans aren’t seen as murderers but I am certain some murderers are football fans.

Something to take our mind off the disastrous start to 2021! Who would you have as your best XI from 2000-present. Idea is to be based on performances for Saints and not how they did before/after (ie- you’d have Saints Bale, not Real Madrid Bale). Reckon this side would do well in Ralph’s 4-2-2-2 although could probably do with a bit more energy up top. Niemi Clyne — Van dijk — Svensson — Bridge Mane - Schneiderlin - Wanyama - Lallana Lambert — Beattie

If it’s a split second then him clearly saying ‘I wasn’t ready’ is rubbish as he was moving the whistle to his mouth show the exact opposite. IF that’s his justification for blowing again and disallowing then it’s a shocking decision. To me, Leeds looked set up and ready so can’t understand why play wasn’t allowed to continue.

Werner was clipped by Romeu (I think) a couple of paces before his challenge so guess the justification is that caused him to be off balance and lose control in the challenge. Djenepo slid across Kante’s path as he was sprinting with the ball. In real time, it would have been a harsh red. In contrast to a lot of the comments on here, I think we’re actually playing well, sticking to a different game plan to what we’re used to seeing. Chelsea haven’t really had any clear cut chances, we’ve defended fairly solidly without needing to press everything at such a fast pace. Will hopefully mean we have the energy to step it up if needed as the game progresses.

I am. Stopped going to games around March last year and haven’t been back since.

Clearly should have been red card Ajayi!

Ralph’s definitely got the squad overachieving but can’t help but feel the mentality on the pitch is a reflection of him and the way he sets out the team to play. Don’t think there’s any manager who would join us that could do any better but that doesn’t mean Ralph couldn’t be getting more out of the team. The frustration is if Ralph made different substitutions or went more defensive/attacking at certain points during games, we could have 5 or so more wins this season. Suppose that could be said of most teams but the changes that are needed often seem glaringly obvious and the game plays out as expected with us ‘dropping points from a winning position’ or failing to create anything meaningful when chasing a game. Maybe I’m ultra critical considering what Ralph has got from the squad but he’s only a few small improvements away from us being part of the next group in the league that you’d alway expect to be top half and semi regularly qualify for the Europa League (I’m thinking Everton and Leicester although they both have ambitions of making a ‘Big 7/8’).

Sky and BT really need to introduce a ‘Scouse Off’ option.

Goal

Very early impressions of Salisu- Looks like he’ll never need to sprint as he seems to have good positioning, anticipation and can cover ground quickly at a jog Does the basics that our style requires pretty well (control, head up, moving the ball on). Know this should be expected of a Premier League player but plenty of other CBs have brought on anxiety!

Think we might need an extra physio given how the injury list is building! Would be great to have around the club but not who we need as manager.

As I said, I think his Plan A is brilliant and as you’ve pointed out has resulted in a fantastic run of form. Seems stupid to think that because of that there’s no reason to look for ways to improve and that includes with Ralph’s tactics (and I’d rather Ralph improved his tactics than we got rid of him). Plenty of examples where we’ve dropped points from winning positions where we could have tightened up at the back or where we’ve needed a late goal and continued persisting with passing the ball around the defence and midfield to try and draw the opposition out.

Because he gets the team to play the same way for 90 minutes and doesn’t react to what is happening on the pitch? The massive loss tonight highlights it when we should have gone into damage limitation mode but the points lost from winning positions isn’t a coincidence. Plan A is fantastic but needs to be able to manage games and react better during the 90 minutes. Personally, I want us to stick with him and back him in the transfer market but can see the justification in getting rid.