Other games 4/3/26

[darrenpotter]

Morocco declared afcon champions fucking madness

[justme]

pep as been at City for 10 years spent probably 5/6 billion and only won 1 champions league.I'd say that was a massive failure

[jinky]

If it wasn't for Pep Klopp might have won a lot more titles. Statistics can be deceptive.
Fergie under achieved in Europe because of Barca. Wenger likewise because of Fergie.
Klopp too because of Pep and RM.
They were all great managers

[justme]

If it wasn't for the officials being bent as fuck we'd have won at least 2 more titles. We were robbed by Kavanagh and also Atkinson. the latter missed a clear penalty on Keita in the home game against Leicester, we lost both titles by 1 and 2 points.

[Nineteenx]

If it wasn't for Pep Klopp might have won a lot more titles. Statistics can be deceptive.
Fergie under achieved in Europe because of Barca. Wenger likewise because of Fergie.
Klopp too because of Pep and RM.
They were all great managers

Whiskey face under achieved in Europe as he didn’t get the free hand outs they got in the Prem

A consequence of getting free hand outs was when they needed to really step up and win it for themselves they couldn’t

[Nineteenx]

If it wasn't for the officials being bent as fuck we'd have won at least 2 more titles. We were robbed by Kavanagh and also Atkinson. the latter missed a clear penalty on Keita in the home game against Leicester, we lost both titles by 1 and 2 points.

These are the facts

[redebreck]

Morocco declared afcon champions fucking madness

Senegal have protested, saying AFCON is corrupt. Wonder how long this will go on?

[Steveo]

I remember they walked off when the penalty was awarded late on. The real farce is that they weren't simply told OK IF you do that and walk you default. I mean - their manager took the piss... In effect the competition awarded his tantrum... Brahim had to wait 20 minutes to take hi penalty.. .. That's not on

[Insidious]

I see Forest and Villa are still alive in the Europa League.

[Nineteenx]

I remember they walked off when the penalty was awarded late on. The real farce is that they weren't simply told OK IF you do that and walk you default. I mean - their manager took the piss... In effect the competition awarded his tantrum... Brahim had to wait 20 minutes to take hi penalty.. .. That's not on

It was never a pen

[Nineteenx]

I see Forest and Villa are still alive in the Europa League.

Thats good isn’t it? For the coefficient

What happened to Pakace thry were leading when I fell asleep 😂

[Insidious]

Thats good isn’t it? For the coefficient

Certainly is for us, a side that looks more likely to finish fifth than fourth.

I'm sure most know, but for anyone casually reading who doesn't; with the co-efficient, each nation is awarded points based on their respective club's performances in the Champion's League, Europa League and Conference League.

Those points totals are then divided by the number of clubs within said competitions (with England it was 9 clubs) and the nation gets a rank based on the average score. points totals are then divided by the number of clubs it has competing in European competition, with nations ranked in the table by their average scores.

Loss - no co-efficient points.
Draw - 1 co-efficient point.
Win - 2 co-efficient points.

There are also bonus points awarded based on finishing positions in the League tables and crucially, the the amount of points awarded is higher in the Champion's League, so basically (for selfish reasons) the fact that Arsenal topped the League phase is really good for us, for example.

The side finishing top in the league phase in the Champion's League boosts the co-efficient by 12 points, whereas top of the Europa one would be worth 6 points and then 4 for the Conference League league phase table.

So right now, things look good.

What's even better for our chances is how the draw has worked out. Atletico and Barcelona are playing each other, so a Spanish side is getting knocked out - that obviously helps us as one of them isn't going to be progressing to the next round and thus isn't going to be boosting their co-efficient. Equally, with both Germany and Spain trying to catch us, one of those nations will have progress limited because.....you guessed it........Real Madrid will be playing Bayern Munich, so one of them isn't furthering their cause, which either further limits Spain or further limits Germany.

There are no guarantees and it can fall apart quickly if the English sides do poorly enough and/or (approximating here) we maybe got a Real Madrid v Barcelona final, but as it stands we look decent for 5th being enough to see us get Champion's League football next season.

Which we all know we need. Irrespective of whether Slot is still here next season (imagine if we DO win the Champion's League - can't see him being sacked after a League title and a Champion's League and remaining in the Champion's League going into what would be his 3rd season) or not - the squad is imbalanced and needs continued work.

I am firmly of the belief that every player we bought in the Summer is a good player, but do feel that the profile/priority was somewhat out of sync and more work is required for that more balanced and more complete squad, especially if we wish to get closer to the 2-for-each-position spot that is oh-so-helpful for competing in multiple comps. If we are in the Champion's League next season and correctly plug a few of the holes, then there's no reason the future can't look pretty bright, even if I don't see us competing for a League title until 27/28 or 28/29 rather than in 26/27.

[Steveo]

It was never a pen

Doesn't matter mate... And he pulls him by the shirt neck backwards to the floor.. soft maybe - but they looked on VAR and they are often given.

Look at it like this: What happens in an FA cup final if Slot or Pep gathers their team and storms off the pitch leaving tens of thousands of fans in the stadium and millions of viewers to guess IF they will come back...? because the manager thinks it isn't a penalty? Officials get things wrong and decisions are subjective BUT the manager cannot be the one to decide the outcome.. He can choose to walk off with his team BUT he defaults the game. Then the actual penalty.. I mean 20 minutes the lad had to wait to take it. That's crazy and it should never have been "handled' so poorly. What is amazing is that the result stood at all for any time.

It was a ridiculous action by the manager and those hosting the tournament - effectively putting the Senegal manager in authority. How was it even allowed? Made a farce. Try doing that in a world cup final or the Euros.. and you will lose by default.



And here are the rules

1. The Immediate Forfeit (3-0 Loss)
Under FIFA rules (and the Laws of the Game), if a team refuses to play or leaves the pitch without the referee's permission, the match is abandoned. The Disciplinary Committee then officially declares a forfeit, which is recorded as a 3-0 loss for the team that walked off—regardless of what the score was at the time.

[redebreck]

Ben (Gannon?) Doak made a brief substitute appearance for Bournemouth tonight against the filth.
There's a few ex-Liverpool players around playing for other clubs in the Prem.

[redebreck]

And here are the rules

1. The Immediate Forfeit (3-0 Loss)
Under FIFA rules (and the Laws of the Game), if a team refuses to play or leaves the pitch without the referee's permission, the match is abandoned. The Disciplinary Committee then officially declares a forfeit, which is recorded as a 3-0 loss for the team that walked off—regardless of what the score was at the time.

No argument with that.
HOWEVER
The match wasn't abandoned.
Senegal were awarded the trophy.
The Disciplinary Committee failed to declare a forfeit.
Nothing was done about what happened until two weeks (?) afterwards.
What a mess. If the procedures had been followed then fair enough.
But they weren't.