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Out of the darkness...
 

Out of the darkness and into soccerball season 2021/22

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Well this has cheered me right up.

We may not be able to beat the team who are bottom of the league, we may have gone out of the FA Cup to a mid-table championship side, we may be 21 points off the league leaders and increasingly unlikely to finish in 4th, the height of our ambition, we may be bloody awful to watch, but lets take the positives....

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https://twitter.com/ManUtd/status/1491819258841636865?s=20&t=eP9SDhk5X5u6j3q1uk9LeA


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 2:10 pm
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Hmmm, so Moyes has said that Zouma is available for this weekend's game despite torturing his own pet cats for kicks.

It is so disappointing that the club have put themselves in this position (just because it might mean the difference between European football or not come the end of the season). I can see more sponsors walking away from them now.

At least his brother's club have more balls and he's been suspended.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 4:26 pm
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Is West Ham the club still owned by porn barons? The one that pays buttons to rent a tax-payer built, state of the art stadium? Just asking.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 4:32 pm
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Hmmm, so Moyes has said that Zouma is available for this weekend’s game despite torturing his own pet cats for kicks.

I was surprised he picked him for the Watford game.

Is West Ham the club still owned by porn barons? The one that pays buttons to rent a tax-payer built, state of the art stadium? Just asking.

That's the one. Though I don't think the owners have been implicated in human rights abuses, so it could be worse.

As for the stadium, was there an alternative proposition to West Ham renting it?


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 4:54 pm
 MSP
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The stadium deal was a Boris special wasn't it? No oversight and poor public value, I have no problem with west ham being in the stadium, but they got a deal at massively below market value, and iirc there were over interested parties.

As for the cat torturing, IMO such actions against animals in an indicator of how people also treat humans, I hope they keep an eye on how he treats his kids.

I had previously thought Moyes was a decent bloke as well, a little surprised he hasn't dropped him.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:33 pm
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The stadium deal was a Boris special wasn’t it? No oversight and poor public value, I have no problem with west ham being in the stadium, but they got a deal at massively below market value, and iirc there were over interested parties.

Oh, it was definitely poor value for the taxpayer, agreed. But in the end I don't think there were any better options by that point.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:36 pm
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Wasn't the only other option to keep it as an athletics track and host events about twice a year with an expected audience of 12 people and a dog?

In typical Boris fashion it appears that when they built the stadium nobody actually gave a second thought to what to do with it when the Olympics were over


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:40 pm
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I was surprised he picked him for the Watford game.

I gave them the benefit of the doubt then as the news had just come out and I assumed they were exercising due diligence before excluding him from the game but subsequent events seem to put it beyond doubt and I expected they would have done the right thing. But no, it's football isn't it.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:45 pm
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In typical Boris fashion it appears that when they built the stadium nobody actually gave a second thought to what to do with it when the Olympics were over

I think the project kicked off when Ken Livingstone was mayor...

Anyway, yes, I remember thinking that the Commonwealth Games stadium in Manchester was a far better example of future-proofing.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:46 pm
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Also finished ahead of schedule and under budget, in a truly un-British fashion


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:49 pm
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Wait till you hear about the Olympic Village Deal! But then that’s a property investment/finance firm - bit boring really.

It’s interesting where we (as a collective, I understand individuals will vary around the mean) place the moral “lines” when it comes to footballers and team owners. If we’re honest with ourselves, we could probably all accuse ourselves of hypocrisy at times - I think, anyway.

The Zouma affair has been bizarre - so many questions. Disgusting behaviour for sure - we’re probably culturally triggered by such egregious cruelty to animals, especially pet cats and dogs, and of course, as shown recently, horses. But filming it? In front of a child? Can’t understand Moyes selecting him to play against Watford either - clubs don’t help themselves sometimes by misplacing their moral compasses and failing to “read the room.”

The levels of whataboutery have been staggering as well. 😀


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 5:58 pm
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Though I don’t think the owners have been implicated in human rights abuses, so it could be worse.

Completely agree with this and also DD. How did we get to a point where we need entire national wealth funds to take over a club to have a chance of breaking into the upper echelons of the Premier League? Or where a competent CB earning £18m a year has to tout frigging block chain as part of his day job? In this context, I can see why Moyes thinks it's OK (and necessary) to play Zouma. I fundamentally disagree but can see his side of things.

Someone once said of pro-cycling that it's like sausages: I like them but I don't want to know how they are made. Same applies to top level football.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 6:10 pm
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The Zouma thing is just reality, there has been no charges against him, he has been fined the maximum amount by the club, so not really much else to do, do people really expect West Ham to punish themselves by leaving out their £30 million defender when they're fighting for a european place this year, i heard someone on TV say that West Ham should sack him, yeah, that'll do them good, £30 million player bought 7 months ago, released, probably with a payoff and able to go and earn even more money!

Folk need to remember that football is a business, and footballers are more assets than employees, there's a fair few who have had to have some type of NDA raised to minimise potential losses, and of course you've got a few active criminal cases going on, with Everton, Man City and Man Utd having players not in their squad just now due to this.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 9:11 pm
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Didn't Adrian Mutu get sacked by Chelsea for drug use and then sued for the money they lost? I don't know if anything about animal cruelty is standard in football contracts.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 9:34 pm
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Yeah, he was sued, he still hasn't paid a penny to Chelsea though, and probably never will, but again, drug taking, where he was caught by the doping tests and banned by the federation is different to kicking a cat and not having any charges, West Ham have no real ability to fine him more, or punish him in any way that isn't more of a punishment to the club rather than the individual.

The reality is that if the police didn't investigate, and the CPS is not raising charges, then there's not much they can do, the RSPCA have taken the cats, but more than likely under the agreement with Zouma, from the videos, and the lack of RSPCA follow up, the cat can't have been injured, so again, limits what can be done.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 9:50 pm
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Totally agree Argee. Why should West Ham drop him?! He’s had the fine and the cats been taken off him. Massively OTT reaction.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 10:22 pm
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Football is a pantomime on the pitch. It’s as much a pantomime off it these days with immature wealthy young men with a phone and a social media presence.


 
Posted : 11/02/2022 11:10 pm
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Moyes has gone down in my estimation making some lame excuse that Zouma is 'incredibly remorseful' (only because he was caught) and that he thinks the 'RSPCA are going to provide us some courses for Kurt to understand about animals and how to treat them' (FFS you don't need to go on a course to understand you don't kick animals, and the moron should be banned from ever keeping animals in future so the course would be superfluous).

At least Dagenham & Redbridge have taken the correct approach and suspended his brother who took the video until the RSPCA investigation has concluded.


 
Posted : 12/02/2022 3:29 am
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Yoan Zouma earns a pittance and was a free signing, but less risk for dagenham to make a stand.

I’m not sure what the rspca investigation will be, the video is all the evidence available, if the cats were injured we’d have got that in the report.

As stated, footballers are assets more than employees, they have the power in the game, so what do you want West Ham to do, pay him 150k a week to not play, transfer him so he gets another payday and West Ham pick up the bill?


 
Posted : 12/02/2022 4:46 pm
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Spursy 😂


 
Posted : 13/02/2022 3:25 pm
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oof, Trippier nearly pulled the posts out at their roots there.


 
Posted : 13/02/2022 3:38 pm
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That was an absolute bullet! Newcastle looking good here

It’s not looking great for Burnley


 
Posted : 13/02/2022 3:54 pm
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Why did spuds get rid of Pochettino again ? And how on earth doesn't Hazard get a start for Madrid... Vinícius Júnior is rubbish (he's just replaced him!).


 
Posted : 15/02/2022 10:41 pm
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The longer Pochettino is away, the more revered he is, the reality is that the game tonight is the first half of the competition, they played really well and only have a goal advantage, and that was in the last minute of injury time.

They really should have had at least one more as well, Mbappe was doing well, weird to think he could be switching over to Real in the summer, Spanish clubs seem to be struggling these days, PSG are solid, but the league they're in isn't really improving due to the money they're spending.


 
Posted : 16/02/2022 12:21 am
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Bernardo Silva's half volley was a bit special


 
Posted : 16/02/2022 9:41 am
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Vinícius Júnior is rubbish (he’s just replaced him!).

According to BBC he's the 2nd coming of christ


 
Posted : 16/02/2022 9:44 am
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Oh, well, it just got a little bit more interesting at least. “They’re not dropping points tomorrow,” I said to a mate over a few beers with a mate last as my powers of prediction showed their usual strength. 😀


 
Posted : 19/02/2022 9:03 pm
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Go Spurs! Great result that, especially after the penalty! As an LFC fan, was very chuffed! A shame Chelsea snuck past Palace 😂


 
Posted : 19/02/2022 9:07 pm
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Was it raining at the Spurs match? My Spurs loving mate at work swears he can predict the result based on it raining or not! Rain = loss 🙂


 
Posted : 19/02/2022 9:35 pm
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I turned it on at about 90 minutes and still got to see a decent game!


 
Posted : 19/02/2022 9:59 pm
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Great, squeaky bottom time for City.Becoming very interesting.
Meanwhile, Reading won and got rid of their manager.


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 12:38 am
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Meanwhile, Reading won and got rid of their manager.

I think Reading had agreed to get to get rid of their manager and then won, which is what Norwich did.


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 6:01 am
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Did players know? By accounts of people I know at the game, effort and intensity from certain players was off the scale compared to previous weeks. Reports and papers say it was secret but with Ince Snr primed to step in, and Ince Jr here on loan is it credible that no-one knew?

4/6, unbeaten in 2, I'll take it - for now.


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 9:05 am
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I imagine Elland Road will be rocking today? Leeds fans preparing a warm welcome for ManU for sure. 😀


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 12:57 pm
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I expect it’ll be a ‘lively’ affair. I’m sure Leeds constabulary are preparing for a busy afternoon


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 1:19 pm
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Good day for the puerile among us. Koch’s had a head injury so we’ve had some glorious phrases - “the bandaged Koch comes flying in…” being one. 😃

EDIT: looks like he’s coming off. Hope the head injury isn’t too serious.


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 3:29 pm
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Looks bad. Hope he’s ok.

Maguire scoring from a set piece? What other hens teeth are we going to get today?

The conditions are bonkers! Wouldn’t fancy being a keeper


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 3:42 pm
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LOL


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:19 pm
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Here we go again

Another second half collapse


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:20 pm
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Not looking that good, although conditions are evening it up for the mistakes to lead to a winner.

You know it's not going well for ManU though when Fernandes spends more time on the deck than on his feet!


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:31 pm
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Then Fred scores, christ, we've had Maguire and Fred scoring, i'm away to check if water's still wet ;o)


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:33 pm
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😳

I think that was my fault. I commented ‘FFS!! WTF are the bringing that muppet on for?!’ 😂


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:34 pm
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This match was brought to you by the year 1975


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:55 pm
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McTominay has been worth about 3 or 4 yellows today, think the weather's helped him, and a few others!

The one thing i'm enjoying is that Maguire is doing the fist pumping and so on, which means the next game is going to be a fun one ;o)


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 4:59 pm
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McT was a very lucky boy to stay on the pitch today. He was getting a bit giddy


 
Posted : 20/02/2022 6:51 pm
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