25/26 Football thread DEAD, USE A NEW ONE

[mim731]

9 hours ago, FLips said:

Wouldn’t go as far as to say I like Arsenal but I’m happy it wasn’t City again. As insufferable as their fans might be, it must have been brutal going from the Invincible season to nothing for 20+ years.

It has been a long wait, that I will say. 

I'm very happy. It was somewhat unexpected last night and I'm not sure it'll feel real until we lift the trophy.

1 hour ago, johnnyboy said:

Yes, I feel if anything saves Spurs it'll be West Ham's inability to win the last game.

Yeah I definitely agree. Leeds might be safe but they won't roll over either so it'll be more about that result than anything. Suspect West Ham fail to win so it won't matter what Spurs do. 

[Ironic Indie Lad]

I'll say this much, football content creators really need to chill out with the AI. Even Romano posts relentless AI slop now.

I had a cursory glance at instagram this morning and the amount of absolutely awful AI posts of Arteta, Saka, Wenger and Henry lifting the trophy etc.

If only there were really images of the players and fans celebrating...

[tiger_rick]

Pleased for Arsenal. I like the way they've built under Arteta and the resilience shown to come back after a couple of close calls. It's nice to see some patience at the top of the game after the normalising of the hire and fire culture. I'm also happy it's anyone but Man City.

Always hearing how everyone hates Arsenal fans. Last year everyone hated Liverpool fans. Traditionally they hated United fans. It's almost like all fanbases are a bunch of wankers and the rise of social media and content creation has really driven that home. 

Makes me feel very old that it's Arsenal's first title for 22 years. Funny that the gap between Arsenal's titles in 91 and 98 was only 7 years but felt like a lifetime. Football wasn't the same sport between 1991 and 1998. The Premier League, SKY TV, the backpass rule, the rise of the all-seater stadium, the incredible foreign imports, a different world. George Graham's Scotenaccio with stereotypical offside trap, big front man and drink culture vs. Wenger's expansive team, stacked with incredible foreign talents and a culture that would become the norm with "sports science" which was a million years apart and yet built on almost the same defence. Mad that 2004-2026 doesn't feel as long as that did.

[mim731]

5 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Makes me feel very old that it's Arsenal's first title for 22 years. Funny that the gap between Arsenal's titles in 91 and 98 was only 7 years but felt like a lifetime. Football wasn't the same sport between 1991 and 1998. The Premier League, SKY TV, the backpass rule, the rise of the all-seater stadium, the incredible foreign imports, a different world. George Graham's Scotenaccio with stereotypical offside trap, big front man and drink culture vs. Wenger's expansive team, stacked with incredible foreign talents and a culture that would become the norm with "sports science" which was a million years apart and yet built on almost the same defence. Mad that 2004-2026 doesn't feel as long as that did.

I made the same point to a friend last night, especially about the bit in bold and he reminded me that because we're quite a bit older it doesn't feel as long simply because it's proportionally a smaller amount of time lived than it would have been between 1991 and 1998. When you're a child, 7 years is an eternity, When you're in your 40s, no so much.  A small sombre moment that we quickly moved past in favour of celebration admittedly, but an interesting thought.  

[tiger_rick]

Play-off final KO time has now been announced. It's 3:30pm for Hull City vs. Boro. Or 4:30pm for Hull City vs. Southampton, who have an appeal being heard today. Situation is a shambles.

I'll start this bit with "I'm biased but" which I'm sure you all realise anyway, however, I don't understand how Middlesbrough can be reinstated. I've no issue with Boro, I've got some good freiends who are Boro fans and they're a real top fanbase generally. I get that the play-offs is a cup competition and if Boro were the only team that were cheated by Southampton, then the punishment should be to overturn that result. But they weren't. Southampton have admitted to spying on Oxford and Ipswich, which surely means they were systematically spying and are only admitting the ones they've been caught for. So surely you have to either replay the whole play-offs including Wrexham or you just disqualify Southampton. They seem like the  only fair options from a sporting POV. The former obviously screws Hull City over but is fair on Millwall, Boro and Wrexham. The latter does promote Hull City, which is unusual, but I don't see any grounds for one team to be reinstated over all of the others who've been cheated too.

The crazy thing is, 3 weeks ago, we'd have given anything to have one shot at Wembley for promotion. Three weeks later and everything, bar our win at Millwall, has been a complete farce. Fans from 3 clubs have been fucked over. Our players and management have had to prepare for two possible opponents, and will only have 2 days with any clarity. 

I'll feel very bitter if we lose now. The whole situation is murky as.

[SuperBacon]

1 hour ago, tiger_rick said:

Football wasn't the same sport between 1991 and 1998. The Premier League, SKY TV, the backpass rule, the rise of the all-seater stadium, the incredible foreign imports, a different world.

[SuperBacon]

10 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

Fans from 3 clubs have been fucked over

Just want to add to this (and similarly, from a position of bias) so have the overwhelming majority of staff at the club. Of course the fans are the most important factor that have been affected, but this goes further and wide and affects so many aspects of the football club.

It's disgusting that a few people have chosen to do this and put so much at risk.

[Carbomb]

1 hour ago, mim731 said:

I made the same point to a friend last night, especially about the bit in bold and he reminded me that because we're quite a bit older it doesn't feel as long simply because it's proportionally a smaller amount of time lived than it would have been between 1991 and 1998. When you're a child, 7 years is an eternity, When you're in your 40s, no so much.  A small sombre moment that we quickly moved past in favour of celebration admittedly, but an interesting thought.  

Also, the 2010s were not a real decade. Just an extension of the 2000s.

[mim731]

33 minutes ago, tiger_rick said:

 I'll feel very bitter if we lose now. The whole situation is murky as.

It's a shitshow, and no matter what happens it feels like there will be legal wranglings around this for months. Also means an asterisk of sorts if Boro do go up, which I'm sure they won't care about but it leaves a bad taste in the mouth.  The best, simplest outcome does feel like Hull going up by winning the final, but the cleanest outcome isn't necessarily what happens. It's just a mess isn't it? 

[Carbomb]

Absolutely a fucking mess, and it doesn't seem like there'll be any satisfactory solution. It's a fair point that, because Southampton fucked over other clubs and not just Boro, it shouldn't be a given that Boro get their place back, but, at the same time, there's also rick's original point about any kind of reschedule or giving Hull automatic promotion fucks over tens of thousands of fans who'd booked tickets, hotels, and train fares, and, additionally, the businesses themselves that took the bookings. Complete shit-show that's put everyone involved in a difficult position. Whatever is decided, Southampton should get the book thrown at them for this.

[Glenryck Pilchards]

@tiger_rick I completely understand your frustrations and I have a great deal of sympathy for Hull and the fans, but I think was the only outcome on the table. 

Boro caught the spy red-handed and reported it before the first leg kicked off. The fact that the match affected was in a knockout competition, the only sporting sanction at the EFL's disposal was either expulsion or award Middlesbrough a default 3-0 win. 

I think what is muddying the waters is the fact that Southampton have received a 4 point deduction for next season. I believe that they have received a 3 point deduction for the Oxford match and a 3 point deduction for the Ipswich game. But due to the fact they have admitted their cheating they had 1 point knocked off for each indiscretion. 

I think Southampton's appeal is frivolous, and I think there will be more allegations coming out of the woodwork in the coming weeks. A Watford fan on X called lournos has been spot on with his assessment of Southampton since the accusations came to light. He believes that Southampton have been spying every club in the Championship since Eckert took the helm.

I can see Saints will receive further punishment down the line, not to mention countless lawsuits with Wrexham at the front of the queue for litigation. 

Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Oxford, Hull, Millwall and Wrexham have all been directly affected by Southampton's actions. 

As I said in my previous post I would have been happy with Southampton kicked out and Hull automatically getting promoted, but this is the EFL's biggest money-spinner of the year, there was no way they were not going to have their showpiece postponed. 

Good luck on Saturday Rick, and if we bump into each other I will get you a pint buddy! 

[The King of Old School]

2 hours ago, tiger_rick said:

Play-off final KO time has now been announced. It's 3:30pm for Hull City vs. Boro. Or 4:30pm for Hull City vs. Southampton, who have an appeal being heard today. Situation is a shambles.

I'll start this bit with "I'm biased but" which I'm sure you all realise anyway, however, I don't understand how Middlesbrough can be reinstated. I've no issue with Boro, I've got some good freiends who are Boro fans and they're a real top fanbase generally. I get that the play-offs is a cup competition and if Boro were the only team that were cheated by Southampton, then the punishment should be to overturn that result. But they weren't. Southampton have admitted to spying on Oxford and Ipswich, which surely means they were systematically spying and are only admitting the ones they've been caught for. So surely you have to either replay the whole play-offs including Wrexham or you just disqualify Southampton. They seem like the  only fair options from a sporting POV. The former obviously screws Hull City over but is fair on Millwall, Boro and Wrexham. The latter does promote Hull City, which is unusual, but I don't see any grounds for one team to be reinstated over all of the others who've been cheated too.

The crazy thing is, 3 weeks ago, we'd have given anything to have one shot at Wembley for promotion. Three weeks later and everything, bar our win at Millwall, has been a complete farce. Fans from 3 clubs have been fucked over. Our players and management have had to prepare for two possible opponents, and will only have 2 days with any clarity. 

I'll feel very bitter if we lose now. The whole situation is murky as.

Whilst a different offence, I'm old enough to remember the 89/90 play offs which this whole farce kind of reminds me of.

The league finished...

3rd Newcastle

4th Swindon

5th Blackburn

6th Sunderland

Swindon beat Sunderland in the final, but were then relegated straight away due to financial dodginess. Sunderland therefore went up. Newcastle complained it should have been them because they finished third. Rovers never got a mention although you could argue we should have replayed Sunderland instead (probably wasn't mentioned because the hearing wasn't heard until weeks after the final). Ultimately we lost out by being defeated directly by the 'cheaters'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Football_League_play-offs

Edited May 20 by The King of Old School

[FLips]

12 minutes ago, Glenryck Pilchards said:

@tiger_rick I completely understand your frustrations and I have a great deal of sympathy for Hull and the fans, but I think was the only outcome on the table. 

Boro caught the spy red-handed and reported it before the first leg kicked off. The fact that the match affected was in a knockout competition, the only sporting sanction at the EFL's disposal was either expulsion or award Middlesbrough a default 3-0 win. 

I think what is muddying the waters is the fact that Southampton have received a 4 point deduction for next season. I believe that they have received a 3 point deduction for the Oxford match and a 3 point deduction for the Ipswich game. But due to the fact they have admitted their cheating they had 1 point knocked off for each indiscretion. 

I think Southampton's appeal is frivolous, and I think there will be more allegations coming out of the woodwork in the coming weeks. A Watford fan on X called lournos has been spot on with his assessment of Southampton since the accusations came to light. He believes that Southampton have been spying every club in the Championship since Eckert took the helm.

I can see Saints will receive further punishment down the line, not to mention countless lawsuits with Wrexham at the front of the queue for litigation. 

Middlesbrough, Ipswich, Oxford, Hull, Millwall and Wrexham have all been directly affected by Southampton's actions. 

As I said in my previous post I would have been happy with Southampton kicked out and Hull automatically getting promoted, but this is the EFL's biggest money-spinner of the year, there was no way they were not going to have their showpiece postponed. 

Good luck on Saturday Rick, and if we bump into each other I will get you a pint buddy! 

A lot of "in hindsight" obvious signs coming out now too, with Southampton players bragging all season that the Eckert knew all of the oppositions formations and tactics before every match, and also apparently Eckert has admitted it but feigned ignorance that "it's legal in European leagues so thought it was legal here" which reading between the lines would indicate he's done it for every match he's been in charge.

I can see the claims of fairness from both sides, but ultimately due to the playoff changes next season I don't think the EFL will budge as this is the last year they'd have to deal with it in this format anyway.

Edited May 20 by FLips

[tiger_rick]

5 minutes ago, Glenryck Pilchards said:

Good luck on Saturday Rick, and if we bump into each other I will get you a pint buddy! 

Good luck to you too, pal. Always liked Boro and won't begrudge them a place in the PL. Certainly been closer than we have over the 9 years since we came down together in 2017.

5 minutes ago, The King of Old School said:

Whilst a different offence, I'm old enough to remember the 89/90 play offs.

The league finished...

3rd Newcastle

4th Swindon

5th Blackburn

6th Sunderland

Swindon beat Sunderland in the final, but were then relegated straight away due to financial dodginess. Sunderland therefore went up. Newcastle complained it should have been them because they finished third. Rovers never got a mention although you could argue we should have replayed Sunderland instead (probably wasn't mentioned because the hearing wasn't heard until weeks after the final). Ultimately we lost out by being defeated directly by the 'cheaters'.

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/1990_Football_League_play-offs

Yes, that's a fair point. I've seen the Swindon precedent referenced a few times recently. 

[SuperBacon]

6 minutes ago, FLips said:

lot of "in hindsight" obvious signs coming out now too, with Southampton players bragging all season that the Eckert knew all of the oppositions formations and tactics before every match

In fairness to the players, who are all quite rightly absolutely fuming, I don't think it's bragging to say that your manager gives you a lot of information and tactical knowledge before each game. I'd be surprised if they didn't to be honest. It genuinely baffles me what you could gain by watching training sessions that you couldn't just garner with sharp analysis of the 400 Championship games a season, its just a marginal advantage for a massive risk. Pricks.

There is the rumbling of players, and staff, possibly suing the club as well for lost potential earnings. Can't see that flying, perhaps if Southampton had got promoted and then kicked back down they might have had a case.

I think the biggest crime of all of this is I had a great "gag" lined up with a selfie of me and the Hull end in the background, and was gonna post in the "pic of yourself thread" and tag Rick.

A shame also as I'd have liked to have seen a team promoted on the Saturday and a team relegated on the Sunday, and only one of those will happen now.