Logic

Would it be too much too remove all privileges of ex-players who don't tow the party line?

Surely that was as part of an answer to the calls in the media for a longer ban. Something along the lines of "the club feels that the panel should not be influenced by the discussion in the media about the length of the ban and as if this is seen by the ref it's a red card for violent conduct the club, and player, feel that 3 games would be the appropriate length of the ban."

That came from his statement to the FA wasn't it? Didn't sound like that leaked from our end.

Send out a statement listing up the bans that are more lenient than his (Thatcher, Keane, McManaman, Terry, Rooney elbow incident etc), say we will pursue this as far as we can legally as we feel Suarez is being treated different than British players, state that our fans feel that the FA continually lets us down (to distance the club itself from the accusation to begin with) - whether it's imposing arbitrary lengths of bans on our players compared to others, conflict of interest in the FA itself (Gill), lack of response to the Hillsborough findings etc. Then in every press conference do like the politicians and drag the comparison between the two situations regarding Suarez and Defoe/Terry into every answer to a question. If they ask about the weather say that we find it odd the discrepancy between the judgements but we hope the weather won't affect proceedings and so on. State that we are "afraid" that non-British players will think twice about playing in the PL and remind people that racism isn't just about people calling each others names but also about the actions of those in charge. Play in shirts with no "link" to the FA/PL by either removing the badges or cover them up as a symbolical protest. (this might be childish but still...) Make our English players unavailable for as many games as possible by any means possible (injury worries and other Ferguson tactics) ---- Or just lie down and apologize for the inconvenience caused...

Can we skip the appeals process with the kangaroo-court of the FA and go straight to another authority (CAS?) with this? Or will we just apologize and say we are disappointed with the whole thing?

If Suarez gets any more than a three match ban (basically a red card) then we should raise hell in his defence. Drag up the Defoe comments, show examples of things that go unpunished and examples of more severe attacks that get less or the same amount of punishment. But someone on here (Hassony?) probably has it right. If it's more we'll just issue more apologies.

I agree that there are a lot of different variables but the league should have the most weight. That stat simply shows that in the first season we tend to take a step back. (I didn't include Kenny's as he took over after the f*ck up created by Rafa's sacking) So even if Brendan took over arguably the worst team of those three he is has the chance to outperform both Rafa's and Ged's first league season. And most importantly he is on course of managing an improvement on the previous season. We could go on and argue about improvement in our style of play etc but those discussions are always based on our subjective views rather than facts on the ground. <Rafa>But I want to talk about facts</Rafa> Good find. Ged didn't win a trophy in his first season. And we haven't competed because our squad simply isn't good enough after couple of years of mismanagement (from owners down). We can't hold Brendan to the same standard as the previous managers as he's taking over what was pretty close to a sinking ship. We have two world class players (Stevie&Hannibal), maybe 4 more that are good enough for where we want to be (Reina, Agger, Johnson, Lucas) and then the rest could be put in three categories for where we want to be: not good enough, still developing - currently not good enough over a whole season and squad material. That isn't good enough to be in the top 4 IMO. There was an (apparent) improvement in the buys from Rodgers between the two transfer windows so I believe he'll buy the right players in the long run. So IMHO we need to get behind him throug next season, barring any disasters, instead of the constant grumbling that goes on currently. - I've probably forgot someone important in that list... -

Rodgers - Currently on 51 when the team finished with 52pts last season. Benitez - 58pts first season when the team had 60pts the season before Houllier - 54pts when the team had 65 the season before (!) Just sayin'... (hope I haven't f*cked up what seasons are what...)

Because no other footballer in the world does this...

I can only find a list of players currently suspended... anyone know where there's a "historical" list of suspensions by the FA?

Why is it impossible for football in the year of 2013 to have an official clock for games in the top divisions? In some sports there's a fixed playing time and in others the ref signals when he stops the clock. Why doesn't football introduce this?

Yeah, no excuse but might be an explanation for why Suarez bit him.

Nah, was "Negro" (in spanish) IIRC. If that was the case it's just like when you step on a cat's tail. It will jump up and bite you!

Is it just me or does Ivanovic appear to stamp Suarez in that incident? http://www.101greatgoals.com/gvideos/best-angle-yet-luis-suarez-bites-branislav-ivanovic-gif/

All this about Rafa's first, last, Kenny's first and Brendan's first seasons discussion needs some objectivity added to the discussion. The following are the goal differences of each season. Rafa's first: Rafa's last: Kenny's first (whole season): Brendan so far:

Since when was jumping in with both feet and studs showing not even a foul?

Don't know if this has been mentioned here but David James has signed a contract with IBV... a team in the Icelandic top division and is based in Vestmannaeyjar.

Yup. I believe Brendan will move us more and more to the 4-12-3 as we evolve. And that system requires an anchorman that simply sits in front of the central defenders with the two in front going wide-ish to cover for the fullbacks bombing on. That's pretty much how we played against Villa. I also believe we'll see Lucas step up his game quite a bit if we move him a bit more further up the field of play, to a role similar to the one he played in Brazil (according to himself and reports from his time there). And if we don't get Alonso we should still get a more classical anchorman into the squad. Someone to play the "Makelele-role" in Mourinho's Chelsea team from 2004-2006. http://www.zonalmarking.net/2010/01/25/teams-of-the-decade-13-chelsea-2004-06/ Only we'll try to play less direct than they do. I believe this is close to the template Brendan wants. Imagine the set-up above if we'll only sign Alonso (you could move Suarez in one of the wider areas and put Sturridge up front as well). Coutinho - Suarez/Sturridge - Downing/Sterling Stevie - Lucas/Hendo Makelele Enrique - Agger - Skrtel - Johnson Reina

You can if you play the midfield 1-2 like yesterday we did Sunday. Xabi Stevie - Lucas/Hendo/Allen

Yes, but if the defensive line is deeper your midfield need to play deeper as well. If your midfield keeps pressing you create a huge gap for the opposition to exploit. Also, notice how often Lucas starts pressing and gets ahead of Hendo/Stevie when AV have the ball. /and just as I type this we score! F*ck yeah!

There's constantly about 15-20m between our defence and midfield. We either need the defence to step up to close the gap or have the midfield drop deeper and stop pressing. You can't press with half the team and let the other half drop deep...

I agree, that's a completely different discussion to be had but I think we need to keep in mind Brendan's preferred set-up when it comes to signings and how to develop the team. His preferred way of playing is a 433 with a 1-2 midfield from what I've seen. I think we all have gotten used to the Liverpool version of Lucas. That is a player who will keep play ticking over, offer protection for the defense and on so on. IMHO we're both selling him short if we only see him as an anchorman (to use FM-terminology) and ignoring a position that we could (and should?) improve upon in a 4-3-3. Lucas won Bola de Ouro (youngest ever recipient of that reward) playing further forward. I think his game was changed and developed with the system Rafa played in mind and he works well in a defensive two but then as the "destroyer" of the two and not the deep playmaker. IIRC he filled more often in for Sissoko and Masch than Alonso (this might be complete BS though ). I also think there's some confusion about what kind of players are needed for the 1-2 midfield in the 433. IMO that needs an anchor man and the two hardworking midfielders who are good passers of the ball in front. Not a deep lying playmaker or a Sissoko/Masch and two attacking midfielders. Using former and current players we'd need more of a Hamann - Lucas + Stevie than Masch - Maxi and Stevie if you know what I mean. What I'm basically saying is that if we're going to play a 1-2 midfield I'd like to see the archetypal anchorman (Makelele/Busquets) signed and move Lucas further forward as I don't think it suits Lucas to play as the anchorman and I believe there's still a few levels of improvement left in Lucas if we give him more freedom further up field.

Maybe. But I'm still not sure Brendan wants his holding midfielder to step up as often as Lucas does. If he does we have a problem IMO. I just think our team could be improved by doing this. First off it's because I think he could improve his own game by making this transition (or getting back to were he started with Gremio based on reports) and because I'm not sure he's well enough suited for playing the Makelele-role. I think there's more to come from him if he plays further upfield than he is currently doing. He has an eye for a pass, he's willing to put in the hard work and seems to be more than willing to get involved in the game. And most of the time I'd say he played in a two under those former managers. And if we are playing two semi-holding midfielders I don't have a problem with him staying there as he's definitely not suited for the nr 10 role or similar positions.

The two in a 1-2 midfield aren't like one of the 3 in a 4-2-3-1. Their job is to press and win the ball and move it quickly to the front 3 or to the fullbacks. Look at Porto for example, they play a 4-3-3 similar to the one Brendan has talked about preferring and the two there are Lucho and Moutinho. These are combative midfielders that are neat on the ball. Or Mourinho's Chelsea. Essien/Thiago + Lampard with Makelele behind.

I have to disagree. IMO one of the reasons we look so open in midfield at times is because he (as well as Stevie) like to be involved more so they both tend to step upfield rather than just sit in front of the central defenders.