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And Foden looks like a second-rate Guy Ritchie character.

OMG United. Total madness. Squeaked though.

Never seen a player win a shootout and 1 player chase him celebrating LOL. United are on vacation

What a whirlwind of a match. I would have fired ten hag on the spot if they lost. This team has nothing left.

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The team is out of gas. Too many injuries and not enough minute distribution.

One thing to note, I **** on Maguire all the time but the last few months dude has been playing balls out, always trying to grab the game by the scruff of the neck while others are flagging. Kudos to that giant mutant Muppet.

Absolutely love this from Nottingham Forest. Curious to know whether Clattenburg, who is working for them as a consultant, had a word in this.

I, and many others, have noticed how poorly officials have been. Honestly, it seems to get worse as each year passes. It's time they are held accountable.

Proud a club has finally taken a stand. I thought maybe Liverpool would have after the incident in it's match with Tottenham. Maybe they will based on the where they finish.

Baseline81 wrote:Absolutely love this from Nottingham Forest. Curious to know whether Clattenburg, who is working for them as a consultant, had a word in this.

I, and many others, have noticed how poorly officials have been. Honestly, it seems to get worse as each year passes. It's time they are held accountable.

Proud a club has finally taken a stand. I thought maybe Liverpool would have after the incident in it's match with Tottenham. Maybe they will based on the where they finish.

Watch on YouTube

The fact the VAR did not give the clear handball as a penalty was horrendous. Haven't seen the other footage for other VAR mistakes.

Will be interesting to see what they do. There's been a lot that have questioned them releasing that statement, but I also like it.

The league as a whole needs a shake up to realise the so called Big 6 do not run football. With the PSR , VAR decisions and just general crap going on in the game, I think we will see more and more of this from the clubs outside of the protected Big 6. There's a lot of clubs that are referred to as "small clubs" but have a massive history in English football. The fact that the head of the Premier League referred to them as "Small clubs" in a hearing shows how much bias exists.

Baseline81 wrote:Absolutely love this from Nottingham Forest. Curious to know whether Clattenburg, who is working for them as a consultant, had a word in this.

I, and many others, have noticed how poorly officials have been. Honestly, it seems to get worse as each year passes. It's time they are held accountable.

Proud a club has finally taken a stand. I thought maybe Liverpool would have after the incident in it's match with Tottenham. Maybe they will based on the where they finish.

Watch on YouTube

Genuinely despise Neville and Carragher these days. I hate those two.

Clearly the big clubs do run PL and football.

The league doesn’t care if a small club from a small town is relegated.

It would be a huge deal if a big club was relegated.

wco81 wrote:Clearly the big clubs do run PL and football.

The league doesn’t care if a small club from a small town is relegated.

It would be a huge deal if a big club was relegated.

To me, this isn't a "big" vs. "small" club issue. The match in question yesterday was Everton vs. Nottingham Forest. I apologize to any Toffee fan, however, I do not believe Everton would be classified as a "big" club.

It's about the competency and/or bias of these referees on the pitch and in VAR. These "mates" would rather back each other than make the correct decision.

This morning, I have listened to SkySports and TalkSport. It's almost as if they are on damage control. It's mind-boggling and, quite frankly, comical these pundits think because of the statement Nottingham Forest put out they will lose sympathy. What has sympathy given any team? Points aren't awarded for it. Additionally, it's pretty clear it doesn't give you future decisions as Forest continue to be hard done by. Again, it's time a club takes a stand, and it appears Nottingham Forest is just that club. My wish is another club would publicly back them.

wco81 wrote:Clearly the big clubs do run PL and football.

The league doesn’t care if a small club from a small town is relegated.

It would be a huge deal if a big club was relegated.

Yes, of coarse it's a big deal if a big club is relegated, but that does not change the history of football and the need to recognise the importance of it.

Man City are only a Big Club at this moment because of timing and rich owners. They benefited from new owners coming in 2008 and great timing, with their investment starting before FFP rules started in 11/12. So were able to get the team rolling and money within to get up the league. (Not picking on them - just highlighting how timing plays a factor)

Look at Newcastle and Villa now....Both are being told they have to sell players to abide by the PSR, yet both have very rich owners (Newcastle hugely rich), that could invest more money easily, if allowed.

My point is that the Big 6 now are only that because of their position and money at the times that these rules and structure came into place.

There's more to it that just that, as the money bought into clubs through fans worldwide is also a massive factor and the Big 6 have a massive advantage on that front too, which also has timing consideration. With the start of social media , successful clubs were able to really expand their fan bases worldwide. If your club was having on field issues during that time, that hurt their chances to cash in. For example, Villa were a high achieving side in the early and mid 90's and with a good history in the game, but money issues hit and an American owner came in a ruined the club for a number of years. This downfall was terrible timing, as the club was then not competing and not growing it's fan base, and when social media really hit for clubs to promote themselves, Villa were irrelevant. If that was different timing, who know's where they sit.

And the same story could be relayed for a multitude of clubs.

But I don't think we've seen the level of power that the Big Clubs hold before. It's a massive business now, one of the biggest sporting leagues in the world and it's important that the history of the game and fans of all clubs is considered.

Sorry for the ramble....

Even without Arab money, City would be big because they are based in one of the biggest cities in England.

I would imagine they had huge attendance and ratings before they became dominant on the pitch?

That would matter to the TV rights that the PL sells around the world. I would guess that there’s much greater viewership when big clubs are playing instead of these small town clubs, not just in the UK but around the world where the PL matches are aired or streamed.

wco81 wrote:Even without Arab money, City would be big because they are based in one of the biggest cities in England.

I would imagine they had huge attendance and ratings before they became dominant on the pitch?

That would matter to the TV rights that the PL sells around the world. I would guess that there’s much greater viewership when big clubs are playing instead of these small town clubs, not just in the UK but around the world where the PL matches are aired or streamed.

Your first sentence is simply not true. London is a bigger city than Manchester, and there are clubs in London that do not benefit as Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have. Currently in the PL, you have Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham United. Do you consider those "big" clubs?

Prior to the Abu Dhabi United Group's purchase of Manchester City, the club did not draw. Even now, some would say they still do not.

Baseline81 wrote:

wco81 wrote:Even without Arab money, City would be big because they are based in one of the biggest cities in England.

I would imagine they had huge attendance and ratings before they became dominant on the pitch?

That would matter to the TV rights that the PL sells around the world. I would guess that there’s much greater viewership when big clubs are playing instead of these small town clubs, not just in the UK but around the world where the PL matches are aired or streamed.

Your first sentence is simply not true. London is a bigger city than Manchester, and there are clubs in London that do not benefit as Arsenal, Chelsea and Tottenham have. Currently in the PL, you have Brentford, Crystal Palace, Fulham and West Ham United. Do you consider those "big" clubs?

Prior to the Abu Dhabi United Group's purchase of Manchester City, the club did not draw. Even now, some would say they still do not.

I thought City had some history of winning, decades before the current owners took over.

Etihad opened in 2002. So they built a huge stadium, still the 6th largest in England and the 11th in the UK, with a capacity over 53,000 for football and 60,000 for concerts, and they didn't draw?

Sure London is bigger but they have a half dozen clubs there as you noted.

Manchester is much smaller but there are only two PL clubs there?

City must have had some supporters there, not everyone in that city and region was a United fan?

They didn't build the Etihad Stadium, nor do they even technically own it. It was originally built to be used for the Commonwealth games in 2002, and was paid for with public money, and Man City paid a relatively piddling fee to have it converted for their use.

I've lived in the UK my whole life and prior to and a little after the takeover, Man City were only really talked about as a laughing stock compared to United, and because the Gallaghers (Oasis) support them. They're perceived as a big club now but honestly, I think most fans recognise it as artifice. The supporter culture isn't really there, and you don't see kids wearing Man City shirts around here despite their huge success in footballing terms.

When we were bad refs took every chance to send a player of ours off , no mercy. Im sick of pity refereeing the ref showed Chelsea there. Jackson should be sent off and suspended for that tackle and VAR is useless.

Clear and obvious doesn't work when there's two idiots on either end

People were too quick to write Arsenal off after the Villa loss. They're killing Chelsea here.

They're still title favourites to me. This season's City team isn't as good as ones prior.

Baphomet wrote:People were too quick to write Arsenal off after the Villa loss. They're killing Chelsea here.

They're still title favourites to me. This season's City team isn't as good as ones prior.

we have been brilliant this year man and the best team in the league but that blip in december has us against the barrel of a gun right now. That second half performance against Villa was tragic man , they rightfully bodied us.

15 games played in 2024 , 13 wins , 1 draw(@etihad) and 1 loss to Villa. You'd normally be cruising to the title right now getting guard of honours in every stadium.

45 goals scored and 6 conceded. No one can really get a sniff at our goal , playing elite man. Just need some luck here.

MaliBrah wrote:

Baphomet wrote:People were too quick to write Arsenal off after the Villa loss. They're killing Chelsea here.

They're still title favourites to me. This season's City team isn't as good as ones prior.

we have been brilliant this year man and the best team in the league but that blip in december has us against the barrel of a gun right now. That second half performance against Villa was tragic man , they rightfully bodied us.

15 games played in 2024 , 13 wins , 1 draw(@etihad) and 1 loss to Villa. You'd normally be cruising to the title right now getting guard of honours in every stadium.

45 goals scored and 6 conceded. No one can really get a sniff at our goal , playing elite man. Just need some luck here.

Absolutely true, but City don't have a horrid run home. Spurs away and Brighton away on paper should be their toughest. In saying that , they are definitely suspect to drop some points.
If Arsenal can win all their remaining games, you'd have to be extremely unlucky not to win it. But Liverpool were extremely unlucky in 21/22

Pipp33 wrote:

MaliBrah wrote:

Baphomet wrote:People were too quick to write Arsenal off after the Villa loss. They're killing Chelsea here.

They're still title favourites to me. This season's City team isn't as good as ones prior.

we have been brilliant this year man and the best team in the league but that blip in december has us against the barrel of a gun right now. That second half performance against Villa was tragic man , they rightfully bodied us.

15 games played in 2024 , 13 wins , 1 draw(@etihad) and 1 loss to Villa. You'd normally be cruising to the title right now getting guard of honours in every stadium.

45 goals scored and 6 conceded. No one can really get a sniff at our goal , playing elite man. Just need some luck here.

Absolutely true, but City don't have a horrid run home. Spurs away and Brighton away on paper should be their toughest. In saying that , they are definitely suspect to drop some points.
If Arsenal can win all their remaining games, you'd have to be extremely unlucky not to win it. But Liverpool were extremely unlucky in 21/22

Fingers crossed man! We got a tough one at spurs this weekend , but it feels like if we can get out that game we are in a good place with Bournemouth(h) , United(away) which is historically hard for us but it geniuinely feels like they're on vacation right now but honestly it's still the classic Arsenal slips up game , and Everton(H)

Begging for 2 City draws , at least 1 man