Atticus Finch

I thought Babel's fee was similarly added to the debt (recall reports in The Times about it), which would account for 11.5 of that 12m.

The biggest issue with that plan, is of course, wages

Genuine laugh out loud moment. Well played sir.

That wasn't how I was feeling at the time...

Yep you all got it. Goal was disallowed and an indirect awarded. No-one other than the ref knew that rule - none of the players, neither manager! Presumably the purpose is so that the same player doesn't double kick the ball (like the West Ham pen) and gain advantage. If that is the purpose I find it strange that the woodwork isn't deemed in this instance to cancel out the two touches by the same player principle. I gained absolutely no advantage from it. Moral of this story - I should of just put it in instead of playing a one-two with the bar.

A player takes a penalty, hits the crossbar and then puts in the rebound. No other player touches the ball. What is the decision and why? Happened to me today, I'll tell you what the ref did after a few people have answered.

And the reason Chelsea did this (and did City too?) is to ensure that they are not excluded from the CL when UEFA regs come in about level of debt. What would Liverpool do in this scenario (assuming we even qualify)? An answer of Utd have more debt than us is not acceptable.

It tends to be either:- 1. The balance of signing on fees which were spread across the length of the contract; or 2. A payment to compensate for a drop in wages. Number 1 is the Barton scenario eg a player is given a 1m signing bonus spread across the length of a 5 year contract - he gets a 200k lump sum payment in advance for every year he stays. If he is sold against his wishes with 2 years remaining he seeks 400k which is the balance of the money due for being loyal. This si the one that is usually all about whether a transfer request is made or not. Number 2 is the problem Leeds found themselves in eg Fowler, Keane, Mills all got compensated for drop in salary for the remaining time left on their Leeds contracts. This tends to affect us, plus other big clubs, when trying to shift players on to clubs paying them a lower wage. Both of the above are of course able to be settled between player and club to find a mutually acceptable position.

Its not just Portsmouth though - all clubs he leaves have had financial troubles afterwards eg West Ham, Southampton, Bournemouth. Given the amounts being spent at Spurs I'm keeping my fingers crossed he completes the set...

This content is not viewable to guests.

The ground he covered was nuts. He did a series of sprints to close down their midfield before tackling Whiteside, then went 60 yards and smacked it in. I don't ever remember him moving like that.

North and Mid Herts league. Which is at level 15 in the football pyramid (#1 being the prem). May just be our particular league like to promote it but certainly last season all leagues were encouraged to go with it.

We have to do this at grassroots level as part of the 'Respect' campaign and it works well. God knows why they cannot implement it in the pros.

Bring out N'Gog...

And therein lies why he gets forgotten about. No matter how well he did, it is not as good as Rush

Thought the divisive ponytail did OK today - Rafa's gamble of resting him in the week so that he would be fully focused on his 20 minute cameo really paid off. Linked up well with Babel on a couple of occasions, unlucky not to score. Was surprised to see him in the box so much as previously I have never seen a striker avoid getting in the area to the extent he usually does. Couldn't comment on his pointyness as the stream I was watching on was not great.

Was it straight down the middle?

Surprised he didn't say they wanted a big name striker.

I was at the pre-season friendly with Lyn Oslo and was watching the young centre backs quite closely. Obviously difficult to make assessments based on friendlies against weak opposition but the one thing Ayala showed in that match more than San Jose and Kelly was the ability to read the game. I thought this was in evidence last night as well.

Why was the left back wearing goalkeeper gloves? Fairly sure you can see a keeper in the background, plus he was wearing the same kit as the outfield players. Shocking tackle mind...

The fine line that separates genius from insanity is being walked there. Loved the Scolari wink.

He was injured in the semi final win

Wheater from Boro as 4th choice? Young, strong, seems a decent prospect and with them likely going down might be available. Has been known to score from corners too

This content is not viewable to guests.

This content is not viewable to guests.