ScrumpyJack

#RodgersOut sentiments have seemingly quickly diminished

I have a bit of time for Palace, Woy's a good lad. Would like Scotty Parker to succeed at Fulham but probably because I fancy his WW2 pilot looks. Outside the premier league, I keep an eye on Burton. Least favourites; Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal Arsenal Don't dislike the club per se, but I find their fans are the most entitled and needlessly opinionated bell wipes out there, Arsenal Fan TV is the epitome of the bellishness. The fans preach about their early-2000s success like a new tome of the Bible, yet were so quick to jump on the 'Wenger Out!' bandwagon, only to concede shortly after that he was probably overperforming. Stupid name for sure, but I quite like the lad Spencer running it. Seems like an honest passion project. I wish he documented the ins-and-outs a bit more on his YouTube. Bloody hippy.

I'll back him. 23, made just below 50 league appearances with very few of them being full matches, relatively I'd argue he is fairly inexperienced. He is playing a bit dross at the moment, but hopefully he matures into his position. Few defensive midfielders are world-class, or even Premier League quality, before their twilight twenties. He would definitely benefit from more game time. For his style of play, he needs to learn to read the game better as he is not the most talented player on the ball, but he can disrupt forward movement if he cuts the passing lines. I think he needs to get that bastardness back to his game. Could see him benefitting from going on loan to the likes of Burnley, WBA or Derby.

Let me bring this back down to earth. Desford Fish Bar I would argue is the best chip shop in Leicestershire. I love chips. In my years, I have tried a lot of the fine chipperies in our fair county. After having a quick cross-reference on Trip Advisor, I have had the pleasure of ‘taking away’ from several of the top rated fish and chip shops in the Leicestershire area, and let me tell you, Desford Fish Bar is unparalleled. The chips are firm, yet with that slight limpness you desire from authentic English chips. Servers, both male and female, massage your ego with a “Yes boss man what can I get you”. The forks are weak, and by the Gods do they know it, if you ask for one, they give you four. The salt? Generous. The vinegar? Generous. The price options list a regular and large chips. But the variation is but a filter to identify the plebs from the plums. A true pleb bosses the regular and receives a bountiful treasure of potato-y goodness unknown to modern man. The plums pay that 90p extra and receive but a pittance in comparison to the mighty regular. The kebabery provides the finest options known to the shire of Engelbert. Halloumi kebab for the discerning vegetarians? Go for it. A lunch meal deal with meat you suspect has been sourced from an overweight labourer’s thigh? You’ve got it lad. Burgers that put the AHHH In salmonellAHHH? Course you can lad. The prices available at this finest of fine dining screams nothing more than “I REMEMBER THE RECESSION”. You could feed a family of 10 and have leftovers for suppers for £10.

Not having it at all. Football isn’t fair, I’m sure we can all agree on that. This proposal seems like institutional bullying and a consolidation of power amongst the so-called Big Six. The only comparison that springs to mind is the oligarchs grabbing resource mills in Russia following the downfall of the Soviet Union; capitalising on a time of strife for individualistic gain. The smoke and mirror is that it is for the good of the league, but this just develops an Us vs Them narrative. While individually clubs can benefit from outsider investment, this just seems like an internal favouring towards big clubs. As Leeds, Nottingham Forest and WBA have shown previously, success in English football is cyclical, to borrow that twat Piers Morgan’s old Twitter bio “one day you’re the cock of the walk, the next you’re the feather duster.” Pure consolidationism by United and Liverpool.

I am from Leicester, so I support Leicester. Regardless of whether the team is composed of DJ Campbell, Fatty Fry-Up and Oakley or Vardy, Mahrez and Kante, it will always be my team. As to where the club goes, I couldn’t care less but I will enjoy the ride, whether that is in the dizzying heights of the Champion’s League or back in the EFL. Truth be told, I am not a fan of people who chop and change clubs they support like brands of toothpaste. You can change your name, your missus and your gender, but you should never change your club.

Point well argued my good man.

I stand by season tickets holders deserve free streaming. Not just at Leicester but across the PL clubs. Season ticket holders have made the investment this season and have been shafted. They made a financial commitment to the club, and deserve reward, especially with how tight money is currently.

People who purchased season tickets should have free access to watch the matches digitally.

This issue conflicts me so much. Personally, I miss going to the stadium. The whole routine of matchday constitutes to the football experience. From the shit pub lunch to walking down the Raw Dykes, it all contributes. Rationally, I think it is too earlier still, especially with how cases are reportedly starting to rise again. If someone dies at the KP, or any stadium, from transmitting COVID that would be a needless waste of life, and a loss of someone's brother, father, husband, friend etc. With the winter period fast approaching, immune systems are going to take a bit of a battering as it is. I have noticed in recent months people are starting to take hygiene less seriously again. The KP has lots of places that will have a high degree of hand traffic, which could encourage transmission. However, for clubs lower down the pyramid, I really hope a workable solution can be found to stop them from taking such a financial hit. Football clubs historically have been financially mismanaged, which is at the fault of institutional negligence. But for the likes of the Macclesfield Towns and Burton Albions of the country, a lot of the clubs are social hubs. I remember reading in Soccernomics that towns would congregate at cathedrals and churches. Post-Industrial Revolution and the development of league football, social migration made football stadia the new meeting point of local communities. The history and significance of these small clubs are vital to football as a whole, and it seems like without fans a lot of the teams will really struggle. It's such a conflict between the heart and mind at this point.

Posted on the loan thread, but Sam Hughes has gone out on loan to Burton Albion. Lad is looking absolutely ecstatic.

Big Sam Hughes has gone on loan to the mighty Brewers. The lad looks absolutely ecstatic.

A big claim at the moment is that the quality of defending has significantly dropped this season. Which on paper rings true. But I wonder if the shorter break takes a bigger physiological toll on bigger players such as your Van Dijks, Maguires and so on. They are bigger units and without a proper break, maybe they are suffering more. If this is true then the games current trend of top clubs playing with attacking wingbacks is increasing the amount of pressure on the centre backs. As a result of the exhaustion and the pressure, they are crumbling. Another aspect to consider is just how the game has changed in recent years. 4-4-2 became 4-2-3-1 and we’re in a 5-4-1 era now. But again, for the top clubs they are trying to play more of a 2-7-1/3-6-1. The latter formations can bring a high degree of attacking intensity, but on the counter will leave the teams fundamentally short.

Horse and Jockey is an okay pub, but they do charge quite a lot for an Aperol Spritz. Nice enough part of the county though, maybe a bit too tory / Midsomer Murders for me. It is spelt Congerstone by the way, don’t want you to look a tit.

Not buying this anti-Rodgers agenda at all. Soyuncu and Evans did not perform; what is Rodgers meant to do? Employ Danny Ward as an emergency centre back? We struggled making cutting passes to feed Vardy, probably because Maddison and Praet are both injured, Tielemans having to play deeper due to the defence's weakness stopped him from properly influencing the game - which he has struggled to do consistently for some time. The players are accountable for this, just as they were accountable for the win last week. The Rodgers hate train is pathetic and is seemingly symptomatic of our success in recent years. We had a bad game, we move on.

We’ve scored most of our goals in the second half this season. Hopefully we can start making something. West Ham are entirely deserving of the lead at the moment. The cockney bastards.

Met him in Game in Highcross in 2018, he was buying a Switch for his children. He picked up Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, that's when I knew he wouldn't amount to much. Handsome bastard.

I’m not too keen on him playing in internationals again. Rather he was fitter for us. I can see Euro ‘21 causing some real fitness and fatigue issues for the players involved. I want Vardy to have another season being a nailed-on starter.

Appeared on Four In A Bed. You bet that it's on my CV under relevant experience.

Not sure what happened to young Fofana's arms here, but it reminds me of a service a nice lass who used to live next door to me in South Highfields provided.

Shit have we actually signed Fofana?

Don't worry lad, Gen Z are far too busy filming TikToks to bother procreating. Pre-lockdown went to Mosh and it didn't have the same spectator-at-an-orgy-vibe it had back in the early 2010's.

I've been studying the ancient Japanese art of the haiku, pretty tough stuff.

Man City fans are just old Chelsea and Arsenal fans. Can't help but think of City's project as an Americanisation of the Premier League. So much of their focus is on branding and marquee signings and expanding their operations overseas, even Pep himself is subject to the Man City brand. Where were the fans before 2009? Or even after? Fickle plastic. Their club culture is built around a band that is the personification of a bootleg 'Best Of The Beatles' compilation.

If I was a player at the moment, given these ridiculous handballs rules, I would play for it. Every team and every player will play for the hand and appeal at the moment. Players appealing is hardly novel, I recall a certain Matt Mills appealing whenever the opposition hit a header in the box.