This Weekend's Fixtures & Two Others (30 Sept/01/02/03 Oct)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Saturday, 30th September 2023
Aston Villa v Brighton & Hove Albion, 12:30 TNT Sports
Bournemouth v Arsenal, 15:00
Everton v Luton Town, 15:00
Manchester United v Crsytal Palace, 15:00
Newcastle United v Burnley, 15:00
West Ham United v Sheffield United, 15:00
Wolverhampton Wanderers v Manchester City, 15:00
Tottenham Hotspur v Liverpool, 17:30 Sky Sports

Sunday, 1st October 2023
Nottingham Forest v Brentford, 14:00 Sky Sports

Monday, 2nd October 2023
Fulham v Chelsea, 20:00

Tuesday, 3rd October 2023
Luton Town v Burnley, 19:30

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Somewhat pub from me for now.

[Mac76]

Villa 3-0 up, two for Watkins and an Estupinian OG, which figures cos ofc he's in my FPL team - that's two OGs and two sendings off in the last three gameweeks for me and this one's barely even started :rolleyes:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

4-1 now, Fati then Watkins hat-trick.

I can't tell where Watkins' shot was going though it was blocked so early on.

Probably will have to be given as the hat-trick goal.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 5-1 Brighton, Ramsey!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Villa 6-1 Brighton, Douglas Luiz. Wow.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Manchester United: Onana, Dalot, Lindelof, Varane, Amrabat, Casemiro, Mount, Fernandes, Rashford, Hojlund, Pellistri
Subs: Bayindir, Maguire, Martial, Eriksen, Garnacho, Evans, McTominay, Van de Beek, Hannibal.

Crystal Palace: Johnstone, Ward, Guehi, Andersen, Mitchell, Doucoure, Hughes, Ayew, Eze, Schlupp, Mateta
Subs: Matthews, Holding, Clyne, Ebiowei, Richards, Riedewald, Rak-Sakyi, Ozoh, Ola-Adebomi

[Marc Overmars]

Brighton. :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton: Pickford, Young, Tarkowski, Branthwaite, Mykolenko, Garner, Onana, Gueye, McNeil, Doucoure, Calvert-Lewin.
Subs: Patterson, Keane, Danjuma, Harrison, Virginia, Beto, Godfrey, Chermiti, Dobbin.

Luton: Kaminski, Burke, Lockyer, Bell, Kabore, Mpanzu, Nakamba, Doughty, Brown, Ogbene, Morris.
Subs: Andersen, Berry, Woodrow, Adebayo, Chong, Mengi, Krul, Giles, Johnson.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Newcastle: Pope, Trippier, Schar, Lascelles, Gordon, Isak, Almiron, Anderson, Burn, Longstaff, Guimaraes.
Subs: Dubravka, Dummett, Joelinton, Tonali, Ritchie, Targett, Hall, Livramento, Murphy.

Burnley: Trafford, Taylor, Beyer, Brownhill, Roberts, Berge, Ramsey, Cullen, Amdouni, Al-Dakhil, Koleosho.
Subs: O'Shea, Cork, Rodriguez, Zaroury, Vitinho, Ndayishimiye, Larsen, Odobert, Muric.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham United: Areola, Coufal, Zouma, Aguerd, Emerson, Soucek, Alvarez, Ward-Prowse, Paqueta, Bowen, Antonio.
Subs: Fabianski, Kudus, Fornals, Mavropanos, Cornet, Ings, Ogbonna, Benrahma, Kehrer

Sheffield United: Foderingham, Amedhodzic, Egan, Robinson, Bogle, Souza, Hamer, McAtee, Thomas, Archer, McBurnie.
Subs: Davies, Trusty, Basham, Brewster, Traore, Norwood, Davies, Slimane, Larouci.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves: Sa; Dawson, Kilman, Toti; Semedo, Lemina, Gomes, Ait-Nouri; Neto, Cunha, Hwang.
Subs: Bentley, Doherty, S. Bueno, Traore, Silva, Kalajdzic, Jonny, Sarabia, Hodge.

Man City: Ederson; Walker, Dias, Akanji, Ake; Nunes, Kovacic; Foden, Alvarez, Doku; Haaland.
Subs: Ortega, Carson, Phillips, Grealish, Gomez, Gvardiol, Bobb, Lewis.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 1-0 Citeh!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Newcastle 1-0 Burnley, Almiron.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton 0-1 Luton! :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 1-0 Sheffield United, Bowen.

Man Utd 0-1 Palace, Andersen!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton 0-2 Luton. whoa.

[Mac76]

Brighton. :rose:

can't work out what's going on with them - they're either very good or toilet

[Mac76]

Everton 0-2 Luton. whoa.

:lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

West Ham 2-0 Sheffield United, Soucek.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Everton 1-2 Luton, Calvert-Lewin!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Alvarez.

[Marc Overmars]

Alvarez is very good. Sadly.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Wolves 2-1 Citeh, Hwang!

[Mac76]

Wolves 2-1 Citeh, Hwang!

The player Pep called 'the Korean guy' :haha:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Newcastle 2-0 Burnley, Isak pelanty!

[Marc Overmars]

Ten Hag. :rose:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Man Utd 0-1 Palace, FT!! :haha:

[Marc Overmars]

Wolves win!!

Lovely.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Get in Wolves!

[Marc Overmars]

Neverton are so bad. :lol:

Surely they can’t fluke their way out of going down again.

[Mac76]

if Liverpool and spuds draw we finish the day second, one point behind CIteh...

[Mac76]

Neverton are so bad. :lol:

Surely they can’t fluke their way out of going down again.

let's hope not - perhaps we can make it certain by buying DCL in January

[Globalgunner]

Osimhen from Napoli might be available in Jan. Mighty Brouhaha between him and the club going on right now. Our Brazilian CEO needs to get his visa and wallet ready

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Tottenham: Vicario, Porro, Van de Ven, Romero, Udogie, Bissouma, Sarr, Kulusevksi, Maddison, Son, Richarlison
Subs: Forster, Skipp, Hojlbjerg, Emerson Royal, Solomon, Davies, Phillips, Veliz, Donley.

Liverpool : Alisson, Gomez, Van Dijk, Matip, Robertson, Mac Allister, Szobozslai, Jones, Salah, Gakpo, Diaz.
Subs: Kelleher, Endo, Konate, Nunez, Elliott, Jota, Tsimikas, Gravenberch, Alexander-Arnold.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

let's hope not - perhaps we can make it certain by buying DCL in January

I'd rather buy an ACL.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Mac Allister shanks wide.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great double save from Vicario.

[Mac76]

I'm sorry, I know a draw would be better for us but I still want 'pool to thrash these f*ckers

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Yellow for Jones.

That's a red.

[Mac76]

Jones sent off ffs - f*ck this game

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Gary Neville. :lol:

What is he on.

Red for Jones!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Disallowed goal for Diaz.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-0 Son. :sick:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Richarlison hits the post.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Shame both of these sides can’t lose. Liverpool have ridden their luck ridiculously this season away from home. And although I don’t mind him on a personal level, it is high time Crocodile Greeky gets knocked back on his ample backside

[HCZ_Reborn]

1-1 Gakpo

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 Gakpo!

Now end the match.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Shame both of these sides can’t lose. Liverpool have ridden their luck ridiculously this season away from home. And although I don’t mind him on a personal level, it is high time Crocodile Greeky gets knocked back on his ample backside

He's just Neil Ruddock with an Aussie accent to me.

[HCZ_Reborn]

He's just Neil Ruddock with an Aussie accent to me.

He comes across as quite a likeable bloke it has to be said, shame who he is coaching

[McNamara That Ghost...]

What a chance for Diaz.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

1-1 HT.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Great save from Alisson!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

And another one off Son!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Disallowed goal for Son!

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Second yellow for Jota. :doh:

[Marc Overmars]

Oh dear. Spurs if they don’t win this. :lol:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

I think Liverpool should just line up their remaining players on the goalline.

[Marc Overmars]

Matip own goal :rolleyes:

Spuds win it. :sick:

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Stunning strike.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

2-1 FT.

[Letters]

:sick:

[Mac76]

Bloody scousers can't get anything right

Spuds on the other hand being so jammy this season, 12 mins extra time, sending offs, Jorginho etc, am starting to get worried about where this is going...

[Letters]

I’m pissed off but I’m not worried.
They’re being lucky, that doesn’t keep happening because maths.
They are stronger this season, but nah, they’re still Spurs.

[Marc Overmars]

There’s a good chance they’ll finish in the top 4 given the fact their schedule is so straight forward. Shouldn’t be underestimated what a wave of positivity can do though, we’ve experienced it ourselves once we pulled ourselves out of our misery and found a connection with the team again.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

PGMOL issue an apology to Liverpool.

Apology FC is PGMOL.

The use of VAR is so embarrassing.

[Letters]

There’s a good chance they’ll finish in the top 4 given the fact their schedule is so straight forward. Shouldn’t be underestimated what a wave of positivity can do though, we’ve experienced it ourselves once we pulled ourselves out of our misery and found a connection with the team again.

The schedule is a good point.
And yes they are riding a wave of positivity, but they’re also being lucky.
Top 4 is certainly plausible given how awful Chelsea and Utd are being so far, but it’s still early days. I’d back City, Liverpool and us for Top 4 which only leaves one space. If Utd don’t get their act together then Spurs are a plausible option

[HCZ_Reborn]

Liverpool issue a club statement over Saturday’s game talking about “exploring options”

Oh fuck right off. Every club has been shafted by VAR or more importantly the people using it. Maybe if you’d managed to keep 11 players on the pitch you might not have lost.

Maybe they can explore options to address Joel Matip being a terrible defender

[Mac76]

Liverpool issue a club statement over Saturday’s game talking about “exploring options”

Oh fuck right off. Every club has been shafted by VAR or more importantly the people using it. Maybe if you’d managed to keep 11 players on the pitch you might not have lost.

Maybe they can explore options to address Joel Matip being a terrible defender

if 'exploring options' means legal action against the FA/PGMOL then I'm good with it, someone has to make these f*****s accountable for their dreadful decisions

[Marc Overmars]

They do need to be held accountable but aside from internal action I don’t see what else you can do? It’s pathetic that these discussions are still being had but legal action over poor officiating in sports seems bizarre to me.

Liverpool just need to suck it up because almost every team in the league has been on the wrong end of a shit VAR decision.

[HCZ_Reborn]

if 'exploring options' means legal action against the FA/PGMOL then I'm good with it, someone has to make these f*****s accountable for their dreadful decisions

What’s the legal remedy they could realistically pursue?. You can’t really legislate against human error

Neither can a court decide whether someone can carry on in a job if they are a fuck up

[Mac76]

What’s the legal remedy they could realistically pursue?. You can’t really legislate against human error

Neither can a court decide whether someone can carry on in a job if they are a fuck up

No idea, I just thought that's what they were implying by exploring options - if you think it means something else then tell me, I don't know

[HCZ_Reborn]

No idea, I just thought that's what they were implying by exploring options - if you think it means something else then tell me, I don't know

No, I honestly can’t think of what else they might mean, I just fail to see what will come of any such exploration.

[Mac76]

No, I honestly can’t think of what else they might mean, I just fail to see what will come of any such exploration.

sure but i still think that anything that calls the officials into question is fine by me, some of the decisions we see are a total joke

[Letters]

I've been an apologist for VAR. My general thought is it's the "Right Thing To Do". Why keep getting things wrong when you can correct them?
But the implementation of it is shockingly bad. They just need a bit of common sense. One could argue that the offside decision against Spurs, while wrong, wasn't a "clear and obvious error". He was onside but it was fairly tight. So in a sense I'm OK with that wrong decision standing, or would be IF they were consistent. To be consistent, let that Utd goal stand. And was it Fulham we "scored" against a couple of years back but Saka forgot to trim his toenails that morning so was a pixel offside. That sort of thing is bollox and is spoiling the game. It's getting to the point where you almost can't celebrate some goals because the spectre of VAR hangs over everything.

While we're here, the handball rule is bullshit. It's ridiculous that defenders are now forced to play with their arms behind their back lest they give away a penalty when the ball is blasted at them. These problems don't feel that difficult to solve, like I said a bit of common sense is needed.

[Mac76]

I've been an apologist for VAR. My general thought is it's the "Right Thing To Do". Why keep getting things wrong when you can correct them?
But the implementation of it is shockingly bad. They just need a bit of common sense. One could argue that the offside decision against Spurs, while wrong, wasn't a "clear and obvious error". He was onside but it was fairly tight. So in a sense I'm OK with that wrong decision standing, or would be IF they were consistent. To be consistent, let that Utd goal stand. And was it Fulham we "scored" against a couple of years back but Saka forgot to trim his toenails that morning so was a pixel offside. That sort of thing is bollox and is spoiling the game. It's getting to the point where you almost can't celebrate some goals because the spectre of VAR hangs over everything.

While we're here, the handball rule is bullshit. It's ridiculous that defenders are now forced to play with their arms behind their back lest they give away a penalty when the ball is blasted at them. These problems don't feel that difficult to solve, like I said a bit of common sense is needed.

all agreed though i think the arms behind the back thing has gone on for a long time

I cannot fathom those decisions in favour of Man Ure (Rashford) and Citeh (can't remember who) where players were deemd 'not interfering with play' - for me any offside player is interfering as the goalie and defenders have to keep half an eye on them - they should scrap that rule IMO

[HCZ_Reborn]

I've been an apologist for VAR. My general thought is it's the "Right Thing To Do". Why keep getting things wrong when you can correct them?
But the implementation of it is shockingly bad. They just need a bit of common sense. One could argue that the offside decision against Spurs, while wrong, wasn't a "clear and obvious error". He was onside but it was fairly tight. So in a sense I'm OK with that wrong decision standing, or would be IF they were consistent. To be consistent, let that Utd goal stand. And was it Fulham we "scored" against a couple of years back but Saka forgot to trim his toenails that morning so was a pixel offside. That sort of thing is bollox and is spoiling the game. It's getting to the point where you almost can't celebrate some goals because the spectre of VAR hangs over everything.

While we're here, the handball rule is bullshit. It's ridiculous that defenders are now forced to play with their arms behind their back lest they give away a penalty when the ball is blasted at them. These problems don't feel that difficult to solve, like I said a bit of common sense is needed.


I agree RE: you feel like you can’t celebrate a goal in case VAR takes it away.

And clear and obvious error seems to be taking five minutes to look for a needle in a haystack, but at the same time making actually ludicrous decisions. You’d be better off letting a machine algorithm do it and then the decision would be made in seconds and less to argue about.

Perversely though I think with VAR, without it. It’s the imperfections and the controversy that adds to the game rather than detracts from it. It generates discussion, arguments etc but given that it was meant to eliminate all that it’s a bit of a joke.

[HCZ_Reborn]

sure but i still think that anything that calls the officials into question is fine by me, some of the decisions we see are a total joke

I just think a better way to do that would be internally (not within the PGMOL because it feels like they’ll just close ranks) but the premier league as an organisation stating that a VAR mistake should result in a year’s suspension from officiating at this level, and a second error should involve permanent dismissal from the league. There needs to be more diversity in terms of where referees are from in the country to prevent accusations of a Manchester based stitch up.

[Letters]

Perversely though I think with VAR, without it. It’s the imperfections and the controversy that adds to the game rather than detracts from it. It generates discussion, arguments etc but given that it was meant to eliminate all that it’s a bit of a joke.
Aye, this is the thing. You're never going to get this perfect and as you say these talking points are part of the experience.
But when the thing which is supposed to be removing or reducing these controversies that is actually adding to them it's a bit silly.
The main thing which spoils the experience is the hesitance to celebrate goals - there was always a bit of that, you'd sometimes start celebrating and then see the linesman's flag. But now you're having to wait minutes while all this nonsense goes on.

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Reed, Palhinha, Pereira, Wilson, Jimenez, Willian.
Subs: Rodak, Bassey, Decordova-Reid, Cairney, Ballo-Toure, Muniz, Iwobi, Vinicius, Lukic.

Chelsea: Sanchez, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella, Gallagher, Caicedo, Fernandez, Mudryk, Broja, Palmer.
Subs: Petrovic, Sterling, Ugochukwu, Maatsen, Washington, Gilchrist, Brooking, Matos, Madueke.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Fulham: Leno, Castagne, Diop, Ream, Robinson, Reed, Palhinha, Pereira, Wilson, Jimenez, Willian.
Subs: Rodak, Bassey, Decordova-Reid, Cairney, Ballo-Toure, Muniz, Iwobi, Vinicius, Lukic.

Chelsea: Sanchez, Disasi, Silva, Colwill, Cucurella, Gallagher, Caicedo, Fernandez, Mudryk, Broja, Palmer.
Subs: Petrovic, Sterling, Ugochukwu, Maatsen, Washington, Gilchrist, Brooking, Matos, Madueke.


Come on the cottagers…(or toilet traders as they used to be called)

[McNamara That Ghost...]

Fulham 0-2 Chelsea, Mudryk and Broja.

[HCZ_Reborn]

Fulham 0-2 Chelsea, Mudryk and Broja.

This upsets me more than the spurs result. But I guess they were going to win a game at some point

Where has Broja been before now?

[Marc Overmars]

Diaz goal VAR audio has been released.

https://www.premierleague.com/news/3718057?sf269410963=1

What a fuck up. :haha:

[Letters]

https://newsthump.com/2023/10/04/liverpool-declared-premier-league-winners-as-var-officials-admit-mistake/

:lol: