Premier League 2023/24

[Bobfoc]

30 minutes ago, stokeriño said:

I did mean my post above more in the sense of "look how Everton have improved in the last 6 months while Chelsea have [checks notes] spent a lot of money to just explore a new kind of crisis", rather than any suggestion of Everton being bad right now.

Oh, I wasn't trying to imply that that was what you were saying. It's more the case that Everton have managed to get results without being spectacular about it.

A couple of weeks ago, the general consensus among Forest fans was that losing at home to Everton was a cause for great panic. While Forest aren't doing well at the moment, Everton certainly aren't the team everyone can bank on beating, which is contrary to what a lot of people were thinking at the start of the season.

[DavidMarrio]

Everton scoreboard responded to poverty chanting in Chelsea game with foodbank advert - https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/67682536

 

[Colly]

Random one, but a load of pundits (Redknapp (lol), but also Lineker and various others) were describing the accidental handball leading to a goal rule as ridiculous this weekend. In my head it's been one of the least controversial rule tweaks we've had, particularly after they rolled it back to just the goalscorer, and while it can sometimes be harsh (Bournemouth's fourth for instance) I still think that's miles better than teams gaining a huge advantage from something that wouldn't otherwise be a handball. Am I being daft or are pundits just looking for reasons to whinge at refs these days?

Edited December 11, 2023 by Colly

[Lineker]

Quote

Rebecca Welch will become the first woman to referee a Premier League match when she takes charge of Fulham’s home game against Burnley on 23 December.

Three days later Sam Allison will also make history as the first black referee to officiate in the top flight for 15 years when he steps out at Bramall Lane for Sheffield United v Luton.

Welch and Allison belong to the development group of officials fast-tracked by Professional Game Match Officials Limited to help improve the quality of refereeing in the four top divisions in England. The pair have been refereeing in the Championship this season, with Welch also acting as a fourth official in the Premier League.

“Rebecca and Sam were part of the development group that was created last year,” said Howard Webb, the chief refereeing officer at PGMOL. “Credit to them they have delivered good performances in the Championship this season and deserve their opportunities due to their quality and the talent that they have.

“Of course it’s significant in terms of Rebecca being the first female to take the whistle in the Premier League … and Sam being the first black referee in the Premier League since Uriah Rennie back in 2008. The profile of the game[s] will serve as a role model for others in under-represented communities and that is undoubtedly a positive.

“We need greater diversity because undoubtedly there is quality in all communities and previously for whatever reason we have not been able to bring people through from those groups and now it’s happening at last thankfully.”

Welch, 40, has been refereeing since 2010 and has hit a number of milestones. She has taken charge of matches in the Women’s Super League and Women’s Champions League and officiated at this year’s Women’s World Cup in Australia and New Zealand. In the men’s game she became the first woman to referee in the Championship in 2021 and the first to referee in the FA Cup in 2022. She has also, however, been the subject of abuse, with two teenagers arrested on suspicion of targeting Welch with “misogynistic chanting” during Birmingham’s Championship fixture against Sheffield Wednesday last month.

Allison was added to the national list of referees in 2020 and promoted to the Championship this season. At the time of his appointment he told the Guardian “I feel I’ve done my apprenticeship, I’ve done my learning. I’ve got to my position and have not allowed anything to prevent me from being successful.”

Webb said Welch and Allison had benefited from their involvement in the development group but that, with new resources to help develop more officials, PGMOL wanted to cast its net as broadly as it could. “We’re not only looking at officials within that group, we’re also looking at officials who sit outside of it,” he said. “People develop at different rates … we really want to give everyone who is performing well an opportunity and then as a result entice more people into refereeing from the outset.”

 

[9 to 5]

On 09/12/2023 at 20:07, Adam said:

Emery is a fantastic manager, he's proven that plenty in his career.

Fair play to Villa for this, beaten two title challengers in the space of 4 days and now look like contenders themselves. Brilliant effort.

Yeah but having @Cymbols happy is never a good thing.

On 10/12/2023 at 16:04, Kyle said:

I might marry Sean Dyche.

Don't worry, your GP has been notified about your awful condition.

[Lineker]

Quote

Everton are to move into their new stadium at the start of the 2025-26 season, despite work on the project at Bramley Moore dock being scheduled to finish late next year.

The club have made the decision to relocate from Goodison Park during the close season, rather than mid-season, following consultations with supporters. Everton stress that the timing is not due to any construction issues at the new 52,888-capacity stadium, although they still need to secure the funds to finish the build. The development remains on course for completion towards the end of 2024.

It means Everton’s historic Goodison Park home will be in operation for one final, full season in 2024-25.

Everton’s interim chief executive, Colin Chong, confirmed: “The first competitive football fixtures for our senior men’s side will take place at our new stadium at the start of the 2025-26 season.

“To be absolutely clear, our decision to not move in mid-season is not because of a construction delay. It is a club decision driven by a combination of commercial insight, a comprehensive review of the logistics required, an analysis of the potential impact upon our football operations and, importantly, fan feedback sourced as part of our recent stadium migration survey, which was completed by almost 10,000 Evertonians.

“Everton Stadium remains firmly on track, as scheduled, to be completed in the final weeks of 2024,” added Chong, who also revealed that the Premier League club will stage a series of test events at their new stadium in the first half of 2025 to prepare for the move.

“We will need to conduct test events at our new home, which will allow us to stress-test the stadium in a number of different ways in order to obtain our safety certificate,” he added. “It will also give Evertonians a chance to see and sample the new facilities. Some of our test events will involve crowds of varying capacities, while others will need to be operationally focused and only involve our own staff.”

Everton are planning a series of events to mark the end of their time at Goodison Park, which will have been the club’s home for almost 134 years by the time it hosts its final game. The details will be announced in due course.

 

[Baddar]

Tom Lockyer has collapsed on the pitch, not for the first time in his career, unfortunately. Bournemouth-Luton game has stopped.

[Bobfoc]

Apparently, he's alert and responsive in the tunnel, which is good news.

[Lineker]

Wheels are truly falling off for City, it seems.

[Szumi]

That's so awful for Lockyear. Twice in 6 months now, even after the surgery to help fix the afib. So happy to hear he's responsive and well. Wonder if that's the last time he gets to play the game he loves. I just hope he continues to stay healthy and well.

[Adam]

Latest update on Tom Lockyer from Luton's official website:

17:40 Update

We are able to provide a further, positive update on Tom Lockyer’s condition.

Our medical staff have confirmed that the Hatters captain suffered cardiac arrest on the pitch, but was responsive by the time he was taken off on the stretcher.

He received further treatment inside the stadium, for which we once again thank the medical teams from both sides.

Tom was transferred to hospital, where we can reassure supporters that he is stable and currently undergoing further tests with his family at his bedside.

We would like to thank everyone for their support, concern and loving messages for Locks.

[Lineker]

 

[Colly]

Real shame, he's so good on it. Fingers crossed he'll still be ITVs FA Cup coverage etc.

In other news, managers complaining about refereeing after Newcastle win yet another home game is my new drug. Silva objects to the red card despite Jimenez bizarrely challenging for a ball on the floor with a Fame-asser, and claims that Fulham didn't get a foul all game. They got 3 less than us, and on 3 separate occasions (including when Jimenez was "elbowed") when the ref called for their physios he personally told them not to bother because he knew they were fine. You'd normally expect an FA fine, but Arteta getting away with it has basically made it open season on refs for teams failings (albeit not everyone could get away with Arteta's hilarious defence).

[Cymbols]

Only two more points and we hit the safety mark let’s go.

[Hobo]

Wild that Johnny Evans is playing in a Liverpool/Man Utd game in 2023.

[DavidMarrio]

Quite possibly one of the worst games of football I've ever watched. 

[Szumi]

That was the definition of arrogance. Arrogance from the players, arrogance from the vast majority of supporters acting like we were going to blow them away. The best chances fell to United. Hardly a single player put in a good performance. That was embarrassing.

[Hobo]

Very boring game. Man Utd aren't very good and Liverpool had an off day. 

tbh, I don't think Liverpool have played well in a lot of games recently it just happened that in this nothing really happened in front of goal.

 

[Gazz]

4 hours ago, Cymbols said:

Only two more points and we hit the safety mark let’s go.

Are you ready for 'Premier League leaders Aston Villa' Friday night after the game against Sheff Utd?

[gunnar hendershow]

It's very reasonable that Villa will be top of the league on Boxing Day.