HawkMan

Edwards sacked at Watford must be the craziest decision EVER at Watford. He only lost 2 games out of ten, and are ONE point outside playoffs. They deserve relegation to League 1 for this madness.

If you have BT sport there's a terrific daily footy chat show, with top pundits called ESPNF.C. I agree here with Stewart Robson's assessment of Southgate. However it's not doom and gloom.

England won't be in second tier qualifying for Euros, only Nations League matches, next NL qualifying is mostly in second half of 2024 after Euro 2024, (first matches likely to be just before Euro '24.) England will be tier one for Euro '24 qualifying UNLESS they really mess up in Qatar and lose co efficient points. However if they do well in Nations League 2024 in tier 2, then they will earn a guaranteed World Cup 2026 play off berth if they mess up the WC 2026 qualifying. Phew !! Complicated or what?!!

For the top nations I'd agree,but it is important for lesser ones. Convoluted it is but it creates a pathway to Euro and WC qualification. To put it simply, play off places for Euros and WC are left available for 4 ( I think) teams who fail to qualify via the groups who preformed best in Nations League. Scotland earned a play off place and qualified for Euros 2021 because they did well in the NL, but didn't qualify via their Euros group. Also I remember commentators saying Wales had a qualification place for the WC play offs " in reserve " from their NL performance if they failed in the WC qualifying group. They didn't fail so didn't need it.

Just found out that the T20 cricket WC is upcoming. So we have three World Cups this autumn, though one of them is likely to be a snorefest. Clue : it ain't the RLWC or the cricket.

From what I've read Preston are right up there with attempts at goal, they just can't convert their chances, and their defence has played heroically, the games have been okay, just no goals.

I'm worried for Nottingham Forest even though I'm not a fan. Bringing in 20 new players was a gamble and it's going to take time to gel, possibly too much time, it's not looking good. And with Leicester's problems it could be a long hard winter for the East Midlands.

I got fed up with removing the bag from the cup, it kept dripping or you have to take it to the bin or leave it on the saucer, so I just thought "stuff it I'll leave it in there" and not looked back. It keeps brewing while you're drinking and I like strong tea, occasionally have black tea too.

I enjoy tea and coffee, but never have coffee with a savoury accompaniment such as peanut butter sandwiches or cheese because I sugar my coffee but not tea. Tea for me is always made thus; teabag in mug, water in, then milk, not a lot or milk powder, and teabag stays in mug while drinking. Kenyan tea is great, nice and strong.

Not as funny as Chelsea fans favourite Spanish waiter Benitez.

It's about the future not what was won previously, that's the way of football at the top with hundreds of millions at stake. I'm not surprised by Tuchel going, the team seems without a way of playing, Tuchel seemed almost to admit he hadn't a clue how to rectify it. However after spending £200m on new players he should have been given more time, or sacked earlier. It does seem odd to give him Sterling, Cuccurella, Aubameyang, Kullibaly ( forgive spelling) and then sack him. But nowadays transfers are often handled by a sporting director guiding the policy which goes on but with a new manager. Any chance Mourinho for a third spell?

I always use my smartphone to get images to put on here. As was said above, my own photos are just too big to put on. Internet images are easy, just done this; Searched for image on phone,I've chosen Pep Guardiola. Keep finger pressed on image, then tap " Download Image " Image is now in phone. Then on here tap Add Files. That takes you back to your images on phone, then tap your image in this case Pep. And it should appear on here. Then press " insert" and then submit, and there it is.

Dermot Gallagher's Ref Watch on Sky Sports News on Monday is always a good watch. Explains the rights and wrongs of VAR. There was a lot of interesting decisions at the weekend, some VAR got right, but maybe the laws need changing, others a misinterpretation from VAR and the on field ref not sticking to his guns. Champions league returns tonight, from The Analyst.com here are the groups and a computer's qualification percentages of each team. Group C looks a real group of death, and D could be incredibly close. Here are the supercomputer’s qualification prediction numbers for the UCL 2022-23 group stage: Group A: Liverpool (88.9%), Ajax (57.6%), Napoli (36.5%), Rangers (17.0%). Group B: Atlético Madrid (74.8%), Porto (69.7%), Bayer Leverkusen (41.3%), Club Brugge (14.1%). Group C: Bayern Munich (78.5%), Barcelona (63.1%), Inter Milan (50.7%), Viktoria Plzeň (7.6%). Group D: Tottenham Hotspur (78.2%), Sporting CP (48.5%), Marseille (44.5%), Eintracht Frankfurt (28.8%). Group E: Chelsea (71.5%), Milan (58.0%), RB Salzburg (49.2%), Dinamo Zagreb (21.3%). Group F: Real Madrid (95.0%), RB Leipzig (66.4%), Celtic (21.2%), Shakhtar Donetsk (17.4%). Group G: Manchester City (92.8%), Sevilla (55.9%), Borussia Dortmund (47.8%), FC Copenhagen (3.5%). Group H: Paris Saint-Germain (80.0%), Juventus (58.0%), Benfica (51.2%), Maccabi Haifa (10.8%).

No reason this guy would want it, but impeccable record of maximising the product in his care. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Richard_Scudamore

We do have an independent timekeeper, he's called the referee. Why bother with a ref constantly saying into his mic to someone in the stand or touchline , " stop the clock " " start the clock " " stop the clock " etc. He can do that himself and does. If you're asking for a truly independent timekeeper who decides for himself when to start and stop the clock, THEN NO! The referee has to be the arbiter of what is time-wasting and what isn't. In RL the ref DOES do the timekeeping, the difference is instructing another official to stop the TV clock so when it hits 80mins it's over. It's obviously more transparent that way, but nevertheless the Fergie time antics and now the moans of managers leads to more generating headlines and interest, gives football another dimension to get more newspaper inches. Perhaps RL could do with some of that.