We could have done the double last year had we not lost to Man City in the finals. The loss to Man City was a disappointing one for us. Nico O’Reilly scored twice and ruined some of the fun that was about to come later. We also lost to PSG in the Champions League finals, and missed the treble. The getaway was that you shouldn’t lose finals but to learn from those losses, we must reach there again.
And the journey begins today. We are visiting Ipswich Town today in the third round of Carabao Cup / EFL cup. There are some good teams competing this time – Chelsea, Bournemouth, Sunderland, Palace, Newcastle have already made it to the next round. The fate of Arsenal, Man Utd, City, Liverpool and Spurs will be decided today.
We are unbeaten so far this season. 4 Premier League wins and a CL win so far, and we can add another one today. And it’s the second last game before we go into the international break, so the manager is under no duress to rest players. Though, I would like to see the likes of Max Dowman getting some game time today, Mikel likely prefers to go with the best fit XI.
Wenger used these cups to develop academy players and he would find some gems often. He invested his time and also cost the club a few points in doing so. But we are way past the development phase and we can spend 60m on players that would be second fiddle to Saliba and Rice, so don’t expect anything interesting. The best we can do is, WIN, and move on to the next round.
Every trophy matters. We have the best squad in the Premier League and we have already won the Premier League. The next target is to win more, and not just settle with the title this season.
In the team news, we would probably see Kepa back in the goals. There’s so much to do for Raya, so he will get some rest. We can also see a midfield of MLS and Guimaraes, with Merino in the Odegaard role. Madueke is a candidate to get a start and we might see Eze over Tzolis. Gyokeres could also get his start. I don’t care frankly who starts and if he is fatigued, we have got at least 2 players for each position and that removes the injury anxiety for me.
That’s all for today, see you during the game.
TRVL
Why do you think City had any major effect on the money the PL generated? City are not a big club.
You need to see the clip of Matthew Syed wiping the floor with Kirsty Gallacher over Chelsea some years back.
Marc—the money was directly connected to the rise in global eyes on the PL and not based on some sort of traditional “big club” metrics…the PL has 5 of the top 10 followed clubs, with United at the top followed by City, Pool, Chelsea then us…the rise of streaming services was the biggest game changer, as they had already maxed out the English public…I should know because I pay a small fortune to watch every game…the international rights make up 56% of the League’s total broadcast value (and climbing, based on the continued rise in subscription costs)…just saying
Marc
This cunt Burnham was part of Blairs evil cabal way back, but he makes out he was not part of of and is something fuckin fresh.
He is clearly a cunt but he is not an evil cunt like Blair.
You can have your Stalins, Hitlers, Pol Pots , Assads, Putins , Zedongs and the mad Belgian cunt who tortured half of the Congo, but Blair is in that mix for the most evil cunt for what he did to the Iraqis and Kurds and destabilising the whole fuckin region.
And for what exactly?
Wicked cunt.
TRVL
You’ve missed my point.
Nothing different would have happened if City hadn’t been bought, had been relegated and never seen in the PL again.
Like I said you need to see the Syed clip.
Art
Why do I get the feeling if Bliar was on the gallows we’d have a fight over who got to pull the lever?
Marc—clearly you didn’t fully comprehend my point…they were the second biggest driver of eyes towards the PL and had a substantial following in several major centers of PL economic interest…most notably NYC, Chicago, Hong Kong, Seoul and Toyko…there’s no guarantee that these followers would have simply turned their interests elsewhere within the PL (this doesn’t even include those cities where prominent City players were born, who likewise adopted City)…they’ve been a serious revenue driver and that fucking matters
btw I know the Mathew Syed clip where he attacks Pep for either his deceptive behaviour or downright naivete, considering that he stated unequivocally that he would walk if he ever found out that the powers that be lied about their financial compliance…of course this is damning, but has no real bearing on my argument about the importance of City when it came to the massive increase in tv/streaming revenue
one could easily ask why didn’t the PL act much sooner, regardless of City’s noncompliance, unless some higher-ups made a conscience decision to slow play the process until they secured the most lucrative international tv/cable/streaming deal ever, by quite some margin, which just so happened in 2025-26, right before we started to hear considerable rumblings…it’s important to note that this wasn’t the largest domestic deal, but only appeared as such because the total dollar figure was the highest…this was just an optics ploy on their part because the length of this deal was a year longer than the last…what really mattered was their international dealings, which is the only real avenue for considerable growth…this is why clubs like City were so fucking important…personally I believe that Pep stayed on longer to shield his employers, as I don’t think the PL wanted to rake them over the coals until they had milked his tenure for all it’s worth…simply put they were a major cog in their global growth model…Cheers
TRVL
That’s not the Syed clip I’m talking about – its a piece where Sky Sports were gushing about Abramovich’s ten years in charge of Chelsea.
Watch it you’ll get my point.
Brown – the chancellor who sold gold reserves at a knockdown price to fund a micky mouse war (Blair being Bush’s pet poodle with a slippery, forked tongue ). As soon as the war started the value of the gold tripled overnight.
See Emery has let the kittens out of the bag, all of them have been inflating their deals. And he would have no reason to lie.
If Manchester City were utter wank like Spurs, and didnt win the league most seasons no cunt would even be investigating them.
I hope City bring the whole grubby bullshit cirucs down and that cunt Burnham with it.
After that, we might get our game back and the carpet baggers can fuck off back to their ranches.
Cunts, for what they done to the game.
NORG
Give us your full list. At least Brown understood economics unlike the other 9 arse-fuckers. That, to me, is an important criterion. He was also a highly skilled heavy-breather of the highest calibre. I’m going to guess you’ll have Cameron top of the pile.
Matthew Syed is a client journalist, mega cunt and mediocre table tennis player. He’s a reactionary self aggrandising ping pong ding dong. Desmond Douglas was a different proposition. Kung Fu ping pong just like his namesake Karl.
https://youtu.be/Y_oal7VqsqM?is=W7FcYkV2v-AUgsi0
Decent geezer and very handy with a massive pot of evostik and sticky paintbrush.
https://youtu.be/bSHaIT13p6I?is=DA_BpSsJU3Mxpnv1
Pompous fucking wanker, bent journalist and serious glue sniffer.
https://youtu.be/Bt4D8oA3mxU?is=izM_V8F4TEoloRjO
Desmond’s dad giving it the big un on Top of the Pops. One of Jimmy Saville’s all-time favourites. Now then, now then….
Great tune and brilliant idea to combine disco and lethal martial arts. He fucking hated Matthew Syed too, calling him an over educated poshboy arsehole.
Apparently the UAE is threatening Burnham that they’ll pull billions of investment out of the UK if the City punishment is pushed through.
I wonder what they have on him?
KP
As Chancellor Brown inherited a fairly stable economy with borrowing around 32 to 35% GDP. The first 4 years of the Labour party reign continued with the same percentage which is about 340billion. Then numb nuts Blair decides all the experts were wrong and Bush was right – unbelievable. This was followed by the financial crash in 2008(750billion) and by 2010 it was 1.3trillion. So prudent Gordon was perhaps not so prudent. But for most of the period he was no 2 to a complete pratt.
Truss was full of radical ideas that frightened the life out of the money markets. Cameron and Osborne steadied the ship for a few years with borrowing around the 80% GDP and May was OK to a point. The UK’s problem was Merkle who hated the British and would not budge in relation to changing the revenue structure of the EU. If she was still a politician she would be humiliated in any election. Bozo was/ is a clown who cant keep a certain part of his anatomy in his trousers. Sunak – nice guy – never a number 1. Farmer harmer Starmer has the personality of a peanut (possibly). Picking Reeves as his chancellor was probably his biggest mistake. Burnham it appears could well have some dirt in a basement in Manchester. If it is uncovered it could expose a pair of dentures that would jump up and bite his arse. He is full of pleasing rhetoric but………
What happens in the next French and German elections could help a possibly better position to arrange a new deal with Europe – forget doing anything in the meantime as they will skin us alive (financially). Saying that I am currently involved with a project that will help Montenegro become a member.
Norg
I have no idea what would have happened with Truss if she’d stayed on but two thirds of the turmoil in the bond markets was caused by the Bank of England fucking up on LDI’s.
They were quite happy to sit back and let her take the blame – she should of course taken a more pragmatic approach with the changes she wanted to make but the BoE got away without any accountability what so ever.
Its interesting that the lefties who were screaming for her head because of the Gilt rates are now very quiet when they’re now even higher than during the “Truss crises”.
Marc
The bull in the china shop approach by truss caused the old farts at he BoE to have a heart attack. The current head is a knob.
Norg
I think describing Bailey as a knob is unkind to knobs!
NORG
I sense a degree of laissez-faire in your attitude towards the swivel eyed extremist shitstain whose career as PM lasted less time an iceberg lettuce. You must not have a mortgage any longer nor have any close friends/relatives with one. I guessed Cameron right as your numero Uno…is Truss your numero Dos?
Bailey, Brown, Truss, Merkel, Johnson, Cameron, Osborne have all one thing in common, they are bona fide cunts.
All of them , cunts.
The country is ungovernable , everyone has lost their fucking minds and like all empires, it will end, slowly at first and then like a fuckin avalanche.
If you can get out.
Montenegro is probably the best place to fuckin hide and rot.
I am too fuckin old and fucked with arthritis and skint to worry any more.
Cunts, what they have done