Premier League — Week 27

Man City just relentless until they score to lead 2-1.

And now 3-1. Steam roller.

4-1

Watching City is, I have to say, a joy. They're like a machine.

What impresses me is their decision-making. Watch the number of times one of them will get the ball on the wing and rather than quickly play a hurried cross which fails to reach a teammate or cannons off the player defending the cross (something we do a lot of) they simply stop, pass it back, recycle it until a good cross or pass is on.

Simple, but requires discipline, constant quickness of thought, and support from teammates. Just brilliant to watch.

They're just sick.

And Wolves were defending extremely well until that second City goal.

Like Bayern in Germany, Juve in Italy, PSG in France, and the Barca/Real axis in Spain, the Premier League is headed for a period of untold, and eventually tedious, domination.

Man City will probably win the next 7/8 titles, with the Liverpool one being the odd one out in over a decade of complete dominance.

They literally have 2/3 players for each position. The average player costs 50m.

They are unbelievable to watch, until it just gets a bit boring.

They score and it's just another goal, it's expected.

Death of the Premier League.

So here's the plan.

Let's keep on our roll, catch Man Utd, finish behind Man City in 2nd, and repeat that for the next 5 years.

Takers?

There's a serious risk that this side is going to become tediously dominant. They have two complete teams of the highest competence.

I can see them winning the title with the same monotonous regularity as Celtic/Rangers, Bayern Munich, Real Madrid/Barcelona - but without the competition even of one other side, there is no-one close to them. Bear in mind that much of this latest run has been achieved without their best player.

It may be very impressive but it's also alarming.

City are keeping the rs at bay - until we've strengthened our squad sufficiently to challenge City. Hope.

Sorry, Fran @15, I hadn't seen your post.

Tony -

They might go on a 3-4 year run. Americans use the word 'dynasty'.

But ownership is cyclical, there's injuries, Pep could leave, etc. Man Utd was pretty dominant for a long time. I don't think your fear of a 1 team league will ever occur. You might get Man City perpetually in the top 3 for 10+ years. But they'll have ups and downs just like everyone else.

I can understand how some can see the negatives of them being so dominant but until it's us who are consistantly second to them it's immaterial in my eyes. Doesn't matter who dominates while you're not up there competing with them. I'll just really enjoy watching their slick brand of football apart from when they play us.

Sorry, Jamie, I think this team is the most dominant I have ever seen and their resources dwarf everyone else's. The normal ups and downs won't apply to them.

I think it's a serious problem in the making.

I never find watching City boring. Just a joy to watch. Purveyors of the beautiful game.

Meanwhile, just reading this on Beni Baningime:

"Baningime has played just 3 minutes of football so far under Rams boss Wayne Rooney. What's more, the youngster has been left out of the matchday squad altogether for two of Derby's past five league fixtures."

Yet they spout the great old lines "He's just outstanding in training,"

Yea, right...

Was Jim Beglin commentating?. if yes can I assume City were judged to be very lucky/cheating/helped by a lenient ref. etc. etc?

City are a fine side but the idea that they will ruin the Premier League with their dominance is, in my view utter, defeatist nonsense. They have had money for years but haven't dominated European football.
They weren't dominant early in the season and got taken apart. They will not have to be a great side to win the league because as mentioned elsewhere the standard this year is low.
I fully expect Everton to be challenging soon, why should I not? Teams change, times change, coaches change and the politics of football change.

I stopped watching at half time, but I also thought Wolves were defending very well against a relentless recycling City attack, Michael K.

I thought Everton did okay against City the other week but, if we are to beat them in the cup, we are going to have to turn our defence into a counter-attack very quickly, and also contest those second balls off Calvert-Lewin.

But the money does not change, Andy. I hope you're right, though.

MK @ 16, I see Beni Baningime got his first start for Derby tonight away to Cardiff. 3-0 to the home team by half-team, 4-0 final score. He played the full 90 minutes.

He won't be making it at Everton. That was obvious to me after last season's re-start when he was on the bench for a vast bulk of those games, but not once did Carlo give him a single minute of game time.

Oh! Anthony Gordon started for PNE, but was subbed out on the hour in their 2-1 away loss to Milwall.

Yes, Jay, apparently a quiet night for Gordon after his MotM performance last week.

Same for Simms, subbed after and hour. But was MotM in his last game.

Blackburn also lost again, they seem in freefall. But Branthwaite was dropped to the bench after coming in for criticism in recent performances. It was also another 90 minutes on the bench for Gibson at Reading.

If the loans are showing anything, it is that the players quite clearly are not ready for 1st team football in the Premier League and the loans were correct decisions.

Thanks for that, Jay @ 21, I did not see that he finally got a full game.

Just another instalment in the ongoing saga of loans for me as I'm unconvinced they really play the role many posters claim, of giving these up-and-coming players the experience they need to make the final step up. More trial by fire, I believe, a step to help confirm that these players are unlikely to make that final step up.

I just scanned back over our lists of players out on loan for the last 5 seasons... typically 12 to 15 each season, some on multiple loans, so probably around 40-50 indiviual players in total.

I only see one name among all those that is now a member of our first-team squad: Mason Holgate.

I was thinking about how we might face up to them on 20 March, Tony (#19).

Long periods of resolute defensive solidity will be vital against such a fluid and dynamic attack. I can't help thinking back to the time we talked of lottery football... was that Martinez or Silva. Anyway, you watch us defend, as on Monday, and we don't concede, but holy shit, we came very close.

Other games, and the City league match is a good example, we defend manfully but moments of pure quality are simply too hard for us to defend against... but Carlo must believe that, like accidents, all goals are preventable, so then it does come down to the counter-attack, and being able to use that second ball.

Thing is with Calvert-Lewin, you're never quite sure where it's going to go? Again, more of a lottery. The first one goes straight up in the air... and he does very well to get it to Gylfi – off his shoulder – at the second attempt! Another wonderfully random lottery moment that ultimately wins us the game!

Would Pep leave City to rescue Barcelona?

Stop criticising young Dominic, Michael, put yourself in his shoes for a minute, then ask yourself where's the fucking support!

This kid has turned into an absolute man-mountain, and the more players we get around him, the more this will come to the fore, imo.

Silva, took City on at their own game, I thought it was stupid, many people thought it was brave, but one thing that is certain, is that City haven't got a centre-half, capable of coping with Lewin's physicality, and I'm sure he'll be the key, to giving City, a really hard game, hopefully🤞

Andrew @ 25; Only if his brain suddenly turned to mush. That job...along with following Klopps incipient 'Long Goodbye' is a thing to avoid.

MK, this very morning I've just watched a very short video on the BBC about a talented Londoner signed up to Newcastle's academy.

All going well until - BANG! - one incident ends it all.

The video opens with the stark fact that of the 1.5 MILLION kids playing footy in England, only 180 will make it as a PL Pro.

An exceedingly high attrition rate.

The video is aptly titled:

The Brutal Reality of PL Academies

Ha, funny, Tony. "Man-mountain"? He's improved but he's still got a long way to go. You keep thinking he's that fantastic striker and maybe he will be one day.

He's scored a decent number of goals against Man City in recent seasons, so you might be right. It would be fun if he's up against John Stones. I don't think he's scored against them when Stones has been in the team.

I still see a lot of things that need to be worked on... day-in & day-out. But then maybe he's another who is "just outstanding in training"...

That is a pretty common story, I believe, Jay. And 180 in 1,500,000 equates to 1 in 8,500 – which doesn't sound quite so bad... but still incredibly low likelihood.

Seems Everton are really good (too good?) to their kids in this situation. I was thinking of making a page on that topic. Current ones they have supported through long-term injury include Josh Bowler, Rafael Garcia, and Jean-Philippe Gbamin.

There are actually a lot more who have suffered like this and you have to wonder what that does to their development... it seems whenever a write up a new player's profile, there is a serious injury in there that kept them out for a long time.

I wonder how many of the 180 are there just through good luck (or is it inner strength or a self-protection?) in that they have avoided such injuries?

Funny hearing him spouting the "there for a reason... faith in god" crap but honestly, fuck that shit! Bit shocking now how many players (Continental and South American Catholics perhaps?) are genuflecting as they come onto the pitch or praising the heavens when they score... but I probably shouldn't go down that path.

Jay (28) and Michael (30), the turnover is amazing, I haven't seen the programme Jay is talking about but even before lads reach the age of sixteen, from twelve upwards hundreds of kids are brought to academies and turned away after one and two years, leaving them devastated and loads give in there and then, plenty, like Alan Ball pick themselves up and carry on, with the inner belief that they are good enough to make the grade, others are, Jagielka, Baines, Ward all rejected by Everton before being brought back.

There was one lad, Curwin, an English international schoolboy, from Blackpool, joined Everton from school, think he played in one of the youth teams that won the FA youth cup, he was let go in his late teens, he later came on a TV programme, with his dad complaining that Everton never looked after his education properly while he was at the club, neither did they prepare him for the possibility that he wouldn't make it as a footballer, it made for good viewing and they possibly got a few pound for appearing on the programme, not sure how they could prepare him for life without football, but I think the turnover of young lads is enormous and lads have to mentally tough as well as physically able to get to the top, there is more than enough money at the end of the day to make those efforts worthwhile, ten years at a premier club, once you've made it, and you are set up for a long wealthy life, if you are sensible.

Michael 30

I'm Catholic but I always think the public praying is a bit odd. I can't imagine with everything going on in the world that divine intervention would a factor in a football match. I guess I don't know what they're praying for. Maybe it's “thanks for the opportunity” but I suspect it's “let me get a goal.” If the latter, some of these should direct their powerful prayers to more important issues.

On the religious genuflection, what you see in the PL is nothing compared to the likes of Brazil. Full double kneeling, hands, head and closed eyes raised heavenwards before the first and after the final whistle.

And that is just the referee! (OK - slight exaggeration there, but they too go through their own religious routine).

Johan Cruyff wasn't enamoured of it either:

'I'm not religious. In Spain all 22 players make the sign of the cross before they enter the pitch. If it works, all matches must therefore end in a draw. They don't.'

Whatever gets you through the night, 'n all that.

Michael @29, that last paragraph is what football is all about mate, contradiction and all!

The stat about kids is a bit misleading because it supposed every one of the 1.5 million is viewing professional football as a viable career. For comparison you could say x number of kids are involved in performance arts (school plays, youth groups, band etc) but only so many end up on BBC One prime time dramas. I'd be interested to see the stats on how many are fully involved in academies at an age where it may force them to prioritize football over academics or other routes. Say 15/16 doing GCSEs. A kid at my school was at Norwich from a young age until that point. He doesn't view it as the sad story of the failed career, more like something that happened before he got serious about careers. There were a couple of other lads I knew who decided to leave academies at lower league clubs at 18 once they got into a good Uni as they figured their odds were better focussing on academics. One of them was at Sc**thorpe and felt that even if he made it, the compensation wasn't great (consdering shelf life of a player) versus doing his engineering degree.

Leicester 1-0 down already. If it stays like this we'll be six points behind with two games in hand. Leicester have a superior goal difference though. Are they going to go into freefall again?

We could do with Sheffield U beating Villa too.

Rob 36

I hope so. I can't stand Brenda and it cracks me up that he is always talking his team up as title contenders only for them to crash and burn. The only "success" he had was at Celtic but put in perspective they've just got rid of his manager for looking like he won't win the treble AGAIN.

Kieran, I had to laugh when Rodgers said Leicester should now be considered one of the so called top six clubs.

Sheff Utd leading 1-0

Leicester equalise

McGoldrick! Blades up 1-0

Leicester are the team we need to chase down. There's lot of talk about finishing 4th but 3rd is a real opportunity for somebody like us or them this season.

Sorry Rob, obviously late on that.

No worries, Dale, at least you put the goalscorer on.

Red card for Jags. Denying a goalscoring opportunity as was last man.

that's me Rob, master of the low bar!

Looked to me as if another defender could have got across to the man.

I thought that Brent, but he was probably at least 20-25 yards away.

Late to the party here. The academy system for me just doesn't work.

I won't bore you all again as I've done so enough already. Our academies just do not produce. I don't need a statistic, although that was insightful. It is clear to me they gobble up any half decent talent in the hope of potentially bringing one player through, only to spit most of the rest out, rather uncermoniously. But then those players have no experience outside of the pampered elite bubble they have been in so don't know the real world of football; not their fault, just the system they have understandably pinned their hopes on. I don't know the stats but I sense that whereas in the past, many would have given it a second shot in the lower leagues and risen from the ashes, many more youngsters who get consumed into the academies at a young age and then don't make it at a big club, give up on the footballing dream these days.

Anyway, promising results as it stands.

First Southampton, now Burnley playing better stuff than us, pass and move, switching play from one side to another, defenders who pass accurately and forwards, come on Carlo, give it whirl.

That was about two or three weeks ago Jeff. Gotta keep up man.

Rob, I've not seen the replay but I think 20-25 yards might be an overestimate. How many feet in a yard, Rob?!

I've not seen the replay either Brent, but he did look a good distance away from the incident. Then again, I'm watching that match on my I Pad and the Burnley game on telly, going from one screen to another, so maybe he was closer than I think. Then again surely the referee wouldn't have sent Jags off if he thought there was a covering defender, or has that rule changed as well?

P. S........I'm also looking at TW on me kindle!!

Burnley doing some proper last ditch stuff at the moment.

Just realised. Danny @50 said he wouldn't bore. Danny did. Danny failed.

I just skipped it, Danny!!!

Well SHU win!

Sheff Utd beat villa 1-0. Burnley draw with Leicester. We have a great chance to close the gap on Leicester and also pull away from Villa.

Well, this is going well. If the Eagles soar, we can be 4th tomorrow, 4 points of 2nd & 3rd with a game in hand on 3rd.

Danny, did Danny say Danny wouldn't refer to himself in the third person?

Never mind, you're never boring, sir.

Well in, Blades!!

All going nicely for us.

Mike, have you seen the Jags sending off?

Nah, just got here, Rob, but they should be showing the replay on NBC shortly. How'd it happen?

Yeah, this is looking good. Starting to get nervous again.

Fouled a villa player, who seemed to have a clear run on goal, so sent off for denying a goalscoring opportunity and also last man. There may have been a covering defender but to me he looked at least 20 yards away. Was initially given a yellow but changed to a red after VAR

Our fans on here saying we can't string half a dozen passes together and case in point the football played tonight. Maybe true but we are in the results business and I seen top football for both goals in the derby and the goal the other night Total class. Granted these are isolated incidents but try telling that to let's say a villa fan tonight I bet he would snap your hand to swap their players for ours. The smooth even school of science can wait for now if it means winning derbies and getting into Europe for now. Just look at the opposite dugout tomorrow. No contest

That's one decent and one good result for us.

As long as we win tomorrow of course!

Ah, that's too bad, Rob. I remember he got a red in one of his last appearances for us too. Hate that. Jags is mah man.

Glad Blades won anyway. Now let's see Palace pull one off.

Jeff @ 51
Your being sarcastic, right?

Rob, I just saw Jags' red, and I gotta say it looks legit, if tight. If the guy gets past him he's got a free run, because the covering defender has another attacker over his shoulder. I'd have given a yellow, but I can see why the VAR look changed it, because it really did cost Villa a goal chance.

Wow, that Leicester goal was pretty special, eh? Never saw Iheanacho do anything like that before.

Mar #71, no, he's not. You should see some of his Forum posts. Absolute gems.

Did I just hear right? Palace have 11 players out of contract at the end of this season and the management don't know whether they will be in place next season?

Interesting as much as it is staggering.

Mike, the covering defender was Bryan, but he looked at least 20 yards away and I doubt he would have made up the ground. Ampadu was only a few yards from the incident but unfortunately for Jags was behind play, so yeah, a tight one but probably the right decision.

I just now looked at the scores.

Jeez a good day for us. If Palace can turn over Man U, that's a great couple of days for us. Furthermore, if Chelsea and them tie?

We really have to win tomorrow.

I have to comment on earlier threads with the overtly religious gestures and whatnot on the pitch.

Michael - you and I couldn't be further apart, probably light years, with our approach to such a weighty subject as religion. But I, shockingly, concur with you. I have to mention, there's this certain line in a certain large book that says, "When you pray, go into your room, close the door and pray to your Father, who is unseen. Then your Father, who sees what is done in secret, will reward you."

In other words, keep it to yourself! So your displeasure at seeing these things is justified on many levels.

Thought you'd enjoy knowing you're thought process is exactly what God would want from you. 😂

Righteous passages brother. You've been watching pulp fiction again.Stick to Jesus saves, Dom gets the rebound. (Old Latchford badge I used to have.)

Jamie, I used to make the sign of the Star of David when I came on the pitch, but I'd miss the first two minutes of play getting it right. And then I'd feel guilty about my fouls. Even asked the ref for a yellow card once. So I stopped.

Save of the year by Guaita right there.

Brian, I can see you're trying real hard to be the shepherd.

Rob #75, seems like the end of the trail for Jags. He's had a magnificent run.

This ticks me off - YOUR not you're.

I can't get the Peacock feed to work.

14ms ping, 288Mbps download, 21 Mbps upload.

Peacock absolutely is trash. It's so, so fucking bad. NBCSports is super, never have a problem.

NBC needs to freaking dump Peacock or hire capable people to fix its never ending cycle of shit. It won't come in at all. I hate Peacock. Keeping me from the footy.

Surprised you're having trouble with it, Jamie. It's always been seamless for me. The only thing I dislike about Peacock is you can't click back a few minutes if you miss something, like you can with ESPN+. But it should be very reliable.

Try clearing your cache and cookies. Sometimes that can block streaming.

PS... strange phenomenon in the Palace game... every time Eze pops up on the screen I find myself humming Glenn Frey.

Glad I did not even try since I'm so deep in the woods. Peacock would provide me little more than a slide show. This does bring up the elephant in the room though, what are the repercussions of the decline in the bottom line of the current TV contracts?

Jamie #79. You're wrong there, mate.

Yes Jeff (51). Let's get back to the levels of the skills of Burnley and Southampton and swap where we've progressed to. Let's go the whole hog and tempt the likes of Owen Coyle or Eddie “He's an Evertonian you know” Howe to replace Carlo and lead us out of this wilderness of despair he's put us in.

Brian has a point there, Jamie.

Brian #83 and you're correct mate

Unbelievable. Barca were a minute away from elimination. Then Pique with a header at 90+4, and now they're in ET with Sevilla down to 10 men. If fans were allowed in the Camp Nou, it would be melting down right now.

Jeez. Palace almost stole it in final minutes.

Man Utd drop 2 points!

Well that was a hard watch. Like watching paint dry. And some criticise our performances!!

Yes agree Rob. So many games aren't particularly attractive to watch. We just seem to expect that we should play great football every game.

Just waiting for a Klopp type excuse from Solskjaer, Brent. It was a bit foggy down one side of the pitch and we couldn't find our passes down that side!!

He's a poor loser, Rob. Some of his comments of late look petty.

If we can get 3 points tomorrow, just as Leicester CIty, Man Utd, Liverpool and Chelsea have been dropping points, we can hopefully build up a head of steam as we head into the last 10 games.

We've just had a 9-day break. I don't really think we are good enough for top 4. But the way things are conspiring, we could well have an opportunity to sneak in there.

Quite honestly, on reflection, Everton may be good enough for the top four.

The results elsewhere of late have mostly been in Everton's favour and certain teams are not doing so well anymore.

Man Utd, Leicester City (without Maddison) and Liverpool are opening a door for Everton, so another win at awful Albion would really put us in the driving seat for 4th.

Obviously, if we fail at Albion, then it will be yet another opportunity blown like the Fulham game and we may as well resign ourselves to nothing more than the Europa League. COYB.

It's been said a few times, behind Man City there's not a great deal between the next 7 or 8 clubs.

We are firmly included in that cohort, we are in a decent points wise, we have a game or two in hand, we have a squad not far off full fitness, and some great young players with the energy and stamina to push on.

2nd 3rd and 4th are all up for grabs, it is a fantastic opportunity for the players to show that can seize the day.

A win in tonight's match will put a sizeable marker down that we are very strong, and will be up there fighting for it.

Before Monday we had 1pt from 15 at home. If that was a wobble that we have now crossed then 2nd place is a possibility as we don't have many games left against teams at the top of the table.

If it wasn't a wobble and our home form is poor for the rest of the season then we will only have ourselves to blame for missing out on our best league position in years.

Without trawling through past league tables, I don't think we've managed top 3 since the 1987 championship season.

Watcing MOTD last night they showed a list of the most changes made by clubs this season, Man City were top with 79 changes. But the manager who has argued all season for 5 subs to be allowed, strangely his team werent in the top 6 for most changes. Maybe at his next press conference he could be asked why thats the case seeing he argued so fervently for the extra subs why his club is not among the top 6 of changes made by clubs.

Chelsea 1 up

Disallowed - VAR

Liverpool saved by a shirt thread.

Brilliant goal Mason Mount

That was quality, eh, Brent. Hit it with force and direction and a sweet amount of curve.

If only...

Never thought I'd ever say it but I hope the RS get a point tonight...

Kopp, the sore loser, giving one of the officials what for.

Can someone explain why we had nearly three minutes on three minutes of injury time against Southampton but tonight's game had 43 seconds

We can beat Chelsea, with a bit of Tim Cahill spirit...

Jamie, explain that loads of us will be fucking delighted mate, because we've never felt more like singing the blues, when Everton win and Liverpool lose!

Chelsea looked strong, but I'm hoping they can get through against Atletico Madrid, and then get through again, but there's still a lot of football to play, and if you can't enjoy Liverpool losing five on the bounce at Anfield, then you're not a proper Evertonian in my eyes; singing "We Shall Not Be Moved"!!

ps: I know you're a proper Toffee, Jamie, I'm just happy for obvious reasons!

Neil - Chelsea will be really tough. Can't wait.

Kieran - I'm with you. Second isn't far off. I'll taste that, thank you very much.

Still have 12 games left to play. Speaking American, "That's a lotta soccer left!"

I can't remember when the last was, if ever, I wanted the rs to score. Now we'll just have to go and beat Chelsea.

Well I never felt more like singing the blues when Everton win and Liverpool lose, oh Liverpool - you got me singing the Blues

(Snigger)

Don't forget - it's all our fault after JP's near murderous tackle on what's his gob

It'll be deathly quiet on the streets of Oslo and Peterborough tonight.

(Titter)

Tony -

Mick on the Live Forum said he didn't want a draw, he wanted them to lose.

I said that was a very Scouse outlook on the game and our place. When in Rome and all that! Singing the Blues.

Chelsea scare the daylights out of me because under the new fella they are defensively solid. Really solid.

Onwards.

With each of these results, Klopp inches ever closer to managing the German national team...

Slippy back soon.

Kloppety is lucky the rs hordes are there. They are beying for blood on their yawn sites.

Colin - fair weather fans, 80% of them, always been that way.

Worse run of home results in their entire history mind, so plenty for them to go at! Shame...

Delighted where we are and with our manager. We should have beaten Fulham, Newcastle, West Ham and Leeds at home. It's hard to think where we probably should be. 9 away wins from 13 is mighty impressive. If we lose at Stamford Bridge then it probably rules the RS out of top 4 - every cloud.

I watched the RS match and the more I see them, the more I look at their lack of energy. The article at the start of the season about their asthmatics and the Klopp Tonic certainly all fits.

Happy days.

Mike. There's plenty of blubbering on TalkSport from all over the country.

Chelsea look very solid defensively at the moment as do we. One goal may be enough.

The team selection will be very interesting for that one. We tend to play well against the better teams and away from home. I think we are capable of winning but as I say, expecting a tight game.

Which country, Rob?

Worse champions ever. Hahahahahahahaha.

Norway, Brent.

I took a lot out of that article, Craig, and the best thing about it was how many of those self-proclaimed knowledgeable kopites, said it was a load of shite!

Tony, I had a similar discussion with a Red who is actually a decent lad but he was having none of that “load of bollocks” ha!

This is not quite his last season at Dortmund but he's giving it a go.

I'm having a couple of drinks and a bit of a sing song tonight.

22 Goodison Classics.

But let's not forget our neighbours. here's an old Perry Como classic just for you. “Don't look so sad, I know it's over ”

(Chortle)

Oh boy, I've heard some shit from RS fans, but this is a pearler

A RS fan is blaming the banners draped over the stands for being too red, because their players can't pick up other RS players on the pitch because they clash with the banners. Un-fucking-believable!!

Rob, that's superb. I hear they are now going to paint all the stands blue to compensate.

Those banners should be brown, the color of gegenshite!

I find it odd they'd say that because it's NEVER their fault!

No wonder Klopp's favourite player was Stefan Kuntz. Says it all really...

Brent,

Earlier on, another RS fan blamed the lack of fans for their demise. So what about all teams above them, who have also had no fans? As I type, the first Virgil van Dijk excuse is wheeled out!!

Rob, the vitriol, and standard RS excuses will be lava flow soon.

Mr Ed and his team will follow.

UTFT!

Rob, "Earlier on, another RS fan blamed the lack of fans for their demise. So what about all teams above them, who have also had no fans?"

Yes, but come on, Rob - you know their fans are far better than any others so they should have the opportunity to adequately support their own team.

Brent,

That Kante handball would have been given 100% if fans were in the ground. The lack of fans is definitely a factor in results this season.

As shit as VAR is it is also leveling the playing field.

,

Rob, I think you're actually right on that.

Paul, you may be right. Loads are saying time for Klopp to go. Stevie G Laa Laa should be installed immediately.

Sorry for posting about the RS, but it's the phone-in on Talksport, and their fans are just pathetic, hilarious but pathetic!!

You're fine Rob, not that it is my call. It is the Red worship of the "why can't we do stuff like they do" variety that gets the stick. Same for Peter with the comparison of Godfrey to Van Dijk, nothing wrong with that. And even if there were, we are above them in the table so a little less sensitivity is called for.

Rob,

Reminds me of Sir Bacon Face blaming a United defeat on having to play a night game in their grey second strip.

Rob, it's time honoured with the RS.

UTFT!

I'm not one for kicking someone when they are down. Particularly when they are neighbours. And to be fair, Liverpool do have a tough game at the weekend.

Football.

LOL.

Local reports coming from Anfield saying that many Koppites are suffering from Redella! The medical term for German Weasels! 😜😂

Barca-PSG just finished. Bit of "Old home week" about it. Gana, Kean, and Koeman in and out of camera range. Kean with a nice headed goal and played pretty well, I thought. Gana being Gana hunting the ball. Koeman losing.

And that Mbappe! If only.

Game ended, Koeman doing the usual handshakes and fist-bumps, has a masked PSG player come to shake hands and a genuine, warm smile (honest) comes over his face as he realizes it's Gana. Gave him a little hug and tap on his cheek.

And that Mbappe! Wow.

Until premier league Week 28 is up and running, I'll post on this one. Arsenal 1-0 up at Burnley, but in my opinion yet again a poor effort from Pope to try and keep it out.

Flukey equaliser for Burnley................or was it lucky!! 😁😁😁

Now that is a goal. Boom Xhaka laka!

1-1. Cmon Burnley!