Redslo

You failed the racist test by assuming the American women were white. You also may have failed a sexism test. But more seriously, the problem I had with the three lists is the relative difference between black presence on the ugly lists and absence on the good looking list. This list, for example, raises no such concerns (except for the person who created the web addresses inability to count, which might actually have been caused by a headline writer who couldn't count, but got to fix his or her mistake): http://www.thesportster.com/soccer/top-10-ugliest-premier-league-players-of-all-time/?view=all Then there is this list: http://www.thesportster.com/soccer/top-10-ugliest-premier-league-players-of-all-time/?view=all The original list from caughtoffsides is not loading for me but I found the same list (absent pictures) here: http://www.mirror.co.uk/sport/row-zed/giroud-crowned-premier-leagues-hottest-5144632 Interestingly, this list from 9 years ago has no black players which might also be an indication of racism. http://www.whoateallthepies.tv/lists/225/top_10_ugliest_.html Yes, you can't win.

I think Lambert was taking all the scorable free kicks.

Toby is very good, not that we actually have him.

Assuming you are talking about this: http://www.caughtoffside.com/2015/02/14/video-top-10-hottest-and-ugliest-players-in-the-premier-league-arsenals-olivier-giroud-collects-award/ I find it interesting that six of the ten ugliest players look black while Nacer Chadli is the closest thing to a non-white in the good looking list. I think something other than an objective evaluation of looks is going on here. And don't think of this as an American criticizing England. The article makes it clear that the voters were 250 American women. On the other hand, I know you are not talking about this list: http://fcnaija.com/news/1230/meet-the-epls-10-most-ugly-players because Mane is not on it. But still five of the top ten are black so again I doubt it is purely an unbiased analysis of looks. On the other hand, the author of the article is "Olakunle Brown" and it is posted on "Nigeria's Number One Football Website." My attempts to learn more about him reveal that he has written an article about Samuel Eto'o being racially discriminated against in a jewelry store become some Nigerians had used fake credit cards there a few weeks earlier. And I cannot figure out whether Brown picked his own ugly list or whether it came from somewhere else. In any case, I have seen Mane's face on TV many times and I never thought he was ugly. And I am suspicious when black players dominate the ugly lists (and are missing from the good looking lists) even though they are a distinct minority in the premier league. And those 250 American women really annoy me.

I found this quote strangely interesting: With the curtain set to fall on the Chilean’s first season in England, he maintains that he has not suffered from any hint of ‘second season syndrome’ and that he found the 2013/14 campaign more of a challenge.

Thank you.

Can you provide a link for this information? thank you.

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Or their big game with Toronto FC on May 27.

I think they would in the sense that (at the right price) everyone would want him. For some clubs, say Bournemouth, the right price is probably 10 million pounds and 25K a week. Clubs like that won't bother bidding, but they would certainly want him. More than half, I would say. Basically only three clubs could afford his wages unless he wants out of Liverpool so badly he would take less that 100K somewhere else. (Given Mourinho's comments about Shaw last summer, I suspect Chelsea would not pay as much as he seems to want.)

Give him the president's award tonight. This certainly warrants it.

The real problem with footballers taking lots of money to be set for life is that they (like many of us) don't know how to handle their money. I suspect many of their agents are set for life, however. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/news/article-2896066/Is-biggest-swindle-hit-football-100-players-lose-30million-investment-scheme-collapses-amid-huge-debts.html http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/21790728

Unless the club is playing a lucrative friendly in Kalamazoo, the players will be done with the season. No doubt, many of the players will want to get out of town right after the last game.

I said that, but I wasn't an expert then.

No, but I will take your post as confirmation.

It was the moment when the USA officially became as good as England in international football. Now, of course, we are better. Yes, but too old I would think to be viewed as an understudy for Forster. Might be right though given that Foster's full recovery is not guaranteed.

I think it makes sense to say he should stay at a club where he would get lots of playing time because that would better develop his skills. Liverpool is not necessarily that club but any club that would buy him right now would be worse for him. Maybe he should play out his contract and then go somewhere on a free transfer. Setting aside the questions of what you might think of Liverpool as an English person with your understandable biases, Liverpool's history and world wide popularity are real assets that can and should be converted into success on the field. It looked like that was happening last year but they botched the transfers this season. If FFP is loosened (as is being suggested) the current ownership may sell out because they were relying upon Liverpool's natural advantages to help them relative to a club like Manchester City which is dependent on richer owner investment. The ownership's real problem is that their baseball knowledge of how to intelligently run a sports club has not transferred as well as they expected and they have chosen poorly in deciding to whom to give control of the checkbook. But the situation is not irretrievable. If, for example, they hired Les Reed away from us and gave him the necessary authority (which would probably mean firing current management), I think things would improve for them. I just hope they do not do that or anything like that with some other competent (in baseball terms) general manager. Thanks for the link. That being said, I have actually subscribed to the Times so I could read articles like this and I cannot find it on my Ipad version of the Times. It is an outrage. I understand it to be 20 million for Lovren, 25 for Lallana, and 4 for Lambert=49.

I just posted "I Make Predictions (Round 38 plus)."

With any other club I would agree, but has QPR shown any sign of that kind of good business planning. Keep in mind how much money they lost in the Championship last year. It doesn't seem like a lot of players had their salaries significantly reduced by the prior year's relegation. Oops. I added this reply before I ready your followup.

Someone needs to work on their attitude.

Do you mean this guy? He is not much younger than Forster. http://talksport.com/football/transfer-spotlight-europes-most-wanted-goalkeeper-being-chased-liverpool-newcastle

Links http://www.financialfairplay.co.uk/ Note this quote: Both the Premier League and the Championship's FFP rules work on a broadly similar concept to UEFA's (with owner injected equity excluded from Break Even). However, given the increased TV deal and the larger permitted loss in the Premier League, a similar rule change here would not have a huge effect. Although at first glance, Chelsea might look to be a winner from any PL rule change, they would still be constrained by the restriction on increasing the annual wage bill by a maximum of either £4m a year, or an uplift in commercial income. Interestingly, this wage-rise cap would also restrict clubs like Everton and Southampton from getting to the top-table (even if owner cash injections were permitted for FFP purposes and if they had an owner willing to roll the dice). Quite what the Liverpool owners would think of a potential PL change would be interesting; they cited FFP as one of the reasons they bought club. A rule change in the Premier League would make it a real struggle to get as close to Man City as they did last season. http://www.bbc.com/sport/0/football/32784375 http://www.liverpoolecho.co.uk/sport/liverpool-fc-owners-set-disappointed-9282200 As I argued on my blog, overall FFP currently helps Southampton: http://redsloscf.blogspot.com/2015/01/financial-fair-play-friend-or-foe.html

As always, good researching. (Unless you happen to just be a Fleetwood Town fan, in which case--good club picking.)

I would prefer them to lose and we have another 6-1 easy win.

I don't think we could pay the wages of 20 million pound players especially if we would have to give comparable wages to the better players who are already here.