Football

[DarloRich]

We’ve talked about this and grudgingly accepted it’s allowable up to the 17th minute, ie for children. Anything above that can get in the bin

Acceptable compromise.

You are better men than me. I MIGHT agree for some awful tragedy but only rarely!

Trouble with that is you then get the argument that those who were older are somehow more 'loyal'.

In the group I go with the question is : Were you at Histon on that Tuesday night as a way to judge loyalty.

the use of the term 'low block' to describe a team just getting players behind the ball

agree

players not celebrating if they score against their old club.

Agreed - very silly.

 

[Haywain]

In the group I go with the question is : Were you at Histon on that Tuesday night as a way to judge loyalty.

Yep. Been there (Histon), done that (Tuesday night). Mind you, I didn't go to see us concede 5 away to Gateshead at Carlisle. But then, to be fair, nor did our manager at the time!

 

[SuspectUsual]

Yep. Been there (Histon), done that (Tuesday night). Mind you, I didn't go to see us concede 5 away to Gateshead at Carlisle. But then, to be fair, nor did our manager at the time!

Ah, the beauty of having a company car back in the day, and a job where I could structure store visits around Halifax's distant away midweek games and get to the closer ones for free. Dartford away on a freezing cold Tuesday night to watch us lose an FA Trophy game in extra time at about 1030pm; Oxford City on a Thursday night. Happy days. And leaving Bradford at 515 on a Tuesday to come home to Calderdale, and in the few minutes it took to drive down the M606 deciding that Blyth Spartans away was a much better use of my time

 

[43096]

Things that are wrong with modern football:

• VAR
• Media hype over the Premier league being the best thing ever when you have just watched a drab 0-0 draw between Wolves and Everton
• Half and half scarfs
• Plastics
• Tourists
• use of the word fanbase/fanbases
• Pyros
• Tifos
• XG and other made up statistical nonsense ( Only AG matters)
• FIFA
• Players writhing about on the floor as if shot when not even touched
• Sports washing/Nation state ownership
• use of the word "limbs" to describe a celebration
• Clubs being "a project"
• Off side flags raised 17 hours after we all know the player is off side
• A hand ball rule that no one seems to understand
• Signs asking X player for his shirt
• The old boys club of most pundits who wont tell the truth we all see or criticise players obviously cheating.
• Clapping on X minute for a fan you have never heard of having died
• socials posts asking for fans to clap on X minute because Y person ( a BIG fan of the club) has died
• Lying on the floor behind a wall
• managers who look EVERYWHERE but the camera during an interview

ah - I feel better now!


Since when did players play for fans?

I will add:
Arsene Wenger

In particular all the stupid ideas he keeps coming out with as FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development. Ideas which, if he was still managing Arsenal, would have had him in an apoplectic rage.

And also..
Gianni Infantino
Peace Prizes

 

[DarloRich]

And also..
Gianni Infantino
Peace Prizes

100% - i just used FIFA in my list to cover a multitude of sins!

 

[Kite159]

At least West Ham is making the bottom of the table a bit more of a fight this year, level on points with Nottingham in 17th and a point below Spurs (all be Spurs have a game in hand).

Although knowing Spurs, they will probably win the Champions League and still end up finishing 18th to drop to the Championship next year

 

[gg1]

At least West Ham is making the bottom of the table a bit more of a fight this year, level on points with Nottingham in 17th and a point below Spurs (all be Spurs have a game in hand).

Although knowing Spurs, they will probably win the Champions League and still end up finishing 18th to drop to the Championship next year

And that's only one of two ways there could be a club playing in both the Championship and the Champions League next season. It's not entirely beyond the realms of possibility that Forest could both win the Europa League and be relelgated.

 

[Haywain]

It appears that the Championship play-offs are going to be extended to six teams from next season, using a similar format to the National League.

 

[SuspectUsual]

It appears that the Championship play-offs are going to be extended to six teams from next season, using a similar format to the National League.

Got to give Spurs a fighting chance

(And it isn’t the same as the National League - we have one legged semi-finals with the second and third placed teams at home)

 

[Haywain]

(And it isn’t the same as the National League - we have one legged semi-finals with the second and third placed teams at home)

Hence using the word similar. Keeping the same number of matches would have been better but I suppose that they couldn't see the wood for the trees money.

 

[Vinyl_Lap]

Crazy to think now that a team that finishes 8th in the Championship could potentially get promoted. Surely that's just asking for trouble. Look at Luton Town. Even though they finished 3rd in their promotion year, they simply couldn't handle the Premier League and subsequently found themselves relegated twice to League 1. The last time a team finished 6th and won the play-offs was Blackpool in 2010, and apart from a play-off run following their return to the Championship, they also soon found themselves relegated down to League 1. Looking at last season, if this was implemented, Millwall would've been entitled to the play-offs despite finishing 24 points adrift of Sheffield United in 3rd!

 

[Haywain]

Look at Luton Town. Even though they finished 3rd in their promotion year, they simply couldn't handle the Premier League

Even though we had a (slim) chance of avoiding relegation right up to the last week of the season? We handled it considerably better than the two teams who got automatic promotion the same season.

 

[gg1]

Looking at last season, if this was implemented, Millwall would've been entitled to the play-offs despite finishing 24 points adrift of Sheffield United in 3rd!

One proposal I read a number of years ago I liked the sound of was to not have a fixed number of teams in the play offs, instead limit it to those teams who finish within 10 points of 3rd, so some seasons you might only have 2 clubs, other seasons there could be 6. If the 3rd place team finished 11 points ahead of 4th, they go up automatically with no play offs.

(And it isn’t the same as the National League - we have one legged semi-finals with the second and third placed teams at home)

Something else I'm in favour of, giving home advantage to the teams who finished higher in the league is perfectly reasonable.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Crazy to think now that a team that finishes 8th in the Championship could potentially get promoted. Surely that's just asking for trouble. Look at Luton Town. Even though they finished 3rd in their promotion year, they simply couldn't handle the Premier League and subsequently found themselves relegated twice to League 1. The last time a team finished 6th and won the play-offs was Blackpool in 2010, and apart from a play-off run following their return to the Championship, they also soon found themselves relegated down to League 1. Looking at last season, if this was implemented, Millwall would've been entitled to the play-offs despite finishing 24 points adrift of Sheffield United in 3rd!

I don’t think it’s as simple as that.

You mention Blackpool in 2010. They finished 21 points behind the second automatic promotion place. Last season Sunderland finished fourth and won the playoffs having finished 24 points behind second placed Burnley

And how promoted teams acquit themselves in the premier league is more about recruitment and adapting than it is about the previous season’s finishing position.

Again, take Sunderland and Burnley. Last season Burnley 24 points better over 46 games; this season Sunlun 21 points better after 29 games (ie 33+ points better pro-rata to 46 games, so a 57+ point swing.)

It’s all about the summer - recruit well, build a team, have a strong bench

 

[Vinyl_Lap]

One proposal I read a number of years ago I liked the sound of was to not have a fixed number of teams in the play offs, instead limit it to those teams who finish within 10 points of 3rd, so some seasons you might only have 2 clubs, other seasons there could be 6. If the 3rd place team finished 11 points ahead of 4th, they go up automatically with no play offs.


Something else I'm in favour of, giving home advantage to the teams who finished higher in the league is perfectly reasonable.

I like that idea!

 

[Haywain]

Things that are wrong with modern football:

Every other match being called a derby just because the teams have something in common, rather than a genuine rivalry.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Every other match being called a derby just because the teams have something in common, rather than a genuine rivalry.

And the stupid names for some of them

The M69 derby

The M23 derby

And thinking Middlesbrough have a derby with anyone at all

 

[150249]

And the stupid names for some of them

The M69 derby

The M23 derby

And thinking Middlesbrough have a derby with anyone at all

The M23 derby is the worst offender because it's always the most boring game. The two this season have produced 1 goal.

 

[Haywain]

And the stupid names for some of them

The M69 derby

The M23 derby

They refer to ours as the M1 derby, but at least it is a genuine rivalry. In contrast the media refer to derby matches when we play Stevenage, Northampton, Cambridge and franchise but there's no rivalry with those.

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Mar 2026 ==

The M23 derby is the worst offender because it's always the most boring game. The two this season have produced 1 goal.

I don't even know who would be involved in the M23 derby (or the M69).

 

[1D54]

And the stupid names for some of them

The M69 derby

Kind of makes sense with City one end of it and Cov the other. Meanwhile in between Barwell refer to games against Nuneaton as the 158 derby (arriva bus service)

 

[brad465]

I don't even know who would be involved in the M23 derby (or the M69).

The M23 derby is Crystal Palace vs Brighton. I do find it odd this rivalry is stronger than Palace vs Millwall or Charlton Athletic, though since Palace returned to the Premier league, the M23 rivals have met constantly, with the latter two being in the Championship or League One.

 

[Falcon1200]

Oxford United v Swindon Town has become known as the A420 derby, although really it should be the City of Dreaming Spires v Somewhere Else.....

 

[150249]

Meanwhile, one of the most historic and most prestigious rivalries in the country, Manchester United vs Liverpool, doesn't really have its own name yet.

 

[DarloRich]

And thinking Middlesbrough have a derby with anyone at all

They do: Darlington. It just hasn't been played since 1986

 

[SuspectUsual]

They do: Darlington. It just hasn't been played since 1986

Well, there’s the Poolies as well I suppose but they’re more your level than the Smogs

Apropos Darlo, I drove past the Reynoldsdome yesterday, it’s looking a bit tired. Hopefully the gold heskeylators inside are still gleaming

 

[DarloRich]

Well, there’s the Poolies as well I suppose but they’re more your level than the Smogs

we haven't played the hangers for over a decade now (sigh)

 

[Xenophon PCDGS]

The M23 derby

Is that the Northern Premier League-West Division matches between Wythenshawe and Wythenshawe Town? Both grounds are in the M23 postal code area.

 

[SuspectUsual]

Is that the Northern Premier League-West Division matches between Wythenshawe and Wythenshawe Town? Both grounds are in the M23 postal code area.

It isn’t, but perhaps it should be

 

[Old Yard Dog]

Reading 2 Bradford 1

Yay got our own back today winning in the 97th minute! Another poor game must thank our goalkeeper. Same applies regarding fans and players, though manager substitutions scored the goals!Funny old game football!

I think you mean Bradford City

== Doublepost prevention - post automatically merged: 6 Mar 2026 ==

I will add:
Arsene Wenger

In particular all the stupid ideas he keeps coming out with as FIFA’s Head of Global Football Development. Ideas which, if he was still managing Arsenal, would have had him in an apoplectic rage.

And also..
Gianni Infantino
Peace Prizes

One good idea Arsene Wenger did come up with was a more sensible definition of offside more in line with what the original legislators had in mind when they first wrote it in 1863.

He has lobbied for football to go back in time and stop using technology to draw lines to determine if attackers are marginally ahead of the last defender. Instead, he wants offside to only occur if there is space/daylight between the attacker and the last defender.

This is to be trialled in Canada.

(The number of defenders between attacker and goal was reduced from three to two in 1925)

 

[SuspectUsual]

One good idea Arsene Wenger did come up with was a more sensible definition of offside more in line with what the original legislators had in mind when they first wrote it in 1863.

He has lobbied for football to go back in time and stop using technology to draw lines to determine if attackers are marginally ahead of the last defender. Instead, he wants offside to only occur if there is space/daylight between the attacker and the last defender.

This is to be trialled in Canada.

OK, so this could lead to more goals. But it will do absolutely nothing to prevent argument, and there's a strong argument that it will in fact make it worse.

Offside is a line decision. There will always be someone a millimetre the right side of the line and someone a millimetre the wrong side of the line. All this does is move the line, in that respect.

But how is "space/daylight" defined? A body part? A loose fitting shirt? If its body parts, which ones? If it's all of them, can we now expect to see defenders running towards their goal without using their arms because running normally means their protruding arms might play a striker onside? And how is the daylight measured, if not by drawing lines? The judgement of a linesman, often not keeping up with play because players run faster than he can? If it's that, we may as well stick the last few years in the bin and go back to what we had before VAR. If it isn't a linesman, its some form of camera based line drawing, and that means arguments about tiny distances

Wenger was a revolutionary as a manager and was great for the game, but as an administrator he's a nightmare