kingfox

Quite possibly one of the most comfortable half’s of football this season. More of the same in the second half please

Spot on assessment from Warnock on Sky just then.

To produce his highest break of the match in the decider just shows the class of Si Jiahui. A couple of recovery pots were needed, but the way he struck the cue ball was delightful. We’ve seen him play better, we’ve seen him score better, but other elements of his game really shone through in that match.

It’s never going to be 100% correct, but whether through on field referees or those in VAR, there’s just far too many ludicrous decisions going on right now. Too many decisions are left as talking points on a weekly basis, if the officiating in England was to a good standard, then you wouldn’t need the likes of Dermot Gallagher, Howard Webb & Mike Dean on TV shows every week, breaking down numerous decisions on whether they were right or wrong. It’s become too much of a circus, especially this season.

Then those subjective calls only lead to inconsistencies. The handball incident for example, in a week or so time, a similar incident will probably be given. Then as you say, it’s why VAR doesn’t really work. Nowadays you’re just left going round in circles. Forest criticise officials, managers have done the same, Gary O’Neill and Vincent Kompany prime examples recently. Then they’ll get fined, officials don’t get held accountable, crap rinse and repeat decisions then happen and nothing changes. It’s spoiling the game right now.

They may have done it in the most petty manner possible, but it only felt like a matter of time until a club snapped in this kind of manner. Every week in the Premier League there’s shit decisions after shit decisions, it’s no surprise that Forest are pissed off. It’s just another indication on just how shit officiating is in England, whether it’s the on field referees or those in the VAR booth, I’ve never known it to be this bad. Having the likes of Dermot Gallagher, Howard Webb, Mike Dean on TV most weeks, breaking down decisions on whether they are right or wrong, just goes to show how broken officiating is in this country. No doubt if we get promoted, we’ll be absolutely shafted on numerous occasions next season by shit officiating. Then very much like Forest, Wolves & Burnley recently, we’ll be going ballistic in some shape or form, because a referee or VAR has fvcked us over.

Precisely, you’d need binoculars. The Crucible holds 980, sitting near the back isn’t the greatest experience. If it does move, how big do you go? They’ll probably look at the Hong Kong tournament, that did 9,000 so just imagine what the World Championship could do. But the intimacy of The Crucible is what makes the World Championship so special, would a bigger venue create that feeling, I have doubts.

9,000 attended the final of the Hong Kong Masters a couple of years ago. But if you compare the venues of the triple crown events, they all have their identity. World Championship - Sheffield UK Championship - York Masters - Wembley Conference Centre, now at Alexandra Palace As I stated in my post, there’s been a lot of talk recently about lesser tournaments switching venues too often, when ideally those events need a secure home to create an identity, very much like the Triple Crown events. Move the World Championship then you wreck it’s identity amongst other things. Would it feel the same if it moved to Sheffield Arena or The O2 for example 🤔

Unsurprisingly Murphy has his say, fair points made. We’ve been here before with The Crucible debate, especially when the contract is coming round to expiring. If it does move away from The Crucible, then departing on the 50th anniversary would be a fitting way to bow out. But with much debate recently regarding certain tournaments switching venues and lacking identity. The biggest tournament of them all has had an identity since 1977, having been there myself, the intimacy of The Crucible is what makes it so special. For such an intimate venue to create so many iconic memories, it just wouldn’t feel the same if it did move. Switching the World Championship abroad would make it lifeless, especially in a place like Saudi or Qatar.

Giving it up in a season that ended in relegation was like hitting the jackpot in all fairness The way the club has operated over the past year though, you can sense the disconnect that some fans have with the club right now. It’s like a little bit of life has been sucked out of it. As I said above, disconnect is a word that has often crept up on this forum recently. The covid period didn’t help matters, but the way the club has operated and fallen since returning from those times, you’ve gone from being eager to get back, to feeling like you can’t be arsed. Anxiety issues have crippled me since 2020, but I thought they’d come a point where I’d be motivated to get back, even if it was just for the odd game, but the way the club has operated on a number of things, that motivation has well and truly faded. The club has officially tipped over the edge where they treat fans like customers nowadays, sad to see, but in this current state of football it’s no surprise unfortunately.

Really like that shout. For the majority of this season he has featured from the bench, more recently though he has been a starter and has seriously impressed me. Has technical qualities on the ball, while his work rate off the ball is fantastic. He is currently on loan from Reims, but if he doesn’t go to Brest permanently, then I wouldn’t mind him as an 8 option.

Gave up my season ticket last season due to anxiety issues. Looking back I’m glad I did, because the way the club operates nowadays and treats the fans is quite frankly crap.

Really difficult to like Vafaei sometimes, he can go from being the nicest man in Snooker to a complete twat.

Maguire has just made quite possibly the best yellow to black clearance of all time.

Really depends what our kind of market is. If the possibility is there to sign 2-3 players in the £15-£20 million bracket like Burnley & Sheffield United did last summer, then that kind of fee should go on a RCM. Matt O’Riley & Gabriel Sara would be the obvious choices. I also like the look of Ismael Saibari of PSV. As for a cheaper option, Adrian Bernabe would be perfect.

A very assured session of Snooker from O’Connor. As for Selby, the kind of performance that has been far too common this season unfortunately. Same. He’s been a really good addition to the BBC team. Quite liked Kyren Wilson’s comms work last year too.

Noticed he was coughing quite a bit tonight in all fairness. But he’s probably glad the World Champion tag isn’t on his back anymore, he seemed to hate carrying that weight.

Gilbert That bloody Crucible curse strikes again

Thank god for this guy.

Bring Kipre home!

The bottom half was already loaded seed wise, adding these matchups to it... Trump vs Vafaei Williams vs Si Ding vs Lisowski G.Wilson vs Bingham O’Sullivan vs Page The other three matches in the bottom half on paper are not bad either.

Selby vs O’Connor

Hallelujah, bout time he qualified. Absolute travesty having to watch that final frame on a Chinese website

In terms of UK prospects, Stan Moody, Liam Pullen & Liam Davies are the three to look out for. Moody & Pullen have just had their debut seasons, they still feature lower down in the rankings, but both have had the occasional good win this season. Liam Davies recently won his tour card, so he’ll be new to the tour next season. Elsewhere the rest of the young talents are appearing from China, you’ve got a cluster of them in the teens - early twenties bracket 👍🏻

O’Connor the only possibility 🙏🏻