Premier League 2023/24

[Hobo]

Darren England officiated in UAE just 48 hours before VAR error

[Jimmy]

1 hour ago, Gazz said:

I honestly doubt you would. These are already full-time, paid professionals. The standards will only get better by improving the pipeline and at the moment, grassroots refereeing is dying on it's arse. Every week in my league, at my age group alone, they're are four or five fixtures being reffed by parents because the league can't recruit enough qualified refs. No one is interested in getting abused for £30 a time. Even moreso now, as the level of behaviour post-Covid is fucking abysmal.

I do think that if the top job (refereeing at the Prem) was a more lucrative career, you'd see some sort of knock-on effect, but ultimately I agree with you. Obviously, I'd also improve the pipeline, too. 

[DavidMarrio]

2 hours ago, Hobo said:

Darren England officiated in UAE just 48 hours before VAR error

Not just Darren England. Like to add Michael Oliver (4th Official) and Dan Cook (assistant VAR). Just not a good look at all

 

[The Lusophone]

6 hours ago, Gazz said:

How many PGMOL apologies is that so far this season? 3 or 4 in 7 game weeks?

Many more that you'll ever see from players when they make mistakes that effect results.

 

6 hours ago, Jimmy said:

Pay referees more and make it a more attractive job. The standard of officiating has been poor this year, and yesterdays fuck up was particularly outrageous, but as VAR and referees continue to have more impact on the product the Premier League puts out, they should be paid accordingly and we might see the standard increase. 

They already get paid £100,000 a year, how much more do they need?

[Lineker]

Quote

Liverpool are to appeal the red card shown to Curtis Jones during their hugely controversial defeat at Tottenham on Saturday.

The Liverpool midfielder was dismissed for a 26th-minute foul on Yves Bissouma that initially prompted a yellow card from the referee, Simon Hooper. The card was upgraded to red for serious foul play after Hooper was sent to the pitchside monitor by the VAR, Darren England, one of the hapless officials involved in the incorrect decision to disallow a Luis Díaz goal for offside.

Liverpool, who are awaiting a response to their call for a wide-ranging and transparent review into the Díaz incident, are also aggrieved at the dismissal of Jones. The 22-year-old’s foot rolled off the top of the ball before catching Bissouma, although the first image that greeted Hooper on the monitor was of Jones’ boot on the Spurs’ midfielder’s shin.

Liverpool do not believe Jones used excessive force and will lodge an appeal with the Football Association in an attempt to overturn his three-match ban.

The club, meanwhile, will receive a £25,000 fine having collected seven yellow cards, which includes two for Diogo Jota, at the Tottenham Hotspur Stadium. The fine is automatically issued when a team receives six yellow cards or more in a game.

 

Quote

Fresh concerns have been raised over 777 Partners, Everton’s prospective new owners, after another of their clubs failed to meet payments on three transfers costing a total of around €5.2m (£4.5m).

Brazilian side Vasco da Gama were hit with a transfer ban by Fifa on Friday after three clubs – Lille, Nacional of Uruguay and Atlético Tucumán of Argentina – notified world football’s governing body that they had not received fees for Léo Jardim, José Luis Rodríguez and Manuel Capasso respectively.

Capasso joined Vasco for €1.4m in February, Rodríguez signed for €1.8m in January and, although the fee for Jardim was undisclosed, Lille were due to receive a reported €2m for their goalkeeper in January.

Vasco, who are 70% owned by 777, missed a deadline to complete payments on all three deals before being sanctioned by Fifa. In a statement, the governing body said: “The club Vasco de Gama is currently prevented from registering new players due to an outstanding debt. The relevant ban will be lifted immediately upon the settlement of the debt being confirmed by the creditor concerned.”

While the Brazilian transfer window is closed until January, giving Vasco time to make the overdue payments and get the ban lifted, their predicament raises more questions over 777’s resources as it attempts to buy Everton from Farhad Moshiri.

The Miami-based company, which was late with a £900,000 payment to the British Basketball League this year, prompting an ongoing investigation by the BBL into its co-owners, needs approval from the Premier League, Football Association and the Financial Conduct Authority to complete its takeover of Everton.

The deal for Moshiri’s 94.1% shareholding is understood to be performance-based, with the British-Iranian billionaire unlikely to get the £500m he was seeking for the club, but 777 still need to provide proof of funding to the Premier League, repay a £140m loan to MSP Sports Capital and secure the approximate £200m required to complete work on Everton’s new stadium at Bramley Moore dock.

The club has outstanding loans in excess of £350m in total, including a recent £20m loan from 777 for short-term working capital, and faces a serious financial crisis unless a takeover proceeds. Moshiri has stopped propping up the struggling Premier League club having invested over £750m for little reward since 2016.

Josh Wander and Steven Pasko, the co-founders of 777, and its CEO, Don Dransfield, were at Goodison Park on Saturday to see Everton lose 2-1 to Luton, their fourth consecutive home league defeat, the club’s worst run from the start of a season at home since 1958. The investment firm currently has seven football clubs in its portfolio – Vasco, Genoa, Sevilla, Hertha Berlin, Standard Liege, Red Star in France and Melbourne Victory.

 

[Hobo]

It is wild that Liverpool have topped the fair play table regularly during Klopps tenure and now all this is going on.

Something has gone wrong somewhere.

[Baddar]

 

 

[stokeriño]

I know this isn't the first match like this, but fucking hell the state of Chelsea's bench. 😂

[The Lusophone]

The bullet Arsenal dodged when Chelsea took Mykhailo Mudryk instead of them, is titanic in size.

[Naitch]

4 minutes ago, FestiveJack said:

The bullet Arsenal dodged when Chelsea took Mykhailo Mudryk instead of them, is titanic in size.

Indeed.

[stokeriño]

4 minutes ago, FestiveJack said:

The bullet Arsenal dodged when Chelsea took Mykhailo Mudryk instead of them, is titanic in size.

I would like to thank you personally for the role you played in actualising that goal.

[Naitch]

@stokeriño Goals! With a s! Plural!

[stokeriño]

I keep staring at the '0-2' and it won't stop being utterly surreal.

[The Lusophone]

You're welcome.  

[Colly]

3 hours ago, Hobo said:

It is wild that Liverpool have topped the fair play table regularly during Klopps tenure and now all this is going on.

Something has gone wrong somewhere.

Lost the dressing room leader.

 

[gunnar hendershow]

How many 2 goal leads has Chelsea had this calendar year?

[stokeriño]

9 minutes ago, gunnar hendershow said:

How many 2 goal leads has Chelsea had this calendar year?

This is the fifth (in I think 37 competitive games since January).

Chelsea 2-0 Borussia Dortmund (7th March)
Leicester City 1-3 Chelsea (11th March)
Bournemouth 1-3 Chelsea (6th May)
Chelsea 3-0 Luton Town (25th August)

[stokeriño]

[Hobo]

3 hours ago, Colly said:

Lost the dressing room leader.

 

He looks so haunted

[Colly]