Gribz

Im quite happy with 5 out of 7 predictions including 2 correct scores. That Newcastle goal though - you could make an episode of CSI with that - 4 investigations: 1) Was the ball out - looked 100% out. Ever since that Japan goal in the World cup where they claimed the full circumference of the ball wasnt out these are getting very lenient. 2) Push on Gabriel - Looked a clear push and therefore foul. 3) Handball off Joelinton leading to a goal - Not sure if they officially looked at this but there was talk about it. I havent seen enough replays of this one enough times yet but I dont think it looked like it. 4) Gordon offside - clear offside as the ball comes off Joelinton who is ahead of Raya. Havertz (Horrendous sliding assault) and Bruno G (elbow to Jorginho) should both have seen straight reds.

At - October 1994 first OF game. Celtic 1-3 Rangers. Laudrup and Hateley ripped them apart at Hampden (while Parkhead was being rebuilt). Not At - Helicopter Sunday May 2005. Just finished a job on the Azerbaijan Georgia border and just got to Baku in time but couldnt choose what bar I could go to and ended up in a pub full of Celtic expat fans and workers. Incredible bounce on a sofa and table and somehow made it out. Partied for 2 days then flew to Heathrow spending the flight in the toilet all the way.

Some big games for certain teams this weekend. Man Utds players will tell everyone they arent with the manager if they dont respond at Fulham. The game at Goodison is quite tasty, Everton starting to get the odd result and they will stay up no problem this season as they are easily better then the bottom 4. Brighton being in the Europa is testing them a bit and are having the odd off day that they didnt have last season so its a tough one to call. And Sheff Utd have to win at some point. Im going for: Fulham 0-1 Man Utd Brentford 0-2 West Ham Burnley 0-0 Crystal Palace Everton 1-1 Brighton Man City 5-0 Bournemouth Sheff Utd 1-0 Wolves Newcastle 3-2 Arsenal Nottm Forest 0-2 Aston Villa Luton 0-4 Liverpool Tottenham 1-1 Chelsea

Attack v Defence is an interesting debate despite probably being both as important as each other plus of course excluding the midfield debate which is where a game is controlled. But I was having a debate a few weeks back when Tottenham and Arsenal were both level at the top on points and goal difference, yet Spurs were on top because of goals scored. This IMO should be scrapped, if teams are level on points and GD then neither games won or goals scored should then matter and if it was at the end of the season a play off should take place. Of course everyone wants to see exciting games with plenty goals but that shouldn't eradicate the art of defending and say that scoring is more important than not conceding - its an insult to all great goalkeepers and defenders. Plus you can score in a game and still lose the match but if you dont concede then you cant lose that game therefore you could argue defending is the more important. Again using the English top tier, in the 90-91 season Arsenal won the title with a GD of +56 yet Liverpool scored 3 more goals than them that year - therefore the lowly 18 goals conceded over the season was obviously a catalyst for winning the league. So I lean towards tight defence being the more important and there is nothing better than having a commanding centre half at the back - this despite loving watching free flow attack.

This 100%. They can buy their way in but they have a huge trump card first and will use Israel, Georgia, Azerbaijan, Armenia and Kazakhstan clubs and countries being allowed to participate in European competitions and qualifications. I had a chuckle in the CL qualifiers a few months back, there was a qualifier between Dinamo Tblisi (Geo) v FC Astana (Kaz). The latter is nearer Mongolia than any European country if Istanbul is the Continent border.

If FIFA had any integrity they would have put aside 2034 and said to Australia - you're the only continent not to host one so its all yours and use other nations around you if you wish. An Aussie WC with NZ, Singapore and Kuala Lumpur chipping in would have been superb. (Flight time from Perth to SG is the same as Perth to Sydney). Granted SG and Malaysia are technically Asia with Australia being Oceania but Singapore and Kuala Lumpur are great cities who wont get to host such event. European clubs are quick enough to head out to these nations for pre-season for the cash, I can see far more pre-season trips to the middle east from now on.

Spurs will probably hit a bump soon, if they lose Van der Ven at the back or Maddison they wouldnt have any replacements which is the difference between them and the rest. But they will still have a good season and I think they will be close to 4th points wise. Im sticking with Villa for 4th they have better depth than most, they lost two key players early in the season and havent missed them. Plus Emery has to be one of the best "coaches" in the league. Liverpool have their mojo back but are still lacking something that is tricky to nail.

Thats a good point (pardon the pun) but the three that came up this season are the worst collection of teams for a long time so I think Everton would still be ok.

Man Utd are so far off being a top side its unreal. I can only pretty much remember them being the best barr 2 years of the Fergie early era. Seems Ten Hag may have lost the dressing room after making a bit of progress last season, he got pass marks for being top 4 and winning a cup plus the way he handles Ronaldo and the early was he tried to fix Sancho - but this season has been five strides backwards and on the pitch they are 5 starters away from challenging top 4. 7th is the best they can hope for and even that is going Brighton some injustice.

Agreed, perhaps when he jumped on the scene and scored for fun he might have been worth a look but not now. Nisbet on the other hand might have been good enough which pains me to say. As for the match Big Phil gets the benefit of doubt that he has inherited some poor players and had minimal time on the training ground and games following Euro away days can always be tricky. But this win should be a spur for everyone for it to finish like that.

I think things are going to get from bad to worse and complicated for Man U. Correct me if Im wrong but doesn't the Glazers currently have about 70% of the club at the moment? Therefore, Im not sure if Ratcliffe buys 25% of the Glazers stake or 25% of the club. Even so it looks like there wont be a majority shareholder - so who will have what say on certain final decisions. Its said Ratcliffe will get control of footballing decisions but Man Utd are in need of far more than that, from Management structure to the stadium. I dont see Man Utd winning another title for at least 10 more years.

I was thinking he could switch and go after Liverpool, I reckon Fenway Group would potentially sell despite having recent investors, plus the Sheikh would save a Billion or two.

Hazard was real world class at Chelsea, he could be unplayable and score and assist any type of goal. Its said he liked a burger van after training but it certainly didnt affect him at Chelsea, perhaps his body caught up with him in Madrid with that injury. But his numbers at Chelsea over a 7-8 year period was awesome. Easily gets into the conversation if picking a team of the decade (2010-2019).

I was Clement originally but have probably switched to Muscat in the last 24 hours mainly due to his no-nonsense approach and someone earlier mentioned Clement might be a bit weak (he certain doesnt look it) which is something we had in GVB and the players cant be running the dressing room. I dont see the PLG comparison fully because I cant imagine any of the current squad being quite as strong as Barry Ma Baw Ferguson was at the time (but what Id do for him on the field right now!). But as Cammy said - neither gets you of your feet with enthusiasm for one reason or another, but its something we have to accept.

Thats Wayne Rooney available after leaving DC United by mutual consent. Would actually take him as a player at the moment!

Havent done a set of predictions for a while. To start with Ive got Sheff Utd, Luton and Bournemouth to get relegated at the end of the season. Luton 0-2 Tottenham Burnley 0-1 Chelsea Everton 2-0 Bournemouth Fulham 1-1 Sheff Utd Man Utd 2-0 Brentford Crystal Palace 1-1 Nott'm Forest Brighton 1-2 Liverpool West Ham 1-1 Newcastle Wolves 1-1 Aston Villa Arsenal 1-2 Man City

Delighted the Frank Lamppost has been ruled out. Frankly, I'd rather Frank Bruno get the job. Martin Keown yesterday said he should be given a chance to try change as a manager! Why on earth would Rangers and any other club for that matter risk going further backwards for Lampard's benefit to try get his career back on track - that was the most stupid thing Keown has ever came out with. Seems its been shortened to Clement and Muscat and perhaps Knutsen. All three are intriguing in different ways. But the mess Beale did in the summer has easily made the job less desirable that it would have been maybe 6 months ago.

Depending on his relationship with Gerrard it may be that he needs to team up with SG again and vice versa. Both careers took a downward spiral when Beale left Villa for QPR. It might be the case they could only get good form when working as a unit together. Thats been seen before, just look at Clough when he went to Leeds without Peter Taylor - albeit they were on a different level to SG and MB. (And Im maybe doing Gary Mac a disservice there) I'm just glad I dont have to listen to his interviews again (for now) however he has done a fair amount of damage in the summer. He was doing fine with Gio's team but ripped it up....selling Colak was criminal, he was good for minimum 15 goals a season.

I agree with that. Warnock always seems to get a reaction and in our league would probably almost guarantee a winning run and I'd have been fine with him coming in for a few months with Davis working with him. What he did with Huddersfield last season was another miracle.

Still very early for Dessers and perhaps the new gaffer can unearth why we bought him. However thus far he is heading for the bottom drawer to join Ostenstad, Jeffers, Gayle and the 2 Joe's - Dodoo and Garner. Feck me we have had some legendary duffers upfront.

Good memory - that was a sharp response. That result alone should mean RH is out of the running 😄

I think he would offer quite a lot on the training ground, no way would I expect him to be No.1 or 2. But I like him and always comes across very well and seems quite a popular option to be involved in the set up somehow. I've read most of the threads this morning and fully agree with your stance about the board. Thats where is has to start and a strong DOF is key to this.

Kind of knew that would have been brought up and was going to add a bit about this on original post. Its more about getting the right people in the right positions whether that means former players or not. The Laudrups and T Steven are adopted Bears which is significant. I think we are in bad way and Beale hit a destructive button in the summer and it may be that going down the former player route is what it takes to build things from scratch again, as it looks like a bit of a mammoth task of a job for anyone. Its not that I am adamant that ex players should be in the set up, I wasnt for Souness returning but certain values seem like they need to be put in place at the moment.

From the list I quite like the idea of Knutsen, he seems a very modern day type of coach. I also like Hasselhuttl but I'm not sure he has what it takes to get the better of Rodgers. Rodgers has a far better record from the Premier in England, although I havent searched their head to heads. Lampard - Id rather have a Lamppost. But the set up that I would realistically hand pick is: Director of Football - this role seems to vary club to club so it could be tailor made (Literally) for Richard Gough. Alternatively, Trevor Steven may be a good left field option for this. I believe he had previously been running a Sports Management Business in the Middle East which would give him a bit of corporate experience and skills needed, added to the fact he had one of the best footballing brains on the pitch that has pulled on the Blue Jersey. On the field: Manager - Michael Laudrup Coaches / Assistants - Brian Laudrup and Neil McCann (plus obviously a few others) If the players didn't learn anything from those three then they are in the wrong profession.

For some reason I'm longing for Kent at the moment. Beale's honeymoon period was over months ago but for some reason it seems to have a new lease because of the turnover of players. But all these incomings are his signings and you would at least think he had an inkling of what he wants to do - I'd actually say he had more of a clue last season. And what about Cantwell - I dont want to single him out but I'd have had him as my favourite for POTY this season but he looks a shadow of himself at the moment. Granted its early days to gel the new players but having read the thread some posters have mentioned they are seeing the same things as past years. Beale's stock hasnt quite dropped yet, its obvious he was the brains behind Gerrard and everyone saw how QPR dropped like a stone when he left but sometimes in football people are just far more suited to being a number 2 or 3. But we have to start seeing progression and Sunday is an absolute must win.