Aaaannd moving on, Harland getting a lot of praise.

Well done Caher, that prediction saw us good this week

I actually got back to watch the Cardiff game.

I went to watch an FA Cup game this afternoon at a local club. 2-1 home win, 2 missed pens and red card and 200+ happy fans and a pretty decent traveling support from South Yorkshire.

The BBC are dropping the classified results.

Quite sad IMO.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/entertainment-arts-62397375

Given the spread of games across a weekend rather than the majority being played at 3pm on a Saturday, as well as just being able to quickly read the results on the internet, I am surprised they have lasted this long. No great loss for me.

Not sure how many people do the Football Pools any more and need all the results read out in order.

It’s a bit like being cross that you can’t sit in front of Ceefax any more and enter 303 every minute to get live scores.

No great loss for me.

Me too. I actually stumbled across Final Score on Saturday (looking for Commonwealth Games coverage) and found it a very odd experience as it seemed so out of kilter with modern communication – as above, it’s so easy to check online so absolutely no need to wait for a scheduled programme. I just use the Sky Sports app – automatic notifications for my team and I can ‘favourite’ any other matches I wish to for notifications on those games too.

so, idle curiosity…..

One round of games played – who’s going to be the first managerial casualty based on that

Southampton and Villa both on poor runs from end of last season into this are my predictions. Or Everton, being Everton.

it’s so easy to check online so absolutely no need to wait for a scheduled programme.

No great loss for me

It’s a bit like being cross that you can’t sit in front of Ceefax any more and enter 303 every minute to get live scores.

Just out of curiosity, are any of you over 40?

To me it’s a sound than goes back to my childhood. Far cry from small boys in the park, jumpers for goalposts. Rush goalie. Two at the back, three in the middle, four up front, one’s gone home for his tea.

No great loss for me.

Me neither

I constantly check the scores during the course of the weekend on my FF app, Just to confirm that this is always still the case

I’m even worse at FF than I am at betting on football. I really should Jack them both in. Alongside the woeful form of the bloody awful team I support, I’m not deriving a great deal of pleasure from it at the moment

One round of games played – who’s going to be the first managerial casualty based on that

Stevie G for definite, just due to the ridiculous expectations of Villa fans

Stevie G for definite, just due to the ridiculous expectations of Villa fans

I have a suspicion that you don’t actually know any Villa fans. If you did, you’d know that our expectations run as far as the hope of bettering our performances of the last two seasons.

I’d say that was a reasonable rather than ridiculous expectation.

I personally haven’t seen anything from Gerrard as a manager at Villa or elsewhere that makes me think that this expectation will be achieved and I personally doubt that he’ll still be in charge come the end of the season.

Would love to be proved wrong on all counts.

Ralph Hassenhuttel to go first. Especially if they don’t pick
up a few wins given how they ended last season.

Gerrard won the league with Rangers but the football was pretty functional. Relied heavily on an excellent (that season) defence and Celtic having a shocker. He’s yet to do anything to suggest he’s the heir to Klopp.

Please, please, please let him be the heir to Klopp 😉

If you didn’t listen to it live, then Nihal Arthanayake today on Five Live is well worth a listen on BBC Sounds.

Its discussing all the best things about going to the match other than the football, including Parmo’s in a bun at Middlesborough, Benny and Hot at Burnley, pies, pre-match pints, ironic chants to crap players* and many of the other joys we all love

Its great! 😀

* I used to love the Zamora one at Fulham ‘when you’re sat in Row Z and the ball hits your head…. that’s Zamora’

I’m sure he was aiming for row Z at the time but…

Lampard has a tough job at Everton so I could see that failing fast.

The comment above about somebody (Fernandes ?) Being the next Dele set me thinking. How is it that talented players suddenly become untalented? I mean proper useless, like Dele. I get the, ‘I’m rich and can’t be bothered’ nasri/bale etc. I can get a change of team and the style just doesn’t suit a player, I can get a player having a bad season, but how does someone do a Dele!? He hasn’t been the only one. Torres was pretty spectacular in his fall from form. What is it? Drugs? What?
Wish we’d sold Dele 4 years earlier….. But then I couldn’t foresee his fall from ability and would have been seething if levy had done.

Dele’s decline is an odd one, given his age. He should be in his prime right now. I suspect it’s a combination of things – confidence, motivation and tactics. His main strength seemed to be arriving in the box and getting on the end of things, bit like David Platt back in the day. And like Platt he’s not really that great at anything else which seems daft but I just don’t think he fits into the current trend of playing. Doesn’t seem to press much?

He could press, fit young lad not afraid to run or to be a dirty sh**. Remember his early days and attitude… Lucky to not be sent off a few times, or thumped by a more Ramos like player! He was also very good at very quick balls forward, usually to Kane.

Anyway, I hope he finds some confidence and a good fit somewhere again, he was fun to watch when playing well.

Next weekend will be a very different test for spurs…. Stamford bridge.

Aye you’re right – he did play with a chip on his shoulder. Odd he’s lost that.

We’ll never see anything like this again

Anyway, I hope he finds some confidence and a good fit somewhere again, he was fun to watch when playing well.

His sole contribution for Everton on Saturday, when bought on as a sub, was a terrible first touch to a great through ball into the box, then he tripped over his own feet and fell over.

Everton and Man Yoo do now seem to be the clubs where careers go to die. I’m surprised we didn’t buy him. Mind you, there’s time yet. The windows still open, isn’t it

Our transfer policy, if its true we’ve signed Marko Arnautovic, appears to now involve picking names out of a hat

Dele is pretty easy to explain tbh.

Young lad breaks into MK Dons team at early age. He is physically more mature than most 16/17yr olds so stands out with his peers and within the lower leagues. As a young lad he plays more first team football than 90% of kids at premier league teams.

He gets his early move to Spurs.

He quickly establishes himself in the Spurs side under Poch. He has the physical attributes to cope with Premier League football even though he is still growing and is really a kid. He becomes a mainstay of the team with the HIGEN press. Dele Alli as he is known then is the pivot of the press. He is the athelete who can cover most ground, is physically capable of putting himself about and mobile enough to get on the end of things. It works really well for 3-4 yrs and he has success with England too.

Now the issues. He was a young man when he came to spurs. He starts to mature. He starts to believe his own hype and starts holding the ball longer than he should and thinking he can be some kind of playmaker. Major major muscle issues hamper him. He was working at 110% without proper recovery or any consideration for what he was doing to his body. He starts to have longer and longer periods out with injury. Poch rushes him back from those injuries and plays him all the time he is available. Its a bad circle which just continues. His last 18mths under Poch he is a disaster. Poch goes.

This all coincides with major family issues. Dele removes any reference to Alli from his shirts. He is surrounded by **** and he starts getting himself into troubles at hotels etc.

Jose comes in as manager (Forget about the other guy). He tries a different approach. The hand on the shoulder doesnt work so Jose tries embarrassing Dele. Dele has NEVER been a good trainer, going in at 50%. He relies on his natural athletisism. Jose turns on him and Dele being a rich, injured, angry young man rebuffs it all. He gets worse and worse. Second season with Jose Dele actually went full pre season abroad with a fitness trainer trying to put everything right. He was absolutely 100% fit. He came back but his game had dissapeared. He had lost all his youthfull energy and was now a man, a strong man but much clumsier.

Dele downfall was Poch & Spurs. But then maybe if he had been held back the inevitable would be him failing anyhow. At least this way he got his time to shine early. Never know but he is paying the physical price of too much too soon imo.

Other major factors in Dele’s decline are the loss of form and eventual transfer of Eriksen. He kept making the late runs in the box, but no-one ever looked up and picked him out.

Too much time spent on Fortnight.

Armed burglary at his home where he got assaulted.

Poch’s intense training provided results on the pitch, but also took something from them. Dembele was broken. Dele has stated he can’t train to the same intensity any more.

Tottenham playing a different system – he is very effective in one position only, and playing him anywhere else makes him look average.

People forget just how good he was. 16 goals in League 1 aged 17/18, 10 goals in the PL aged 18/19, 18 aged 19/20. More goals than Gerrard/Lampard/Scholes etc at that stage of their careers. Even in the Champions League semi, he got two assists for Lucas.

Shame he can’t perform at this level any more, but sounds like he had a pretty bad upbringing so hope he’s happy now.

Poch didnt break Dembele. He resurrected him. Dembele had similar major muscle issues BEFORE Poch got hold of him. His hips and groin issues were killing him, he always carried a few pounds and struggled with fitness. Poch was the only Spurs manager who managed to get him fit and keep him fit and actually convince him to move the ball quickly. 2 or 3 seasons he became the player he always should have been. Prior to that he was the same as Dele.

Dembele realised that he could only maintain that kind of fitness and remain injury free for so long and made a decision to quite before he did himself too much damage.

It’s reaching the point where I’ve run out of swear words and I’m inventing new ones to shout. Mainly aimed at the human scarecrow Harry ****ing Maguire. I’d he actually capable of movement? It would appear not.

The only consolation is that anticipating exactly the same utter shambles as last weekend, I stuck a few quid on a Brentford win

There’s still 60 minutes left for manu to get 4 😁

0-3 before halftime???? 😂😂 Dear lord….

Make that 4!!!!

Gonna be a long journey back up the 303 to Yeovil

Eriksen must be regretting moving for the money. Brilliant first half from Brentford.

I didn’t really think that it was possible to watch a United side that was even more of a clueless shambles than the one that finished last season

Turns out that was wildly optimistic

The entire club is a ****ing joke! Not one of those players is fit to wear the ****ing shirt!!

Ten Hag needs to be ****ing punching people in that dressing room, because that shitshow was absolutely inexcusable

At least they’ve got an easy home game next.

Indeed. We’ve got Liverpool next week. I think I’ll stick a bet on them getting into double figures

I didn’t really think that it was possible to watch a United side that was even more of a clueless shambles than the one that finished last season

Turns out that was wildly optimistic

Have to say, i honestly thought ManU with a few signings and a new manager could do well this season, i might be as wrong as you were.

Someone has to tell me how Eriksen has gone from being the centre forward one week to the defensive midfielder the following game, McTominay must be sat there thinking ‘at least i’m not part of this nonsense’ 😂

He’ll probably play him as a central defender next week. He’d be better than ****ing Maguire!

Apparently Brentford fans crucifying Erikson for moving to a smaller club 🤣

At least for ManU fans they didn’t lose the second half 😁

It’s going to be ‘interesting’ to see how toxic it gets at OT a week on Monday for the Liverpool match. This feels like a real tipping point

from the bbc comments

Brentfords’ Annual Wagebill is currently £16,834.000
Man Utd’s Annual Wagebill is currently £202,785.000