Adam

We've just missed out on playing Leeds at home, after losing to Peterborough yesterday. That's a shame, not least because I'm in Doncaster that weekend with my Leeds-supporting girlfriend. Tyne/Wear derby is a cracker to come out the hat, they've not played a competitive game against each other in nearly 8 years.

I also got the Halestorm message, and they were 4th on my ranking. They do happen to be just about my favourite band though, so I'm not mad at it. I've just discovered in writing this post that you can view all the Thank You videos by your top artists on the "Wrapped" section, and mine include Kate Stables and Black Stone Cherry, who are not actually in my top 5, so it's worth having a look at. My top 5s were: ARTISTS 1. Black Spiders 2. Alice in Chains 3. Bring Me The Horizon 4. Halestorm 5. Skindred SONGS 1. Alright Alright Alright by Black Spiders 2. Down in a Hole by Alice in Chains 3. Set Fazers by Skindred 4. Hot Wheels by Black Spiders 5. Situation by Yazoo Yazoo looks like an outlier there, but I do like my 80s stuff and that band/song in particular is a sentimental one between me and my girlfriend. I had 51 genres, 2780 songs and 719 artists across 41,606 minutes, which I'm happy with as I try to listen to as much different stuff as possible, even heavy rock music has dominated by top 5s. If you add the 2023 Playlist to your Library, I think those songs are in order too, so not far behind the ones above I also had music by the likes of Kate Stables, Dave Alvin, Nirvana, Maneskin, Eric B & Rakim, Go_A, Viagra Boys, Paramore and Japanese Breakfast. So I think it's decently varied when I dig down past the top 5.

Chris Sutton takes on Claudio Castagnoli in Premier League Predictions for the BBC this weekend

Luke Donald staying on as Ryder Cup captain for Europe in 2025 Great news, he did a brilliant job this year and all of the players seemed to want him to stay on. He's the first Europe captain to do so since the 90s.

Chelsea's squad is a mess, they won't finish in the top 8 in my opinion. Pochettino is a good manager and will probably get them there in time, if he's allowed to steer transfer policy a bit, but the current squad looks as if it's been assembled by Football Manager AI. The captain is a 23 year old who just got sent off for immaturity, essentially. The vice captain is a routinely injured 26 year old. The only real leaders the team has are Thiago Silva and Raheem Sterling, and I'd argue neither of them are ideal for that role. The rest is a bunch of young and untested players, by and large, some of whom have huge pressure from ridiculous transfer fees coming in. A squad built around Fernandez, Caicedo, Mudryk, Jackson and Colwill is going to experience more days like yesterday for sure. The first team has only TWO players over the age of 26 in it, the aforementioned Silva and Sterling. There are less than half a dozen others who have more than one full season of Premier League experience, and even some of them are pushing the definition. Chelsea have top four resources and reputation, a top 4 manager, but a glorified U23s squad and a National league owner.

Everton is just one club, surely? 777 don't own us yet so wouldn't have been voting. But aye, that was never going to pass with the 14/20 votes needed.

I was gonna say, that's probably why it wasn't given. He is fouled, but he clicks his feet together and flies over. Also, I'd read nothing into the England game(s) here. It was a fairly second string team tonight, and regardless of how much Southgate says they shouldn't take dead rubber games with Malta and North Macedonia lightly, it's somewhat impossible not to, especially when he lines up with that XI tonight. Bellingham is one of the best players on the planet as well right now, of course he's going to be missed. It doesn't matter how old he is.

Aye, I remember that happening, but I don't feel like the European thrashings ever usually get higher than 8/9.

Has there ever been a European qualifying score as wide as 14-0? I know Australia used to knock 15-20 past Oceanic island minnows but I can't remember a team being as resoundingly destroyed in Europe as Gibraltar were last night by France.

I can't see how it isn't overturned or the points penalty at least reduced on appeal. It's more than Portsmouth got for going into administration. If we're looking at it proportionally, I presume Man City will be thrown out of the league and all of their titles taken off them? Bet that doesn't happen though.

That Twitter stuff was happening the day after it happened, horrendous. My brother and his daughter, my teenage niece, were in the crowd and saw it happen. Sounds like it's really had an impact on them both, the whole thing is awful. I'm not a legal expert by any means, but I do wonder if the manslaughter arrest will go any further as the vast majority of those I've seen who know hockey have said it was a complete accident.

Rovers have beaten Accrington in extra time to go through to Round 2. They will play Peterborough, who have just knocked Salford out on penalties. That means Grant McCann will face his former club, and the man who replaced him in the job - oh and a former Doncaster manager as well - in Darren Ferguson. Nice away day for our fans too, straight down the East Coast main line. McCann's already knocked his other former club Hull out in the Carabao Cup this season too. Hopefully he can do the same here.

Aaron Ramsdale is the new Shawn Michaels, apparently, because his dad says he has "lost that smile" due to being dropped by Arsenal.

Raheem Sterling hasn't been in a squad since March.

I agree, GTA V had a really lacklustre story and I thought it suffered from the multiple protagonists gimmick. It was a long time ago, so it can definitely work, but I do hope the characters and story are up to snuff. They did an incredible job on that front with Red Dead 2 so I hope they've taken some inspiration from that. I also suspect I'll feel more hyped when it's closer to release. I actually wasn't too fussed about Red Dead 2 in the lead-up, and didn't play it for a couple of months after release, but now I'd say it's easily my favourite ever game. All that said...who knows if I'll even have the hardware to play GTA VI by the time it releases.

Red Bull are still going to dominate next year, barring a development disaster.

Great start there - we've lost 3 or maybe even 5 cars by Turn 1, essentially. And Leclerc didn't even make it that far! Feel like he and Ferrari are always most likely to do something like that, crashing on the Formation Lap.

I couldn't have said it better @Colly, the entire usage of VAR just isn't working. Football isn't built for technology in the same way, due to the subjectivity involved. In this particular instance, the decision-making is all over the shop in this Newcastle game. Havertz is borderline but I'd not dispute that being a red too much. Bruno's is 100% a red, he has intentionally struck the player off the ball. It's a foul by Joelinton for the goal, and Gordon is most likely offside but somehow they don't have a good camera angle of that? This really sticks for me because it's a Premier League game, in one of the better stadiums, and it's an instance within the penalty area. How can you not have a good angle of it? Baffling. Wolves must feel really hard done by as well. Both the Sheffield United penalty and the Newcastle one are clearly dives once you get a second look - that is what VAR is surely for? The referee sees a foul in the moment, but both players are essentially diving and making sure some form of contact happens. VAR should overrule that.

Totally agree, it's a strange system. The officiating down in League Two has been appalling this season as well.

Fair play to Josh Dobbs for his stint in Arizona, he did a decent job. Obviously not a guy for anything long-term, but it could have been much worse without Kyler for this half a season, results notwithstanding.

I was shocked to hear the news this morning. Whilst Friends is not the show I used to view it as when I was younger, there's no doubt that it and Matthew Perry in particular had a shaping impact on my adolescence - Chandler was always the friend I related to the most, and I doubtless took some of my sarcastic bent from his portrayal. Perry as well just seemed like a good guy with a strong perspective on his life, through his addiction and fame and all that came with it. It's really sad to see he's died, particularly in these circumstances, far before his time should have been up. I also want to make note of his phoned in performance of Benny in Fallout New Vegas. After Friends, that was what I thought of because to be honest, that depiction was so wooden it made it good. No idea what he had going on in his life at the time, as he famously loved Fallout so much that he wanted to be in the game, but he delivered his lines in a truly Bethesda way either intentionally or not. I'm rambling anyway - sad news, the world is a poorer place without Matthew Perry.

Everton chairman Bill Kenwright has died.

Of course it's a second yellow for Konate. The inconsistency is baffling, I just don't understand it. No complaints for the penalty mind. Keane's arm is out, that's an infringement.

Young is a more competent and disciplined defender than Patterson, who is the only other option. Stupid of him to get himself sent off like, but that's hardly Sean Dyche's fault.

The only benefits I can see to them are when a smaller team gets a draw away to a big side. It's rare, yes it happens but those teams are just as likely to get the plum home draw, earn the same money and exposure and get thrashed 5-0. I just don't think replays are needed and I don't see them as some vaunted tradition that must be kept. Just my view. And that's said from the perspective of a supporter whose team enter in Round 1 every year, and even earlier when I was a kid.