Jobyfox

For some reason Southampton have been consistently underestimated and Leeds, perhaps, overrated

I remember a similar discussion with Garth Crooks when we were at least half way through the season. Arsenal had just dropped points to stop them getting closer to us. Garth stated: “ … I know Leicester are top and it’s nice and it’s fun, but the real story here (in terms of the title) today is Arsenal …”

I would change VAR and make the “clear and obvious” threshold quite high. Put the rest of the decisions in something called “referee’s call” where the decision goes with the call made on the field. Interventions would only be for things like off sides or obvious errors, although I’d accept that you’ll never erase ambiguity completely with the latter. This way the “clear and obvious” decisions would just be an overrule and end this ridiculous spectacle of a referee looking at a small screen at the side of pitch. That’s clearly failed as they always side with the decision of VAR anyway so it is just an exercise in pointlessness and delays the game. To be clear the bar is high. It would be serious foul play like Thierry Henry batting the ball away for France in a WC qualifier or an obvious error like Wes Morgan giving away a penalty after being hit in the face. The vast majority of decisions would stay on the field. The alternative is - scrap it!

I see I was quoted here. Fair play to Daka he’s doing the job I expected that Nacho would do in a team that dominates possession against lower quality and mostly inferior teams. I’m still not sure he’ll be what we need if we do go up as he’s simply too erratic. That is, however, a worry for another day and I’m delighted he’s contributing in the Championship in a way that others have strangely seemed unable to do. Is he that good or is it just that his star is high because Vardy has diminishing powers and Ian has been poor? I don’t suppose it matters currently

Double jeopardy rule. It’s not a red because the ref gave a penalty

Well it can. Rotherham could score

I’ve no idea what you’ve just said but, as it’s Christmas, I wholeheartedly agree

Damn! We haven’t lost a single game this season when he’s been on the bench

Bench looks stronger than the last game, which is helpful when you’re managing lots of games.

Err… because you’re the best team in the country rather than the best team in a league you didn’t really want to be in?

And the difference from usual is??

A lot of excitement, but there is only one result that matters today: Leicester v Rotherham

I’m usually the biggest pragmatist going when it comes to these type of conversations, but I really think that it’s 2 from 4 now in terms of automatic promotion. For a team 5-10 to get automatic promotion they’d have to rely on not one team’s form collapsing, but four. I don’t think that’s going happen. If our form dropped to the extent that, say, West Brom caught us then I think they’d actually be the least of our problems. As it’s likely there would already be another 2 to 3 teams ahead of us. These things are always interesting for added security, but ultimately the only form that matters is our own

Welcome to Foxestalk

The Vardy injury is a bit of a worry now because we’ll need him during the AFCON. I’d definitely like to see the Dolphin get some minutes as we’ll need him over the Christmas period. Maybe Praet too, but I’m assuming this game will be too early for Doyle The most likely thing to derail our season would be injuries - particularly if we are left short during AFCON. If we’ve still got a decent lead after that finishes we’ll be a massive step closer to promotion

For no other reason than the above comments: We need to sign Granit Xhaka in the summer!

They’ve probably watched more minutes of different teams than I have and many other people on this forum to be fair: We all tend to be a bit parochial when it comes to our own team

Well that’s alright then

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They’d still have La Liga as I think the idea is that this still runs alongside the domestic competitions. It would be interesting for Real who have easily been the most dominant side in the CL/European Cup. They’d be jettisoning their legacy and history in that competition for this

You’re probably right. The Taylor era wasn’t so much dull as tragic

Your name would suggest that’s more your arena than mine

They’re built to endure dystopian game shows as well

Are you suggesting that we should dust down the "ever obliging..." thread?

Yep - that's why I was agreeing with him