Sportsbet.io's English Premier League Football Pool Discussion Thread

[slaman29]

It is ridiculous. It seems FIFA are only bothered about the finances. More teams means more matches and bigger TV rights.
Players have been complaining about the current fixture lineup and nothing has been done yet, sure they may get more bonuses, but I think they will rather have less matches and a longer career.

Yes, and now I hear news about Super League being overturned is illegal, so now Super League will continue. I was so upset Barca were part of it, they should know better, but of course they pulled out not that it made things better the damage was done.

I felt a few years ago the day would come when I would stop supporting my club. It will never be because they are down, they suck etc. I would only stop being a fan when the football is second to the money. I feel scared this is coming very soon.

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[Igebotz]

Chelsea has not broken any FA laws; we have brilliant business minds, and all we did was exploit FA transfer loopholes, which is not a violation of the rules.

True, you used loopholes. Not so brilliantly though, you have 40 mediocre players on 8-year bloated contracts so good luck with that going forward.

Yeah, all the players Liverpool wanted but couldn't afford have suddenly become mediocre players. A team that spent Benfica €100 million for Nunez should not be complaining about substandard players or how poorly other teams handle transfers. Perhaps you forgot that we also know how to do away with poor players.

I didn't say the smaller clubs were targeted, I said they are being used as examples - which is wrong on so many levels.
City is showing huge sponsorship incomes because that's how they pump money into the club - so of course they don't have financial deficit. It still is breaking the rules, and should be punished more severely than Everton's deficit, which happened during the Covid years where budgeting was basically impossible.

No need to speculate, the hearing date for Manchester city 115 charges has been set.

[un_rank]

City is showing huge sponsorship incomes because that's how they pump money into the club - so of course they don't have financial deficit. It still is breaking the rules, and should be punished more severely than Everton's deficit, which happened during the Covid years where budgeting was basically impossible.

We will just have to wait and see what the verdict is in the City case and the eventual punishment if they are found guilty.

Yes, and now I hear news about Super League being overturned is illegal, so now Super League will continue. I was so upset Barca were part of it, they should know better, but of course they pulled out not that it made things better the damage was done.
...

Tbh, I did not follow the whole Super league drama, but the money is already taking precedence to football. Look at the injury list of almost all of the teams in the different leagues. That is the result of the number of club and country matches they play, and it is only getting worse.

- Jay -

[un_rank]

City is showing huge sponsorship incomes because that's how they pump money into the club - so of course they don't have financial deficit. It still is breaking the rules, and should be punished more severely than Everton's deficit, which happened during the Covid years where budgeting was basically impossible.

We will just have to wait and see what the verdict is in the City case and the eventual punishment if they are found guilty.

Yes, and now I hear news about Super League being overturned is illegal, so now Super League will continue. I was so upset Barca were part of it, they should know better, but of course they pulled out not that it made things better the damage was done.
...

Tbh, I did not follow the whole Super league drama, but the money is already taking precedence to football. Look at the injury list of almost all of the teams in the different leagues. That is the result of the number of club and country matches they play, and it is only getting worse.

- Jay -

[cryptofrka]

Yeah, all the players Liverpool wanted but couldn't afford have suddenly become mediocre players. A team that spent Benfica €100 million for Nunez should not be complaining about substandard players or how poorly other teams handle transfers. Perhaps you forgot that we also know how to do away with poor players.

It's one thing to make a shitty transfer. It is a completely another one to take the business approach you have taken.
I think nobody did it in football so far, and we'll see how that experiment will turn out. Boehly has no clue what he's doing, that is clear.

____________________________

Really curious to see what the City verdict will be. Even a minor points deduction would hurt them a lot, but there's no way City will be punished like that.

[Igebotz]

Yeah, all the players Liverpool wanted but couldn't afford have suddenly become mediocre players. A team that spent Benfica €100 million for Nunez should not be complaining about substandard players or how poorly other teams handle transfers. Perhaps you forgot that we also know how to do away with poor players.

It's one thing to make a shitty transfer. It is a completely another one to take the business approach you have taken.
I think nobody did it in football so far, and we'll see how that experiment will turn out. Boehly has no clue what he's doing, that is clear.

You can't draw conclusions about a project that is barely a year old; Klopp took more than three seasons to get Liverpool from mid-table to top four. If I were you, I would wait for another season before criticising Todd Boehly's efforts.

Really curious to see what the City verdict will be. Even a minor points deduction would hurt them a lot, but there's no way City will be punished like that.

Don't get your hopes up too high since Manchester City will appeal any ruling that does not go their way, and they have the money to drag the issue out for years in court. Even if they received any penalty points, they would prefer to be cut next season.

[swogerino]

Yeah, all the players Liverpool wanted but couldn't afford have suddenly become mediocre players. A team that spent Benfica €100 million for Nunez should not be complaining about substandard players or how poorly other teams handle transfers. Perhaps you forgot that we also know how to do away with poor players.

It's one thing to make a shitty transfer. It is a completely another one to take the business approach you have taken.
I think nobody did it in football so far, and we'll see how that experiment will turn out. Boehly has no clue what he's doing, that is clear.

____________________________

Really curious to see what the City verdict will be. Even a minor points deduction would hurt them a lot, but there's no way City will be punished like that.

Even if City gets the lowest punishment and very few points are deducted from them for me this is enough to keep them out of the Premier League title as right now they are not in the best of their form and even the return of Kevin De Bryne will not impact them for the good instantly,he needs to take steam as he has been out of the football fields for quite some time now.Whatever happens to them though even if they are not punished at all which may be the best case,still they are in a difficult position to win the Premier League title for the 15-16 weeks that remains as Liverpool is in a much better form,so I only know any punishment will make them get out of the title fight 100%.

[hilariousetc]

It is ridiculous. It seems FIFA are only bothered about the finances. More teams means more matches and bigger TV rights.
Players have been complaining about the current fixture lineup and nothing has been done yet, sure they may get more bonuses, but I think they will rather have less matches and a longer career.

Yes, and now I hear news about Super League being overturned is illegal, so now Super League will continue. I was so upset Barca were part of it, they should know better, but of course they pulled out not that it made things better the damage was done.

I felt a few years ago the day would come when I would stop supporting my club. It will never be because they are down, they suck etc. I would only stop being a fan when the football is second to the money. I feel scared this is coming very soon.

How it was dealt with may have been illegal or an unfair mafia-like monopoly overseen by the powers that blocked it, but I don't think that means it will still go ahead. It was fans that were dead-set against it from the start and it seemed the owners canned it based purely on widespread fan outrage rather than it being blocked officially by the lawmakers and all the English teams withdrew almost immediately. If they do actually try to do it again I'm sure the same will happen and I hope fans vote with their cash and boycott it 100%. If hardly anybody is watching it it will be dead in the water.

[slaman29]

I felt a few years ago the day would come when I would stop supporting my club. It will never be because they are down, they suck etc. I would only stop being a fan when the football is second to the money. I feel scared this is coming very soon.

How it was dealt with may have been illegal or an unfair mafia-like monopoly overseen by the powers that blocked it, but I don't think that means it will still go ahead. It was fans that were dead-set against it from the start and it seemed the owners canned it based purely on widespread fan outrage rather than it being blocked officially by the lawmakers and all the English teams withdrew almost immediately. If they do actually try to do it again I'm sure the same will happen and I hope fans vote with their cash and boycott it 100%. If hardly anybody is watching it it will be dead in the water.

Well I hope you're right. Lots of clubs and players probably don't like the idea, but some have already spoken out.

For example if Girona win La Liga, they supposedly play in Blue League of this Super League which is 3 tier from top, which doesn't make sense because top league reserved for the founders. 90% of clubs will support original Champions League, you win your league, you will play there, full stop.

I hope fans vote, but we've all seen with clubs like Barca supposedly fan owned, still make terrible decisions. We've seen United protest and still Glazers stayed in power. United diehards broke away and the club continued, with more plastic fans.

EPL just finished new TV deal btw. It's a record number, bigger than rest of Europe, in Spain it stayed same in Italy it went down, so EPL is biggest pie so it seems new fans will always watch star leagues, regardless of City Chelsea United Newcastle Liverpool owned by oil or playing with money and playing games for sponsorship instead of for fans.

[tokeweed]

Yeah, all the players Liverpool wanted but couldn't afford have suddenly become mediocre players. A team that spent Benfica €100 million for Nunez should not be complaining about substandard players or how poorly other teams handle transfers. Perhaps you forgot that we also know how to do away with poor players.

It's one thing to make a shitty transfer. It is a completely another one to take the business approach you have taken.
I think nobody did it in football so far, and we'll see how that experiment will turn out. Boehly has no clue what he's doing, that is clear.

____________________________

Really curious to see what the City verdict will be. Even a minor points deduction would hurt them a lot, but there's no way City will be punished like that.

I think they'll get away with it with no punishment given.  They found a loop hole and even if there were some shenanigans going on behind the scenes, I think nobody could make a case against Man City as everything was done legally...   Technically.  

It was Guaradiola that's giving a hint that the club could get away with it.  He stayed with the club which he would've otherwise quit if he knew City were going to get caught of doing anything illegal.  The minute he saw the club's shenanigans were air tight, he stayed.  

[Igebotz]

It was Guaradiola that's giving a hint that the club could get away with it.  He stayed with the club which he would've otherwise quit if he knew City were going to get caught of doing anything illegal.  The minute he saw the club's shenanigans were air tight, he stayed. 

Pep is a business coach; he has looked at other possibilities in Europe, and there are no open positions at any top-tier club; he was not going to leave Manchester City to sit on the beach waiting for a top-tier job offer. He knew full well that City would not get away with 115 charges; such a large number of charges is difficult to get away with. Pep's next target is PSG; he does not coach a low-budget team.

Their lawyers will defend each one individually; even Saul GoodMan will be unable to help them in this case.

[swogerino]

It was Guaradiola that's giving a hint that the club could get away with it.  He stayed with the club which he would've otherwise quit if he knew City were going to get caught of doing anything illegal.  The minute he saw the club's shenanigans were air tight, he stayed. 

Pep is a business coach; he has looked at other possibilities in Europe, and there are no open positions at any top-tier club; he was not going to leave Manchester City to sit on the beach waiting for a top-tier job offer. He knew full well that City would not get away with 115 charges; such a large number of charges is difficult to get away with. Pep's next target is PSG; he does not coach a low-budget team.

Their lawyers will defend each one individually; even Saul GoodMan will be unable to help them in this case.

I think whatever the decision maybe against Manchester City I am sure Pep is a coach which any top tier team would love to have and I think any of such teams would love to have him.Of course it would be difficult for him to get to Real Madrid as Ancelotti is well respected there yet I am sure at Bayern Munchen I don't think there would be a lot of problems to go there.I also think though that his best shot if everything goes wrong at City would be to go to Paris.I think Paris needs to win something in Europe and for me Pep is the best choice to achieve that.

[un_rank]

It was Guaradiola that's giving a hint that the club could get away with it.  He stayed with the club which he would've otherwise quit if he knew City were going to get caught of doing anything illegal.  The minute he saw the club's shenanigans were air tight, he stayed.  

Pep in a statement actually said he was more likely to stay if they got relegated than if they won the treble again.

Pep is a business coach; he has looked at other possibilities in Europe, and there are no open positions at any top-tier club; he was not going to leave Manchester City to sit on the beach waiting for a top-tier job offer.

I do not think Pep is a business coach, I honestly do not even think I am sure what that means. Players and coaches work for the pay, of course there is passion involved too, but the pay is a fairly significant factor for them, nothing wrong in that.
Pep can also make an opening in any of the top-tier clubs, except Madrid maybe, and he has no problem staying on the sidelines too, he left Barcelona to rest for a year before going to Bayern.

Pep's next target is PSG; he does not coach a low-budget team.

I have no idea where this agenda came from. A top coach manages top clubs and that becomes an issue? Normally, a coach takes a dip in form before going for a lower job, cause the top jobs are no longer available, they do not take on charity cases.

- Jay -

[tokeweed]

It was Guaradiola that's giving a hint that the club could get away with it.  He stayed with the club which he would've otherwise quit if he knew City were going to get caught of doing anything illegal.  The minute he saw the club's shenanigans were air tight, he stayed. 

Pep is a business coach; he has looked at other possibilities in Europe, and there are no open positions at any top-tier club; he was not going to leave Manchester City to sit on the beach waiting for a top-tier job offer. He knew full well that City would not get away with 115 charges; such a large number of charges is difficult to get away with. Pep's next target is PSG; he does not coach a low-budget team.

Their lawyers will defend each one individually; even Saul GoodMan will be unable to help them in this case.

We'll see...  I could be wrong but I think he would've already left if he knew the shenanigans at Man City would tarnish his reputation.  And I think he was all ready going to leave the club right before Ferran Soriano, Txiki and the oilers had a sit down with him.  The next couple of days Guardiola had a press conference and told everybody that he trusts the club did nothing wrong.

What does that mean?  The loop hole is air tight.  Lolol.  But again we'll see...

[Igebotz]

Pep's next target is PSG; he does not coach a low-budget team.

I have no idea where this agenda came from. A top coach manages top clubs and that becomes an issue? Normally, a coach takes a dip in form before going for a lower job, cause the top jobs are no longer available, they do not take on charity cases.

This is not an agenda; it is what Pep does. Ancelloti was not dip in form when he accepted the Eveton job. Top coaches will occasionally take on difficult tasks to show their ability to succeed with a low-budget team. Pep only works with formidable teams; he cannot last long at a low-budget club.

We'll see...  I could be wrong but I think he would've already left if he knew the shenanigans at Man City would tarnish his reputation.  And I think he was all ready going to leave the club right before Ferran Soriano, Txiki and the oilers had a sit down with him.  The next couple of days Guardiola had a press conference and told everybody that he trusts the club did nothing wrong.

What does that mean?  The loop hole is air tight.  Lolol.  But again we'll see...

I bet he looked at the open possibilities and saw nothing positive before retracting his statement. He's an intelligent dude. Saying that if City ever was caught or accused of misconduct, he would walk away, and the next season, they got caught in 115 charges, and Pep became a motivational speaker instead of walking out as promised..

[buwaytress]

Quick answer as to why others got penalised and City didn't: others admitted and accepted wrongdoing, City has denied each and every one of those 100+ allegations.

Back to the action, pretty excited to see Toney back in action. He's probably leaving in the summer but I feel he might be convinced to stay one more season with the club that stood by him over the last half-year. No other game more important than tomorrow's though. We need to keep the distance betwixt Gooner and Citeh wide!

[Igebotz]

Quick answer as to why others got penalised and City didn't: others admitted and accepted wrongdoing, City has denied each and every one of those 100+ allegations.

Yeah I mean Todd Boehly literally drove the entire Chelsea board to the UEFA office to show them the only time we went against the rule that the UEFA didn't see. I mean this is how a proper club should be run. City deserves to be relegated and strip off some of the league title for cheating On hundred and fifteen times.

Back to the action, pretty excited to see Toney back in action. He's probably leaving in the summer but I feel he might be convinced to stay one more season with the club that stood by him over the last half-year. No other game more important than tomorrow's though. We need to keep the distance betwixt Gooner and Citeh wide!

He's what Liverpool is lacking but the fans are not ready for this conversation yet.

[cryptofrka]

So, Toney returns with a goal. Brentford looks way better with him in the team, he'll be enough to keep them up in the Prem.

He's what Liverpool is lacking but the fans are not ready for this conversation yet.

I do rate the guy, but I feel his level is enough for a team fighting for Europa League, not for the top prizes. I hope he stays with Brentford, although I could see WH, Spurs, Wolves etc having a strong interest.

[un_rank]

This is not an agenda; it is what Pep does. Ancelloti was not dip in form when he accepted the Eveton job. Top coaches will occasionally take on difficult tasks to show their ability to succeed with a low-budget team. Pep only works with formidable teams; he cannot last long at a low-budget club.

Ancelotti took a major dip in form before taking up the Everton job. He was sacked by Madrid in 2015, took him a year to get his next job in Bayern and was sacked in 2017, he took up the Napoli job a year later and was sacked within one year.

He was sacked three times on the spin before he took the Everton job, I do not know what else is a dip in form besides that. Top coaches do not take up charity cases, they coach top clubs, till their tactics stop working and they find it difficult to get other top jobs.

It is an agenda when you say, Pep cannot last on a low budget when you have not seen him in that situation.

- Jay -

[Igebotz]

So, Toney returns with a goal. Brentford looks way better with him in the team, he'll be enough to keep them up in the Prem.

He's what Liverpool is lacking but the fans are not ready for this conversation yet.

I do rate the guy, but I feel his level is enough for a team fighting for Europa League, not for the top prizes. I hope he stays with Brentford, although I could see WH, Spurs, Wolves etc having a strong interest.

Darwin Nunez leads your attack, but... Toney is not good enough for a top team like Liverpool. A player who is better than Darwin Nunez in every offensive area of the game? I knew Liverpool fans were not ready for this discussion. This is the same team that hired Benteke and A. Carrol as top attackers.

Never argue with a Liverpool fans about player's quality.

Ancelotti took a major dip in form before taking up the Everton job. He was sacked by Madrid in 2015, took him a year to get his next job in Bayern and was sacked in 2017, he took up the Napoli job a year later and was sacked within one year.

He was sacked three times on the spin before he took the Everton job, I do not know what else is a dip in form besides that. Top coaches do not take up charity cases, they coach top clubs, till their tactics stop working and they find it difficult to get other top jobs.

Only coaches who take on difficult jobs get sacked as some point. It's part of the game and not every sack was as a result of poor performance. Tuchel case for example.

It is also an agenda when you say, pep cannot last on a low budget when you have not seen him in that situation.

Because no low-budget team would give him £500m+ to build a new team, as he always does before winning. When you work with a low-budget club, you must work with whichever players they can afford; you have no other choices.