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Reply | Injury hit, on the beach and checked out, QPR soundly beaten – Report
at 16:18 2 Apr 2025
No doubt. But Warburton wasn't operating under "joke" people at Brentford - far from it - yet he still left on bad terms. (The club honoured his contract to the end of the season, where others might have binned him straightaway)
He's a very good coach - with his "own" players, at least - but at Brentford he wanted full control over signings and departures etc, i.e. a Manager, rather than a Head Coach. Whereas the club said he could have a say, but not the final say i.e. he was to work with the players he was given.
And I don't think it's my own bias talking to say that the club has proven pretty good at giving their coaches good players to work with, both before and after Warburton. |
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Reply | Injury hit, on the beach and checked out, QPR soundly beaten – Report
at 16:07 2 Apr 2025
Admittedly it was a few years ago, but I remember reading a comparison of injury rates in different European leagues and it basically said that differences between countries when it comes to style of play, training methods, lax/strict refereeing etc, didn't have a huge effect on injury rates.
But the one very definable factor was climate. That is, cold, northern countries like Germany and England pick up more injuries, esp soft tissue ones, than is seen in Spain and Italy etc.
Beyond that, it is inevitable that fans will look to the injuries at their own club and consider them worse than others, esp when the team is struggling.
But are QPR really suffering more injuries than other clubs? (Genuine question) [Post edited 2 Apr 16:09]
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Reply | German Football
at 15:20 2 Apr 2025
Agree with all that, except the "massive crowds". A few years ago Bundesliga crowds were noticeably bigger than PL crowds, both overall and average per match.
But that was because English PL crowds were restricted by capacity constraints (Taylor Report, all-seater, old grounds etc).
But the PL has caught up and will surely overtake the BL, as 2023/24 figures show:
BL - 12,083,936 Total (18 clubs) = 39,490 Ave;
PL - 14,661,755 Total (20 clubs) = 38,584 Ave.
Those figures for the PL incl Luton (Ave 11,244), while next season Everton will move from 39k capacity to 55k and Fulham have since expanded, while Citeh and Palace (others?) are also expanding their grounds.
While English football generally has FAR more depth, attendance-wise, when you go beyond the top tier, eg:
BL2 - 7,349,506 (18 clubs) = 30,245 Ave;
Chmp - 10,204,244 (24 clubs) = 21,944 Ave.
For the 3rd tiers:
BL3 - 3,384,904 (20 clubs) = 11.331 Ave;
Lge1 - 4,661,047 (24 clubs) = 9,938 Ave.
Below the 3rd tier, German football is regionalised/non-professional, so cannot have the depth of English football. While they have a population of 83m, rather wealthier, yet paying far lower ticket prices etc.
But I'll stop now, before I go "Full Harry Redknapp"! |
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Reply | Keepers going short, refs walking tall – Analysis
at 22:46 1 Apr 2025
One element which often gets overlooked re this long ball vs short ball by the gk is that with the former, you really need a big target man up front (ideally two), otherwise the ball is liable to come straight back.
And if that "return of serve" is also a big header (or kick) by the oppo out of defence, then you also need a couple of big CB's who can deal with that if it lands on the edge of your own penalty area etc.
Was Lyndon Dykes a target man? [Post edited 1 Apr 22:47]
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Reply | Up? Down? Stay where we are? You choose
at 17:16 1 Apr 2025
Look harder, in new places, like eg Palace, Bournemouth or Brighton.
Then sell them to the scum for a nice profit and laugh when they bugger them up.
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Reply | Corny Joke Warning
at 16:47 31 Mar 2025
(One for the oldies) That reminds me of the old joke doing the rounds in the late 1970's, that Frank Ifield had just released a punk record.
It was called "I remember you, you c**t" |
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Reply | 33/1 to go down!
at 18:19 30 Mar 2025
In 7 of the last 10 seasons, your present 45 pts would have seen a club avoid relegation.
And this season, even if you lost your last 7 games (you won't) there are still probably too many clubs beneath you for them ALL to overtake you - if only because some have still to play each other
Quite honestly, if I were to put a bet on this, I'd rather take 1/33 on your surviving, than 33/1 on your getting relegated. |
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Reply | Scotland National Team
at 17:03 28 Mar 2025
Re your middle paragraph, there is already talk (though no more than that as yet) of UEFA adopting the "Round Robin" format, now used for European Club Competition, to use for NT World Cup qualifying.
South America has used something similar for years, though with six teams qualifying from only 10 full members (and 2 or 3 of those crap), they couldn't have a European-style Group qualifying process even if they wanted.
Anyhow, I can't quite make up my mind on the Jocks qualifying for major finals. Otoh, they invariably stink the place out when they get there. Oto, they do add the unbeatable comedy value of hideously suburnt grown men in skirts, crying into glasses of overpriced foreign pisswater in mosquito-ridden foreign climes!  [Post edited 28 Mar 17:09]
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Reply | Trent
at 23:09 27 Mar 2025
Very possible. Mind you, TAA is already 26.
Whereas Bale was barely 20 when he was converted from FB by the then Spurs manager - some bloke called Gary Redcap(?) |
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Reply | Scotland National Team
at 22:13 27 Mar 2025
I know he's not responsible for the U-21's, but looking at the NT generally, It may be illustrative to go to the Tartan Army Message Board, where they have a thread entitled "Steve Clarke F**k Off" (no asterisks)
It dates from June 2022 - eek - though it gets regular updates, incl from Monday night. [Post edited 27 Mar 22:14]
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Reply | Bratford………’kin hell.
at 20:10 24 Mar 2025
As a matter of principle, yes. Indeed it's often been said that the PL could afford to let everyone in for free, and clubs would still have more money than their counterparts in Spain, Germany, Italy etc, from TV rights, sponsorship, corporate, advertising, merchandising etc.
But what's driving the latest round of greedy ticket price increases is the new PSR's (both UEFA and PL), which restrict the amount of money club owners (eg Citeh and Newcastle) can pump into their clubs.
Therefore in order to keep the PL way out in front of the rest, they're now squeezing the fans ever tighter, so that if the "legacy" fans can't or won't pay, they'll just replace them with tourists etc.
That and the fact that half the PL clubs are now owned by Americans, who look at the prices they charge for American sports and wonder why they don't/can't do the same here. |
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Reply | Man Utd stadium
at 16:53 24 Mar 2025
Agree completely about the trans-Pennine etc, but that ridiculous situation could have been addressed by scrapping the even more ridiculous HS2 and spending a fraction of the saving up North.
While as regards Trafford, it is a given that Ratcliffe's motives are entirely selfish, but that doesn't mean that HMG and local government cannot themselves take advantage on the back of the new stadium for the "multiplier effect".
While if you look at the scale of the place, it could/should be more than a bit of tram line with a few flats added on, a helluva sight more. |
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Reply | Bratford………’kin hell.
at 16:47 24 Mar 2025
Which is also why, in the PL at least, many clubs are trying to squeeze the Season Ticket Holders and other concessions, since knowing that they can now fill out every game regardless, they don't want to be offering a per game discount.
Which is such a change from a few years ago, when clubs were desperate to sell ST's, since as well as getting the money in advance, they also knew that if the season fizzled out and crowds dropped off post Xmas, then they'd already sold the seats/terraces. |
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Reply | Man Utd stadium
at 16:38 24 Mar 2025
That wasn't really my point. The Lizzy Line was built with public money (imo fair enough, even if the rest of the country moaned about more spending on London etc).
Anyhow, in the wake of that, it gave a real economic boost to trade and commerce (as well as housing), including in central London, with office occupancy, both new and existing, being well ahead of the rest of the capital, which was still suffering post-covid, wfh blues.
So that with HMG spending money on transport and infrastructure in Trafford etc, normally you might hope for it to produce something similar there, never mind the additional benefit of MU also building what would be a world famous, state-of-the-art £2bn super stadium right there, too.
And I say all that as someone who has no love for MU (understatement!), much less that cynical, tax-avoiding shyster Ratcliffe (gross understatement!). |
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Reply | Man Utd stadium
at 16:31 23 Mar 2025
Isn't there a bit of misunderstanding over this?
Originally Jim Reaper thought he/the club should be entitled to public funding for the stadium itself - "Wembley of the North" etc - which was so deluded it's hard to know where to start.
Anyhow, someone outside his inner circle of arselickers must have had a word.
So that now the idea is that if MU spend £2bn of their own on the stadium, then public money could be provided to regenerate the whole area generally esp for public transport. So that with the stadium acting as the "flagship" for the development, everything else would benefit from a multiplier effect and draw in outside investment.
It was the same eg with the Elizabeth Line, where initially many thought it would cost far too much, never produce a return etc. But evidence since then has shown that it has brought with it valuable increases in property values along the route, commercial and domestic, which as well as producing extra Rates income for local Cpouncils, had in turn has generated extra outside investment.
Such that despite Covid and WFH etc, usage rates on the line are significantly higher than originally forecast, at the same time as usage rates on other TfL lines fell in their turn.
Or is it me who's got the wrong end of the stick? |
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Reply | How about a few “not a lot of people know thats”
at 19:16 16 Mar 2025
Actor Sir Dirk Bogarde's full birth name was Derek Jules Gaspard Ulric Niven van den Bogaerde.
Also had a distinguished war record, getting commisioned and rising to the rank of Major, gained a number of medals and served at D-Day. Also present at the liberation of Belsen, leading to a life-long hatred of Germans. |
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Reply | The Great Entertainers
at 14:15 12 Mar 2025
Can't see it.
Assume you lose to Leeds and Derby beat Plymouth. They'd still be 6 points behind you with 8 games left.
Now assume they play well enough in those games (and you play badly enough) for them to make up that deficit.
It would still take ALL of Preston, Swans, Pompey, Oxford, Hull, Stoke and Swansea to make up points as well, to see QPR drop to 22nd.
And that last won't happen, if only because at least some of them still have to play each other. |
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Reply | Beatles..your favourite track..
at 13:39 3 Mar 2025
Sorry to divert from a lot of serious/illuminating/considered answers etc (taught me more about them), but I couldn't help seeing the thread title and being reminded of the Alan Partridge gag where the hotel receptionist in the Norwich Travel Tavern (I think) asked him:
"What's your favourite Beatles album, Mr. Partridge?"
Alan gives it a bit of thought and replies:
"Er, Greatest Hits?"
Which in turn recalls the even better line when, on hearing "Band on the Run" (or somesuch) playing in the lift, he remarked:
"Ah, Wings. The band the Beatles could have been!"
Anyhow, as you were, I shall now give "Dear Prudence" a good listen.  [Post edited 3 Mar 13:40]
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