Consigliere

That went badly. I only hope it's a blip and not the beginning of the effects of playing a match on average every 3 days since mid December. We looked knackered. No intensity at all.

Caicedo has signed a new contract with Brighton until 2027 with the club having the option to extend for a further year. Reports that there is no release clause in his new contract. Worrying but hardly surprising. The decision on whether Greenwood stays or goes will be based entirely on financial considerations i.e. will the potential reputational damage be more expensive than paying out his contract. I'm fairly sure this is what the extended internal investigation is all about - the brass are probably speaking to all the sponsors to gauge whether the club might lose money if Greenwood is brought back.

Antony's biggest problem is the fee United paid for him. He's not worth anywhere near that and will probably never justify that fee. Had United ended up paying what he was actually worth (no more than half of what we did pay) then he would be fine. He's chipped in with some important goals, works hard, presses well and, tactically, he's been important when it comes to the team keeping its shape. He needs to learn to use his right foot a lot more and save his funny tricks for the right time when it can actually cause some problems for the opposition rather than doing it in non-threatening areas and looking foolish.

Well, United might very well become another sports washing club if Qatar's bid is successful. Even if they aren't successful in buying United, Qatar will probably still get their hooks into another PL club (either Spurs or less likely Liverpool). Apparently the Emir wants a PL club and his lackeys will work to make his wish come true.

I love Casemiro and Lisandro. All those fucking morons who were saying Lisandro is too short for the PL are looking like first class numpties now.

Potter is also the problem. Managers always have been and always will be held responsible for the results. The results have been horrendous and he's looking like a deer in the headlights out there. The only thing that might save him is that Chelsea might have to pay out £50m in compensation, unless they were smart enough to include a performance related break clause in his contract.

Despite all of the Chelsea PR backing him, surely Potter has got to go after this. Since October, Real Madrid have scored more goals in England than Chelsea.

Too bad Alvarez chose to join City. He'd be the first choice CF for any other side in the league.

Glad they've decided to end it at four seasons. The show should go out on a high note now. Always felt that five seasons would be one season too many. Also thought that the show had already started spinning wheels last season.

Owners won't be paying for any of it. Clubs having to foot the bill from their own revenue is the most likely scenario. That's fine for the rich clubs but not so good for the have nots. There's also no need to create a whole new government agency to accomplish any of the stated purposes of the regulator. Preventing clubs joining a super league, stricter financial controls, more stringent owners and directors test, fairer distribution of revenue from the PL down the pyramid are in the process of being implemented (some already implemented) by the existing bodies. None of the other top leagues in Europe need a government agency to handle any of that and neither does England. Also, I find it unlikely that the owners and directors test, for instance, would be any more stringent under a government regulator than whatever the PL implements. Let's not forget that it was government officials leaning on the Premier League to approve Saudi Arabia's takeover of Newcastle. This regulator is just going to end up as a vehicle to line the pockets of government bureaucrats.

What I'm saying is that if the government actually wants to protect the football pyramid then the government has the power to take a firmer hand with the existing institutions in order to do that. There's no need to create yet another governing body. Football clubs are going to have to fund this independent regulator so more money is going to be taken out of the game just to fund another layer of (unneeded) bureaucracy. Anyway, I don't believe that the government actually gives a shit about the football pyramid. This is just an opportunity to score some PR points and, more importantly, appoint their mates to well paying top positions at the regulator.

I agree with David Sullivan. An independent regulator is a stupid idea. If the government wants to protect the pyramid then they should make sure that the existing institutions (the Premier League, EFL, FA) that are supposed to be the custodians of the game are doing just that. Pointless to put into place yet another governing body.

Modric is a machine. 38 years old and he's still top class. Left Liverpool's midfield in the dust.

This game is frantic. Neither side able to exert much control.

Leeds appoint Javi Gracia as manager. The official statement says he has agreed to a flexible contract.

And the club in 6th place (Eintracht Frankfurt) are only 5 points behind too.

West Ham have gotten away with two of the most blatant handballs in consecutive games. The VAR is fucking useless if he can't even make such an obvious decision.

First half was pretty even. On the balance of play, Leicester deserved to go into half-time level. Second half we played them off the park. EtH needs to find a way to better manage Bruno's game time. Bruno is a robust guy who rarely gets injured, but fatigue is a thing and that has negatively impacted his form in previous seasons. He's already played the full 90 in every single league game this season except one where he was suspended. Add in the minutes from the Carabao Cup, FA Cup, Europa League and World Cup and, yeah, it looks like he's being run into the ground again.

Newcastle played quite well even when down to 10 men. Should've gotten a point out of the game.

Good finish from EU Andy Carroll.

Chelsea are gash. At least they've given Southampton some hope.

Great day for Arsenal.

Sean Dyche is a footballing god.

Who'd have thought that the Bundesliga of all leagues would be serving up a fascinating title race.