***Official*** English Football Season 2020-21

[dontcloseyoureyes]

Every sponsor City have has a "Messi clause" in their contract which allows the club to re-negotiate terms if he joins the club. You'll also notice that City have signed three big new sponsorship deals in the last month or so. Messi will largely pay for himself, especially if he sticks with the CFG past his time at the main club.

Mbappe has refused to move to Manchester twice already. Has literally said that he loves Pep and would like to play for him, but not the club. His mind could change of course, but we'd have to wait until his contract ran out, as there is no situation in which the Qatari owners of PSG would sell their prized asset to Abu Dhabi. Haaland does have ties to the club and there's optimism that he could be persuaded, but his agent is Raiola and our manager is Pep Guardiola - so there's stumbling blocks there.

If I were a betting man I'd have money on none of the three ever suiting up for the club. Bet it all on someone annoyingly **** but with flashes of brilliance like Darwin Nunez or something.

 

[Lillian Thomson]

You always learn new stuff about teams when your own team plays them, especially if you haven't played them very often in the recent past. Sometimes the information is interesting and sometimes can be useful. Discovering that "Anal crying contest" is an anagram of "Accrington Stanley" doesn't seem too useful at present but I guess you never know.

 

[Uppercut]

You always learn new stuff about teams when your own team plays them, especially if you haven't played them very often in the recent past. Sometimes the information is interesting and sometimes can be useful. Discovering that "Anal crying contest" is an anagram of "Accrington Stanley" doesn't seem too useful at present but I guess you never know.

This knowledge makes for an absolutely top-tier pub quiz question.

 

[flibbertyjibber]

Got to love them, just don't google it like I just did.

 

[duffer]

Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac and Sokratis all gone this window. Result, ya?

 

[JOJOXI]

Really confused by the Kabak to Liverpool deal. What I have read is it is a loan with an option to buy. What do Schalke get out of this - lose one of their most exciting assets and their starting centre back for a meagre loan fee.

I would normally presume its only an 'option' in name and is just to dodge FFP - you cannot register Kabak as an £18mil signing in the accounts if he might not even join. But surely if anyone in England of leading clubs won't have to worry about FFP its Liverpool. Presuming this is only an option in name and he is certain to move in the summer why not just register the move now - after all they agreed a fee for an 'option' to buy.

If it is truly an option to buy then I don't see why Schalke have accepted it - they are a couple wins away from finding themselves in with a chance of survival and you could find yourself in a position where you get relegated by a couple points and are wondering if Kabak still being there could have kept you up - that could be the difference between Europa League football in 2022-23 or playing 3rd division football in 2022-23 as hard to see how they manage their debts if they go down

 

[sledger]

Buying players (defenders no less) of a team that is going to be relegated is always a bit of an eyebrow raiser for me.

 

[sledger]

Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac and Sokratis all gone this window. Result, ya?

AMN being sent away on loan may also be good. A shame, as he is handy, and I quite like him, but the rumours re: him having an attitude problem do not seem to be going away.

 

[BoyBrumby]

Ozil, Mustafi, Kolasinac and Sokratis all gone this window. Result, ya?

As long as one doesn't allow the mind to drift to how many millions we've spunked on them over the years, yes, yes it is.

Like a cleansing vomit after a particularly grim night out on the turps.

Seriously Mustafi must be our worst signing ever from a financial point of view. Was seemingly on a one man mission to forever destroy the tired old cliche of "ruthless German efficiency" and cost a bomb too. At least Ozil sold some shirts overseas.

 

[sledger]

Rather feels like we've been here before though. I can remember having similar feelings when Denilson, Arshavin, Bentdner and Squillaci were all terminated/released.

 

[duffer]

Yeah, it's great to get high earners who are crap off the wage bill but then we're still making signings like Willian.....

 

[Uppercut]

Buying players (defenders no less) of a team that is going to be relegated is always a bit of an eyebrow raiser for me.

This is a weird take because over the past 5 years or so I can't actually think of a more successful basic transfer strategy than shopping at relegated or relegation-threatened teams. Robertson to Liverpool, Maguire to Leicester, Gueye to Everton, etc.

 

[chris.hinton]

AMN being sent away on loan may also be good. A shame, as he is handy, and I quite like him, but the rumours re: him having an attitude problem do not seem to be going away.

He will fit in well with us then lol

 

[JOJOXI]

Setting up a Football Draft for anyone interested - will be based on current PL players with a maximum of one player from a single club in a drafters XI. Let me know if you are interested in the following thread.

http://www.cricketweb.net/forum/threads/football-draft.84231/#post-4542345

 

[GIMH]

Can I play but draft all League 2 players from one club instead?

 

[sledger]

This is a weird take because over the past 5 years or so I can't actually think of a more successful basic transfer strategy than shopping at relegated or relegation-threatened teams. Robertson to Liverpool, Maguire to Leicester, Gueye to Everton, etc.

Haha I just think of teams buy Damien Francis

 

[Uppercut]

Haha I just think of teams buy Damien Francis

Nigel Quashie going for his 7th relegation in a row, Harry Redknapp saying he's "pleased to bring in some players who have been in this situation before and know what it takes".

 

[flibbertyjibber]

This is a weird take because over the past 5 years or so I can't actually think of a more successful basic transfer strategy than shopping at relegated or relegation-threatened teams. Robertson to Liverpool, Maguire to Leicester, Gueye to Everton, etc.

Ben Godfrey has done well at Everton too.

 

[Uppercut]

French football crisis deepens as TV rights offers fail to reach reserve price

Bids from Amazon, Discovery and DAZN were deemed unsuitably low and the governing body said it will now decide on a fresh approach for selling its TV rights

www.theguardian.com

I wonder if we'll see fire sales. Ligue 1 has somehow sustained quite a high standard despite being an atrocious spectator product, and when its players join the PL they tend to adjust as well as anyone.

 

[JOJOXI]

French football crisis deepens as TV rights offers fail to reach reserve price

Bids from Amazon, Discovery and DAZN were deemed unsuitably low and the governing body said it will now decide on a fresh approach for selling its TV rights

www.theguardian.com

I wonder if we'll see fire sales. Ligue 1 has somehow sustained quite a high standard despite being an atrocious spectator product, and when its players join the PL they tend to adjust as well as anyone.

Do think it's a ridiculously underrated league - people say farmers league only PSG are good and then suddenly Lyon are good because they beat Man City when they couldn't even qualify for Europe despite the 18 other teams supposedly being dreadful but hope we do not see a fire sale. However, it's hard to see how French sides stay afloat when they ended last season early in the knowledge a more lucrative TV contract started this year only for it to not be fulfilled almost instantly. You would presume PSG would be relatively okay despite this situation and Nice could maybe do well taken over by Ineos maybe they could mop up some French talent who want to stay in France at reduced prices. If you are Lyon too maybe you can get good fees for Aouar who may attract interest from multiple clubs, Caqueret sounds like a really promising young midfielder too from what I've heard so they could probably at least get something closer to market value for their players if they are only selling a couple of really high in demand players, especially with their reputation as being hard negotiators.