Nordic Saint

Just as long as our players have secretly been having altitude training for the last few weeks, they'll be fine at the Azteca. At Estadio Azteca’s elevation there is about 25% less oxygen available per breath than at sea level. So, you’re breathing in about a quarter less oxygen at Azteca compared with Wembley. If you're not used to it, you'll find any physical activity difficult. It takes 2-3 weeks of training at that altitude for red-blood cell changes to stabilize and for your body to adjust as best it can. Your body goes through several phases: Immediate response: Hyperventilation and increased heart rate. First days: Plasma volume drops, concentrating existing red blood cells. Higher heart rate, breathlessness, sleep disruption. Worst period Days 2–5 Heavy legs, fatigue, slower paces Weeks: Kidneys adjust blood chemistry; new red blood cells are produced. Weeks–months: VO₂ max partially recovers but never reaches sea‑level values

I don't hear Man City fans complaining about delays so I don't see why we should either. No news is good news. Hopefully, we won't hear anything for a very long time. It's just a shame the EFL inquiry was rushed through in the blazing heat of Gibson's media campaign. A few more months and it would have cooled down and there'd just have been a fine.

Mexico have only lost 2 out of 89 competitive matches at the Azteca. The only teams to beat them in any competition - Costa Rica in 2001 and Honduras in 2013 -were used to similar conditions.

If Garner and Barney-Smith both win world titles, they'll fill St Mary's for a unification bout, although they'd be wise to avoid each other for as long as possible.

Another Messi vs Mbappe final?

Orient fans discussing Galbraith and Ballard: Ballard link on Sky Transfer Centre | Leyton Orient Forum - #lofc

The difference now is that for the first time in years we have a manager who players want to play for. With a different manager, I doubt that Peretz would have wanted to stay.

It's more likely he was the Me in The Spy Who Shagged Me

I remember driving to the 2nd leg of the play-off semi-final and making the mistake of switching on BBC Radio Solent, expecting a positive pre-match build-up, only to hear Adam Blackmore talking, pretty much as you describe. Tw@t. I switched him off after less than a minute and really don't want to hear him ever again.

Why not? Leeds won the Championship trophy and Bielsa was voted EFL Championship Manager of the Year the season after their Spygate scandal.

The cloud may have a big silver lining. If we can win the Championship next season, not going up via the play-offs will be one of the best things that's happened to us in recent years. We'll have a league winners trophy and be better prepared for the Premier League, like Leeds after we beat them in the play-off final. It certainly sounds like Dragan is up for it.

Leeds United and Marcelo Bielsa win Fair Play prize at FIFA Football awards for role in Aston Villa game despite 'spygate' row | talkSPORT

This is grossly unfair of Arsenal. By encouraging the opposition to watch their training sessions less than 72 hours before a big game, they are gaining an unfair advantage by intimidating them.

Bielsa was rewarded with the FIFA Fair Play Award at the end of that season, and given the EFL Championship Manager of the Year award the following season.

Bruno Fernandes throws himself down, clutching his face and screaming, trying to get players sent off, if they make even slight contact with him anywhere above waist level, and he's just been voted Football Writers' Association Footballer of the Year for 2026. Yet many of these same sports writers wrote that filming part of a training session on a phone was something terrible.