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***Official English Football Season 2021/22***

Teja.

Global Moderator
I watched netflix documentary Sunderland Till I Die over the last few days. So, so good. Brutal and gutting though. Especially the first season. Teared up a bit a couple of times.

The first season especially is so painful.
 

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It’s definitely the best of this wave of football documentary series IMO. Spectacular failure is so much more interesting to watch than success or mediocrity. It doesn’t go out of its way to make its subjects look good either.

I wouldn’t have said it was gutting though, mostly I found it absolutely hilarious. Did you find yourself wanting Sunderland to do well?
 

duffer

Cricket Web: All-Time Legend
Speaking of documentaries, the next 'All or Nothing' season is going to be an Arsenal one.

Imagine the cringe. Would piss myself if Stan and Joshie try to come off as not being absent owners who couldn't give a flying f about the club.
 

Teja.

Global Moderator
It’s definitely the best of this wave of football documentary series IMO. Spectacular failure is so much more interesting to watch than success or mediocrity. It doesn’t go out of its way to make its subjects look good either.

I wouldn’t have said it was gutting though, mostly I found it absolutely hilarious. Did you find yourself wanting Sunderland to do well?
100%. Mostly for the recurring boomer fans who were portrayed really sympathetically in the documentary as well as a couple of really young but not overly talented players just making their way into the team. I wasn't rooting for Australia to do well in the Test documentary from a couple of years ago though so I'd imagine that I wanted Sunderland to do well in large part because I didn't have an other side in football (apart from a very casual support of Arsenal) so I had a very 'protagonist v npc' perspective of Sunderland.

I can certainly see the value of the documentary as a dark comedy though - nearly every episode had a 30 min build up of everyone from the fans, players, management and the coach building up their expectations of the side to turn a new leaf due to xyz tenous reason only from them to predictably fail again in an important match usually after being 1-0 up. It was particularly hilarious in the first season when they had a keeper who was conceding 2 goals a match due to very basic mistakes and everybody hoping to get better without addressing that elephant in the room head on.

Some other highlights included - Cattermole whinging in the beginning of the first season about how the club was failing because the other players didn't want to be there, weren't trying hard enough and did not want to move their families to Sunderland permanently only for him to have a dire season, admit he cbf playing well later on in season 2 and finally choke in the penalty shoot out in the play off (I know this wasn't a big mistake in the grand scheme of ****ups at SAFC etc). The suits from season 2 were quite often basically enacting skits from the office, first person commentary interviews to the scenes and all. Just hilarious.

 
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Ahahaha that clip.

It’s not that I have anything against Sunderland. It’s more that its current footballing culture is ultra-conservative. Pretty much everyone involved with the team is an obnoxious archetype that’s very common at grassroots level. Except for the owners, who are an obnoxious archetype that’s very common in business. I don’t want those people to succeed. But I’d be happy to see Sunderland get taken over by people who knew what they were doing and get it together.

The Bielsa one might be a good one to watch next. Narrative arc is of an oddball foreigner trying to bring his radical ideas to Sunderland’s level in the face of a lot of establishment scepticism. Though Leeds are a club I genuinely don’t like so I can’t cheer for them either haha.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
A few manure fans throwing a paddy at the news that Rashford could miss the first two months of the season after shoulder surgery.
 

Magrat Garlick

Rather Mad Witch
Norwegian champions Bodø/Glimt making an ignominious early exit in CL qualifying.

Should have supported the Qatar boycott
 

Niall

International Coach
From a purely strategic POV Steve Baker is correct.


The Tories are canny when it comes to culture wars (look at the polls) but some of the stuff when it comes to the soccer men doesn't seem clever.

The Rashford debacle last year especially which was always going to end bad for them.
 

GIMH

Norwood's on Fire
Tbf Boris was actually right today when he said he had said people shouldn’t boo the team. Priti Patel on the other hand…

Personally think the knee has ran its course but suspect recent events will mean it needs to be doubled down on. And the fuller stadia got the less booing there was, which probably gives a bit of assurance that it won’t be a disaster in full grounds come next season.
 

Spark

Global Moderator
Tbf Boris was actually right today when he said he had said people shouldn’t boo the team. Priti Patel on the other hand…

Personally think the knee has ran its course but suspect recent events will mean it needs to be doubled down on. And the fuller stadia got the less booing there was, which probably gives a bit of assurance that it won’t be a disaster in full grounds come next season.
Yeah it's one of those things that, when it's not really noticed or talked about, then people really start to wonder whether it's necessary. Then it is noticed and talked about, and, well...
 

Tangles

International Vice-Captain
A few manure fans throwing a paddy at the news that Rashford could miss the first two months of the season after shoulder surgery.
He played to the end of the season carrying the shoulder and something else (don’t recall). He delayed doing anything to play for England where all Southgate used him for was a few mins as a sub and a missed penalty. As a United fan that’s pretty annoying. Ole running his best players into the ground shouldn’t be ignored though.

I also don’t get the part of the story I read about the surgeon not being available till late July? Maybe it’s cause I’m US based but if a pro team hear needs an operation on a player it happens in days.
 

Lillian Thomson

Hall of Fame Member
He played to the end of the season carrying the shoulder and something else (don’t recall). He delayed doing anything to play for England where all Southgate used him for was a few mins as a sub and a missed penalty. As a United fan that’s pretty annoying. Ole running his best players into the ground shouldn’t be ignored though.

I also don’t get the part of the story I read about the surgeon not being available till late July? Maybe it’s cause I’m US based but if a pro team hear needs an operation on a player it happens in days.
I get that they'd be pissed off, and why. It's still funny though if you're not a fan. :tooth:
 

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