Wsl

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Last time I looked (but frankly haven't double-checked it) and before we got the points deduction, it meant we have 5 games against the teams that were around us (we were 16th), 4 games against the bottom 8 and 7 games against teams in the top 10. While it's looking pretty grim at the bottom end, more worryingly the top 10 teams will have promotion and play offs to fight for, so none of them will be taking their foot off the gas.

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Just a bit relieved that France made a few mistakes and Ireland started getting in some hits. Was looking horribly one-sided for everyone other than France after the first half!

Ramos and LBB playing like they're having a lark in a light training session....

If Top is baffled as to how and why we've ended up where we are, he could do worse than to read the decision. In particular (bold lettering is mine, the rest is as printed - some bits like Brendan's pay off have already been redacted): 94. Following a further deterioration in results and entry into the relegation places in 29 early April 2023, LCFC dismissed its manager, Brendan Rodgers (and his coaching staff), at a cost of approximately £ . Mr Davies said this decision was taken in the hope that improved performance, retention of Premier League status, increased merit payments, and player sales in June would ensure PSR compliance. He accepted that the termination had financial consequences and acknowledged that the Club’s PSR and P&S position at the time was “very serious”, exacerbated by carrying “unused players” for “several seasons” 95. Mr Davies said that LCFC engaged with the PL regarding the PSR implications of the dismissal and submitted a revised PSR submission in April 2023. Subsequent projections indicated that LCFC would need to generate over £59 million in player sale profits before 30 June to avoid breaching the ULT. He accepted that the shortfall in player-sale profits in summer 2022 and January 2023, together with declining sporting performance, placed the Club at heightened risk of breach. 96. After relegation on 28 May 2023, Mr Davies stated that player sales became the Club’s principal financial priority. He explained that James Maddison was sold for on 28 June 2023 so that the profit would fall within FY23. He also referred to the subsequent sale of Harvey Barnes for £ three weeks later, noting that, had that transaction occurred before 30 June, it would likely have brought LCFC within the ULT, albeit at the expense of reducing FY24 profits by the same amount. 97. Turning to FY24, Mr Davies stated that LCFC understood the applicable ULT in the EFL to be £83 million. He accepted that the Club signed players for significant fees during the FY24 summer window but did not achieve the level of player-sale profits he had identified as necessary for compliance. Although LCFC’s internal forecast submitted to the EFL in September 2023 projected compliance, he said that the Club’s financial position deteriorated to the point that the imposition of a business plan by the CFRU in November 2023 “would not have helped”. 98. Mr Davies explained that he prepared financial scenarios and advised LCFC’s owners that substantial player sales would be required in January and June 2024 to comply with the ULT. No transfers occurred in the January 2024 window, leaving LCFC reliant on the June 2024 window to avoid breach “by a very large amount”. He accepted that he repeatedly advised management that LCFC would breach the ULT absent significant player-sale profits. He also accepted that the EFL had indicated it would apply a 37-month assessment period for the FY24 assessment, notwithstanding that LCFC submitted its forecast on a 36-month basis. 99. Mr Davies stated that LCFC moved from a £63.8 million adjusted loss in FY23 to a £6.1 million adjusted profit in FY24. He attributed this to corrective action following relegation, including substantial salary reductions, the £ Barnes sale, nonrenewal of high-earning contracts, player loans, and wage-reduction clauses. He accepted, however, that LCFC did not complete sufficient player sales during the final two weeks of the 2024 transfer window, despite his advice. He also accepted that, if LCFC “had made significant sales at undervalues” to comply with the ULT, “it could have been at the bottom end of the Championship” in the 2023/24 season. And yet here we are. At the bottom end of the Championship in the 2025/26 season......

The mitigating factors presented were (1) a positive trend in its finances, for which it got a point knocked off (starting point was 7) and (2) exceptional cooperation, which LCFC argued should get a reduction of 1-2 points. The Commission said that LCFC's conduct didn't come close. Basically they kept changing their position that did nothing to help an early resolution of the proceedings. The Commission found that our "protestations of admission of breach were qualified and accompanied by myriad arguments that, in material respects, denied liability. As in life and politics, one cannot have one’s cake and eat it too. LCFC did not provide early clarity as to the competition law issues upon which it relied. LCFC breached its disclosure obligations. Quite apart from cooperation, LCFC manifestly refused to cooperate by not providing its accounts". No additional point was added for that failure as a separate breach. So I can't see any appeal disagreeing with any of that and knocking off the 1-2 points we argued for.

God loves a trier. Apparently we initially contended that the appropriate sanction was a delayed points deduction in the PL as and when we were promoted back to the PL!!

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And "loose" instead of "lose".

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It's all going to turn on that points deduction. Without it, however poor we are, I don't think we're going down. We have a 5 points plus cushion over 5 teams, some of them have at least as bad form as we do right now (WBA, for example) and there's only 2 relegation slots as Sheffield are taking one. We'll grab the odd points every 3/4 games as we've done to date - always an odd win to make it look a little better. But 6 points or more and it is a real risk, with a team that doesn't look like it's got any fight. As Teilemans said above, the good youngsters are not going to want to hang around League 1 if they can help it either, and I don't blame them for that at all. So when you've got a squad where most want away, you've got a real problem in any relegation scrap.

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We may well be relying on the luck that with the hits Sheffield Wednesday have taken, there are realistically only two relegation spots this year.

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Ideally I have a go in the morning. First coffee to hand. Noodle around with Strands, Connections and then Wordle of the NYT games. My only really aim is to get it in six. Sometimes I'll spend a couple of minutes trying to crack it if I'm close to getting the right guess. Sometimes I'll take a bit of a flyer on a word, even if I'm pretty sure it isn't the answer, but it will at least nail down some letters or eliminate them. Don't ever take that long on it, but more than 1-2 minutes. Then I go and make my second cup of coffee. I can't fly on one wing.

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Apparently there are many things we need to do to be much better, from what I could make out in Cifuentes’ interview. And we need to get better. Well no disagreement there. He also said he didn’t know what happened in the tunnel. But nothing that was said in that interview gives me the slightest cause for optimism. Same old stuff.