stevegrant

236 as of about 9:30

Suspect his performances so far won't have done much to convince him...

https://www.theguardian.com/technology/2016/sep/07/apple-airpods-launch-problems-with-wireless-headphones You know it's not popular when a tech review is basically just one big sarcastic put-down

Less than 300 sold so far, you'll be fine.

Clearly there's a context to that comment across 9 pages of a book, but in isolation it sounds like a very strange criticism, that it's bad for a club to want to sign central midfielders who can control a game.

I saw a flight combination earlier today for around £230. Was some hideous route via Cluj in Romania on the way out and with two changes on the way back, but would be comfortably the cheapest way of getting there.

Either/or, tbf, although mainly Inter. Why would they give a ****?

Let's face it, it's got nothing to do with the police. They are merely a shield to hide behind because they can't be arsed with the hassle of dealing with disgruntled fans who will miss out. The club is entirely within its rights to limit the away allocation to 5% of capacity, as per UEFA rules. We did the same for Vitesse last year, despite the fact they could almost certainly have filled a bigger away end, and I'm sure we'll do the same this season for our three group games and any knockout rounds, should we get that far.

No, I'm thinking of ways the club could make the Israel trip infinitely more attractive to people. Guaranteeing an Inter ticket for those who wouldn't stand a chance of getting one otherwise would be one such way. I've absolutely no doubt that they'll use the same process that they did for Midtjylland last season - if you don't collect the ticket, you have the credit on your purchase history removed.

Yeah, they've clearly worked out that this is the one people are giving a swerve because of the cost, distance, potential security issues, etc. What would be brilliant would be for the club to announce the next stages of the Inter sales process, which includes a window for "all supporters who otherwise are not eligible for this game but who attend the Hapoel Be'er Sheva away game". Can pretty much guarantee those 800 getting sold then

The club contacted all those who bought tickets on the first day (i.e. Midtjylland attendees) asking about interest in return coach transfers from Tel Aviv to Be'er Sheva on the day of the game. Fair to say they'll be running coaches, should be plenty of interest.

:lol: Let's put this nonsense into context, you're saying that Nathaniel Clyne, a player we signed on a Bosman when we got promoted to the Premier League, agreed to join us and signed a 4-year deal to be paid the same amount as Rickie Lambert was being paid in League One?! I can fully believe that Clyne's ORIGINAL contract with us was around the £25k a week mark - that's the sort of level we were paying our key players around that time, so in order to sign someone who was going to go straight into the first team, that sounds about right, but there's absolutely no way that was what we were offering AFTER he'd proven himself a consistent performer for us and been selected for the national team.

And 222 all out. 23/6 to end the innings. Oh dear.

Yeah, I suspect that's just a translation thing, in that "neutral" means "not an Inter ultra", rather than having more than half of the ground dedicated to people with no affiliation to either team.

Nope. Looking at who the other options are, and to be fair, there aren't that many: Leicester - Kasper Schmeichel, Ron-Robert Zieler, Ben Hamer Arsenal - Petr Cech, David Ospina, Emiliano Martinez, Matt Macey Tottenham - Hugo Lloris, Michel Vorm, Pau Lopez Man City - Claudio Bravo, Wily Caballero Man United - David de Gea, Sergio Romero, Sam Johnstone Saints - Fraser Forster, Alex McCarthy, Stuart Taylor West Ham - Adrian, Darren Randolph, Raphael Spiegel Liverpool - Simon Mignolet, Loris Karius, Alex Manninger Stoke - Jack Butland, Shay Given, Jakub Haugaard, Lee Grant Chelsea - Thibaut Courtois, Asmir Begovic Everton - Maarten Stekelenburg, Joel Robles Swansea - Lukasz Fabianski, Kristoffer Nordfeldt, Mark Birighitti, Gerhard Tremmel Watford - Heurelho Gomes, Costel Pantilimon, Rene Gilmartin, Giedrius Arlauskis West Brom - Ben Foster, Boaz Myhill, Jack Rose Palace - Steve Mandanda, Wayne Hennessey, Julian Speroni Bournemouth - Artur Boruc, Adam Federici, Ryan Allsop Sunderland - Vito Mannone, Jordan Pickford Burnley - Tom Heaton, Nick Pope, Paul Robinson (yes, that one) Middlesbrough - Victor Valdes, Brad Guzan, Dimi Konstantopoulos Hull - David Marshall, Alan McGregor, Eldin Jakupovic So of 61 goalkeepers registered in PL squads this season, only 15 are English. Of those, only Forster, Butland, Foster and Heaton are first-choice for their club - plus Joe Hart, assuming he'll be first pick for Torino. Butland is currently injured, and I don't think the FA are willing to consider Ben Foster anymore after he made himself unavailable for selection a few years ago. Jordan Pickford might have been selected, but he's had to withdraw from the U21s through injury, and with Hart pretty much a shoo-in to play on Sunday, it's hardly worth bringing in Paul Robinson at the age of 38, who hasn't played for England since 2007. Fairly slim pickings, with all that in mind, I guess...

I think for the Inter ones, the ID details need to be sent to Inter so they can print them onto the tickets and then send them to us. Hence why I think it's a bit odd that they're not going on sale immediately...

Ah, home end tickets. Fair enough. Would be highly skeptical of any claim to get away end ones given the ID checks that'll be in place for the away end.

I'd be very​ suspicious of those claims.

It's the law in Italy (think it might be limited to away ends) - saw around a dozen turned away in Turin when England played Italy last year because their ID didn't match the ticket.

They do - every single ticket is checked by police at the gate for the away end, not sure if it's a requirement in the home end.

This is correct. Not sure how practical is it for this sort of situation, though, unless they start selling them very soon.

Did that actually happen?!

Worth bearing in mind it's almost guaranteed that the club will do 100% collections for this one as well, due to the small allocation...

Giving it a swerve now, as you say it would be pretty tight even if we were able to make a quick getaway from the stadium. Hiring a minibus for a return journey from Tel Aviv on the day, heading straight back after the game.

Would be very surprised if you didn't get one. Reckon there's probably only around 800 or so who qualify with either Midtjylland or 12 aways, and not everyone's going to be able (or willing) to go to Israel at a month's notice.