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SonicWill

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Everything posted by SonicWill

  1. We're never going to get rid of it because the basic premise that led to its introduction is that referees were making mistakes in games that now potentially cost teams tens of millions of pounds. People will come back and say that they still make mistakes with VAR, which is true, but it's a lower amount. So the issue people generally have is with the process, the length of time and how it affects the flow of a game. I think the best way is to introduce a "challenge" system, similar to tennis and basketball. Every match, a manager has a challenge they can use to ask VAR to review a decision. This can only be for certain things - to reverse the decision on a goal (either one that is awarded or has been cut off), to reverse a second yellow/red card, to query potential serious foul play (for example, they've seen one of their players get elbowed or they feel that an opponent who has just been booked should have been red carded instead) and for mistaken identity (player disciplined for something they didn't do). If they are successful, they retain their challenge. If not, they have no further challenges for the match. Keeping it for these specific circumstances would also ensure managers (I'm looking at you, Mourinho) wouldn't be able to use their challenge as a way to either kill time or kill the momentum of a match. It would also add an element of tactics to the challenges - do you risk it 10 minutes in on a goal that's been disallowed, knowing if you're wrong you can't challenge anything later on in the match, for example? I think the greatest attraction for me, though, is that it's probably the closest we're going to get to that feeling of euphoria when the ball hits the back of the net. Now, when we start celebrating, there's always that question mark hanging over our head of is the goal going to count. Think back to Lundstram against Leipzig. I remember going mental but a tiny part of me was worried that Sakala had fouled the keeper, and sure enough it goes to a VAR check. A challenge system will eliminate most of this fear as every goal won't be getting scrutinised.
  2. Semi-related but wish they’d change the lyrics to that Famous RFC song - specifically the “All my sons will be like me” line. As someone who has a daughter, how hard is it to amend it “all my kids” or “all my children”? I know it’s not exactly the most pressing thing in the world but it just sticks in my craw every time I hear that line. Plenty of us have daughters who are going to follow in our footsteps! Anyway, that’s my moan for the night. I suppose it’s better to be annoyed at a song than a performance in a semi final so all in all life is good!
  3. Very good again. Probably the most pleasing thing is how the team reacted when Hearts got one back. There was no fear and it didn't knock us off our stride. In fact, we looked more likely to score another. There was also a point in about the 57th minute when Barisic, under pressure, played a one two with Sima and continued running down the wing with the ball. One month ago, there's no way in hell he does this. The ball goes back to Balogun and we all die a little inside. Already, you can see the progress. Long may it continue.
  4. Fucking sickening stuff. First the Arsenal fan getting groped on camera the other week and now this. It’s unbelievable that girls/women can’t go to a football match and be free for harassment from utter predators.
  5. "Are you excited to play at the national stadium" "...No." You and me both, big guy. An utter shit tip.
  6. Defensively he looks a liability both in the air and one on one (see the nutmeg on him last night). Borna's delivery is better, particularly once he has controlled the ball prior to whipping it in. I think Yilmaz probably still shades being first choice simply because he has more energy, is more inclined to get forward and, as a young player, should in theory get better. We definitely need to bring in a proper LB, though. I don't see Yilmaz as a long-term solution.
  7. Very, very professional tonight and a job well done. Between arriving late for the game, the delay, the stoppage in play and the weather, this could very easily have been a banana skin. Barring one or two chances (and, frankly, how rare is it to go an entire game without giving the opposition at least one good chance?), I thought we were excellent front to back. Some of the passing is still a little off but the movement was good, as was the pressing and desire to win the ball back. Lundstram in particular was excellent and absolutely strolled the game. Danilo looks an absolute handful, although if he had his scoring boots on he could easily have had a hattrick tonight. Pleased for Lammers and Dessers but one swallow doesn't make a summer. They'll need to start contributing on a regular basis before getting any credit. More of this, please.
  8. Okay, so the brain trust in our away support set off pyro and caused the fire alarm to go off. In that case, the ref and the police have no choice but to stop the game. This is entirely on the idiots that set off the pyro. Given that we're 45 mins late in kicking off, and there may need to be a visit from the fire service, there's possibly a chance this game is called off. Un-fucking-believable how dumb some of our support are.
  9. Don’t know who are bigger arseholes, those idiots setting off the pyro for a fucking game in Dundee or whomever is ordering the players off when the game has already been delayed 45 mins and the visibility is completely clear. Get it right up everyone involved in this farce.
  10. It's somewhat unfair for us to judge given that we don't know the ins and outs, but his issues with fitness and the players' injury record really does raise questions as to what the hell has been going on the past couple of seasons. Also, we absolutely need to back this guy. If we hit a bad spell, or lose out on some trophies, everyone will be clamouring for another managerial change but that's not going to fix things. The leaders in this squad have went through multiple managers now, and managed to get the last two sacked. Clement's appointment wasn't a punt on a rookie like Gerrard or Beale. We know for a fact he can win titles. Give him the support he needs and give him time to build a team - if that takes longer than a season then so be it. I'm confident he'll get us to where we need to be.
  11. I said for a good reason. The team playing shite is not a good reason - particularly when they’re only a goal down. Neither is “I want to beat the rush for the subway”.
  12. Imagine choosing to leave a game early and missing THAT. Fuck everyone that leaves early without a good reason, hope that teaches you to stay and back the team. Lammers and Dessers, just awful. It’s time to end the experiment. Yilmaz is like letting your wee brother play. About a foot too small and weak as fuck. Shankland was outstanding today. Great goal, good hold up play and bullied Davies and Yilmaz for the entire game. If we’re not in for him in January something is very wrong - he’s miles clear of Dessers and, despite the winner today, Danilo is still unproven. It’d make sense to have a striker that knows the league and can perform here.
  13. A brilliant off-the-ball performance today and showed great defensive awareness for a forward player. It’s great to see someone willing to sacrifice their natural game and put in the hard yards for the benefit of the team. That’s exactly the sort of character we want in our team.
  14. On a human level, I'm really glad he scored. His performances have been really poor but I don't think it was for lack of trying. By all accounts from fans of his previous clubs, he's a good honest pro and a nice guy. I also hated him getting individually booed off against Aberdeen. He's clearly been struggling, and has been looking visibly upset on the pitch for most of the season. For him to get a goal like that today (as opposed to lucky tap-ins or deflections), and to get the ovation coming off the pitch, will hopefully lift his mood. I don't think he'll be a good signing for us, but I at least hope he can make a bit of an impact and enjoy his time here.
  15. The thing with Lammers is that he clearly has footballing ability- you can see it in his first touch and some of his passing. The question is whether or not he's able to use that talent consistently in a way that impacts matches. At the moment, he's a bit like a 5s player who has lots of nice touches but kind of floats around the game not doing much.
  16. Fucking outstanding word and a great addition to my vocabulary. I thought Clement was great. I shouldn't be surprised given where he's from and his history of playing in England but his English is fantastic, he clearly has a presence and seems to understand the expectations. If we've learned one thing over the last few years it's that talk is cheap but I thought this was a good insight into him as a character and you get the sense he's probably got the right balance between putting his arm around players but also being ruthless when needed. Looking forward to Saturday.
  17. Even if this doesn't work out, I don't think we can blame the board for the appointment. This guy has pedigree in a higher quality league than Scotland, experience of winning titles and has competed with big teams in the CL. There's no guarantee of success but this is an appointment that shows ambition and imagination. On the face of it, looks like we've got a good'un.
  18. Crap selection. Taking the easy choices by dropping those who are just new at the club. It’s not as if Sterling is a complete eejit, he was good for Stoke in the Championship. There’s no reason whatsoever he couldn’t replace Tavernier or Goldson. This is a classic “want to show I’m sending a message without actually sending a message” lineup.
  19. My pal is a Hearts season ticket holder and is already asking if they can keep him. Seems like he's held in very high regard by the support. If there's any option to recall him, it'd be worth exploring. Providing, of course, we're willing to give him game time.
  20. I don’t think this can be done from a legal point of view. I also don’t like the principle of compensating fans after bad performances. Following the team isn’t conditional and we’re not entitled to good performances and results. By all means we should be angry with the situation now but when you pay for your ticket you know there’s a chance your team will shit the bed. That’s the nature of football.
  21. They’d probably play better. As the Covid season showed, they’re perfectly able to play football without any pressure of a crowd. We were understandably too high on the buzz of 55 to question if we might just have seen evidence that our team was full of shitebags.
  22. I don’t actually think, in the modern game, that the captaincy matters than much in the dressing room. I think it’s much more important to fans because it symbolises who is leading our club. On that basis alone, it’s worth stripping him of it even on a symbolic basis. Two trophies and a clear pattern of underachievement under his leadership, not to mention countless humiliations and unacceptable performances, mean it’s time for a change. I don’t think appointing a new captain does anything, or addresses our problems. But it’ll make a lot of fans feel better and frankly our happiness is more important than Tavernier’s feelings.
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