The Premier League - 2021-2022

This looks bad.

 

It's an absolute scandal how this is still going ahead. Openly bought through corruption, slave labour in the construction, a nation with zero footballing history and yet we are still disrupting the whole of world football to push through with this ugly farce.

Disgusting.

 

I really is a complete disgrace. I would’ve thought at least one country would boycott it out of protest (I mean maybe, they will once everyone has qualified, but I very much doubt it) but not a chance.

I fully understand and support BLM, but it’s amazing how players take the knee at every game of football to support that, yet 9000 people dying to host a tournament in a completely unsuitable and unwarranted place doesn’t raise any eyebrow.

 

There was a great opportunity to right this wrong back when the Blatter regime was purged. As a ‘new broom’ Infantino could have gained huge kudos by saying “we’re different now and we’re not going to do this”, but he didn’t, proving he’s not really different at all.

 

We do have a habit in this country of talking as if its fact that if one thing had gone a different way, then a certain outcome was guaranteed.

Had the Sheff Utd goal had been given, it could have had any number of galvanising ramifications as the season wore on so as frustrating as that that single thing was, it wasn't that alone that kept Villa up.

 

As I mentioned last season, when we played Sheff Wednesday at home, Darren Moore had covid so obviously wasn't on the touchline. His assistant, Paul Williams was. Paul Williams is also black - he also had 'PW' on his club tracksuit that day.

Jon Marks and Tommy Mooney called him Darren Moore all afternoon when the camera panned to him.

I emailed the club and supporter services/Hive Live straight away during the game about this to highlight it and with the aim to stop any future claims of 'indirect' racism etc. I'll let you guess whether I got any kind of reply....or whether they stopped doing it throughout the game.

 

It was always going to be a case of the footballing world sucking Qatar's teet whilst simultaneously claiming that by being there, they are striking change from within.

 

Unfortunately it’s to be expected when you’ve got David Beckham, UNICEF ambassador, who is also happy to take £15m directly from Qatar to be the face of their tournament.

 

Have I missed something? The same thing has been reported on other sites, including the BBC.

 

If Villa had lost 1-0, they’d have still stayed up on goal difference. There were moments that contributed far more directly to our relegation, both in our games and those of our relegation rivals - Gray missing a sitter at home to Palace, Hughes conceding a stupid penalty at Sheff Utd, Mings’s last-gasp goal at Villa Park, Mariappa’s og at Brighton, Arsenal and Everton not turning up in games against Villa and Bournemouth in the closing matches of the season they were expected to at least draw. Not sure why that game often gets mentioned as key.

 

It keeps getting mentioned because it was the clearest of clear errors for which there was apparently no VAR protocol to correct. There was footage of the ball going over the line but no-one could do anything about it - like apply some common sense. However, I do agree that all those incidents listed, and many others, add up to the final table at the end of the season. The most significant in hindsight was Mings' goal because of its effect on two of the relegation contenders and not just one.

 

If you get relegated it’s due to an accumulation of events such as that VAR incident and many others, it’s not because of one single incident. Many people including the bookies thought we were safe after beating Newcastle, who knows, if we’d actually lost that game we could’ve stayed up due to approaching the other remaining games differently, or indeed other teams around us relaxing more thinking they were safer, football is funny like that. Change one thing and everything after it has the potential to change as well.

 

No, but that non-disallowed goal in the 41st minute of the game against Newcastle away in our 4th game of the season was absolutely the reason we were relegated. End of.

 

Sounds like the refs/VAR were to blame for these incidents.

 

Are you questioning his integrity?

 

I don't love Fllbert.

 

But what about Filbert?

 

Gadzooks! No, nor him.

 

Fantastic news , another few seasons of Utd mediocrity to follow .

 

Love you too boo x

 

Are you a Black Eyed Peas fan then?

 

$2 billion coming the way of EPL clubs, following a renewal of broadcasting rights in the US with NBC.

Pretty significant increase in the previous deal, which was in the region of $750 million.

For any US based fans, this means continued excellent coverage. This is also good news for those who enjoy Saturday afternoon rivers.

For Gino, it means the possibility of more money to funnel the way of Mogi.

 

With effect from when ? Do we need to stay up to get a share of it ?

 

Next season.

Probably. Although I suppose some might make it our way via parachute payments. I’m not sure how those are funded, or how the amount paid out is determined.

 

Ah well, at least our friends up the M1 may get to benefit from it next season

 

Fortunately for Newcastle , their players would have spent all week in the pool doing diving practice under new coach of “managing games “ Tom Daley.

The chlorine should prevent any of them catching viruses.

 

The new Saudi owners have upgraded the training ground in order to implement the mangers new regime .

 

Howe has Covid and will miss his first game…. Toooot! Penalty to Newcastle.