Tommygilf

Absolutely true, we need another CB and hopefully sign Ben White up on a full time basis also. Our problem is depth and real quality in certain positions so I think a Central midfielder, attacking midfielder and striker should be on the cards this summer also. People forget that other than a couple of good loan players/signings, this is essentially the same squad that finished 13th in the championship 2 years ago. Bielsa has improved these players dramatically so in terms of bang for buck Leeds don't have to go huge in the transfer market but do need to get players that work hard. Talk is Eduoard from Celtic is on the radar but its more about attitude than ability for me - see the JKA saga. The game against Arsenal in January was interesting as it showed the defensive fragilities as well as the go out and win mentality. It'll be interesting to see whether Leeds go for the top straight away (as happened last time after promotion), as I don't see Bielsa's style working well in a park the bus relegation scrap.

Unsurprisingly given the relationship between Guardiola and Bielsa those Man City stats are almost exactly the same as what we've seen at Leeds. Huge domination of games and loads of chances on goal but some games whereby the opposition get 2 chances and score both and you lose 2-nil. Yet the same team against different opposition can come and win 3 or 4 nil a few days later. Both play really excellent football but when teams are happy to sit nine players in the box they can become vulnerable to counter attacks and their own defensive lapses in concentration. Essentially, it works very well against sides that come out and attack as Guardiola/Bielsa will back their teams to be better in that head to head.

He gets that accusation a lot and I do understand it but he's still an excellent coach though and genuinely improves players. They have a very good budget at city but they've rarely gone for "galacticos" level signings, just a lot of quality in depth - which is far more sensible imo. Undoubtedly he's been fortunate to coach at some of the best clubs in the world but his style of football is world class.

Povetkin is still knocking about and always has exciting fights to watch. At the more youthful end the excellent Ukrainian Oleksandr Usyk has made the step up from Cruiserweight and will be a World Champion one day. He's a brilliant fighter. Bulgarian Kubrat Pulev is one of Joshua's mandatory fights. I'm sure there are some others going around. Some top fighters in the lighter weights such as GGG and Lomachenko.

It does seem rather shocking that playing for a team that doesn't want the league to restart and therefore relegation to be instigated (Dynamo Dresden, Brighton, Bournemouth, Hull City) does seem to be connected to an increased risk of contracting Coronavirus... Hopefully this is just a brief correlation and doesn't end up shutting down the restart.

They weren't relegated for cheating, they were relegated for accounting problems leading to their insolvency which have recently emerged were dubious at best and way off the mark at worst. This article shows how particularly HMRC caused problems with them initially pushing for nearly £100million and subsequently dropping that to 20 now. Cheating or not through the EBT scheme, such a monumental ballsup on behalf of HMRC is not in any way fair. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.bbc.co.uk/news/amp/uk-scotland-50727197 I'm saying this as a Celtic fan. What does the administration of 1 club 8 years ago have to do with the current situation now?

I've heard similar, though ironically being in Edinburgh they probably do have the money and don't want to bother with Glasgow lol

That's missing the point though isn't it (though I think the time to merge would have been at the dawn of the Premier League). With a game in hand, plus 2 games against their bitterest and closest rivals Celtic, I don't blame them for feeling aggrieved.

Not even a twinkle in my 6 year old father's eye I'm afraid! I do however have a great uncle who played for Hibs and Celtic in the 1920s so I can certainly vouch for an historic affinity between the teams; alongside a shared animosity for Hearts and Rangers. The Facebook comments sections certainly have their views on this and the sectarian aspect is only heightened by the claims by Rangers of impropriety by the Scottish Premiership, accusations of bullying and bribery of Scottish clubs, the fact that Celtic's current 9 in a row has been completed without opposition effectively for the most part, the injustice felt by Rangers fans because of everything surrounding it and that Hearts are the team that has gone down.

Yeah like I said I'd be livid if I were a Hearts fan. The prospect of lawsuits, bullying and bribing accusations is something we really need to avoid in England. The recent statement from the Football League provides a lot of hope for Leeds I think. Its a tight one but I can see the League getting the 51% of clubs voting to end the season now sending Leeds and WBA up automatically and the current 4 teams in the playoffs with Barnsley, Luton and Charlton down. That said Leeds have repeatedly before and since the statement had a commitment to playing on to finish the season and I wouldn't feel comfortable with sending Charlton down in 22nd place when 1 win could rocket them to 19th, 3 places from safety.

Yeah I mean I still think Celtic would have won, Rangers have gone off the boil after christmas, but it still doesn't feel great I guess. I agree the bottom is really the controversial bit of this. Naturally with it being Rangers losing the chance to catch Celtic AND Hearts going down there's a sectarian nature to many of the complaints, particularly on social media. For Leeds I think we're in a scenario now where we're going up. The Premier League are not going to deny promotion and the same bottom six clubs just keep throwing a new idea into the pot every day in an attempt to have relegation canned. Relegation and promotion aren't mutually exclusive I suppose but its clear the null and void option is not happening now I don't believe. Either the League will be finished as is, PPG or we find a way to play on. Either of those scenarios make it almost certain Leeds will go up automatically. As with all the scenarios, without playing out the season, its the relegation movements which are the most difficult. Followed by playoff places. I am missing sport so much!

Obviously

Its like Wigan's shirt from this year!

As a Celtic fan I'm happy the bhoys have won the title but it does feel a bit cheapened. Rangers having a game in hand plus an old firm and all that. I'd be particularly livid if I was a hearts fan, being relegated despite only being 4 points from safety seems a wee bit unfair and more like being voted out of the league tbh. Safe to say this nine in a row is worth it to wind up Rangers fans but doesn't hold the same weight for several reasons. That said if they handed my real footballing love, Leeds united, promotion tomorrow then I'd bite your hand off.

They had a cracking mainly SL based side at the last world cup, its a shame we haven't seen a game between them and England.

Great! Hopefully it gets going here for the players as much as the national federations.

Great work Welshmagpie I think every player when they play a first grade match (or at least NSW/QLD cup in Oz) should have to fill out in their registration form the international team they want to play for and also the nations they are eligible for. Creating a database of professional RL players for the international game. It would also help whoever at sky is putting the little flags next to the players names.

Not to be unexpected really. Countries where the sport is strongest tend to supply the most players. As evident in the union and football world cups. In league its magnified because of its relative small footprint at professional level but its by no means alone.

Fair enough, I saw his first game against the broncos and he played outside Mitchell who had a horror show on the left.

Has Ryan Hall had to swap wings? Played all his career at Leeds/England on the left but played yesterday on the right.

It just seems too WWE for me.

Wilder just isn't a very good boxer is he.

Wilder literally just said "I'll fight wherever makes more money". Doesn't that just say it all?

Couldn't agree more! I'm not a massive Fury fan as it goes but I sure hope he knocks Wilder into next week. It was interesting to see that Fury thinks if he wins and Wilder doesn't go for a rematch then he reckons DW will go fight Joshua. Personally I don't see Joshua fighting anyone other than Whyte before going for full unification. I also hope Fury wins on the basis that he will fight AJ with much less disagreement over negotiations than Wilder IMO.

Got back from London yesterday with a bit to reflect on as I can now compare Wembley and Cardiff directly for an AJ fight. Personally the overall atmosphere around the ground and to an extent in it was better at Cardiff. We didn't manage to get to Wembley as early as we did to Cardiff so didn't really go to any of the pubs however there wasn't really an incentive to do that either with us being able to do that in Central London. In the stadium itself the atmosphere built but as it rained for a good few hours before the main event the uncovered levels remained sparsely populated - this was also partly due to the undercards not being as good as last time. Also, as any RL fan knows 70k at Wembley despite being a great turnout still feels a bit empty. I have to say that I preferred Cardiff as a stadium more than Wembley (perhaps because the beer was cheaper). All that being said, by the time AJ came out the place was buzzing. In essence it really did feel like "the lions den" (falling for the Hearn marketing I know but hey it works). In terms of the actual fight, I enjoyed this main event more than the last one. Povetkin was a great challenger and I reckon would give Wilder a good run. Though Wembley was still difficult to get away from (we were held at two points on Wembley way for a long time before being able to even enter the station), it was nothing compared to the chaos at the coaches and the traffic leaving Cardiff which eventually resulted in our coach getting back to Bristol at half 4 in the morning. No doubt the fact that hotel prices across south Wales sky rocketed for that night persuaded more people to get the coaches. Overall then, my friends and I will be going to the next fight in April at Wembley regardless of who its against. My money is on Wilder (I see him beating Fury) or Whyte at the moment. Though I have heard some rumours that Hearn was trying to get Whyte in first that have probably been scuppered by Fury. Overall both Cardiff and Wembley have their strongpoints and I hope Hearn can rotate between the two.