Premier League 2016/17

[Lineker]

A US teenager who credits Leicester City's title win with helping him to beat leukaemia will watch them in person for the first time later.

@Benji @Meacon

[Baddar]

3pts tonight please lads, for fuck sake.

[The Lusophone]

We're so good. It's amazing that we've come so far from the dark days of LVG.

[DavidMarrio]

I said to my mate in work who's an Everton fan that they'd win today.  It felt too predictable that they'd turn up today after being shite on Saturday and that United would shit the bed at home. 

[Baddar]

That was shit. Fortunate to get a point. Toothless in attack again.

[DavidMarrio]

Specialist in drawing. 

[The Lusophone]

No but seriously, 6th place in the league having spent £200 million is a fantastic return for a first season. I really hope we keep this manager and his attacking football around.

[TCO]

How was #Pogba's latest haircut though?

Edited April 4, 2017 by TCO

[The Lusophone]

He's looking a bit #Pogbasic nowadays. Needs more half-mohawks and nike ticks shaved into the side.

[Gazz]

Arsenal have been fined by the FA for not having a captain on the field for the second half against Man City.

£300

There's also a joke in there somewhere about Arsenal never having any leaders on the pitch.

[Lineker]

Liverpool have been fined £100,000 and banned from signing academy players from English league clubs for two years after being found guilty of tapping up a schoolboy from Stoke City.

The Premier League on Wednesday announced the punishment following an investigation that started with allegations that Liverpool had poached the promising 11-year-old from Stoke but reneged on an agreement to pay his private school fees. The boy’s parents pulled out of a deal with the Anfield club as a consequence and complained to the Premier League amid allegations they have been left liable for thousands of pounds worth of school fees.

Liverpool, who accept the sanction, have been found guilty of speaking to the player and/or his family prematurely and of offering inducements, including paying for the boy and family members to attend a game at Anfield. Liverpool insist they would have signed and registered the boy but for the Premier League’s interpretation of rule 299.1 and a new ruling, introduced last summer, that states the offer of private education must be extended to all academy players. Stoke City, who did not file a complaint, were paying the boy’s school fees when Liverpool made their approach, prompting the Anfield club to offer to do the same.

The ruling means Liverpool cannot sign players who have been registered to another Premier League or English Football League academy for two years. The second year of the ban is suspended for a three-year period.

A Premier League statement read: “The club will pay a fine of £100,000 and will be prohibited from registering any Academy players who have been registered with a Premier League or EFL club in the preceding 18 months. This ban will last for two years, with the second year suspended for a three-year period (to be activated in the event of any further similar breach by the club).”

Liverpool’s admission that they offered to pay the school fees prompted the Premier League’s investigation, which comes at a time when the organisation are attempting to clamp down on poaching and have several cases under review. One follows a complaint against Manchester City by Liverpool.

Rule 299.1, of which Liverpool have fallen foul, states: “No club shall induce or attempt to induce a player to become registered as an academy player at that club by offering him, or any person connected with him, either directly or indirectly, a benefit or payment of any description whether in cash or in kind.”

[stokeriño]

See, you read the first paragraph and assume the issue is the classic (conspiracy theory of) 'tapping up', i.e. Liverpool talked to a player while he was under contract with Stoke, but upon reading further it isn't that at all. It's about offering cash-equivalent incentives to school kids. 

I know 'tapping up' is a favourite emotive phrase of the papers, but they really shouldn't start using it for everything a club does wrong re: acquiring a player. It just gets confusing.

In any case, it gets a bit hazy for me when the rule 299.1, which reads like a fairly standard anti-corruption rule, is placed alongside the ruling requiring clubs to offer education. Is the problem that they offered private education rather than public? But apparently the ruling specified that it should be private education?

I don't bloody know.

[MDK]

Am I too late to make a The Special One-One joke about Jose United?

[Lineker]

No Wanyama for us tonight in the end, but even weirder is that Vorm is playing in goal in place of Lloris.

[Kaney]

28 minutes ago, Lineker said:

No Wanyama for us tonight in the end, but even weirder is that Vorm is playing in goal in place of Lloris.

Yeah? Well Martinez is in goal for us tonight

[Lineker]

...why?

[Kaney]

No idea. Cech is injured but I don't know what's up with Ospina, he's not even on the bench.

Apparently Ospina is injured too, which is just swell.

[Kyle]

Lolverpool.  

[Lineker]

we anti-Spurs'd it.

[Jimmy]

bloody football