Football

[gingerjon]

9 hours ago, Futtocks said:

Scotland v Denmark tonight on BBC2. The first live Football I've watched in a few years now.

Oh, I can pick 'em!

The only disappointment is that the eventual result, and how it happened, will stop the debate about how exactly that was a penalty.

[Father Gascoigne]

Amazing scenes in Glasgow. Nobody does a better celebratory roar than the Scots. 

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

Huge congratulations to Curaçao on qualifying for their first ever World Cup!!

[Father Gascoigne]

Not to be outdone by Ireland and Scotland, Iraq scored the winner against the UAE to progress to the final round in the 17th minute of extra time (90+17). Absolute scenes in Basra. 

 

[gingerjon]

30 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Huge congratulations to Curaçao on qualifying for their first ever World Cup!!

The BBC article on them was quite open about where their players are from to the extent that, although it was framed positively, if it was RL, they'd be being called out for bias.

(The players are nearly all based in the Netherlands with Curaçao heritage)

[The Hallucinating Goose]

A phrase that irritates me more than it probably should: soccer-specific stadium.

Its just a stadium!!

[Father Gascoigne]

15 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

A phrase that irritates me more than it probably should: soccer-specific stadium.

Its just a stadium!!

Do you have a passing interest in MLS by any chance? I've never seen anyone use it outside of that specific fanbase. 

It's weird if it's used in Britain, but it's more apt in America considering the game's history and issues in hosting fixtures at NFL stadiums. 

[gingerjon]

16 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

A phrase that irritates me more than it probably should: soccer-specific stadium.

Its just a stadium!!

Just watch the Aussies when they feel the urge to point out rectangular stadiums.

[OriginalMrC]

19 hours ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

Huge congratulations to Curaçao on qualifying for their first ever World Cup!!

Interesting that the team is made up of heritage players. Something which RL fans constantly seem to get their knickers in a twist about. If it happens in the world's biggest sport then RL fans really should stop worrying about it.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

1 hour ago, Father Gascoigne said:

Do you have a passing interest in MLS by any chance? I've never seen anyone use it outside of that specific fanbase. 

It's weird if it's used in Britain, but it's more apt in America considering the game's history and issues in hosting fixtures at NFL stadiums. 

Not particularly but I follow a couple of stadium pages on facebook and they did an article on small football stadiums with great atmospheres which included an MLS stadium, and they used the phrase then. It was an article about football stadiums for Jupiter's sake!! They didn't need to call it that horrible phrase!! 

I think I'm gonna start using the phrase RL-Specific stadium...

[gingerjon]

32 minutes ago, OriginalMrC said:

Interesting that the team is made up of heritage players. Something which RL fans constantly seem to get their knickers in a twist about. If it happens in the world's biggest sport then RL fans really should stop worrying about it.

The difference I would say - and I noted the same above - is that if every international side, bar a couple, was made up only of players from one country choosing which of their options they would now represent then that would be a problem.

Also Curaçao play all their home games in Curaçao and always have done. And there's a football league in the country that's been there since 1921.

But the lack of it being an issue is refreshing in many ways. You just wouldn't want every team to be this way - nor any really major ones.

[The Hallucinating Goose]

It shows that population doesn't mean anything when it comes to quality when you seen that only 3 of the top 10 most populated countries have qualified for the World Cup, and two of those were automatic.

Edited November 20 by The Hallucinating Goose

[Father Gascoigne]

 

35 minutes ago, The Hallucinating Goose said:

It shows that population doesn't mean anything when it comes to quality when you seen that only 3 of the top 10 most populated countries have qualified for the World Cup, and two of those were automatic.

Based on the list I just looked at: USA, Brazil, China, Nigeria and Russia have all have qualified for World Cups they didn't host. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Ethiopia haven't qualified (5/10).

Indonesia has the best chance in the near future as they're beginning to tap into their Dutch connections these days, and the country focuses its efforts on football unlike the sub-continent contingent. They came very close to getting to the final round of qualifying. 

Generally you're right, population is overrated as a factor. 

By my reckoning you need about 50-100,000 registered players at a minimum to give yourself a shot at being competitive on the global stage. You can easily achieve that with a population of a couple of million. Of course you then need strong institutions to make anything out of that playing base, which includes youth coaching expertise, facilities, professional leagues tapped into a scouting network, and so on. 

Edited November 20 by Father Gascoigne

[OriginalMrC]

So the panel think the goal shouldnt have been disallowed but VAR was correct not to intervene. Therein lies the problem with VAR which just adds layers of subjectivity into the process.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c9wvw7eyvepo#comments

 

[The Hallucinating Goose]

3 hours ago, Father Gascoigne said:

 

Based on the list I just looked at: USA, Brazil, China, Nigeria and Russia have all have qualified for World Cups they didn't host. India, Pakistan, Bangladesh, Indonesia and Ethiopia haven't qualified (5/10).

Indonesia has the best chance in the near future as they're beginning to tap into their Dutch connections these days, and the country focuses its efforts on football unlike the sub-continent contingent. They came very close to getting to the final round of qualifying. 

Generally you're right, population is overrated as a factor. 

By my reckoning you need about 50-100,000 registered players at a minimum to give yourself a shot at being competitive on the global stage. You can easily achieve that with a population of a couple of million. Of course you then need strong institutions to make anything out of that playing base, which includes youth coaching expertise, facilities, professional leagues tapped into a scouting network, and so on. 

I meant 3 of the top 10 countries have qualified for the upcoming World Cup. USA, Brazil, and Mexico was included in the list I saw.

[OriginalMrC]

Yes I know its a world cup and I dont begrudge countries like Cape Verde or Curacao qualifying but just looking at the European qualifying playoffs its very clear it is definitely not the best 48 teams qualifying. Caveat - I know this is true of every world cup but feels more pronounced with expansion to 48 teams.

 

[Gerrumonside ref]

All change from 2027 in UK football rights:

-Paramount+ to get Champions League (Amazon Prime keep Tuesday 1st pick)

-Sky to get Europa League and Conference League football

Must mark the end of the TNT business model now in the UK.

Apparently Paramount’s bid blew everything out of the water.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cjekepglywvo

Edited November 20 by Gerrumonside ref

[HawkMan]

1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

All change from 2027 in UK football rights:

-Paramount+ to get Champions League (Amazon Prime keep Tuesday 1st pick)

-Sky to get Europa League and Conference League football

Must mark the end of the TNT business model now in the UK.

Apparently Paramount’s bid blew everything out of the water.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cjekepglywvo

Warner/Paramount have apparently taken over TNT, so subscribers will probably get the opportunity to move over as I did when BT Sport was taken over by TNT.

[Gerrumonside ref]

9 hours ago, HawkMan said:

Warner/Paramount have apparently taken over TNT, so subscribers will probably get the opportunity to move over as I did when BT Sport was taken over by TNT.

According to the press releases on this TNT looking to soldier on with its 1 PL game a week and the FA Cup rights.

Theres no suggestion of if not being a separate entity.

Edited November 21 by Gerrumonside ref

[gingerjon]

1 minute ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

According to the press releases on this TNT looking to soldier on with its 1 PL game a week and the FA Cup rights.

Theres no suggestion of if not being a separate entity.

Hawky has leapt the gun (I believe). Warner Bros Discovery now exists and they own TNT. Paramount, still separate, are strongly rumoured to be looking to buy WBD. This would likely mean TNT carrying on with its own rights and those of Paramount - though that format is a best case scenario for the audience. At the moment, though, they remain separate and there's no timeframe at all for that to change.

[Gerrumonside ref]

45 minutes ago, gingerjon said:

Hawky has leapt the gun (I believe). Warner Bros Discovery now exists and they own TNT. Paramount, still separate, are strongly rumoured to be looking to buy WBD. This would likely mean TNT carrying on with its own rights and those of Paramount - though that format is a best case scenario for the audience. At the moment, though, they remain separate and there's no timeframe at all for that to change.

It has to be understood that TNT and Paranount bid against each other for these rights.

That doesn’t suggest to me that the next move is for the overall football rights held by both now will be subsumed into one package for the audience (unless TNT sell/give up their rights).

They have released a statement saying their small Premier League package and FA Cup still represent a good prospect for the consumer blah blah.

Given the vast sum Paramount paid I think you can say there’ll be an extra subscription required now if you want access to all the UK top flight football inc. Europe.

I hope to be very wrong in my assumptions btw.

Last thing legal subscribers need is a third major subscription on top of Sky and TNT.

Hopefully Paramount does acquire all their rights holdings now as previously suggested.

 

Edited November 21 by Gerrumonside ref

[gingerjon]

23 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

It has to be understood that TNT and Paranount bid against each other for these rights.

That doesn’t suggest to me that the next move is for the overall football rights held by both now will be subsumed into one package for the audience (unless TNT sell/give up their rights).

They have released a statement saying their small Premier League package and FA Cup still represent a good prospect for the consumer blah blah.

Given the vast sum Paramount paid I think you can say there’ll be an extra subscription required now if you want access to all the UK top flight football inc. Europe.

I hope to be very wrong in my assumptions btw.

Merger talks are definitely happening but who knows about the rest.

[Gerrumonside ref]

Just now, gingerjon said:

Merger talks are definitely happening but who knows about the rest.

Yes, agreed, we can only hope the previous contributor is right.

[Father Gascoigne]

10 hours ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

All change from 2027 in UK football rights:

-Paramount+ to get Champions League (Amazon Prime keep Tuesday 1st pick)

-Sky to get Europa League and Conference League football

Must mark the end of the TNT business model now in the UK.

Apparently Paramount’s bid blew everything out of the water.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/cjekepglywvo

Sky has all Europa/Conference, but CL on Paramount? Yikes.

It is an elitist move by UEFA to separate the competitions like this, especially considering their position on the ill-fated Super League some years back. Fans will follow where their clubs go, but the casual will gravitate towards the CL, creating even more separation between it and the EL. 

You now need four subscriptions to follow all the major football leagues in the UK. Very consumer-friendly. 

In Australia, until 2027 at least, we have PL, FA Cup, CL, EL and the Conf all on the one streaming service. But that's a recent development after years of fragmentation, so I'll enjoy it while it lasts. 

Every English fan should hope for an implosion to take place, as hard as it is to envisage at the moment. Good things tend to happen when crises hit. The average French fan is much better off today after the league's broadcast deal cratered, as it led to the creation of Ligue 1+, and at a very reasonable price. 

[HawkMan]

19 minutes ago, Gerrumonside ref said:

Yes, agreed, we can only hope the previous contributor is right.

Let's hope that's so, but if TNT stay separate and have 1bn to spend, then, with due respect to RL SL, getting LaLiga and/or Bundesliga to add to 1x Premier league match FA Cup and Serie A might be attractive.