
HarvSFC
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Everything posted by HarvSFC
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Fulham have missed out on big money for Moussa Dembele, Harvey Elliott and now Carvalho from their academy in recent years.
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If Everton went down the shitter financially after taking Koeman and their fans giving it large saying they were going to crack the top four, they had a glass ceiling, etc. I wouldn't feel any sympathy for them. The same goes for Derby, their overspending/breaking of the rules just hasn't affected us directly, but it has a number of other clubs. There's a reason why they got a 21 point deduction, rather than the standard 10.
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One of the stipulations was that postponed fixtures would be played at the next available date, which was cited as one of the few positives we had for Newcastle postponing our fixture. (We could get them on a quick turnaround) Yet, here we are, a midweek where neither Southampton, nor Newcastle are playing, while three other postponed Premier League fixtures are being played and still no announcement on when the fixture will actually be played. 🤷‍♂️
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Martinez would be a bizarre appointment. He was sacked previously after 11th and 12th placed finishes, Koeman took over and finished 7th, Allardyce led them to 8th, Silva 8th and then they declined under Ancelotti and Benitez. So, what's Martinez going to do that's different to now. I don't think he's a great manager either, he's been in charge of the best Belgium team ever at their prime for six years now and has nothing to show for it. He's also another one that isn't particularly liked by Everton fans, judging by his Wiki: "On 12 May 2016, MartĂnez was sacked by the club, who were 12th with one game remaining. He had guided them to the semi-finals of both domestic cups that season, but fans had protested against his management and demanded his removal." I guess he did get relegated with Wigan, so with all this in mind, please make it happen Everton and continue to get it so wrong off the pitch.
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Yeah, from an outsiders perspective, Derby bent a load of the flimsy FFP rules to spend more than they could afford, gambling for promotion. Something to do with their stadium/sponsorship. Mel Morris was hailed as a "genius" by the Derby fans, prompting images such as the one below, and despite never achieving promotion: Obviously, Lampard, Cocu and Rooney won't have been cheap, despite their relatively inexperienced managerial careers and Rooney and Ashley Cole were there as players in recent years, again, will not have been cheap. Now, Derby and fans are crying for sympathy from those in the Championship, despite lauding it over everyone over recent years and they aren't getting it from anywhere. They still have a player they signed for ÂŁ10m in Bielik on their books, for example... I also believe Derby appealed their initial points deduction and a decision wasn't made until the season was over. Had Derby received their points deduction when originally stated, they would have been relegated and Wycombe would have stayed up, rather than playing out this current "great comeback" storyline. Now, I don't want Derby to liquidate, and I know Bury have in recent years, but I cannot see a club of Derby's size going under and believe this is just another one of those stories that usually gets put out for clubs in this situation to push a deal further forward. Ask any other neutral Championship fan and they believe their punishments are fully deserved, as I mentioned, they were spending much more than everyone else, taking play-off spots, but not achieving promotion, Derby fans were lapping it up each season and it was clear to all that if they were to continue then it was going to go tits up, which it has...
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Obviously, you have the major incident, being the penalty. Shouldn't have been one, the attacker stopped playing the ball and went for the contact with Bednarek and then it took around 3-5 minutes to award the penalty after it wasn't called in real time. However, it's the little fouls and non-contact football that's happening again. I don't think referees hate us, but every other team in this league gets in the referee's face and puts pressure on them, because it works. We don't and that's why the likes of El Ghazi and Toney can make fouls that would be a yellow had they not already been on one and ultimately get away with it. Wolves were the same yesterday. An inexperienced referee, got in his face and got cheap fouls throughout, which isn't highlighted as much, but is game changing. You know it's a bad day at the office when Wolves fans are taking the piss, posting videos on social media of Podence doing his best Shefki Kuqi impression and winning a foul from it. At the start of the season, the officials had seemingly taken note of the Euros, where the officials AND VAR went by unnoticed. Games were allowed to flow, football was allowed to have contact again, we rightly scored against Manchester United because of this new outlook. However, the big six bosses made several complaints regarding this and it's seemingly gone back to a non-contact sport again. Plenty of rules were changed midway through the last season regarding VAR and handballs and it's spoiling the game and taking away any consistency immediately. Anyway... Has Traore been wearing two sets of gloves every week in the hope that he'd finally score? Or did he know, we're the club to break droughts against. They even got Coady's first ever home goal yesterday. JWP's free-kick was world class. Up there with Wayne Thomas and Cuco Martina and his was from a dead ball. Incredible.
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Yep, and it still gets me how Newcastle and Burnley, who have only won one match after 20 and 17 matches need just another win and a Watford loss and one of them can get out of the relegation zone. Madness, any other season and one win at this stage would see you cut adrift. In other news, Leicester have only played one league fixture since Boxing Day. Rodgers' sides usually collapse in the second half of the season, wonder if the same will happen this season given the systematic break they've created.
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Take another fine to comment on how shite the ref/officials are. Never even heard of Michael Salisbury.
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The Wolves number three isn’t playing the ball either, steps over it and goes for the contact with Bednarek. Crap decision, the fact it’s taking so many viewings shows it isn’t clear and obvious.
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Chelsea would be making a ridiculous decision if they were to sell Broja. He has pace, power and the ability to pull a goal from nothing. Similar to Lukaku, but Lukaku has had four attempts at reputably major clubs and has only been successful at one of them, Inter, where the slower game suits him more. I think Broja has much better technical ability than Lukaku and is better on the ball. If we were to sign Broja and avoiding any buy back clauses, which there probably will be, I reckon we could sell him for ÂŁ100m+ if his trajectory continues and the timing is right for contracts. Please let it happen and not another Alderweireld!
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Imagine becoming one of the richest clubs in world football and appointing Howe while signing Trippier and Wood.
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Lambert - I started supporting in 2004, so missed the Le Tissier days, making Lambert my favourite Saints player of all time. He could strike a ball, pass a ball, head a ball, score penalties, score free kicks, even had some moments of beating players with skill. Only thing he missed really was pace, but he was such a good player. Ings - 2019-20 made him the best striker I’ve seen in a Saints shirt. He was pulling goals from nothing, pulling off top class goals. Shame it was quite short lived and ended the way it did. Rodriguez - Was going to join the others at one of the top four, but that injury truly done him. I know he’s forged a Premier League career still, but he was so pacey, direct and unpredictable, causing him to bring nightmares to defences. Wasn’t the same player when he returned, grew his hair out, bulked up big time and became a target man forward, which he wasn’t quite as good at. Like I say though, got a Premier League career at his home club, but could have been so much more. Pelle - The best looking Saints player. Hated the winter, but was part of our most successful team of recent years. Again, it’s a shame he chased the money in China, surrendering both his club and international careers, as I feel he still had more to offer. Was the type of player we were missing for years also, hopefully Broja can become that. For the rest, they have all had good moments, barring Carrillo whose highlight was a contract termination after becoming our record signing (I know the same can be said of Osvaldo, but he actually had talent at least!) Sharp got us over the finish line in the Championship and the 2-2 vs Portsmouth. Lee scored the good goal against Derby and got the assist in the Kelvin Davis vs Leeds match. Osvaldo tore up Kompany, hit Fonte and a Newcastle coach. Gallagher looked a prospect at one time and was an okay squad option for a time. Long had the Koeman years, his performance against Villa was overshadowed by Mane’s fastest hat trick, the Liverpool goal and now the Swansea comeback. I also thought he was a massive part of the Ings 2019-20 partnership. And of course the fastest Premier League goal. Austin was a good scorer, bagging the winner on his debut against United. Shame his ego and weight got a bit too big. Gabbiadini was fantastic when he first joined, the United cup final and our most important goal of recent years against Swansea. Then Adams, Broja and Armstrong are all pulling individual moments now. I think Broja has a higher ceiling than Lukaku and unfortunately Chelsea would be stupid to let Broja leave.
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Brentford should have just played the original result and were assumedly pretty confident after we were forced to extra time having played the majority of the match with 10 men at the weekend. Lets do the same to Newcastle. Hopefully it's a sign that performances and standards across the club are being raised again following the takeover. We know we're capable of performances like tonight, as we showed post lockdown and prior to the injury plague. Here's to the new era!
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Brentford should find some AFCON players, injuries, oh… and COVID cases at half time. Or, they’ll find the usual second half Southampton. 🤷‍♂️
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Seems like the ball went past Perraud, Salisu, Lyanco and Bednarek all a bit too easily there.
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On a day when the self-proclaimed almighty Newcastle take a defeat to League One Cambridge with their starting eleven, minus Wilson, where Everton with 11 men get taken to extra time by Hull and where Watford get smashed 4-1 by Leicester, I'll take today. Even if I did expect the worst when it went to 2-1, but fortunately that was only for a matter of seconds. It was too comfortable when we had eleven men, it felt like the typical Southampton first half performance, and in typical fashion we couldn't run out comfortable winners and had to make it a bit more interesting. Shame we couldn't give the youngsters a run out, but the experience of Long became the unlikely hero. I'm surprised we didn't hear more from Swansea trying to reverse the fixture to be played at St. Mary's given the Football League club's are supposedly feeling the loss of revenue from the last two years hard. I know we're not the glamour tie, but we usually give the whole of the Northam to away fans in the cups and you'd expect them to sell out given Swansea fans can't attend matches at home, but can away matches! Would have been more than what they received today at the least. But, I have no sympathy for Swansea not playing for a month, even if the commentators did keep crowing on about it. It's their own fault. All football clubs are going through the same situation and we've had a strong consistent matchday squad throughout. Onto the next round, which is the important thing. I'll take Boreham Wood, or Kidderminster, please.
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Damn, he looked alright in a back three against Tottenham too, but he’s hopeless as a right-back. Weird that he used to be our bright hope when we had Cedric. Now we’re spoiled at right-back.
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Is Forster trying that kick it straight out of play tactic again?
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Bale and Yoshida are back. Massive.
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Aston Villa would be taking a risk on Bissouma, given what's happening off the pitch, equally Brighton may look to cash in.
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These stats heavily favour the goalkeepers who are effectively the busiest in matches. I know McCarthy would have been one of those, so he’s an anomaly, but Areola being the best in the league, now he’s West Ham’s number two. De Gea and Mendy aren’t the 16th and 17th ranked keepers in the league. Ederson isn’t behind Pope, Meslier, Dubravka, Leno and Sanchez. This is why it’s a risk to sign goalkeepers in particular from relegated sides, as they work the hardest and get the most attention for making a save. McCarthy won our player of the season the year we almost went down and now we’re all looking for an improvement being the case in point. Johnstone was the hardest working last season, as West Brom conceded the most goals, we were second, conceding eight fewer. So, for Johnstone to feature ninth in that table, isn’t actually too good, as he conceded 26 more goals than Areola did, at a fellow relegated side. 13 more than Aaron Ramsdale did in an abject Sheffield United side. As I’ve said before, Johnstone is 28, had one Premier League season in his career and went down and some West Brom fans will be happy to see him go at the end of the season, as we will with Forster and would have with McCarthy if the extension is true. On the other hand, Henderson was one of the key differences between Sheffield United finishing 9th, conceding 39 goals and then finishing 20th, conceding 63 goals without him. I just feel as though Johnstone will be another stop gap goalkeeper and we’ll be wanting a new one before we know it, as it will become apparent that he can do the simple saves, but can’t pull off the game winning ones, which is the current issue with our current two.
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The problem with Les Reed was that he did of course have some success here, but then it felt like he believed he had “cracked” football and tried to replicate the same moves, but failed big time, ending in us completely breaking our philosophy, hitting the panic button and turning to a dinosaur in Mark Hughes. Ankersen seems a lot more planned and certainly has a better CV than when we appointed Reed, although I understand we did bring him in as a League One club, so couldn’t be too choosy. I remember when we were drawn against Midtjylland when we were at our best. In my ignorance I didn’t know who they were, other than having Tim Sparv and thought we would walk them, but they made light work of us. I see they have also won their league three times since Ankersen got involved, having never won it before. As for Brentford, they’re another Cinderella story. They have a new stadium, but even that capacity is only 17,250, such is the size of the club. They hadn’t played in the top flight since 1947, but here they are, 12th at the midway point and not really in danger of relegation in their first season. I guess there would have been question marks previously of whether Ankersen’s methods could work at the very highest level and while there still are having only been half a season for Brentford, this group now feels confident and I’m looking forward to seeing what they can do with us and if Ankersen and co. can push us up to the higher level, which is the Europa League, like he has done at his previous two clubs. And of course, Semmens and Crocker have ran us well for the past couple of years on a shoestring budget. I’m not sure why Gao didn’t sell us down the river to the first bidder/chancer, pocket the Ings, Vestergaard and JWP money alongside the PL income and run off into the sunset, but credits due, there aren’t any glaring alarm bells about this group.
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The man likes red and white stripes.