Extraordinary Swindle

So we won't be winning the league this season then. As good as out of the title race after 8 games - sack Rafa.

This content is not viewable to guests.

I entered this thread hoping to see a review of Walking Tall by Peter Crouch. Sell Crouch and buy his book!

Is it a coincidence that John Arne Riise has been injured and unable to take his place in the squad for the last two games? Aston Villa (Away) - Starts - Win! Toulouse (Away) - Bench - Win! Chelsea (Home) - Starts - Draw (should have been a win) Sunderland (Away) - Bench - Win! Toulouse (Home) - Starts - Win! Derby (Home) - Bench - Win! Portsmouth (Away) - Injured - Draw Porto (Away) - Injured - Draw If Riise had started the game against Portsmouth and was benched for the Porto game we would have won both. The stats support my findings - I'm surprised Kaizer hasn't picked up on this.

There is an easier way but it would require investment in a bit of technology on the part of the club. How the system would work: Fan X purchases a ticket. To do so requires a Fan Card. At the time of issue the Barcode on the ticket is recorded against the Fan Card in a database. Prior to the match: The Fan X brings their ticket and card to an official who scans them. This transaction is also recorded. After the match: The Loyalty credits are allocated based on attendance not on purchase. If Fan X does not attend bring the ticket to an official prior to the game, their credit is not allocated. If they sell/give the ticket to another fan who has their own Fan Card, that fan can receive the Loyalty credit. Such a system would allow the club to build a profile of the Fan Card holders. i.e. it would soon be noticed that Fan X buys tickets but does not attend matches. In Ireland, the GAA have implemented a similar system with regard to tickets for Croke Park. There were problems with tickets being allocated but not being used or returned. The GAA wanted to create profiles so they can better manage future ticket allocations. The system works as follows. Each ticket has a bar code, the bar code is linked to a seat in the stadium. The seat tickets are allocated in blocks to the clubs. Prior to match day the clubs are to return the tickets they haven't sold. On match day each ticket is scanned as it passes through the turnstile. The following day there's a report available on what tickets were not used for the match. Profiles of the clubs are maintained so for example, the GAA then knows that Club X received 100 tickets, they returned 10 but only 70 of the 90 sold were used. Very Big Brotheresque but it works

January is cancelled?

SAF been lying about his age again!

To be fair he did name a certain Darren Potter.

Lineker's record of being England's second top scorer? Unless the FA have appointed a panel to review all goals scored while Lineker was playing with a view to nudging up his total, Bobby Charlton is still England's top scorer with 49 goals.

Lyon had a player sent off after 30 minutes and despite this Toulouse didn't control the game. Toulouse scored in the last minute of the game on the break if I recall correctly. The week before that they got played off the pitch by Valenciennes who aren't exactly giants in the French league. They lost the game 3-1.

Toulouse are shiiiiiite. We have started the season better, we have better players than before but that does not excuse the fact that Toulouse are rubbish. TNS would have given us a better game last week. Toulouse were without their best two defenders (Dominique Arribage and Daniel Congre) and they had very little to show going forward. They were relying on the weather conditions to give them an advantage in the first leg and it didn't happen. Not exactly what you would expect from a team in the Champions League.

I worked with his sister-in-law some time ago and you would.

Don't get too carried away it's a reflection on the poor quality of the opposition we have faced. Derby will finish bottom of the league and Toulouse were one of the worst sides we have played in the Champions League qualifiers.

Thank feck we avoided PSV.

I'm sure Sevilla will be upset at the prospect of not returning to Greece for the group stage of the competition.

The £12M fee shouldn't be used as a comparison, granted you're not going to spend that kind of money on a reserve player. According to Phil Thompson we were offered Ronaldo for £6M, when we went to take up the offer the agent said forget about it that Man Utd were paying £12M for the player. For some unknown reason Man Utd paid twice what the club were asking for him.

Every one of them being Riise - Arbeloa can play anywhere across the back four and Finnan can play in either fullback position.

Not likely. If he's not fit to play Derby then he can't be forced in to the England squad for the games the following week.

Alonso should be captain.

Alot of that has to do with the poorer quality squad and experimental teams Rafa has put out. Last season we started with Bellamy up front on his own and Gerrard playing off of him, Zenden on the left wing, with Crouch, Garcia and Gonzalez coming off the bench. The previous season we fielded a reserve team. Carson was in goal and Josemi played at centre half. Warnock at left back. Darren Potter started the game on the right wing.

The reason his record is poor at international level is he mostly plays in midfield to accomodate the likes of Rebrov and Shevchenko.

Essien is supposedly out until next week. Mourinho said on Tuesday/Wednesday that he would need 10 days for the knee to recover. But we have seen miracle recoveries before. A good tackle early on should test the knee.

There was a dig about Raafa's Liverpool not developing talent and buying in foreigners last season. No doubt this is a follow up, poor Spurs are assembling a team of young players and should not be expected to compete with the likes of Liverpool.

Chances are that the baby got the drug and not the mommy, that's why it doesn't always work (Almost useless piece of information I picked up at the antenatal classes).