Football

Bosman 2. 0 - going to be really interesting what happens. As I understand it a player could now just cancel their contract and sign for another club with no compensation. Clubs will really need to keep players sweet.
Obvs, pending uefa/fifa revising the rules to cover this somehow. Agents must be putting in orders for new yachts as we speak.

OK numbers. You do you.

It might be that Bruno off the pitch is the best person in the world. He might help everyone everywhere all the time.
But when he's on the pitch he's a whiny diving little prick. "gimme the ball i want the ball" "oh look i'll do a photo opp big switch" "no i'm not running back"

I'm sure Dennis Wise was/is a lovely guy off the pitch.

As I understand it a player could now just cancel their contract and sign for another club with no compensation

Just like "normal" employment then, notice period aside. As you say, really interesting!

OK numbers. You do you.

What is that supposed to mean?

Anyway...

I'm not interested in what he's like off the pitch.

Hitting the deck at the slightest breath of wind, I'm afraid is just part of the modern-day creative midfielder's repertoire. And you absolutely want a creative midfielder who demands the ball rather than shies away from it. And then you want them to create.

My guess is Dennis Wise is a cunt, FWIW.

Obviously the flip side will be that players can be ditched if they aren't performing, no more Winston Bogardes.

More likely though is that some tweaking will happen to allow things to fairly much carry on as they have been. The court case wasn't directly related to a transfer fee so probably one that can be worked around.

Obviously the flip side will be that players can be ditched if they aren't performing, no more Winston Bogardes.

Broadly speaking, I don't have an issue with this and welcome some semblance of - what we recognise as - employment law governing. Could lead to a lot of constructive dismissal cases... imagine you're quite happy at centre-mid and suddenly your new colleague is Kevin de Bruyne.

The EU Court of Justice has ruled in favour of Lassana Diarra in his case against UEFA/FIFA in relation to player's contracts, as it restricts freedom of trade.

Chelsea's 9 year contract strategy in tatters.

Hitting the deck at the slightest breath of wind, I'm afraid is just part of the modern-day creative midfielder's repertoire

No, no it isn't.

There's absolutely no way he should've been given the captaincy of one of the biggest clubs in world football. Please stop defending the indefensible.

No, no it isn't.

Have you watched any Premier League football recently?

Yes of course it exists, but it doesn't mean it should be normalised and used to defend Bruno's behaviour.

Regrettably it is becoming the norm though.

I thought it was just that FIFA will no longer be able to refuse the certificate of transfer?

If the contract is valid I'm sure the players will have to stay.

Also signing on bonuses are likely to become contract maturity bonuses.

I think that ship has sailed.

"There was contact, he's entitled to go down there ..."

No idea mate, tbh, when it comes to the intricacies.

Wasn't Diarra in a situation where he'd been sacked by Lokomotiv Moscow, then was unable to take up a contract offer elsewhere because Lokomotiv Moscow refused to release him from the remaining two years of his contract, even though they'd terminated it?

LM then successfully persuaded FIFA to suspend him for 15 months and fine him €10 million. The court case arose out of that disciplinary case brought by FIFA.

I was just going by this section in the BBC report

The court's judgement says that, by refusing to provide Diarra with an international transfer certificate (ITC) for a proposed move to Belgian club Charleroi in 2015, Fifa demonstrated that its rules "impede the free movement of professional footballers wishing to develop their activity by going to work for a new club".

With VAR I had hoped it might be on the wane.

Meslier’s howler last night against the mackems is worth a look up.

Yes - amazing. A true classic.

Diogo Jota. Modern day Romario. atmo.

What the hell is Brentford's warm up routine?

Witham town Vs walthamstow, a game with everything. 1-0 to WTFC at half time, fight with the WTFC goalie and the WFC striker, ripped goalie shirt, one red, two yellows. Walthamstow equaliser from the free kick (took 1 min of deliberation to be awarded), followed by a late winner for Walthamstow. There were even ugly scenes in the tunnel as a Witham support climbed up threatening the Walthamstow players.

And all for a tenner. Will do as many away days as I can!

I saw not one, but two Liverpool FC coaches heading through West Wickham at about 15:45 this afternoon, presumably on their way to Biggin Hill to fly home.

I gave them the universal gesture to demonstrate I don't support them. No bricks to hand, sadly, otherwise I'd have made them feel at home.

Jimenez's assist is pretty special.

We were really poor today.

Nearly as poor as the West Ham support. Aside from the weird little bubble song, not a peep for 90 minutes.

Even Man City fans were better.