Talking Points

Regular topics from ToffeeWeb readers

It is becoming clear that the man paying the Piper and calling the tune at Everton FC is not Farhad Moshiri, but his wealthier benefactor and partner, Alisher Usmanov.The 67-year-old oligarch owns the Russian multinational, USM, which has m...

To Go or Not To Go... ?

Rob Halligan

Posted 27/06/2021

With the imminent announcement of Rafa Benitez as the new manager of our football club, "To Go or Not To Go..?" That is the question Many fans are threatening to either not renew their season tickets, ask for a full refund, or buy their season t...

Has Dominic Calvert-Lewin already peaked?

Michael Kenrick

Posted 25/06/2021

The insistent drumbeat of click-bait media speculation at the moment includes an increasingly persistent rumour now doing the rounds that suggests Everton would allow their star striker, Dominic Calvert-Lewin, to leave the club this summer — in...

Why Roberto Martinez could be the ideal man for the current Everton squad

Kevin Prytherch

Posted 20/06/2021

Remember Roberto Martinez’s first season? That 72-point haul and some of the best football we’ve seen in over 30 years. Well, look back at how he did it….He came into the club and had that famed Moyes defence. He had a steady, if not ...

New manager - new team

Robert Tressell

Posted 19/06/2021

Will it be Santo, Benitez or Ferguson?I thought it might be interesting to look at how we might line up under the various manager options, where the missing pieces in the first 11 might be and how we might fill them.The formation / tactics ...

Roberto Martinez: Whistle to Whistle

David Cooper

Posted 15/06/2021

If you search BBC iPlayer Sport, you will find an interesting documentary called “Roberto Martinez: Whistle to Whistle”. I came across it by chance and, since it was bound to have something about his time as boss of Everton, I thought I wou...

Back where we belong

Andy Crooks

Posted 07/06/2021

My last post on ToffeeWeb was after the Sheffield United game. I said, from memory, that I was indifferent to Carlo and his team and to whether he went or stayed. Indifferent, that is after more than 50 years as a Blue and 20 years reading and postin...

Blood Brothers

Jerome Shields

Posted 06/06/2021

“I thought, I thought we always stuck together. I thought we were blood brothers.”“But the dreams were not forgotten, just wrapped and packed away in the hope that she could take them out & dust them off one day.”...

England Call-ups Aren’t Anything New for Everton Players

Gary McCarty

Posted 09/06/2021

With the Euros approaching, fans have been reminded of what it means to athletes to play for their countries. While getting called up is never a guarantee because every season brings forward new talent, which makes betting on tournaments even mor...

Everton's Euro 2020 players and expectations

Gary McCarty

Posted 01/06/2021

With the rescheduled Euro 2020 around the corner, only four Everton players are in contention for making an appearance at the final tournament.Gareth Southgate announced provisional England's 33-man Euro 2020 squad on Tuesday, with three Ev...

Covid Recovery & Blue Legends

Anthony Ormesher

Posted 28/05/2021

I am recovering from Covid. I spent 10 weeks in hospital, was on a Ventilator and had a Tracheostomy. During this time, it was very traumatic for my family, and they tried everything to try and get a response or reaction from me through nurse-...

Just like the girl in Dr No... no, no

Darren Hind

Posted 25/05/2021

Carlo Ancelotti being totally humiliated by Pep Guardiola made for a very uncomfortable watch. I felt like I was watching a rerun of the Larry Holmes v Mohammed Ali fight. A great man and champion was being battered into submission by the new Ch...

Performance Review

Jaz Patel

Posted 24/05/2021

Long-time reader, first-time poster. Having just gone through an annual performance review at work, I thought it would be interesting to see how some of Everton’s key metrics stack up to last season. Whilst we've had various talk of Expecte...

The emperor’s new cloak

Tony Abrahams

Posted 23/05/2021

I believe Farhad Moshiri once wrote to the Arsenal board expressing concerns about the road the club was taking, and this showed a bit of foresight considering the way the Gunners have slowly fallen from grace.Everton fell from grace a long...

A big dilemma

Tim Kelly

Posted 20/05/2021

During half time in last night's game against Wolves, I looked down and realised that I had socks on in exactly the right proportions of colours that Wolves play in. As you all know, soon after half time, we scored and subsequently won the game. ...

If you know your history .... 350+ EFC appearances

Jon Harding

Posted 20/05/2021

With the football so stupefying against Wolves, I was distracted by the Sky commentators stating that it was Seamus’s 350th appearance for the Blues and that he was the 25th man to achieve this honour. So I started to list who the other 2...

Can Everton challenge for the top four next season?

Gary McCarty

Posted 20/05/2021

After a much-improved season under Carlo Ancelotti, Everton are now looking at making the next step. Can they carry on improving throughout next season and challenge for a top-four place and qualify for the Champions League?The n...

Keeping Richarlison Key to Euro Dream

Gary McCarty

Posted 20/05/2021

Everton look set to have a job on their hands to keep hold of Richarlison this summer, with the Brazilian forward again being linked with a move away from Goodison Park.The Toffees harbour the same ambition as the South American to feature ...

Football Cultures Engulf

Don Alexander

Posted 18/05/2021

Not a sexy headline admittedly, but germane to where football always has been and where we’ve now been belatedly, at Everton, for decades. I started supporting Everton when we were amongst the few teams with more Championship trophies than all ...

The Everton Squad, 2021-22

Derek Wadeson

Posted 10/05/2021

A lot of debate is underway on recent ToffeeWeb threads about our squad’s ability, hunger, and that favoured word: ‘deadwood’. We will finish this season where we belong and I am in the Stan Schofield, Thomas Richards school of asking: Why, wit...

Aston Villa vs Everton – Premier League Preview, Team News & Predicted Line-ups

Gary McCarty

Posted 10/05/2021

Aston Villa and Everton will trade tackles at Villa Park on Thursday in the most frequently contested fixture in English league history, and you can watch this match as well as the rest of football on tv...

Our Speedo Mick

John Burns

Posted 04/05/2021

Just watched a heartbreaking newsreel shown this morning by BBC's Breakfast on Speedo Mick and his difficulties during lockdown. He said, just becaus...

They are all sorry, but what for?

Tony Everan

Posted 22/04/2021

It’s becoming nauseating, the "We listened to the fans, we are sorry."Sorry for what exactly?Sorry for subversive secrecy? Sorry for lying to fellow Premier League members? Sorry for damaging fellow PL members' business m...

A great name for a young footballer from Scotland!

Trevor Powell

Posted 20/04/2021

I noticed the other day that Wealdstone of the National League had a debut scoring midfielder on loan from Watford, with the classy name of Sonny Blu Lo-Everton!...

What would you do?

Andy Crooks

Posted 20/04/2021

Had our new ground been up and running it's not impossible that Everton would have been invited into this "Super" League. I have been thinking quite a bit about what my own reaction would have been.My first response would have been the same as mos...

A bit of fun...

Kevin Prytherch

Posted 17/04/2021

Based on the current set of players, assuming they’re all fit, Who would be your best starting XI and why? What formation and, assuming they all stay fit, where would that starting XI finish in the Premier League?I’d go for, in a 4-3-3 ...

Brands’s biggest mistake?

Colin Glassar

Posted 15/04/2021

Over the years, Everton have bought some really bad players, some really below-average players and some, quite frankly, awful players. Players such as Alex Nyarko, Brett Angell, Simon Davies, Per Krøldrup, OumarNiasse etc... Now we have Marcel...

Everton in the FA Youth Cup

Andy Weir

Posted 11/04/2021

I am working on a site which takes Everton through the years from the first FA Youth Cup competition back in 1952-53. I am still adding details including match reports, teamsheets etc. The main site is https://evertonfayouthcuphistory.webador.co....

Right Side of the Track

Martin O'Connor

Posted 06/04/2021

As we close in on the end of the 2020-2021 season thoughts inevitably move towards what the Blues need to do in the transfer market to strengthen the squad for 2021-2022. A dynamic midfielder who can move the ball quickly, has pace and can score p...

Where Have Everton Fallen Short This Season?

Gary McCarty

Posted 11/04/2021

Everton go into the remaining part of the season in a strong position to finish in their best Premier League position in recent history.Carlo Ancelotti’s side has floated around the Champions League places at various points in the season....

What's it like to play at Goodison?

John Burns

Posted 01/04/2021

I remember as a kid running onto the pitch after Everton had clinched the title against West Brom. What a feeling! It was a dream. I couldn’t believe it. My feet were standing on the turf of Goodison Park. For those few moments under the brigh...

New Low

Peter Fearon

Posted 30/03/2021

This is a not for publication message to Lyndon Lloyd: The thread with messages rejoicing that Alex Iwobi has COVID-19 is a new low in ToffeeWeb threads. I rarely read ToffeeWeb any more because if the negativity that persists even at a time when the...

Reasons To Be Cheerful BMD

Chris Williams

Posted 28/03/2021

I thought I’d done with this after last year's lockdown marathon, a 9-month therapy session basically. This will be my last go, I promise. The new stadium at Bramley-Moore Dock changes a lot of things, resets a lot of dynamics, gives hope, rest...

The sad demise of the greedy footballer

Andy Crooks

Posted 24/03/2021

A wonderful post from Dave Abrahams on the FA Cup Quarterfinal game thread, along with the news of the sad death of Frank Worthington, has got me thinking about coaching. Dave reminisced about street football and used a phrase that I had never ...

Intensity

Tony Everan

Posted 18/03/2021

Definition: “great energy, strength, concentration, vehemence, etc., as of activity, thought, or feeling” It's a term that we hear more and more of each season. All managers now are praising or complaining about “intensity”. Why is it s...

Does Carlo expect too much?

Andy Crooks

Posted 15/03/2021

There is a lot of goodwill towards Carlo Ancelloti from Evertonians and beyond. His record is superb, his demeanour impeccable, and his standing in the game beyond reproach. It has been argued on this site that he has taken over esablished teams, fin...

Where will Everton Finish?

Derek Wadeson

Posted 11/03/2021

How high in the league will Everton finish? We are unlikely to finish in the top three but finishing in the top six is within our means. Set out below are the remaining fixtures for the teams currently in positions four to ten. So although ...

How good are we really? Not great.

Joshua McGreen

Posted 09/03/2021

This is a follow up to a previous Talking Point: “How good are we really?”I often read that Everton are progressing this season. I am not convinced that we are actually progressing b...

How good are we really?

Ray Robinson

Posted 02/03/2021

“The table never lies” – so goes the old expression and, generally, I don’t believe that it does. Over a whole season, the "luck”, poor refereeing decisions, and injuries tend to even out. Except that this season, I’m not totally convince...

The Toffees' Progress

Martin O'Connor

Posted 26/02/2021

“The King then demanded to open the gate that the righteous nation, said he, which keepeth the truth, may enter in” (The Pilgrim's Progress – John Bunyan) In the classic novel The Pilgrim's Progress by John Buny...

Tom Davies – The missing piece of the top 4 jigsaw

Kevin Prytherch

Posted 21/02/2021

Championship player at best, can’t pass, can’t tackle, gives the ball away too much, not big enough, too slow etc. Tom Davies has had a lot of criticism levelled at him in the last few years. Could he now be the missing piece we have been searchi...

Will The Real Everton Please Stand Up?

Steve Hogan

Posted 05/02/2021

Even renowned world-class football managers can sometimes get it wrong. That's how I felt after watching the dismal Everton performance against 'one win in 11 games' Newcastle Utd.The players were rightly condemned, but I felt the manager's f...

Who had a nice weekend?

Andy Crooks

Posted 31/01/2021

I suppose I should make it clear that, in these tough times, football is not that important, but... the games go on and someone thinks it is. So, how important is it? To me, very. Which brings me to our team and their performance yesterday. The...

No after you, no after you...

Dave McDowell

Posted 31/01/2021

Firstly let me establish my good fortune of having witnessed two great successful Everton teams full of leaders: Labone, Ball, Harvey & Kendall; then Reid, Gray, Southall & Ratcliffe. All of the above hated losing, I mean these guys took it pe...

Forget about Carlo...

Kieran Kinsella

Posted 30/01/2021

Let's forget Carlo Ancelotti, the latest fall guy being blamed for the failings of the club, and instead let's focus on two others: David Unsworth and Marcel Brands. David Unsworth took over the Under-23s in June 2014. Six years on, we haven'...

Ted Sagar

Frank Byrne

Posted 25/01/2021

I was interested in the appearance record for this late great goalkeeper and recall seeing him in his final days at Wolves. My father took me to Wolves to see my first ever game, and I’m pretty sure that it was a reserve team, Central League game a...

Two games in hand or the points in the bag?

Bobby Mallon

Posted 21/01/2021

After last night’s round of games, we sit 6th with two games in hand over Man Utd and Leicester City and a game in hand over Man City and Liverpool. Is having two games in hand a good thing or would we have been better off with the points? I w...

A suitable role for ex-players

Robert Williams

Posted 17/01/2021

I have just read that Marcel Brands is suggesting that the club should start recruiting more ex-players into coaching positions. Various names have been mentioned including Neville Southall, Paul Gasgoine, Phil Jagielka and others. Not long ag...

Grey Day for Dancing with Wolves

George McKane

Posted 10/01/2021

It's a grey Sunday morning here in New Brighton... there is a magpie on the roof opposite, just sitting and looking out towards The City and The River, all grey, no lights but a pale blue on the side of one of the larger building near the waterfront...

Are we nearly there yet?

Andy Crooks

Posted 02/01/2021

I enjoy and admire the articles posted by Paul "the Esk"... but I find them a bit scary; we rely on Mr Moshiri and he needs Champions League football. Can Carlo deliver it? Perhaps, with a huge amount of luck. Luck beyond anything we have ever ha...

The Curious Case of Gylfi Sigurdsson

Kevin Prytherch

Posted 01/01/2021

Gylfi Sigurdsson is undoubtedly a player who can drive opinions. He can be the catalyst for excellent team performances, then he can completely anonymous the next game. A deserved captain one game, a perennial finger pointer the next. Just what is it...

PGMOL's merit table is another factor behind the PL's uneven playing field

Lyndon Lloyd

Posted 28/12/2020

As if they needed it, there is extra incentive for Everton to maintain their push to join the Premier League’s elite: to get more of their matches officiated by the top flight’s best referees and assistants.As Daniel Taylor ...

All I want for Christmas...

Peter Rogers

Posted 27/12/2020

So, 15 games in, not quite the half-way point, and we sit 2nd in the Premier League, 2 points behind Liverpool. We have a lengthy injury list and some players are also starting to look tired... so, as a belated Christmas present, what or who should b...

Happy Christmas

Andy Crooks

Posted 25/12/2020

Just thought as it is Christmas Day – time to be reflective. Thanks to Michael and Lyndon for providing a forum that has for more than 20 years been a positive part of my life. I have met and become friends with wonderful people who have made m...

Victorian Society on Bramley-Moore Dock

Michael Coffey

Posted 24/12/2020

The latest edition of the Victorian Society’s magazine sets out this influential organisation’s position on Everton's Bramley-Moore Dock proposals. Their conclusions hint that the heritage and conservation community’s view on the plans are l...

52 Weeks Later

Kieran Kinsella

Posted 18/12/2020

Almost a year to the day since our last home match versus the Arsenal, we find ourselves on the same trajectory. That game on 21 December 2019 saw new managers for both teams sitting in the stands watching interim coaches go head-to-head.It...

Back in the old routine...

Martin O'Connor

Posted 13/12/2020

“Welcome back to the placeThat you were never far away from”Mike Ireland and Holler I had just finished watching Stuttgart take apart Borussia Dortmund. I went to make a cup of coffee and then realised that, for the first time since...

Basic Fundamentals

Tony Everan

Posted 12/12/2020

We talk about fitness, energy, desire, motivation and commitment week after week on ToffeeWeb. Strip out talent altogether and just think about these basic fundamentals of being a successful football player. Also, what every successful club bar none ...

The booing of the knee

John Burns

Posted 06/12/2020

When the Premier League restarted, and the players continued to take the knee I thought it might be a bad idea. I was right for once when I told the wife once fans returned, the booing will start. Not all fans, of course, but from Millwall suppo...

Carlo's Time To Go?

Kieran Kinsella

Posted 30/11/2020

He is running on empty, picking up a fat paycheck and riding on past glories. The team has gone backwards in the year he has been here. His attack is reliant on one player. He is a nice guy but his team has no shape or style. He wasted a lot of mo...

January Window

Robert Tressell

Posted 26/11/2020

The recent bump in our season has prompted a lot of talk about improving the squad. Towards the end of the summer window, we looked well placed. Indeed we've shown repeatedly that our fully fit first 11 is excellent. Capable of great football and ...

VAR and the Liverpool

Gerry Killen

Posted 20/11/2020

VAR referee David Coote is being stood down from refereeing Liverpool's next game because he didn't advise the referee to give a red card to Jordan Pickford for that tackle on Virgil van Dijk. This is a Kangaroo Court by a bunch of Redneck...

Which Premier League Team has impressed you the most so far this season?

Ajay Gopal

Posted 12/11/2020

We are eight games into the season, and we have had five league leaders so far. This season could turn out to be one of the most evenly contested seasons in many a year. After a promising beginning, which now seems like a distant memory, we have s...

Who made you go “Wow”?

Andy Crooks

Posted 05/11/2020

Duncan Mackenzie... yeah, he did it for me. He had everything that didn't matter. Did he protect the defence? No fucking way. Did he run himself into the ground? Nah. He was a statement, that we signed who we liked. Him and B...

Concerns

Roger Dangerfield

Posted 02/11/2020

I've been an Everton supporter from a lad and I'm 75 and I've seen some great teams over the years. I had a season ticket for well over 18 years till I moved from Liverpool to live in Newcastle 40 years ago. I'm very frustrated over the recent years ...

1963 League title special song recorded

Peter Phillips

Posted 31/10/2020

Dear Toffeeweb, do any of your readers have any info or memories about the song that the 1963 League winning team recorded at Phillips Sound Recording Service in Kensington, Liverpool? Percy Phillips recorded team members along with a profe...

Double standards and selective memory loss!

Santosh Benjamin

Posted 20/10/2020

I am fed up of reading the ridiculous stuff that’s been in the media this week following the derby.There have been many false dawns over the last few decades and as a born pessimist, I never get my hopes up too high. I was skeptical about...

Big Club Mentality

Robert Tressell

Posted 20/10/2020

We're a funny old club. Part of the Premier League for the duration of its history, yet very much marginalised. We've seen middling yo-yo clubs overtake us (Chelsea and Man City), whole dynasties built and rebuilt and decline (Man Utd and Arsenal), a...

The Hypocrisy of Ignorant Pundits

Martin O'Connor

Posted 19/10/2020

As the 237th Merseyside derby ends in a 2-2 stalemate, the outcry over the Van Dijk – Jordon Pickford incident is as media-biased as you can find. It is also bizarre (or maybe not) that the idiots who make an easy living talking rubbish as so-ca...

Where are the Sky 6 today?

David Cooper

Posted 18/10/2020

Well, they are not in the top 3 after 5 games! Now I know all the sayings – take one game at a time; it’s a marathon, not a sprint... but today they are nowhere to be seen!After the end of this weekend’s games, they are 4th, 5th, 6th, 7th...

Is Everton's Success Helping to Restore Ancelotti's Reputation?

Gary McCarty

Posted 14/10/2020

Congratulations, @MrAncelotti 🥳 The @Everton boss is yo...

Why are we Evertonians?

Andy Crooks

Posted 11/10/2020

I was pleased, actually, really pleased when Dom scored for England on his debut. Why should that be so? I don't know him. I certainly didn't care when Harry Kane scored his first international goal.Of course, Dom plays for Everton, my team...

Pay-per-view for £14.95 per game

ToffeeWeb

Posted 11/10/2020

There is widespread anger at plans to charge football fans in the UK £14.95 to watch Premier League matches they have been prevented from attending in person.Fans have reacted angrily after it was confirmed on Friday tha...

Everton on the radio in the 1960s

Rob Sawyer

Posted 07/10/2020

I have recently been asked about radio commentaries of domestic and European Everton home fixtures in the early to mid 1960s (in the days before Radio Merseyside and Radio City). Do any of our more senior ToffeeWeb readers recall if they liste...

Theo, you're just a poor Aaron Lennon

James Daniels

Posted 07/10/2020

I'm a man of extremes; there are relatively few things that I think are alright. Theo Walcott seems to have fallen into this category for a lot of fans... they think he's alright. Well, I don't think he's alright. I think he's the single biggest...

Carlo must not be Spraked

Andy Crooks

Posted 03/10/2020

To "Sprake". I think it is an old Yorkshire term which means to fool no-one other than the one person it is vital you must fool. I think it is particular to football and has its origins in the fine but controversial Leeds team of the 1970s. Gary ...

Blue Streak Special

Brian Wilkinson

Posted 02/10/2020

Does anyone remember travelling on the Blue Streak InterCity Specials or have any recollections of them?I used to travel by car or coach, but it would be nice to hear other posters' memories of their days out from Lime Street Station. We al...

Niels Nkounkou & Wayne Rooney

Tony Everan

Posted 25/09/2020

I thought Nkounkou's display on Wednesday was so impressive it deserved its own thread.Two days later and I am still marvelling and really buzzing at his performance. As the season wears on there will be far bigger challenges for the 19 yea...

Transfer Prospects - Centre-Back

Jonathan Williams

Posted 22/09/2020

As a long-term fan and an avid transfer gossip enthusiast, I think this summer's transfer window has been the most productive in recent memory. The acquisitions of Rodriquez, Allan and Doucouré were swift and seemed to hit the mark in exactly...

The Grass is always greener

Trevor Powell

Posted 21/09/2020

We all feel let down when players leave us spouting their need for medals, [really more money].In recent history, only one went onto greater things. Some got their medals by playing fewer minutes than the Toffee Girl.Just skip down this list and the ...

Doucoure Chant

Hayden Turner

Posted 20/09/2020

Right, so been as Doucouré is a Toffee, we have to come up with a chant... And it would be silly not to do it to the tune of "That's Amore"! What do we think?...

Would Arteta have made the same signings?

Derek Taylor

Posted 09/09/2020

For those who don't bother to read my oft regarded 'negative' posts, I have to say, right away, that I would much have preferred our Club's leaders to have gone for young Arteta rather than 'Grandad Carlo'.I had wrongly believed from the mo...

The Good, the Bad and the Handsome

Tony Everan

Posted 08/09/2020

If you’ve tuned in to hear about the timeless refulgence of Gomes’s mane, the oiled sculpture of James’s six pack, or the pristine glacial rock pools that are Sigurdsson’s eyes, I’m afraid you will be disappointed.What interests m...

Time to get your act together!

Christine Foster

Posted 06/09/2020

It's quite a while since I penned an article here, but reading the Sports blog of The Guardian's Jonathan Wilson annoyed me, not because it was a disingenuous perspective on our club, players and owner, but it highlighted for me exactly where we a...

It Was Time to Go Long, Long Ago

Clive Rogers

Posted 02/09/2020

I clearly remember the banners in the crowd at any away game and the one behind a plane flying over Goodison Park: “It’s time to go Kenwright and Co” was the message. Well the Co have gone, but the Kenwright lingers on. What year was that, i...

Dai Davies Memories

Graham Fylde

Posted 16/08/2020

Sad news about Dai Davies who is in a Wrexham hospice. His family would like any memories to be shared: "Dad has had exceptional care at the Royal Hospital Liverpool recently after being diagnosed with cancer of the pancreas. "Gareth, Rhian ...

The Easiest Time To Create A Successful Team Is Now

Barry Rathbone

Posted 16/08/2020

Barcelona getting a stuffing from Bayern Munich is apparently down to poor recruitment stretching back seasons an amazing claim given their resources and pulling power. Ditto Real Madrid, Man Utd and Chelsea – not to mention money bags and perennia...

not published

Darren Hind

Posted 15/08/2020

I spent hours typing out an article. You guys are always asking for contributions.It could have been edited if some part of it didnt suit, but it was a good article. With lots of stuff that hasnt been covered At least have the decency to give an expl...

FFS, wake up!

Gary Hughes

Posted 14/08/2020

I originally posted this as a comment on the arse end of a 10-day old thread that would probably have only been read by about half a dozen late night masochistic Toffees who devote way more time to the sack of shit losers we love and hate to support ...

Rebranding EFC

Nyc Nycpg

Posted 11/08/2020

In these dark days now is the time for an honest reassessment of our beloved EFC: Replace "Nil Satis Nisi Optimum" with "Okay is Okay". Change "Goodison Park" with "Graveyard of Lost Souls". Swap "Z-Cars" for "The Chicken Dance" Repl...

The things I love about Everton

Stephen Brown

Posted 09/08/2020

Go easy on me — it’s the first time I’ve posted in the mailbag! I’m sitting in the hospital with my Everton made 5-year-old son, decked out in his Everton kit! He fell off monkey bars and broke his arm... I’m sitting reading To...

One bright light (and it could have been two)

Phil (Kelsall) Roberts

Posted 06/08/2020

Amidst the gloom and depression of the last 12 months of football, there is one bright light that some of us may have missed. The average age of the 11 players taking the field during the season was the lowest for 21 years. The season 1998-99 had...

The solution to marginal VAR calls: no lines!

Michael Kenrick

Posted 06/08/2020

It seems the problem with marginal VAR calls is not the principle that players shouldn't be punished for having odd body parts ruled against for being mere millimeters offside. That is what has riled fans of the game, seeing the virtual lines used on...