The 2024-2025 Football Thread

[Scepticalscribe]

It is a shame another 200 staff at Man United are going to lose their jobs because of the atrocious handling of the club by the Glazer sibling family. 250 people already lost their jobs last year.

Man Utd redundancies: Up to 200 staff to be made redundant

After 250 members of staff were made redundant last year, Manchester United announce up to 200 more redundancies to "return the club to profitability".

www.bbc.co.uk

United chief executive Omar Berrada basically says the sackings are necessary to return the club to profitability. 450 United staff have paid the price due to the incompetent running of the club by the Glazer siblings. There was no problem when Malcom Glazer, the father, was running the club, the kept winning the league and other trophies but the day he died and the club transferred to his children, that's when the melt down of the club began.

I truly feel sorry for anyone who is directly involved with the club for them to see how disastrous the club has become.

What is appalling is that these exercises in cost cutting - brought about not just by firing people, (some of them very long serving), but are also making the lives of fans and staff miserable (such as putting an end to club funded meals for staff, abolishing special discounts for kids and seniors, and so on).

This is not just ugly, but is so, so, pathetic and petty, so mean-spirited, and they are cuts to costs, that - at the end of the day - will actually achieve minimal savings, - a fraction of the monthly wage of some of the highest paid players - not least when one contrasts this when the bloated wage bill of some of the players (and, of course, the greedy dividend extraction by the owners of the club).

 

[MBAir2010]

Was not expecting to see Villa get hammered today -

the pregame interview with Unia did not seem positive as his eyes were "not there"
the AV club seems exhausted and needs time to know each other on and off the pitch.

hopefully these are just growing pains that will turn into relief in the future.

 

[pachyderm]

Some interesting (and also some completely expected) results in today's matches.

Very annoying that Saints play well for 20min per game.

Was not expecting to see Villa get hammered today - I also thought Bournemouth might be able to pick off Brighton, too...clearly I know nothing

In the sunny North, Celtic continue their march towards the inevitable title. Smashing the 3rd placed team is probably expected now in the SPL.

Stoke and Hull still flirting with relegation in the Championship. I'll be keeping a keen eye on the promotion/relegation scrpas there as that will be where my focus is next season.

My brother-in-law uses one of those gambling apps and he will get "free" bets on soccer, or some sort of deal on there, and ask me who to bet on and I keep telling him IMHO football is the one of the hardest games to bet on. And he's lost every time I've given him advice... so... lol

 

[Silencio]

My brother-in-law uses one of those gambling apps and he will get "free" bets on soccer, or some sort of deal on there, and ask me who to bet on and I keep telling him IMHO football is the one of the hardest games to bet on. And he's lost every time I've given him advice... so... lol

Fantasy Premier League is as close as I'll get to betting. It's a good little distraction, strictly for bragging rights. This season I'm back to my usual mid table mediocrity, but that's ok.

 

[laptech]

What is appalling is that these exercises in cost cutting - brought about not just by firing people, (some of them very long serving), but are also making the lives of fans and staff miserable (such as putting an end to club funded meals for staff, abolishing special discounts for kids and seniors, and so on).

This is not just ugly, but is so, so, pathetic and petty, so mean-spirited, and they are cuts to costs, that - at the end of the day - will actually achieve minimal savings, - a fraction of the monthly wage of some of the highest paid players - not least when one contrasts this when the bloated wage bill of some of the players (and, of course, the greedy dividend extraction by the owners of the club).

Whilst I am sure there are some very loyal members of staff who will be losing their jobs, I know if I was in their position I would be feeling a bit aggrieved of the fact that one of the reasons for losing the job was down to the over inflated and bloated wages of the players, players who do not do a full days work and not a full weeks worth of work yet there will be staff who will have been expected to work over 40hrs a week and working weekends as well who now lose their job to a team of millionaire players who hardly put in a good days work.

 

[laptech]

My brother-in-law uses one of those gambling apps and he will get "free" bets on soccer, or some sort of deal on there, and ask me who to bet on and I keep telling him IMHO football is the one of the hardest games to bet on. And he's lost every time I've given him advice... so... lol

This probably why your bro-in-law does what he does

Punter wins staggering £1 million after incredible 'Super 6' bet

One fan won the £1 million jackpot on Sky Bet's Super 6 after Liverpool's 3-0 win over Manchester United.

www.sportbible.com

Because people say 'if he can do it, so can I'.

 

[Apple fanboy]

My brother-in-law uses one of those gambling apps and he will get "free" bets on soccer, or some sort of deal on there, and ask me who to bet on and I keep telling him IMHO football is the one of the hardest games to bet on. And he's lost every time I've given him advice... so... lol

Winning at gambling on football is easy.

Step one. Start a bookmaker company.

You’ll win EVERY week!

 

[Apple fanboy]

Teasing my Manchester United supporting friend. Told him tonight was a must win 6 pointer for them against Ipswich! 🤪

 

[laptech]

Teasing my Manchester United supporting friend. Told him tonight was a must win 6 pointer for them against Ipswich! 🤪

I think every United fan would die of shame if Ipswich were to beat them.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I think every United fan would die of shame if Ipswich were to beat them.

Fingers crossed! It would make my next night out with him so much more fun!

 

[daneoni]

For billions of pounds spent. The EPL has become quite boring. Title race over in Feb

The current table will probably remain the same at the end of the season

All 3 promoted sides go down (again). One of Liverpool or City win the title. And Arsenal and whoever is less awful make up the top 4.

Then Villa, Newcastle, Spurs, Utd, Chelsea scramble for whats left...again.

Hopefully the City trial for 115 charges actually throws up something exciting...although i'm not holding my breath.

 

[MBAir2010]

For billions of pounds spent. The EPL has become quite boring. Title race over in Feb

who cares, the sport is more interesting than any in this side of the pond.
every match is fun to watch without who wins the whatever, the sport is pure and fun!

personally I'm anticipating/focused/waiting for Tadej Pogačar and Jonas battling this summer in 2 major tours!

 

[Scepticalscribe]

For billions of pounds spent. The EPL has become quite boring. Title race over in Feb

The current table will probably remain the same at the end of the season

All 3 promoted sides go down (again). One of Liverpool or City win the title. And Arsenal and whoever is less awful make up the top 4.

Then Villa, Newcastle, Spurs, Utd, Chelsea scramble for whats left...again.

Hopefully the City trial for 115 charges actually throws up something exciting...although i'm not holding my breath.

At this stage, the title is Liverpool's to lose, and good luck to them; they have managed the post-Klopp transition superbly, - Arne Slot has been excellent - and have led from the front for quite some time. If they do claim the title, they will be deserving winners, - they were unfortunate to be runners-up to City so often in recent times.

In any case, I cannot see any way how City could possibly win the title this season, and that is still the case even if they are not docked points (as a penalty) for the many charges they face.

Arsenal have only themselves to blame for any short-comings, while City deserve everything that comes their way.

 

[laptech]

As already mentioned, the title is Liverpool's to lose. Even if Arsenal were to win their game in hand it would still mean Liverpool would be ahead by 10 points. That would mean Liverpool would need to lose 3 games in their remaining games for Arsenal to have any chance of catching them but seeing what games Liverpool have left, the only hard games I see are against Everton and West Ham, all the others are wins in my opinion.

As for City, their punishment will be anyone's guess. The football press are getting very desperate because they keep getting the opinions of non experts as to what punishment City will get. The last article I read was from the Telegraph where they spoke to some lawyer who said that the PL 'could' hit City with a point deduction of 90 resulting in relegation and that the EFL would be required by law to accept them into the lower leagues (the EFL has previously said they will not allow City to enter into one of the lower leagues if a points deduction requires them too)

 

[pachyderm]

Winning at gambling on football is easy.

Step one. Start a bookmaker company.

You’ll win EVERY week!

He does well on American sports lol.

 

[laptech]

I bet everyone was screaming at their TV's for Ipswich to do one over on United, 2-2 at halftime with United down to ten men. It just was not to be but fair do's to Ipswich they gave a good go at it.

Just goes to show how far United's millionaire players have fallen. They struggled against one of the leagues worst teams.

 

[Silencio]

The United / Ipswich match game should not have been close, other than for two horrible Onana errors and an unlucky-but-deserved red for Dorgu. On the other hand, for most of the second half you couldn't even tell that United were down a man. Ipswich is not a good team, but United deserve credit for their second half performance, even if their defenders had to do all their scoring.

The sky's the limit for Leny Yoro. He's barely 19 years old and already such a skilled player with a clear ability to read the game in or out of possession.

 

[laptech]

How pathetic is the FA!!!. You could not make this up

In the FA cup game between Crystal Palace and Millwall, the Millwall goalkeeper kicked a Palace player in the head when rushing out of his area to clear a high bouncing ball. In a BBC article on the incident, when the player got kicked in the head Millwall fans were heard 'Let Him Die' whilst he was on the pitch waiting for treatment but the FA has responded saying these chants do not breach it's regulations but apparently FA has said it will respond to homophobic chants made to towards a Crystal Palace player by the Millwall fans (the player is not a homosexual).

So, fans calling for a player to die does not break FA rules but making homophobic chants towards a player does break FA rules. It is just so laughable.

Jean-Philippe Mateta: Crystal Palace forward sustains head injury after Millwall keeper challenge

Crystal Palace striker Jean-Philippe Mateta says he is "doing well" despite being taken to hospital after being kicked in the head by Millwall goalkeeper Liam Roberts.

www.bbc.co.uk

 

[Silencio]

Nice to know Millwall hasn't changed one iota since the dark ages of the 70s and 80s. Forever scumbags.

 

[Scepticalscribe]

Nice to know Millwall hasn't changed one iota since the dark ages of the 70s and 80s. Forever scumbags.

Absolutely agree with you.

That is one team that I want to see defeated - actually, not just defeated, but absolutely annihilated, totally demolished, utterly destroyed - whenever they play and - irrespective of whomsoever they play against.

What a disgusting and horrible team, - and what an appalling and utterly inexcusable foul, - actually, it was closer to an assault, not a foul. Pure thugs.

 

[Apple fanboy]

Absolutely agree with you.

That is one team that I want to see defeated - actually, not just defeated, but absolutely annihilated, totally demolished, utterly destroyed - whenever they play and - irrespective of whomsoever they play against.

What a disgusting and horrible team, - and what an appalling and utterly inexcusable foul, - actually, it was closer to an assault, not a foul. Pure thugs.

I probably dislike them a bit stronger!

I'm in London from Thursday and I'm trying too decide if I can squeeze in a night of football at The London Stadium on Monday night. We are playing Newcastle. Tickets aren't too bad at around £70 each.

 

[laptech]

I remember back in 2017 when my home town of Gillingham played Millwall, it ended in a 1-1- draw but the Millwall fans were intent on causing trouble. This is how bad it was. The police made the Millwall fans stay in the stadium until all the Gillingham fans had left and had time to get home. Then those Millwall fans that caught the train to the game were escorted to the train station. There is a pub right by the train station that Gillingham fans to have a drink after the game. The Millwall fans knew this from past meetings and they tried to get to the pub to cause trouble. The police quickly put a stop to it but knew there was going to be more trouble so they called in for backup. I needed to get to a family gathering thus needed to use the local bus and the bus stop I needed to use is one that is near the train station.

When I got closer to where the bus stop is the police had put a block on the road between the pub and the train station. You could hear the Millwall fan's giving it their all to try and get the Gillingham fans to react. The police had to do traffic management because anyone that knows the area around the train station knows there is a multiway junction there with many traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. It was chaos because the police were not letting anyone through. I needed to get to the bus stop and had to speak to two police officers in persuading me to let me through.

Basically the police were waiting for the train to arrive at the station that would take the Millwall fans back home. Once the train arrived the police pushed the Millwall fans through the station and onto the platform making sure they all got on the train. Once all the fans were on and the train had departed the station the rest of the police end their blockade and everything went back to normal.

If this is how the Millwall fan's behaved at Gillingham I have no doubt that have behave the same where ever they go.

 

[laptech]

The FA Cup holders Man United are out, beaten on penalties by Fulham. To be honest I am glad because United do not deserve to get to the final again due to their diabolical performance in the league this season. United were very fortunate to get to the final last year because again it was on the back of a diabolical season.

 

[pachyderm]

I remember back in 2017 when my home town of Gillingham played Millwall, it ended in a 1-1- draw but the Millwall fans were intent on causing trouble. This is how bad it was. The police made the Millwall fans stay in the stadium until all the Gillingham fans had left and had time to get home. Then those Millwall fans that caught the train to the game were escorted to the train station. There is a pub right by the train station that Gillingham fans to have a drink after the game. The Millwall fans knew this from past meetings and they tried to get to the pub to cause trouble. The police quickly put a stop to it but knew there was going to be more trouble so they called in for backup. I needed to get to a family gathering thus needed to use the local bus and the bus stop I needed to use is one that is near the train station.

When I got closer to where the bus stop is the police had put a block on the road between the pub and the train station. You could hear the Millwall fan's giving it their all to try and get the Gillingham fans to react. The police had to do traffic management because anyone that knows the area around the train station knows there is a multiway junction there with many traffic lights and pedestrian crossings. It was chaos because the police were not letting anyone through. I needed to get to the bus stop and had to speak to two police officers in persuading me to let me through.

Basically the police were waiting for the train to arrive at the station that would take the Millwall fans back home. Once the train arrived the police pushed the Millwall fans through the station and onto the platform making sure they all got on the train. Once all the fans were on and the train had departed the station the rest of the police end their blockade and everything went back to normal.

If this is how the Millwall fans behaved at Gillingham I have no doubt that have behave the same wherever they go.

I've never heard a good story about Millwall fans...


One of the members at an old F1 board I used to post at had a signature that read, "We f*cking hate Millwall..."

true story.

 

[Apple fanboy]

I've never heard a good story about Millwall fans...


One of the members at an old F1 board I used to post at had a signature that read, "We f*cking hate Millwall..."

true story.

I bet he was a Hammer.