Football

Still time for him to turn out to be the new David Bentley.

He's a very different player to Bentley and won't turn out like him. I think he's great, still a bit luxury at times, but has certainly matured and more often than not looks a key player.

Is it time for a Ziyech thread?
https://www.givemesport.com/1617505-chelsea-news-hakim-ziyech-dazzles-again-for-morocco-his-latest-highlights-are-brilliant

Not really patchy. In the team that came 17th he had the best stats behind KDB.
Kept us up on his own last season and now he has better players around him he has more space to exploit and it creates chances for others as well as him.
He's been getting better every season for a while now. This isn't just a streak of form.

Strong rumour that JT could be in line for the Derby job now Cocu has left...

Other contenders are Rooney and Gerrard apparent.

FFS 2020, can you fuck off now please?

I'm not sure there's enough bleach.

I hear if you dilute the bleach into cocktails then there’s more than enough to go around.

Homeopathic bleach! Yes!

rip ray clemence

Anyone else really hoping that the Wrexham/Reynolds/McElhenney thing becomes an absolute fairytale success story?

well i don't really have any connection to any of them. but will avoid the crap Netflix series it will invariably become

The news just said, 'They announced ambitions to be a global force and may invest as much as £2 million'. Real Madrid quaking.

all the fans want is to beat chester regularly, they've only got eyes on the A483

After seeing their Ifor Williams trailer promo, I hope they are going to invest properly and not just for the lolz, but it's such an excellently mad story I hope it works out.

Does FFP apply to the National League? I’m guessing not considering how Salford were throwing money about.

Got to feel for Liverpool fans right now, finding out that their club is the only one in the Premier League to suffer any injuries this season

The netflix cash would surely pay for the journey back to the football league

Very interesting/thought provoking interview with Owen West on football policing

i think clubs like Albion and Leicester should be made to donate money to Liverpool so they can buy some new players before the transfer window opens in January otherwise they might have to use their squad.

Either that, or simply suspend the league until they have a fully fit squad

I was just looking at the 66/67 league one table earlier (don't ask) and was surprised how little has changed. Of the 22 clubs that season, only five (Forest, Stoke, Sheffield Weds, Blackpool and Sunderland) are no longer in the top flight - replaced by Palace, Wolves and Brighton.

The top four were Man United, Forest, Spurs and Leeds. Villa and Blackpool were relegated.

This is a tough read, but worth it.

https://www.theguardian.com/football/2020/nov/20/anton-ferdinand-i-have-kicked-myself-for-years-for-not-speaking-out-john-terry

I, for one, have huge respect for Anton Ferdinand speaking up after all this time.

What must have made that even worse is that it seems that he got on quite well with John Terry before.

It's such weird doublethink by John Terry that you can be friends with Drogba and Ashley Cole, and then still use racist language against opponents. But then I suppose you only have to remember about Wayne Bridge, or the disabled parking spaces, or being a full kit wanker, to realise that he's probably just not a very good person.

We use "I'm having the John Terry" in a restaurant to mean "I'm going to order a burger." (Although only if it's on the menu.)

"I'm having the full John Terry" would mean demanding a burger even if the restaurant didn't sell them: https://twitter.com/darrenrichman/status/576016800342794240

VAR can fuck right off

Yes.