Consigliere

Great news for Scotland though. They've qualified for the Euros.

*Unclenches* What a game.

Yeah, Ratcliffe is a better option than Qatar, no doubt. Also seeing reports claiming that Ratcliffe's proposal includes taking control of football operations in addition to having clauses attached that would allow him to eventually complete a full takeover which is why he's prepared to pay a premium (reportedly £1.35 billion) for a 25% stake.

Bah. Ireland choked again. Their quarter-final curse continues.

Reports that Sheikh Jassim has withdrawn from the process to buy Man United. Also reports that Jim Ratcliffe's proposal to buy 25% of the club (viewed as a first step in a gradual takeover) is set to be ratified by United's board in the next week.

McTominay robbed.

Fagioli too. Apparently the paparazzi guy who exposed this has said that he'll be releasing a lot more names. Has the potential to become a major scandal for Serie A.

I think we can agree on that. The fact that he's 1) never played outside of Ligue 1 and 2) plays for a team with the biggest financial advantage in Europe's top leagues over the rest of their domestic league are going to be marks against him. Also think that complacency sets it with many players at PSG 'coz they can phone it in and still win the league in almost every season. Should he move to Real, he will have to step it up a notch and he won't be given the keys to the castle at Real as he has been at PSG and won't be coddled nearly as much either.

I picked United 'coz back in the 80s all the grown-ups in my family were Liverpool supporters and I wanted to be contrarian. As an aside: English football has been massively popular in South Africa for a very long time due to past British rule (and all the British expats) and also South Africa never had a proper football setup until the 90s really. Sports were racially segregated - you had separate leagues for whites, blacks, indian/asian and coloureds which were primarily concentrated in the big cities. So if one didn't grow up in a major city, you didn't really have a local football team to identify with and the racial segregation diluted that even further. Not sure that I agree with that. Mbappé is currently at least as good as Henry if not better. Playing for PSG in Ligue 1 doesn't help his status though - his exploits will always be downplayed just because of the league he's playing in. @Tywin et al. post focused on his pace but from what I've seen, there's a lot more to his game that just being able to run fast. He racks up a lot of assists (gets into double figures in every season) and creates space for others too so he's not just all about scoring goals. He seems to be phoning it in so far this season -- probably doesn't really want to be at the club any more and just stayed to cash in on his enormous loyalty bonus -- but has been brilliant in all his previous seasons at PSG.

If Mbappé goes to Real Madrid then he will have to accept moving to CF. Can't see Real dropping Vini just to accommodate Mbappé though and if they do, that'll likely cause some friction in the dressing room. Real should've gone in for Kane - Mbappé's signing bonus alone (coming in as a free agent) is probably going to be as much or more than Kane's transfer fee, his agent will probably be demanding a bigger commission and his wages are likely to be higher as well. But... Mbappé has been a bit of an obsession for Perez so not that surprising I suppose that Real didn't make a big money CF signing and instead saved that money for him.

RMC Sport reporting that the head of the Indonesian FA has confirmed that discussions are taking place regarding a joint bid for the 2034 WC. Should a bid materialise, it would include Indonesia, Malaysia, Singapore and Australia.

Probably the worst signing in Real's history. He cost more than £100m. Initial fee of £88m and there were reports that when Real Madrid won the CL, that triggered an add-on clause worth £20m. He was also reportedly earning around £20m/year.

Yeah, micing up the officials might help. I also think that football needs sterner measures that are actually strictly enforced as well at least in the short term -- suspensions, fines, points deductions -- as harassing referees has become entrenched in football culture. The governing bodies have the power to stamp this behaviour out at the professional level in short order; they just choose not to for whatever reason(s). There's a growing shortage of referees coming through the system because of this as well and who can blame them? Getting harassed and threatened every weekend at grassroots level earning peanuts or doing it voluntarily is just not worth it.

There is a big gap between the top tier nations and the rest. The RWC has been a 20 team tournament for most of its short history though. Only the first 3 WCs had 16 teams.

Heh, something we can agree on! Greenwood was quite clearly taking the piss there. It was a textbook yellow card for time-wasting which just so happened to be her 2nd yellow. Wish referees would do that sort of thing more consistently instead of being reluctant to show a yellow card for a clear yellow card offence just because a player has already been booked.

FIFA aren't even being subtle about their preference to award the 2034 WC to Saudi Arabia. Spain/Portugal/Morocco joint hosts + allowing some games to be played in Argentina, Paraguay and Uruguay neatly removes UEFA, CAF and Conmebol from bidding for 2034 leaving only AFC and Oceania eligible. Now they've also relaxed some rules over stadia to accommodate Saudi Arabia and FIFA are apparently employing an unprecedented fast-track process for bids to be submitted (possibly to discourage Australia from entering the bidding). Another December WC?

Not really.

Birmingham City have confirmed that John Eustace will be leaving the club. Based on reports, it looks like Rooney will be replacing him. Birmingham fans will be hoping that this doesn't end up like the sacking of Rowett for Zola fiasco.

Well, I think they are of a similar sort of level. Isak will probably end up being a more consistent goalscorer but Rashford is the better creator and will provide more assists, is a better dribbler and more effective at build up play. You were the one with the quite frankly ludicrous notion that Rashford is a vastly inferior player. Football is football. Who one supports and for whatever reason they chose to has no bearing on one's knowledge.

You have a bug up your arse over Ferguson and United though so you clearly can't be impartial. "Artform" Fuck off.

Players running after and screaming at referees predates Ferguson and has happened in leagues all over the world. Trying to pin the blame on Ferguson is fucking moronic. Don't pretend that you are some bastion of impartiality; you're not.

You have a short memory then or simply incredibly biased like Wilbur who likes to pretend that Ferguson invented pressuring of referees or engages in moronic conspiracies of Ferguson buying off referees.

Players were surrounding referees and screaming before Ferguson showed up at United.

Ajax are having a bit of a disaster this season. Not sure how Steijn is still in the job. This is the weakest Ajax side in years and probably not good enough to win the league but they should still be finishing in the top 5 and not sat in the relegation zone. Would be very surprised if Steijn isn't sacked soon with the international break coming up.

Mahrez and Gundogan leaving are big losses too. Those two often came up clutch at crucial moments.