Skyline Drifter
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Posts posted by Skyline Drifter
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25 minutes ago, Butters Scotch said:
Eh isn't it fairly obvious... in the main he will go with his trusty lieutenants and then suitable players where we need the cover? So if Patterson/Hickey is out then he will add in two RWB's
Stating the bleeding obvious here but if Patterson and Hickey are out and he replaces them with two RWB's (Ralston and McCrorie most likely) then that's not relevant to how he's using the extra spaces. Taking two more right backs PLUS Hickey and Patterson because they are a doubt would be him using the extra spaces though.
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2 minutes ago, 2426255 said:
Don't worry about it, it's a lot of names. I only saw it as I was checking the names off my spreadsheet to see who maybe hadn't been thought of. The others were Dom Hyam and Robbie McCrorie who haven't any chance of being selected. So the rest is spot on.
If the squad goes up to 26 it becomes more unpredictable. Who would have predicted Gilmour, Patterson and Turnbull in Euro-2020? The unanswerable question is what 3 extra spaces will be used for?
- Younger players to show the pathway (Johnston, Conway).
- Cover fitness doubts (Fraser, McCrorie, Johnston etc).
- Players who've earned Clarke's loyalty (Jack, Brown).
- Mixture of the above or players that tick more than one of the above boxes.
I considered listing McCrorie but in reality he's only got a chance of going if two of the other four are injured in the next month. He's not a consideration to be actually picked and all four keepers are currently fit so I deliberately didn't even mention him. I concede I completely forgot about Hyam but the last thing we need right now is another centre back. Even if Hanley doesn't make it Hyam's on the outside looking in for the summer I think.
I think if we'd had everyone fit and the widely accepted 23 picked (allowing for the debate about Jack / Souttar / Taylor for the 23rd shirt) then the "26" would simply have seen all three of those go and one other from Ralston, Brown, Nisbet, etc. Even Anderson or Barnes if they'd declared late.
The injuries to Ferguson and probably Patterson have opened up another couple of spots to play with. If Armstrong or Hickey don't make it either (I'm assuming Gilmour should be fine) it becomes really difficult. He's had such a settled squad for so long you have to go back a distance to find three or four more names, or he bloods youngsters. Ralston would clearly have to come in, probably with another right back be it McCrorie or Johnston. Otherwise anything is possible. Might he even take all four keepers despite saying previously he wouldn't? It saves making a decision on one of his more loyal players and given the lack of an obvious replacement it's possible. I doubt it because it would be a purely sentimental pick but.........
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2 minutes ago, Ludo*1 said:
What position does Callum Paterson play these days and where's he at? I'd honestly prefer him as a call-up for the back-up RB spot instead of Ralston.
Patterson's done. He's playing with Sheffield Wednesday but although he's involved most weeks, he's not a regular starter now. And when I've seen him come on it's been as an attacker (mainly because Wednesday are usually chasing a game perhaps).
I'd call up Stephen O'Donnell before Callum Paterson to be honest but I wouldn't be calling up either ahead of McCrorie or Johnston.
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48 minutes ago, 2426255 said:
Does right back? Hickey may have to cover left back, Hickey might not be 100%. It wouldn't be a great surprise to me if we took a utility player who can fill in there as well as elsewhere (McCrorie) or a younger player (Johnston) to show the pathway from the 21's .
Taking either player would serve multiple purposes. Both have been involved recently.
In a 23, with Hickey first choice right back and 2nd choice left back, plus Tierney already in as a centre back but 3rd choice left back I don't think you need an extra left back. You obviously have Patterson (if fit) as 2nd choice right back and you take another (presumably Ralston) to cover if Hickey has to go over to the left. If Patterson doesn't make it you take another (presumably McCrorie but Johnston is a more outside shout). If Hickey doesn't make it then it's a bigger pain because you lose the flexibility and maybe need Taylor too.
In a 26 of course I don't think it matters, we'll take Taylor anyway.
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1 hour ago, 2426255 said:
I think you've missed out Billy Gilmour who maybe fits best under 'Currently Injured but Certain Picks if fit'.
Well that's not embarrassing at all is it?
I looked at it and looked at it and thought I'm missing someone and still couldn't see it! I've edited and added him. I've taken Brown off the italics list of likely squad fillers as a result though it might just as easily be Jack.
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On 21/04/2024 at 21:56, Diamonds are Forever said:
Yeah I'm not having the first one as a foul, he just collapses in a heap, the contact isn't enough to be a foul. Even if someone thinks it is, there's no way it meets the 'clear and obvious' threshold to be overturned so I don't blame the ref or VAR for that one.
Like you I think some of the handballs that are getting given now are absurd, but that today is a penalty. Very similar to the Wan-Bissaka one which was given. That said, there seems to be so much inconsistency regarding what gets given for handball that I'd not be too critical of that if it was in isolation.
But the third is just a horrific decision and one of those ones you genuinely can't find any excuse for. I know VAR is still individuals making decisions and they make errors, but if VAR as a system cannot correct errors like that then there is something majorly wrong with it. There are enough people involved in it to be getting that right.
I think the first one's a foul. There's a pretty clear kick to the ankle of Reyna. Twelve months ago VAR is giving that every game. I accept however they've throttled back on the overturns for incidental contact and it's a legitimate opinion to say there's not enough in it to overturn as 'clear and obvious error'.
The handball's one of the more blatant ones. His hand's well out from his body and it's a trailing hand. He also appears to lean towards the ball at the last moment. That VAR apparently called it a natural position is fairly incredible to me.
There are absolutely no excuses for the third. There's an argument it's also a red card though I imagine they'd claim he's making an effort to play the ball and ends up near enough to doing so to avoid that. But he doesn't play the ball and clearly takes Hudson-Odoi down. I'm not one for conspiracy theories, and I think the Forest statement was utterly embarrassing and amateur. However, I cannot understand what Stuart Attwell thinks he saw in that one. It just IS a penalty. There's not even an argument to the contrary. I assume he will be sat down this weekend because that's fundamentally dreadful refereeing. It's not corrupt, it's just rubbish.
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On 22/04/2024 at 10:01, Skyline Drifter said:
If it's 23 for June and picked today (on the assumption Hickey, Hanley and Armstrong make it but Patterson and Ferguson do not) then:
Gunn, Clark and probably Kelly
Robertson, Tierney, Hickey, Ralston, Hanley, Hendry, Porteous, McKenna, Cooper
McGregor, Gilmour, McGinn, McTominay, McLean, Christie, Armstrong
Dykes, Adams, ShanklandWhich is 22. One more from Souttar, Taylor, McCrorie (Ross), Johnston, Jack, Brown, Nisbet, Conway
If Gordon plays 3 or 4 of Hearts remaining games and plays ok then he displaces Kelly.
Possible Souttar is preferred to Cooper, that's a coin flip.Armstrong not making it opens the door for a question about Fraser, Gauld, Cairney, etc but it will most likely be Jack or Brown unless both are also not fit.
26 man squad opens up the possibility of more adventurous picks but I guess it's likely to just mean three more from the list above.
So with media reporting that a change to 26 man squads is to be rubber stamped this week I thought it worth looking at where we are on this now. For purposes I've assumed only Lewis Ferguson is formally ruled out at this point. I accept Nathan Patterson is probably a long shot though:
Certain Picks (unless injured before then)
Angus Gunn, Zander Clark, Andy Robertson, Kieran Tierney, Ryan Porteous, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, John McGinn, Calum McGregor, Scott McTominay, Kenny McLean, Ryan Christie, Lyndon Dykes, Che Adams, Lawrence Shankland
(15)Currently Injured but Certain Picks if fit
Billy Gilmour, Aaron Hickey, Grant Hanley, Stuart Armstrong, Nathan Patterson
(5)Near Certain to Now Go due to Doubts over Others
Anthony Ralston
(1)Candidates for the Remaining Spots
Craig Gordon, Liam Kelly
Liam Cooper, John Souttar, Greg Taylor, Ross McCrorie, Max Johnston
Ryan Jack, Ryan Fraser, Tom Cairney, Ryan Gauld
Jacob Brown, Kevin Nisbet, Tommy ConwayI've put in italics the ones I think will end up picked in a 26 man squad if everyone makes it. In the likely event of Patterson not doing so, I think McCrorie comes in as a straight switch.
I've said often enough that Gordon needs to play regular football for Hearts over the last month to get in. There are signs he's going to do so, but if he doesn't play again I think Kelly goes. I suppose in a 26 man squad he could take 4 keepers but if he does that it's pure sentimentality. There's no football reason to take 4 keepers.
Obviously there are also doubts about Jack and Brown at this point and they may end up ruled out also. Fraser, Cairney, Gauld and Conway are of course just based on musings on here rather than any particular recent evidence but Fraser's the most likely of them I assume. There are further left field shouts recently such as Lewis Morgan, Josh Doig, Danny Armstrong, etc who I think are even further out of the picture.
Given the lack of obvious clear candidates to take the extra three spots, I do think he's more likely to take a gamble on the likes of Hickey and Armstrong, or even Patterson. God alone knows what happens if the Currently injured 4 AND Jack and Brown don't make it! Or others get injured. We'd need 6 other players from somewhere. Guys who haven't been involved in the last 3 or 4 years or future stars from the 21s will end up called up.
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1 hour ago, AndyDD said:
With Tierney in the squad, you really only need Robertson and A N Other left back.
If Hickey's fit you don't need "A N Other" left back. If Robertson is unavailable Hickey would switch wings and if he's unavailable Tierney would step out of central. No reason to take Taylor, Doig or anyone else. Of course that goalpost moves if Hickey doesn't make it or indeed if the squad size is moved to 26 as now appears likely.
We all know there's no world in which Clarke is picking Doig over Taylor right now.
1 hour ago, craigkillie said:I don't think we need 12 defenders in the squad for 5 places.
We don't, but that doesn't mean we won't take 12, particularly now it looks likely we're going to 26 players. You'll be more conscious of Clarke's loyalty than I but you see him as the sort of manager likely to pass over picking Cooper, Souttar and Taylor for a left field shout or two at this stage of Fraser, Gauld, Cairney etc?
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7 minutes ago, Pie Of The Month said:
I agree they could and probably should but I just don't see them caring enough to implement it for home games when it could impact ticket sales even if it would be small numbers.
People don't seem to care as much about harvesting if it's home games either for whatever reason so until that attitude changes which it might do as those on higher points continues to go up and up and allocations for away games sell out at higher points levels I can't see them doing anything about it.
Yeah, as debated on the other thread, if we're in a situation where 6,500 had at least 12 points a year or so ago and over 18,000 may have 12 points within the next 6 months or so then those extra points will matter.
I just thought logically if the Hampden App provides this technology then it makes sense to actively use it. Didn't actually occur to me they wouldn't be using it for home games. Does it specifically say somewhere that they aren't?
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53 minutes ago, betting competition said:
I was just reading on the TAMB forum that someone's flight was cancelled on the day to Amsterdam, and they didn't make it to the game, so their points weren't added. I didn't think they'd have a system like that, but evidently they do. I wonder if they apply the same rule for home games?
Looks like Gibralter game is collected in person.
I think that's a slightly left field one. Although they didn't actually "attend" the game in such circumstances if they can prove they were booked on a cancelled flight I think they should get the points. A bigger concern as @Pie Of The Month says below is we know of at least two instances of fans who were at the game not being credited with points as the Dutch haven't scanned them in properly.
42 minutes ago, Pie Of The Month said:They don't apply the same rule to home games and I doubt they have the appetite to either since they probably just want the money, especially for games which don't sell out like Northern Ireland.
Surely they now could very easily apply the same rule to home games? It's all scanned entry now on the new Hampden app. It should be able to tell if a ticket is used or not and update accordingly, or if it was transferred to a non member to use. Whilst I doubt it makes much odds to anything significant, I'd say they should be using it at home games if the technology is there.
32 minutes ago, lubo_blaha said:It seems likely a needless hassle to get this data from the host association and then go got the trouble of applying it for those who didn’t scan in. It won’t be consistent across all away games either as I imagine most won’t be able to provide this.
Well the issue is so far they are resisting any manual adjustment for those who weren't scanned in properly, but that's a different debate. I'd support using the technology if it is reliably there to use. We all know there are points harvesters out there and this will go at least part way to addressing that (nothing to stop harvesters buying for the Dutch game and giving to someone else to use of course).
Gibraltar is going to be 100% collection so it amounts to the same thing.
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On 18/04/2024 at 11:39, The Moonster said:
The fact we never done anything in League 1 with Dom Thomas and Gall up top remains a travesty.
I'll see that and raise you that we ended up in a Championship relegation playoff in a season we played Dobbie and Dykes up front together! Despite Dobbie scoring 43 goals in it even though he missed two months injured.
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3 hours ago, Virtual Insanity said:
I think it may have been me. I can't quite get my head around that jump - the Poland game falling off and being replaced by the NI one shouldn't have seen much of a movement as far as I can work out from the best guess attendances (I can't find anything official on this). Austria falling off as an Away and being replaced by Netherlands is probably a more significant factor but I would have thought at that level that you're largely dealing with the loyal home fans who don't really bother with away games?
The away game cant possibly be the reason to any significant extent. The number on 12 points or more is up by more than 2,500 and the number on 11 or more is up by over 3,000. We only got 2,400 for Netherlands and about 1800 of them were sold on day one to those who were already on points above that level. It certainly drifted down to 7 pts though so probably about 500 or so of the lift can be attributed to people taking a chance to go to an easy away trip when it was there.
No, the rise is in the home member attendance. As I said before, qualifying for Euro 20 re-ignited a lot of interest. The SSC sold out and a lot of the newer members stated going every game (or they may have been going every game before but not members because they didnt need to be). It maybe wont go quite as high as I thought given the number on 10 hasnt really moved but it looks fairly likely up to 18,000 people might have 12 points shortly. Compared to 8,000 6 months ago.
If I recall correctly the discussion was about how easy it may be to get away tickets and tournament tickets in future. Its likely going to get harder and for qualifiers with any sort of rationing people are going to need the mid teens to have a chance. I'm seriously considering heading to the Gibraltar game to get the points. Otherwise my ceiling any time soon is likely 14 points.
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49 minutes ago, Bob Belcher said:
Don't know if you got anywhere with this but I just checked and had the same thing happen to me.
I got in touch with SFA and apparently the ticket wasn't registered as scanned in the data provided by the Dutch FA. I replied with pictures of me there and is nothing they can do apparently!
That's ridiculous. They should have facility to manually edit a member's points (I accept it may need some sort of management countersignatory to stop someone just adding point to their mates accounts). If they don't have then the system isn't fit for purpose. I'd be complaining higher up the chain if you are able to provide photographic proof of you inside the stadium.
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18 minutes ago, JS_FFC said:
At the moment we have Ralston, Taylor, Souttar, Jack, McGregor and McTominay playing domestic cup finals the week before the Gibraltar game. Norwich (Gunn, Hanley and McLean), Southampton (Adams, Armstrong, Fraser) and Leeds (Cooper) are all in playoff spots at the moment.
The 2nd CB would be whoever out of Hanley/Cooper isn’t in the playoff final
Injuries could obviously impact Leeds between now and then of course but Cooper's not playing for them anyway. And Southampton have already ruled Armstrong out for the rest of the domestic season. Ralston's fairly unlikely to actively feature in the Cup Final for Celtic either.
I take your point though. None of those players will be available for early join up.
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Just now, 2426255 said:
That's it, I believe it was you that said previously there was a standby list last time with Lewis Ferguson on it. Why would that method be changed? I don't know though.
Wasn't me. Couldn't have told you that.
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Just now, 2426255 said:
Can you imagine a squad announcement before the Finland game, just doesn't make sense or worse after it around midnight lol. That would be one for the books
No. The squad will need to be announced ahead of Finland. I accept there's an argument for having a larger squad go to Gibraltar and trimming it on return, especially if there are fitness proofs to be made by the likes of Hickey and Armstrong. For me though when the games are so close you just name the Euro squad and use them in the friendlies. Possibly with a standby list.
Does Stevie Clarke really want to be calling three or four players to his hotel room after Gibraltar (be that in Portugal or back in Scotland, not sure if they'll go direct to the airport post match) and telling them they haven't made it? I'd get that out of the way before they go and take a party that will go to the Euros away.
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25 minutes ago, JS_FFC said:
This is exactly what’s going to happen. Hes naming a larger squad in May and then trimming it on the June 7 deadline.
Has this been said anywhere? We obviously have the two friendlies Gibraltar and Finland but the final squad is to be confirmed on the day of the Finland match (not clear if that means midnight or during daytime hours, and presumably it's CET anyway. Ergo, it'll certainly need confirmed before the Finland game.
I'm pretty much assuming he'll name a squad for the two friendlies the usual week or so ahead of the first and that it will be the Euro squad. I suppose it might be slightly larger if there are lingering fitness doubts over a couple and they are given the week / Gibraltar game to prove their fitness.
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1 hour ago, JS_FFC said:
My current plane, based on the assumption that Hickey and McTominay will be fit enough to go but Armstrong Ferguson, and Patterson will not. The guys in brackets are the 24th-26th men that get in if the squad is expanded:
Goalkeepers: Zander Clark, Craig Gordon, Angus Gunn (3)
Defenders: Liam Cooper, Aaron Hickey, Jack Hendry, Scott McKenna, Ryan Porteous, Anthony Ralston, Andy Robertson, Greg Taylor, Kieran Tierney, (Grant Hanley) (7/8)
Midfielders: Ryan Christie, Ryan Fraser, Billy Gilmour, John McGinn, Callum McGregor, Kenny McLean, Scott McTominay, Ryan Jack, (Tom Cairney) (8/9)
Forwards: Che Adams, Lyndon Dykes, Lawrence Shankland, (Jacob Brown) (3/4)
Your current plane or what you think Stevie Clarke will take? Not necessarily the same thing. I'd take Craig Gordon for instance but I'm not convinced Clarke will unless he plays most of the remaining games for Hearts.
For me Grant Hanley's either fit or he's not. If he's fit he goes whether it's 23 or 26. If he's not then he doesn't. I don't think the squad size affects him. Same as Hickey in effect. Is there doubt about McTominay now? I know he went off injured yesterday but I didn't see the game so was not aware it was anything serious.
On the positive news front Southampton have confirmed Stuart Armstrong has a quad injury and not a knee one and he has a 'good chance' of being fit for the Euros though he won't play for them again this season.
If it's 23 for June and picked today (on the assumption Hickey, Hanley and Armstrong make it but Patterson and Ferguson do not) then:
Gunn, Clark and probably Kelly
Robertson, Tierney, Hickey, Ralston, Hanley, Hendry, Porteous, McKenna, Cooper
McGregor, Gilmour, McGinn, McTominay, McLean, Christie, Armstrong
Dykes, Adams, ShanklandWhich is 22. One more from Souttar, Taylor, McCrorie (Ross), Johnston, Jack, Brown, Nisbet, Conway
If Gordon plays 3 or 4 of Hearts remaining games and plays ok then he displaces Kelly.
Possible Souttar is preferred to Cooper, that's a coin flip.Armstrong not making it opens the door for a question about Fraser, Gauld, Cairney, etc but it will most likely be Jack or Brown unless both are also not fit.
26 man squad opens up the possibility of more adventurous picks but I guess it's likely to just mean three more from the list above.
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37 minutes ago, Jives Miguel said:
Didn't watch the game, but those are 50/50 at best for me. Don't understand the outrage at them not being given.
Referring to the two involving Ashley Young, didn't see the third one people are on about.
All three involved Ashley Young.
Thats not even good trolling though. Must try harder.
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1 minute ago, Molotov said:
It’s clearly an aggrieved fan who is employed by the club to operate the Twatter account that has clearly lost the plot. Won’t be surprised to see that individual removed from this role.
Not sure if serious?
It's not an aggrieved fan. That's directly from the mouth of Marinakis. He's done it deliberately and the club will be charged with bringing the game into disrepute. Again. He's an arse.
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3 minutes ago, 2426255 said:
It's so bad, hard to believe a professional club would tweet that - it's like an April fools joke. Just get rid of referees and VAR and let the teams ref themselves then or better yet just let the fans fight amongst themselves to make decisions. It's got to that point, chaos rules apply.
It's not that hard to believe. Forest have form for it in the last 12 months or so. I just knew something embarrassing would come having watched the game. They can't just leave well alone for everyone to see for themselves how bad it was. I was expecting something attached to Clattenburg's name later or tomorrow though. Five minutes after full time on the Twitter account smacks as if someone's given Marinakis the account password to deal with it directly from the Boardroom himself.
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5 minutes ago, DrewDon said:
The handball is borderline, I think - it would be given in Scotland, but I have seen enough in England to know that the bar for intervention is higher there (and I personally prefer that approach). The one with Reyna is undoubtedly one that, if it gets given on the pitch, the VAR isn't intervening; again, though, I have seen similar ones this season that have also not been reviewed most likely on the basis that the degree of contact from Young isn't severe enough. The most egregious of the three is the last one, I think.
His hand's well out from his body, and there's a lean into the ball too rather than it just hit him. Even in England that handball is given 90% of the time. And less obvious handballs are frequently given.
Young's reaction after the handball is very much that of a guilty man wondering if he's got away with it.
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10 minutes ago, Molotov said:
Why do you think that all three were denied?
Do Forest have an argument?
We see similar decisions in Scotland that tend to favour the bigot brothers.
An argument about what? That they were incorrect is surely beyond question. Absolutely anyone would give a penalty for all three surely in isolation? I accept that there's a debate that there's not an obvious enough error to over-turn the onfield call in the first case though I suspect Taylor would give a penalty if he saw the thing again.
Beyond that? Forest have been robbed by refereeing in several games this season (most notably previously the one where Willy Boly was sent off after about 10 minutes v Bournemouth for a challenge in which HE was fouled! There was also the infamous late Liverpool goal coming after they got a drop ball which everyone acknowledges should have been a Forest ball (albeit more than a minute earlier and 100 yards away from the Forest goal). That's extremely frustrating. It's not going too far to suggest that referee decisions (and of course FFP) are the only reason Forest are still in a relegation fight. However, none of it excuses such a toys out of the pram Sunday League amateur statement. They'll be doing nothing because fundamentally they CAN do nothing and Marinakis needs to realise this isn't Greece, Forest aren't Olympiakos and he can't bully the FA and everyone else into giving him his own way.
Get on with it and win some games.
Only Stuart Atwell knows why he denied them all. I'd imagine Dermot Gallagher will appear with yet another apology this week and Atwell will have at least next weekend to do some shopping with his wife. Nothing will change though.
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The performance of the VAR in the Everton v Forest game today is truly embarrassing (Stuart Atwell I believe). He'll be sat down next week. There's an argument about Anthony Taylor too but to be fair it's easy for a referee on field to make a mistake and a couple of them were probably blind side for him. There are no excuses for Atwell. Sky were able to show all three as blatant penalties within seconds. I take the argument the first "wasn't enough to overturn the on field call". I disagree but I accept the argument. There's just no argument at all for the other two. They are penalties. All day, every day.
Then just when you think things can't get even more embarrassing, and I speak as a Forest fan, along comes that statement. FFS. Employing Clattenburg to "officially" whine about referees was already pretty embarrassing. Letting the YTS write the official club statements after an afternoon in the pub and threatening "options" is laughably amateur. We're back in the Premiership but Marinakis is making the club a laughing stock.
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in Tartan Army Ramblings
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Indeed. But if we're at a stage where he genuinely thinks he's not going to play those extra 3 players in nearly any circumstance, then might he simply use the three spaces to reward loyal servants who might otherwise not make it such as Taylor, Souttar and Jack if they weren't in the initial 23? Hence my slightly mischievous suggestion that he might use one of the extra three to take a 4th keeper and save him disappointing one of his most loyal. I don't seriously expect him to do that as he can call a goalkeeper up in the event of a tournament ending injury so it's pointless, but it would save him a decision.