MegaSack DRAW - 6pm Christmas Eve - LIVE on our YouTube Channel
Is FIFA trying to kill the world cup? 3k for the second cheapest tickets.
According to AI the average price of an EPL ticket is £150 which is still a ridiculous price.
AI is full of **** then.
Its what the BBC 10 o'clock news said last night. 3K would buy a very good OLED 75" TV.
I have a season ticket in the North Bank at The Emirates, so probably the cheapest ticket in one of the supposedly most expensive stadiums in the country, and it works out at low £40’s a game. Prices for an individual game in my seat vary according to opposition but are in the range £30 to £70 I think. There will be a few seats at a multiple of that price for a few games, but they will be very much in the minority so the average price across the stadium for the season is unlikely to be in three figures. A sneaky piece of inflation is that whereas in days of old an Arsenal season ticket bought the entire league season plus seven cup matches per season (with a debit/credit system applied to the following season to account for long/short cup runs), we’re now down to four European Cup ties included with top ups as we go for further home cup ties. On the flip side, electronic ticketing means it is far easier to transfer tickets to friends and family or sell back to the club.
Is FIFA trying to kill the world cup?
I hope they succeed. International football is a farcical anachronism that belongs in a bygone era. It needs putting out of its misery. If only to see the end of FIFA which has devalued it to the point where it’s no longer worth putting up with.
FIFA doesn’t have the remotest interest in football. It exists purely to enrich itself. Everything else is secondary to the point of being irrelevant
I see that, as predicted, they’ll be using the ‘hydration breaks’ that they’ve inserted into each half of the World Cup matches to air adverts. Who saw that coming? Other than absolutely everyone?
Why not just stop the game every 5 minutes so they can cut to an ad break? That’d be Infantino’s dream scenario.
It surely can’t be long before some of the big countries say ‘#+!* this! It’s not worth the mither’ or big clubs get together and say ‘why should we let our highly payed star players/assets swan off to another country for 5 weeks and come back knackered or injured?
Agree to an extent binners but I think international football still has a place but FIFA definitely doesn't for all the reasons you've outlined. And I detest these americanisms being forced at a rapid rate into the game. Picked up a bit of this so-called Baller league the other night and had to turn it off after a few minutes. Looks like a glorified version of 7 a side that I play on a Wednesday with friends but with things like "amercian style penalties". Oh fk right off.
It's utterly ridiculous especially with the expanded European fixture list & Club World Cup farce.
The competition between egos (and pockets, no doubt) of those who run UEFA and those who run FIFA at the highest level is killing the sport for those whose very support helps make it a spectacle.
No one seems to understand you can have too much of a good thing - look at Disney's MCU & Star Wars, over saturation has killed them both to some degree.
Humans cannot peak for the entire length of the season, you'll end up with more injuries & poorer performances.
Yep exactly, why they did not make a 4th LOTR.
Anyway………Celtic!?! Superb.
The competition between egos (and pockets, no doubt) of those who run UEFA and those who run FIFA at the highest level is killing the sport for those whose very support helps make it a spectacle.
In a related note, FIFA's quest to monetise the shit out of everything has led them to sell the rights to one of the biggest gaming titles to...Netflix.
Netflix said the new Fifa would be developed and published by Delphi Interactive - which has yet to release a video game - and released ahead of the 2026 World Cup.
It said subscribers will be able to play online via the Netflix app on iOS and Android devices - or on select TVs by using their phone as the controller.
https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/articles/c93w7dp42z2o
Handing this to a completely new software company to put out in time for the WC will be fun to watch. So it will either be awesomely buggy or attempt to rip off the entire codebase from EA, or probably both. Then again, it's only a mobile game.
As it's Netflix doing it, I assume every match will be building towards a satisfying climax and then get cancelled in the 60th minute?
Absolutely wonderful, not as good as when Rangers died but still pretty damn good.
The bizarre thing is if Rangers beat Hearts on Sunday, and win their game in hand, they’re only three points behind. Which is bizarre given how bad they are! Could be an epic title battle instead of the usual procession.
The next 6 or 7 weeks are massive, some big games and who does the best business in the January window.
I know Argentinian centre halves are a different breed but Romero is in a class of his own. Even before his stupid second yellow card I was going to comment about him picking up eight of them already in the league this season. Eight!!
And he carried on gobbing off to the referee and generally being a complete arse too. Richarleson can probably count himself lucky that Spurs weren’t down to 8 men with his antics as well. That bloke could start a fight in an empty room. He managed to go in the book after the final whistle had gone. He’d only been on the pitch 10 minutes!
Having said all that, the Liverpool defense at the end, even against 9 men, was an absolute shambles! They were lucky to come away with 3 points. If Spurs weren’t so ill-disciplined, they’d have been in trouble
Spurs in 13th and looking over their shoulders
Superb result for Leeds, didn't see that coming. Something quite familiar about City's form which usually happens after Chrimbo.
Weird how panicky Liverpool get now, despite the experience. Happened against Leeds and they were lucky to get away with the win this evening. And going forward they’re beginning to remind me of United under Van Gaal. Lots of slow possession for the sake of it. I miss the frenzy and chaos of Klopp.
Re Celtic I am a Celtic fan and agree this whole situation is the fault of the board and senior club management. It's been a long time building and won't be quickly resolved. The arrogance of certain individuals and their treatment of fans is breathtaking. That said some of the fans should take a look at their own behaviour as individuals. If there have been threats made to Peter Lawells family that's appalling. It's currently still being investigated by police. Some fans seem to think that not having a procession towards the title is unbearable. They need to look at what it means to support some of Scotland's smaller clubs.
Then there's Wilfried Nancy who may well have new ideas, and strategies. It's been reported that his players at previous clubs . He clearly didn't appreciate what football means in Scotland generally and the old firm specifically. He gave that away with some of his early comments. So the main thing that might keep him in a job even if we lose to Aberdeen today is that the board+ executives poor running of the club have made the manager's job at Celtic unattractive at least to people who have not been brought up as Celtic fans
The behaviour of both sets of Glasgow fans has been appalling in recent years. But they're not alone it's just there's more of them. Again social media has a lot to answer for. I was at the cup final in May and it felt like most of the atmosphere was created by the Aberdeen fans but that may be my red tinted glasses. Celtic fans seem blase about cup finals. It was the same the other week when they started leaving ten minutes early.
Yes agree with that totally, I come from Ayr so should really have been on Ayr United fan. However family history (mum catholic, dad protestant) the fact that Celtic played great football in the late 60s -mid 70s influenced me . I'm very much aware that I am not as enmeshed in the old firm mentality as some are
Only the one match today and given the form Villa are presently on, if Amorim sticks with his new formation - the ten man attack with no defense at all - it could be quite a lively affair.
Its going to be interesting to see what squad he puts out with no Mbeumo, Amad or Mazroui as they’re all at AFCON
Then there's Wilfried Nancy
Nancy knows about Scottish football as he nearly signed for Carlisle years ago.
Come on the villa
A good, pretty even game and a surprisingly good performance from United, with an unsurprising result. Villa are absolutely flying at the moment! They’re definitely in the mix for the title on this form.
We found out what happens when you give a player like Morgan Rogers that much space, but they’ve quality all over the pitch. It’s amazing what Emery has done since he took over.
Chelsea and Arsenal next for villa both away. Get anything out of those and it's game on. Could do with getting Assensio and Rashford in on loan again for the second half of the season Sancho and Elliot not really the same!!
Villa doing great, especially so given FFP restrictions, which meant they had to sell Ramsay, a decent young player. Not a patch on Morgan Rogers though, what a player. Mad that Citeh let him go but some players need a few moves before they figure it out.
I wouldn't bet against Villa winning at either Chelsea or Arsenal. The former are pretty inconsistent and Arsenal seem to be struggling but still winning. I do think that if Rodri returns fit and well for City and they keep their spine of players fit then they will win the league.
Haaland stays fit I think City win the league. The guy’s phenomenal. Arsenal are overly reliant on set pieces and own goals though their defence gives them a chance when you keep so many clean sheets.
I can’t see this going any differently than it’s gone before. Arsenal top at Christmas, but Citeh clicking into that extra gear they seem to find as we go into January.
We all know how it ends
The only thing that might slow the City juggernaut might be Pep leaving.
What a day to hand my Holte End season ticket over to my Nephew who lives in Málaga and only gets home for Christmas. But I had a good ride on Cannock Chase and due to Virgin media giving me an upgrade for free I was able to watch it at home in the warm with my sons. And afterwards (having popped the belly pork in the oven at half time) make and eat a splendid chow mein (and listen to the Archers) when I would otherwise have been driving home up the M6.
Isn't life great? UTV.
Oh does Pep know the outcome of the charges then?
Can't watch MOTD without staring at Rooney's syrup of figs.
Can't watch MOTD without staring at Rooney's syrup of figs.
Just that part of your comment is applicable. Its absolutely dire.
Liverpool are shockingly bad at the minute - I'm surprised they don't just sack Slot anyway despite the win on Saturday. As mentioned further up, even with Spurs absolutely imploding they still looked likely to grab a late point. Looked like it was Liverpool playing with 10/9 men for the last 15 minutes and not Spurs.
Anyway, hilarious both teams are so poor. Super Leeds on the other hand..........
Can't watch MOTD without staring at Rooney's syrup of figs.
Someone once described him as looking like a football with a weetabix balanced on top of it.
Mrs Binners reckons he’s slowly morphing into Henry the eighth
Yep, don't normally believe in reincarnation but he's a dead spit of that Holbein portrait.
Surprised no one has commented on Isak's leg. Probably end of season I reckon, quite possibly the beginning of the end of his career. Those sort of injuries are hard to come back from 100%, and he was hardly doing well before. I will refrain from repeating what I posted on a toon supporters forum, suffice to say though that Micky Van De Ven will probably receive a warm welcome next time he's at SJP.
Sincerely hope it's not the end of his career. No matter how rich you are being pensioned out of the game at a young age would be difficult to deal with. Whilst Newcastle fans may not be too sympathetic most clubs get players poached. Chelsea used to do it regularly to Reading.
Didn't want him particularly to succeed at Liverpool, especially not to pick up major trophies after his mercenary tactics in the summer, but equally don't want it to be this manner.
I suppose super entitled Liverpool fans now feel it's only fair to refund the money, or offer an exchange for Big Nick.
Sincerely hope it's not the end of his career.
Considering he walked/ hobbled off the pitch I doubt it but its definitely possible he won't be quite the same player when he's recovered. As a Newcastle fan, personally, I'd rather see him continue to struggle for form on the pitch than be out injured and I don't buy into the whole 'he missed all of pre season so thats why he's played poorly' narrative because he was equally as poor for us after the Carabao Cup final last season
He's only meant to be out for 2 months so doubt it's career ending.
Considering he walked/ hobbled off the pitch
Or the physios massively f-ed up letting him walk off. Anyway, I don’t particularly wish injury on anyone but I have little sympathy. I said at the time him moving to Liverpool would screw his career and that looks to be the way it’s going.

