Nice of Roy to take time out of his busy Warhammer schedule to get a few weeks of work followed by a nice big pay off from Watford. 

22 hours ago, mojo said:

 

It annoys me that these people say "top clubs" when talking about VAR decisions, like it's all of us that benefit from dodgy VAR calls. Anybody that has been paying attention will know that it's only two top clubs that get these decisions, Liverpool and Manchester United. If they look at our history with VAR, they will see that we have had it as bad as any mid table to bottom of the table club.

I think it's great that the PL arranged its winter break for the time when Liverpool's strikers were most likely to be unavailable. Good to see the scousers getting that support.

17 hours ago, Nibs said:

Watford are a joke of a club. I thought we were bad with managerial changes but what is it with them? Now replacing a 70 year old with a 74 year old!

Admittedly, Hodgson has a bit more about him than Ranieri. Poor old Claudio got lucky one season with Leicester but has been bang average other than that, so it was only heading one way. Hopefully Watford are heading back where they belong, never to return. Another job Lamps did well to steer clear of.

 

I agree Hodgson is a better appointment than Ranieri which I thought was a strange one in the first place. Never saw Rainieri as a manger to get you out of a relegation fight.

Burnley are also in the mix and though they normally leave it late to start winning matches, Dyche was meant to be unhappy about Wood moving on yet could not stop it as his legal threshold to talk to other clubs had been met. 

1 hour ago, bluehaze said:

 

Is this for real?

2 hours ago, bluehaze said:

Where does that upright forearm start? Seems to be growing out of someone's face.

 

 

2 hours ago, Gol15 said:

Is this for real?

I would doubt it just someone taking the piss presumably although The Emirates and The Etihad do suffer from ESS Empty Seat Syndrome 😆

1 hour ago, Backbiter said:

Where does that upright forearm start? Seems to be growing out of someone's face.

 

 

Maybe Wolfie Smith was in there 😁

19 hours ago, Munkworth said:

Nice of Roy to take time out of his busy Warhammer schedule to get a few weeks of work followed by a nice big pay off from Watford. 

Never ran into Woy down the ol' games workshop. 

Guarantee he plays Necrons (Nehkwons) 

Egypt vs Ivory coast right now, should be good !

1 hour ago, BordeauxBlue said:

Never ran into Woy down the ol' games workshop. 

Guarantee he plays Necrons (Nehkwons) 

He might have been trying to get his own version, Royhammer, off the ground again. 

1 hour ago, DidierDrogbalala said:

Egypt vs Ivory coast right now, should be good !

Back in the day that was Chelsea vs Spurs, Drogba vs Mido.

Salah vs Zaha

Salah in the first providing assists now just up front feeding off scraps.

Zaha frozen out for a lot then after moaning gets a bit of the ball and actually looks to have the legs to do something.

Obviously a defensive error could let Salah or another in.

 

Dreadful game, i hope Zaha misses his penalty he's so annoying.

ughh finally this game is over !

Another 120 minutes in Salah's legs and his journey continues!

Salah majestic penalty to seal it.

Not an inspiring match hopefully some others provide more entertainment.

Ah shame for Didier. Extra minutes for Zaha before playing us would have been nice too 

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/60135824

Premier League clubs will have to prove they have at least four Covid-19 cases to get matches called off under new guidance announced on Wednesday.

A total of 22 top-flight games were postponed in December and January because of the pandemic.

The rules will be introduced before the next league fixture on 5 February.

A Premier League statement said the rules are designed "to protect the wellbeing of players and staff" and "maintain the sporting integrity".

Previously, clubs could request a match to be postponed if they did not have 13 available players as well as a goalkeeper.

However, teams were claiming opponents were including injured players as well as those on Africa Cup of Nations (Afcon) duty in Cameroon in the figures of players available.

Earlier this month, Tottenham said they were "extremely surprised" at the decision to call off their game against Arsenal, which had been scheduled to take place on 16 January.

However, the Gunners, who had four players at the Afcon tournament as well as a number of injuries and Covid cases, said they "reluctantly" requested a postponement and were "disappointed" the game had to be rearranged.

The Premier League said requests for postponements would continue to be assessed on "a case-by-case basis" and added: "Throughout the pandemic, the Premier League has adapted its guidance in response to the wider public health situation.

"The guidance was last updated in December in response to the emergence of the Omicron variant.

"The Premier League Board examines a number of factors, including the ability of a club to field a team; the status, severity and potential impact of Covid-19; and the ability of the players to safely prepare for and play the match."

 

Covid passes not needed for stadium entry, but face masks still recommended

The league have said Covid passes will no longer be needed as a condition of entry to a Premier League match.

However, clubs have been urged to "follow public health guidance to keep each other safe on a matchday" and supporters should wear face masks when "indoors or in crowded areas" of the stadium.

Premier League chief executive Richard Masters said: "Fans have shown fantastic support for the measures in place and we thank them for helping keep each other safe and grounds open at full capacity.

"Despite Government restrictions easing, everyone still has a role to play in making sure people feel safe at our matches.

"We and our clubs urge supporters to continue to do all they can to follow public health guidance to minimise the risk of passing on Covid-19."

Analysis - 'International absences will not come into play again'

Simon Stone, BBC Sport

The reduction in the number of positive Covid-19 tests in the Premier League this week to 16, plus the increase in the number of Covid positives to four before a game can be called off, should have a significant impact on postponements.

The Premier League have always known postponing large numbers of games indefinitely was not an option because the final games have to be played on 22 May.

But the current international break offered the chance to re-assess and while injuries can still be used in proving a club cannot meet the 13+1 criteria, with the Africa Cup of Nations over before the next full round of matches, the international absences will not come into play again.

It should provide some certainty ahead of the next phase of the season, to the international window in March, in which there are seven rounds of matches, plus the fourth and fifth rounds of the FA Cup.

There are still 19 matches to be re-arranged, the four involving Leicester are particularly troublesome as Brendan Rodgers' side are about to embark on a Europa Conference League knockout campaign.

But the fact this new criteria comes into effect from the resumption should at least ensure the game that has caused most problems, the twice postponed relegation duel between Burnley and Watford, who now have a new manager in Roy Hodgson, should finally go ahead at Turf Moor on 5 February.

Freshly sacked Fat Rafa spotted back in his everyday clothes.

Everton are interviewing Lampard for the second time today for the vacant manager's job. It will be a difficult job for him, and possibly not the right one. Everton's players have really downed tools recently and he'll have a massive job geeing them up again!

I'm shocked, if Frank is seriously considering this.

Potential career 'ender' if he gets it wrong as Everton have history and their fans are proud of that. If they go down under his watch it will be like a millstone around his neck.

He will not have a pre-season and to my knowledge has not managed without a pre-season.

I agree Everton are in a bad way and think Frank is best to go to the Championship and build a side and come up that way.

Funnily enough Hodgson might have been a good fit for Everton.

 

59 minutes ago, Blueblur said:

Everton are interviewing Lampard for the second time today for the vacant manager's job. It will be a difficult job for him, and possibly not the right one. Everton's players have really downed tools recently and he'll have a massive job geeing them up again!

Actually I think he should take it. New manager bounce, decent attacking players will enjoy his attacking football. Their squad overall is not that bad and any improvement over Rafa will get him kudos and that's not hard to do.

It will be nice for him to take a prem job so we can loan them some players for him to develop as well.