Brainy

Don't disagree however there have definitely been some errors from VAR which haven't been subjective

Mistakes on VAR is pretty unforgivable. Though each incident is unique and they can't necessarily be trained beforehand in how to deal with it. Everything else I'm with him though. The referee usually (probably, dunno) makes the least amount of mistakes on the pitch of all 23 people out there, will be the lowest paid yet also are the easy go-to excuse for managers and fans alike when the result goes against them.

It is hard to please though We should stop paying huge fees for players. Woyo "remember him" Coulibaly We should stop buying players that "know England/PL”. Julian "81mins, I've seen enough" Carranza We should stop looking for managers that know England/PL. Marti "look at his track record, it's shite" Cifuentes. Ultimately just needs someone to do a good job no matter what their fee/background etc

So you're giving him 81mins across 3 or 4 sub appearances because of the boards incompetence?

From Oscar's onboard you can understand why it would have irked him. Would like to think after the race he'd probably have understood it a bit more. Imagine the conspiracy theories had Oscar's engine given up in Zandvoort. Monza was a unique situation. Both McLaren's had waited til near the end of the race for a SC which never came. By this point it's fair to say that the race is over between them, not exactly called off but because there was a 4/5s gap from what I recall, it was extremely unlikely they'd end up engaging in a wheel to wheel battle. I personally thought the swap was fair enough and in-line with their incredibly friendly, yet sometimes tedious team-tactics (see Hungary 2024). They were also in an uncommon position where they could actually fix and revert the positions as there was no traffic between them. If this happened mid-race I think it's possible they wouldn't have switched it back as it feels like more of a live pit stop. Towards the end in Monza it was clear they'd settled for their 2-3 in that order. Singapore... I mean if we want to just watch them hold position then sure he was in the wrong "rubbing is racing" "if you dont go for a gap......" seems to only go when the narrative suits. It's clear though it's now the fashionable thing to hate on McLaren/Norris. They didn't even favour Norris against Piastri last year when it was him Vs Max until it was too late and think that was only on one occasion

People forget how insane the top four were that season. I'd have had Leeds down to finish ahead of them meaning 3rd was the best they could have done anyway. As you say who cares how they finish the season, I'm sure their goal was promotion no matter how it came.

It suited the squad the season before though? You'd then think the players signed last summer were bought in because they're suited to his style. I get it's a higher level but you don't generally see promoted sides rip up their recipe for success and implement a totally contrasting style of play, though I do think his style is very extreme as far as possession based football goes. There should be enough of a gulf in quality in Scotland for him to have been able to implement his style of play from the off without hindering the results. Absolutely no need for him to tip toe around the first few months. I've not really watched any of their games so no idea how it has ended this badly

So we're saying the 85/90+pts or whatever he got in that season was a disaster!? No doubt the PL stint was poor, but they were expected to be down there no? Absolutely he didn't help himself with the one dimensional football In truth I'm not sure if he really set the world alight at MKD/Swansea, think he may have just been seen by Southampton as an up and coming young manager with an "appealing" brand of football. Think it's harsh to judge his overall time at Southampton as anything too critical. This is the first time he's totally stunk a place out though

I know he has his flaws in being one dimensional but is this not the only disaster of a job he's had??

As well as a huge chunk of people on socials. Perhaps he's just an FT troll and doesn't roam around the internet that much

David Croft is insufferable most of the time but his repeated plea to ban blue flags is up there with the worst shouts imaginable

This and the Monza team order are not comparable

Oh right. Guy has more yellow cards than any of his players i'm probably safe in saying. Seems to be an entitlement about him that wasn't particularly visible when he was here, doing whatever he wants and either not knowing or caring about the consequences. Honestly I can get over the celebrating, but the constant berating of officials is poor. Gary Neville summed it up well when questioning what his backroom staff are telling him when they look at the monitors, it was never a penalty.

I know it's a silly thing to say off the back of him celebrating, but Maresca is a bit of a twat now isn't he?

McLaren hadn't won a race in nearly 3 years when they won in Miami in 2024 and were immediately declared to have the fastest car. They've looked nothing like having the quickest car the last 3 races, Red Bull winning at a canter twice yet it's still all knives out for them (Norris in particular) for not taking an easy 1-2. McLaren will be grateful it's mostly "proper" race tracks for the remainder of the season. Happy for Russell who's had nowhere near the plaudits he deserves this season.

Slavisa Petrovic at Wolfsburg has had glowing reviews in the last 2 years

Celtic stunned by Braga apparently, according to the beeb. Is it out of the question that Braga may actually be the better team? Feel it was a similar response when they drew at Red Star a few weeks back which actually seemed like a bloody good point. They're so out of touch with foreign football outside of the usual bigwigs

Giving Daka ago because it's only Coady, fair play

I would have been happy to spend a couple of years blooding in at younger talent, however all we've done so far is blood in Jordan Ayew & Vestergaard, so meh

How is it possible that the F1 thread is the worst thread on a football forum

Would be incredible bait had he not won the sprint race in China

My guilty pleasure is finding tragedies on Facebook and looking to see the grandmas who have reacted with a laughing emojis

Great to see Sunderland doing well but just makes our efforts last season more frustrating. That said I feel Sunderland's fixture list has been very friendly so far

Never bagged for Sheffield Wednesday so I'd argue no