Vesper

he is basically 6 feet tall, an inch taller than Werner, only 1 cm shorter than Dembele of the top EPL strikers only Rashford (who is not a real number nine and is only an inch taller) Aubameyang (who is soon gone) Kane and Raúl Jiménez are taller (as is Tammy) Dominic Calvert-Lewin is taller too as is Fulham's Aleksandar Mitrović the rest are shorter or dregs more or less

Semifinals should be at the Den

both are pipe dreams I fear Dybala is not going to be sold and Werner is scouser scum bound IMHO we will not drop the type of quid needed to prise Lautaro away (especially if we do drop 120, 130m quid on sancho) unless we sell (we damn well should, but will not I wager) Kante Icardi is 99% perm to PSG, and Gabriel Jesus will never be sold to us by Shitty thsi summer, UNLESS they go for Lautaro themselves Mbappe is 10 pipe dreams rolled into one Lewa is too old now Håland will not move for a couple years (I am guessing summer 2021 or surely 2022) Immobile will be 30 in a month and will not leave Lazio Raúl Jiménez turns 30 next season Rodrigo (Valencia) turns 30 next season Belotti is a a crazy expensive dice roll and also doesn't want to leave Torino other than pure youth plays/dice rolls like Osimhen, Donyell Malen, or Fydor Chalov etc that leaves Dembele and Calvert-Lewin as the best available options (as even if we get Jovic and he is great, Real will so so snatch him right back, we are their damn feeder club it seems) flip a coin lolol I like Dominic wild card Aleksandar Mitrovic

Jovic was a beast in the air at Frankfurt great header

lololol

damn, Bournemouth almost stole a draw at the death

crazy finish will end up being 10 minutes added time

that was the very first FWCC in 2000 it wasn't tinpot it had two heavy duty Brasilian sides (vastly better than what Brasil sides are now) and RealMadrid and a top class Mexican side as well you so cannot blame Manure for going, as it was the ONLY year ever where there was both the Intercontinental Cup and the FWCC and the only FWCC for 5 years until it started up again in 2005 after the Intercontinental Cup folded in 2004 Manure won the Intercontinental Cup over Palmeiras in November 1999 then went to the FWCC in January 2000 and didn't even make it out of the group stage, as Vasco de Gama smashed them (then Vasco lost to Corinthians in the final, same fucking Corinthians who beat us in the 2012 FWCC final) We are the only Euro side to not win it in the last 13 years, ffs, it is the only major still existent trophy we do not have Other than us, the first 3 FWCC's were the only times the Euro team didnt win (Liverpool lost in 2005, the only oter Englsih teams to lose a final) 2020 is the last 'easy' one to win as in 2021 it goes to a huge 24 team field (we qualify due to the EL win last season)

thank fuck there are no replays in the FA Cup 5th round as if Victimpool wins v Shrews we potentially could have to face those Scouser twats SEVEN TIMES this season Super Cup twice in the league twice in the FA Cup (if there were replays) potentially twice in the CL so still potentially six bloody times, arrrf least we dodged them in the League Cup and the CS (would have loved to have a go in the CS though)

nil 2 how shit are Bournemouth!!!

FA CUP Bournemouth v Arse HD Streams http://www.sportnews.to/sports/2020/fa-cup-afc-bournemouth-vs-arsenal-s1/ https://www.totalsportek.com/arsenal-streams/

Tottenham preparing for busy transfer window finale as Christian Eriksen completes move to Inter Spurs are still in the hunt for a striker, but Danny Rose and Kyle Walker-Peters could be following Eriksen out of north London https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/01/27/tottenham-preparing-busy-transfer-window-finale-christian-eriksen/ Inter Milan have signed the Spurs left-winger for £16.89million Tottenham Hotspur are prepared for a busy end to the transfer window with Christian Eriksen set to head three first-team exits, with the club still hoping to add a striker to the signing of PSV Eindhoven winger Steven Bergwijn. Eriksen was in Milan on Monday to undergo his medical and put the finishing touches on his £16.89million move to Inter, as Spurs negotiated with PSV over Bergwijn. The left-sided winger had been linked with Leicester City, but Tottenham expect to sign the 22-year-old who has been valued at £27m by the Dutch club. Other than Eriksen, left-back Danny Rose could leave Tottenham before the closure of the transfer window on Friday night, along with right-back Kyle Walker-Peters. Rose is the subject interest from Newcastle United, Bournemouth and Watford, and Spurs may even be willing to loan the England international out with a view to a full-time move in the summer if a permanent transfer cannot be negotiated straight away. Despite previously vowing to see out the remainder of his contract at Tottenham, clubs believe Rose may be persuaded to move on this month to rescue any hope of keeping his England place for this summer’s European Championships. Walker-Peters is on the radar of Southampton and Crystal Palace, but Spurs may have to accept a loan offer to move the 22-year-old during this window. Bergwijn’s anticipated arrival will give head coach Jose Mourinho more forward options, as he can also play through the middle or off the right, despite largely appearing on the left, from where he likes to cut inside. PSV left Bergwijn out of their line-up for the 1-1 draw with FC Twente, with the player insisting he did not refuse to play. “I have never refused to play for PSV and would never do that,” said Berhwijn, who is believed to have travelled to London on Monday. “PSV is in my heart. “I called the coach this morning and said some things are going on and he gave his permission [to miss the game against Twente and travel to London]. He then wished me success, everything went fine and I did everything in a good manner without going behind PSV’s back. Thank you.” snip

sigh https://www.telegraph.co.uk/football/2020/01/27/chelsea-monitoringkrzysztof-piatek-edinson-cavani-move-appears/ snip Chelsea are still hopeful of signing a striker this week and both Cavani and Piatek are on the list of players Lampard is interested in. The club is not currently pursuing Real Madrid’s Luka Jovic, although they are aware he may be available for loan if they run out of other options. Lampard has admitted that he has been forced to consider a short-term striker signing and has shelved plans to sign a left-back defender until the summer.

work off the premiss that 99% of rumours are bullshit and ye shall thrive

Klopp makes a good point on the winter break but he could have found a better solution to the FA Cup mess – Liverpool have players who need game time https://theathletic.com/1558576/2020/01/27/klopp-liverpool-fa-cup-replay-winter-break-shrewsbury/ It had been brewing. Jurgen Klopp has been complaining about fixture congestion repeatedly this season. The exasperated Liverpool manager has been bemoaning the crowded calendar which he believes places unfair demands on his elite talent. “I speak about it and no-one will listen. It’s like the biggest waste of time ever,” he said at the club’s training ground recently. “They’ll say the moaner from Liverpool or whatever is at it again. But it’s about the players, not one second about me. There are so many things to sort but all these guys (the governing bodies) never find time to sit around one table and make a general schedule. All these different games to play and no break for the players. And if you have a break don’t make a replay in this break. This would help massively.” Having felt like he was banging his head against a brick wall, Klopp has now decided to take a stand. His post-match declaration that Liverpool will play “the kids” in their FA Cup fourth round replay against Shrewsbury Town at Anfield wasn’t an idle threat or an emotional reaction to a wretched second-half performance after seeing his much-changed side throw away a 2-0 lead. Instead it was a public declaration of a plan carefully agreed with Liverpool’s American owners behind the scenes last week in the event of their clash at New Meadow ending in stalemate. Klopp told Fenway Sports Group president Mike Gordon that he believed it was vital that all his senior players were given the full week’s rest he had promised them during the inaugural Premier League winter break regardless of the club’s ongoing participation in the FA Cup. Earlier this month Klopp informed his squad that there would be no warm weather training camp and they could make plans to go away for seven days with their families to recharge their batteries following next Saturday’s visit of Southampton to Anfield. They will each be given individually tailored training programmes. The club’s owners were supportive – backing the manager’s belief that it’s the best policy to maximise Liverpool’s chances of not only winning the Premier League title but also retaining the Champions League. Liverpool’s hierarchy share Klopp’s opinion that it’s ridiculous that the replay, which will take place at Anfield on February 4 or 5, falls within the winter break which the Football Association fought long and hard to be introduced in order to bolster England’s chances when it comes to major tournaments. As a result Klopp will deliver the ultimate snub by not even managing the team himself. That duty will fall to under-23s coach Neil Critchley. Liverpool’s stance is that this is a problem of the FA’s own making and that if any damage is done to the competition’s credibility then the buck stops with the organisers. When Liverpool were forced to field a youth team in the quarter-finals of the Carabao Cup against Aston Villa in December – 24 hours before the Club World Cup semi-final against Monterrey in Qatar – there was no shortage of sympathy for their predicament. However, this is different and the prospect of a similar line-up walking out at Anfield will undoubtedly divide opinion. This is the FA Cup and Liverpool effectively shunning a shot at replicating Manchester United’s historic treble triumph of 1999. Many Liverpool supporters will back Klopp to the hilt. After all he could hardly have much more credit in the bank. They are champions of Europe, champions of the world and Premier League champions elect. Some will argue that the FA Cup, a distant third in the club’s list of priorities, has long since lost its sparkle. The array of empty seats, the horrendously staggered schedule, so many top-flight teams effectively fielding second-string teams and holding the semi-finals at Wembley certainly add weight to that argument. But for others this decision won’t sit right. Aside from accusations of disrespecting the competition, the seven-times winners have a handful of senior stars who would arguably benefit from getting another run-out. Dejan Lovren, Joel Matip and Fabinho all looked horribly rusty on their return to the starting line up against Shrewsbury after injury lay-offs. That trio have hardly been overworked this season with Fabinho, who was sidelined for two months, playing 1,033 top-flight minutes. Lovren has clocked up just 670 minutes and Matip 630 minutes. Divock Origi (423 minutes), Adam Lallana (337 minutes), Naby Keita (197 minutes) and Xherdan Shaqiri (175 minutes) have featured to an even lesser degree. Klopp spoke about a letter Liverpool received from the Premier League in April 2019 “asking us to respect the winter break and not to organise international friendlies or competitive games so we’ll respect that”. The FA for their part insist that before the start of the season all top-flight clubs were notified that if they were involved in fourth-round replays they would have a shortened winter break so it shouldn’t have come as a surprise to Liverpool that their time between matches could be reduced to 10 days. Those clubs not involved in replays will get at least 13 days off. Klopp has been a vocal advocate of scrapping replays and giving lower division teams home advantage in the FA Cup with penalty shootouts if ties are level after 90 minutes. But try selling that idea to the thousands of jubilant Shrewsbury fans who invaded the pitch at the final whistle on Sunday. Their joy was centred around the fact they had secured what for some will be a once in a lifetime chance to watch their team walk out at Anfield. For the Shrewsbury manager Sam Ricketts, there’s also the financial repercussions of taking Liverpool to a second game. He says the cash will enable them to purchase video analysis equipment and install better drainage for their training pitches. There’s life outside the Premier League bubble. Including the Community Shield and the Super Cup, Liverpool have played 38 games in all competitions already this season. Shrewsbury, who have a considerably smaller squad, have played 36 matches. Klopp hasn’t had much of an affinity with the FA Cup during his time in England. This is his fifth campaign and, remarkably, Liverpool have yet to progress past the fourth round. He has always made wholesale changes and over the years has used the competition to give debuts to rookies such as Tiago Ilori, Sheyi Ojo, Ryan Kent, Kevin Stewart, Joe Maguire, Harry Wilson, Curtis Jones, Rafael Camacho, Ki-Jana Hoever, Yasser Larouci and Nathaniel Phillips. Liverpool needed a replay to get past Exeter City in 2015-16 before bowing out to West Ham in the fourth round. The following season they scraped past Plymouth Argyle after two games and then lost at home to then-Championship outfit Wolverhampton Wanderers. Two years ago Klopp’s men beat Everton before being defeated by West Bromwich Albion at Anfield. Last season they fell at the first hurdle at Molineux. After the cherished Merseyside derby victory in the last round, Sunday’s error-strewn display at Shrewsbury created a headache Liverpool could have done without. The fact that Klopp introduced Mohamed Salah and Roberto Firmino off the bench late on laid bare his burning desire to settle the tie at the first attempt. He didn’t want it to come to this. But for Klopp there are simply bigger fish to fry with the Champions League last-16 tie with Atletico Madrid on the horizon. He intends to stick to his guns, no matter what the fallout. “You cannot deal with us like nobody cares about it. I know that it’s not very popular but that’s the way I see it,” he says. “The Premier League asked us to respect the winter break. That’s what we do. If the FA doesn’t respect that, then we cannot change it. We will not be there.“ Klopp could have played it down. He could have said he hadn’t made his mind up about the replay yet. But clearly he wanted to get it out in the open. He wanted to make his point. In his eyes, enough is enough. It is the biggest snub delivered to the FA Cup since Manchester United opted not to take part back in 1999-2000 so that they could compete in the Club World Championship in Brazil. Liverpool Under-23s will face Shrewsbury Town for a place in the last 16. No matter where your loyalties lie, that simply can’t be right.

he also doesn't even really try to set up and shoot it is maddening, but his legs going have fucked up his separation geometry

‘There were ramifications to what Simmons and Cantona did that night’ – the rarely-told story of the death of Paul Nixon https://theathletic.com/1542276/2020/01/27/there-were-ramifications-to-what-simmons-and-cantona-did-that-night-the-rarely-told-story-of-the-death-paul-nixon/ At first glance, the red and blue Crystal Palace flag fluttering over the garage door feels incongruous. This is Walsall, after all. The Bescot Stadium is less than a mile away. There are replica shirts pinned to the weather-beaten woodwork too, one dating from a decade ago, its badge faded, and the other only two seasons old. Scarves frame the scene. For those driving down Weston Street to its junction with Broadway, it must seem an oddity. A corner of south London mystifyingly deposited in the distant West Midlands. The curious on foot can venture closer for an explanation of sorts. Just to the left of the metallic door, almost camouflaged by the drab brickwork, is a brass plaque bearing a simple inscription. “In memory of Paul Nixon, CPFC, who died here 9-4-95. RIP. From all his mates.” The elements have clearly taken their toll on the metalwork given it was only polished up a little over a year ago when a group of locals gathered by Matty Lovatt, now the manager of non-league Dudley Town, took it upon themselves to spruce up the memorial site. It had been littered with spent betting slips from the neighbouring bookies and bottles from the New Fullbrook pub, two doors down. There were even used syringes in among the overgrown bushes and pulped leaves. “It was in a state, through no fault of the lads all the way down in London,” says Lovatt. “What could they do? People had been fly-tipping in front of the garage and the council had done nothing because it was technically private land. I’d drive past and just thought it was unacceptable. That we should do something. “I didn’t know Paul. I only vaguely remember the incident itself all those years ago, and the shock and sorrow it caused in this area, but he was a member of the football community. I felt a kind of duty to Paul and his mates to do something about it. So a group of us, probably 15 all in, arranged to come down and clear it all. The majority were Walsall fans, but some were Aston Villa, Wolves or West Brom. There was a Palace fan, too, who lives locally and brought along one of the scarves. We’re just proud of our local community, proud of this town. We wanted Paul’s family and friends to know the memorial is being looked after. I put myself in their position: if that had been my friend, I’d like to think someone would have done the same for me.” The clear-up was undertaken in the run-up to Christmas 13 months ago, with one eye on Palace’s scheduled game at Molineux a few weeks later. Nixon’s friends have made a habit of stopping off on away days in the Midlands and north west, an annual pilgrimage to pay their respects to a mate. They have done so for a quarter of a century. “It looks more befitting now,” adds Lovatt. “It’s a constant reminder about Paul, who went to watch a football match and never came home. His is such a sad story, and not the straight case of football hooliganism a lot of people tend to assume. They just dismiss it as two rival factions clashing. I know differently. “Paul and that coach-load of Palace fans had just been in the wrong place at the wrong time. And there’s absolutely no doubt whatsoever in my mind that the Manchester United fans involved in the trouble were geed on by the thought they were on some kind of revenge mission over the Eric Cantona incident from a few months before.” Nixon’s story is difficult to tell. It is harder still for his friends and family to hear and, at times, they have been uncomfortable when modern-day supporters have started songs or unfurled banners referencing his death, in the hours before the FA Cup semi-final at Villa Park back in April 1995. Yet the reminders may be inevitable in the days ahead. Saturday marked the 25th anniversary of Cantona’s kung-fu kick on Matthew Simmons, a Palace supporter who had run down 11 rows to the front of the family enclosure near the tunnel at Selhurst Park to scream abuse at the Frenchman following his dismissal for a frustrated kick at his marker, Richard Shaw. Cantona’s rush of blood is infamous. It cost him more than £20,000 in fines, a two-week jail sentence for common assault that was subsequently commuted to community service, and a nine-month ban from football, but it added to his legend. He returned to inspire successive league titles and an FA Cup win. In 2012, in an interview with the BBC, he claimed through a smile that his “kung-fu on the hooligan” was the personal highlight of his career, albeit subsequently admitting it was “a mistake”. Regardless, he remains idolised at Old Trafford. He was a mercurial talent on the pitch, wildly unpredictable but capable of majesty, who had propelled Sir Alex Ferguson’s first great United team to major honours. He never played against Palace again but, even now, his name tends to be chorused whenever the teams meet. In 2005, ahead of what was then a rare Premier League fixture between the sides in south London and only a few weeks after the tenth anniversary of the striker’s livid reaction, it emerged that visiting fans planned to attend wearing Cantona masks and T-shirts. They were duly warned they would be ejected from the stadium “on safety grounds” if they did so. Plenty found Palace’s apparent overreaction unfathomable at the time. Yet those masks had been deemed inflammatory for a reason. Manchester United fans – without masks – at the Premier League game at Selhurst Park in 2005 (Photo: John Walton – PA via Getty Images) “We’d never really had a problem with United before the Cantona and Simmons incident, but they started off a chain of events that contributed to a man’s death,” says Neil Witherow, a former Palace fanzine editor and a supporter of 50 years. “Go back and Palace had contributed to a stained glass window in Duncan Edwards’ local church as a mark of respect after the Munich air crash. I have pictures of me from the FA Cup final in 1990 with my arm round United fans at Wembley. There was no bother between us. “We’d unfurled a ‘good luck’ banner for them the following year ahead of their UEFA Cup Winners’ Cup final against Barcelona when they came to Selhurst towards the end of the season. I was working in the Family Enclosure at the time. I remember the banner because I had to drag it around the pitch while dressed as one of the mascots. “No, that game in 2005 was a matter of weeks from the anniversary of the Cantona kick, but also of Paul Nixon’s death. We’d heard about the masks and the T-shirts, and knew they were planning it. By all means, celebrate one of your best players. But don’t do it here. Not at Palace. It was all done to provoke a reaction. “I still can’t reconcile the fact that United fans don’t think there’s a link between one idiot jumping into the stand to kick another idiot – I’m not seeking to defend Matthew Simmons here – and what happened in Walsall a few months later. I don’t understand how they can suggest that was just random football violence. It wasn’t random at all. “I’m not saying people set out to kill somebody, but they ended up having a fight in which somebody died. Was it a direct result of that incident in Selhurst Park a few months previously? Yes, it absolutely was. The poisonous atmosphere around the game at Villa Park all stemmed from that. All the banners in the United end, the ‘Eric was airborne’ nonsense playing on the Nike advertising campaign that was running at the time. The aggro around the ground. The undercurrent of hostility. We didn’t have that animosity before the game that February.” The two teams had been drawn against each other in that FA Cup semi-final, to be staged at a neutral venue in the West Midlands. Nixon was one of around 35 Palace fans, including children, on a coach that left the Cunningham pub in New Addington and headed north that Sunday afternoon. Some in their number already boasted friends among Walsall’s support, born of mixing while following England, and, with alcohol consumption illegal on board, the plan had always been to stop off at the New Fullbrook pub around half an hour’s drive from Villa Park. The publican, a Wolves fan who had grown to know the Palace contingent over the previous eight years, welcomed them. “If a bunch of skinheads turn up at your pub shouting racial abuse, you have a right to expect trouble,” licensee Sam Wilkes later told the local Express & Star newspaper. “But when a coach-load of respectable football fans with their wives and children arrive, the last thing you expect is any problems.” Yet he had not anticipated a coach-load of United fans, who had opted against their designated turn-off travelling south on the M6, pulling up shortly afterwards. The inquest into Nixon’s death was later told that the group had been made aware by a local businessman almost two weeks previously that Palace fans tended to drink pre-match at the New Fullbrook when in the area. The coroner, who would argue there should be bans placed on coaches stopping at pubs en route to and from games, concluded that they had welcomed the idea that opposing supporters would be in situ upon their arrival. For a while, the groups apparently drank harmoniously enough on either side of the bar. But the atmosphere steadily changed, growing uglier with regular chants of Cantona’s name. “I was in the toilet when a Manchester United fan asked if I was the bloke that hit Cantona,” Palace fan Gary Carter told the inquest. (Simmons was fined £500 and banned from entering football stadiums for 12 months for using threatening words and behaviour, but has always denied they were racist.) “I told him it wasn’t me and left it at that, but he turned to his mate and said: ‘We’ll sort it out later.’” It was at around 3pm, with Palace fans drifting back to their coach outside before heading off to Villa Park for the tea-time kick-off, that the violence began in the car park. The coroner, Aidan Cotter, described what ensued as “10 minutes of hell”. Bottles, glasses and rocks were flung between the rival groups outside the pub. A low wall was kicked over and bricks thrown at the Palace coach, breaking windows and smashing the windscreen. Nixon, a former road-mender, and Dennis O’Leary, a hod carrier from Thornton Heath, had been slightly behind the main group leaving the pub and stumbled into a hail of missiles. O’Leary was knocked to the ground and a concrete slab was then dropped on to his head. The memorial to Paul Nixon, with the New Fullbrook pub in the background He suffered fractured cheek bones, a broken nose and a shattered jaw. His mouth was split in three places. He underwent surgery at Wolverhampton’s Royal hospital, spent almost a week unconscious and wore a head brace for a month. He still attends games now, and was later quoted as saying: “The people who attacked me were not football fans.” Nixon was less fortunate. With the driver panicked, the coach windows smashing all around him, the 35-year-old from New Addington had been attempting to climb on to the moving bus when he was struck on the head by a brick. He stumbled under the rear wheels of the vehicle. Despite the best efforts of Kelly Downing – a local student who had just completed a first-aid course, and who had emerged from her house across the road in a bid to help – plus one of the United fans and a police officer, who attempted mouth-to-mouth resuscitation, Nixon passed away close to where his memorial now stands. Colin Hoare had known Nixon since they were children back in Fieldway, New Addington, around the corner from where Aaron Wan-Bissaka later grew up, and had been in Walsall with his friend that day. The pair had done everything together. “Paul was a diamond,” he tells The Athletic. “He’d do anything for anyone. He had a terrific sense of humour, worked hard. We got into scrapes, but most kids do, don’t they? He was just a diamond. We were inseparable: we worked together, drank together, wherever he was, I went too. Losing him that afternoon ripped half my heart away. He was my best pal, and I lost him.” The four-day inquest into his death, held in Walsall in mid-June 1996 over a year after the incident, issued a verdict of unlawful killing. Home Office pathologist Dr Kenneth Scott said Nixon, a father of three, had died from multiple injuries caused by the coach wheels, but had suffered other injuries prior to his death. There were cuts and bruises to his head, a black eye, a fractured skull and a broken jaw, as well as damage to the liver, right lung and spleen. There was an ugly stab wound to his left thigh. Witnesses suggested it had been inflicted with one of the reinforcement rods from the wall that had been kicked down. “Mr Nixon was either stabbed with a weapon or fell onto something sharp to cause that wound,” said Dr Scott, slightly more cautiously. “If these injuries had happened before, they would have been sufficient to render him unconscious.” The testimonies heard at the inquest were harrowing. Police officers spoke of bricks and bottles still raining down even as they attempted to help the wounded. “One fan, Mr O’Leary, was left lying in a pool of ever widening blood,” said coroner Cotter. “He was literally bleeding to death. A group of pensioners saw a group laughing while standing over a man lying at their feet. Whoever threw a brick, bottle, lump of concrete at that coach that Sunday afternoon is personally and directly responsible for Paul Nixon’s death and they have to live with that knowledge. I hope it hurts them.” Yet by the time the coroner was issuing his verdict of unlawful killing, a £500,000 police investigation had already run aground. Three people had been arrested in the immediate aftermath of the clash, with statements gathered from more than 100. The Crown Prosecution Service subsequently gave the go-ahead for 13 cases to be prosecuted over the riot, with manslaughter charges brought against three men. But in February 1996, the Wolverhampton stipendiary magistrate Ian Gillespie threw out the case after a committal hearing in Walsall having determined that Steven Rimmer, Neil Spence and Ian Spence, all of Irlam, Manchester, had no case to answer. Lesser charges of violent disorder against all three defendants, and wounding with intent against the Spence brothers, were also thrown out. Cotter, in his subsequent inquest, would express surprise that only one Palace fan had been listed to give prosecution evidence in the court cases. “The investigation went on for about three months before we were happy there were no other avenues we could go down,” said Detective Superintendent John Plimmer, head of Walsall CID, at the time. “Then it was down to the CPS. We had brought grievous bodily harm and serious public order charges. We never thought we would get manslaughter, so I wasn’t surprised the stipendiary magistrate found there was insufficient evidence. The problem was that we got so much information that a lot of the statements conflicted.” He subsequently indicated a willingness to pursue further legal action, particularly after the coroner’s verdict. “Nobody was acquitted,” he told the Croydon Advertiser in the summer of 1996. “The case was thrown out on a technicality, so it is still very much alive.” Except nothing was ever pursued. No one was ever convicted of Nixon’s death, or of the injuries inflicted upon O’Leary. The perpetrators were never brought to justice. The period immediately after the riot was strained, the fall-out fractious. The teams drew the semi-final 2-2, with the watching world largely oblivious to the events in Walsall in the hours before the game, though the stalemate necessitated a replay at Villa Park three days later. Palace were outraged, the director Colin Noades – brother of the chairman, Ron – calling for a postponement “out of respect for the relations of the supporter who died, but also to allow for a calming period”. The MP for Walsall South, Bruce George, echoed that after visiting the scene, and urged the Football Association to hold any replay at a far-flung ground, “preferably in Reykjavik”. As it was, the FA, backed by West Midlands Police, determined it would be better for the game to be staged sooner rather than later. Palace claimed they had not even received a reply to their correspondence on the matter, and had received no assurances from the police that extra officers would be drafted in. So the board called upon the club’s supporters to boycott the replay, a move somewhat bizarrely criticised by Aston Villa secretary Steve Stride, who claimed Palace “have behaved abysmally”. Only around 2,000 of the Londoners’ allocated 16,000 tickets were taken up to leave the ground less than half full, with the game played out in an eerie atmosphere as a result. Steve Bruce scored in a 2-0 replay win for Manchester United, but very few Crystal Palace fans were there to see it… (Photo: John Jones – PA via Getty Images) “The poor lad that died… the supporters didn’t go, Ron didn’t go, nor did any of our directors,” the Palace manager at the time, Alan Smith, tells The Athletic. “Alex Ferguson was quite decent about it. We hadn’t spoken on the phone in the build-up to the game but someone had put forward this idea of talking to the fans before the match and, when we got to the ground, he came up to me and said: ‘Look, I’m really sorry to hear what’s happened. I know your directors aren’t here this evening, but would it be a good idea for us to go out and show that the teams, themselves, are together?’” The managers took up microphones and addressed the crowd from the pitch prior to kick-off, calling for calm. United eventually eased to a straightforward victory, for all that the occasion was blighted by Roy Keane’s stamp on Gareth Southgate’s chest near the touchline. Keane and the Palace defender Darren Patterson, for retaliation, were sent off. The incident felt pathetic in the context of the occasion. The clubs would go on to spend the best part of the next 18 years competing in different divisions, their top-flight meetings only ever fleeting. The Premier League had initially feared Cantona’s kung-fu kick might tarnish their image, bringing the game into such disrepute, but subscriptions to Sky Sports actually spiked to then-record highs in the week after the incident. The Sun had dedicated 13 pages, including the splash, to “The Shame of Cantona” two days after the clash. Over time, his actions have taken on even more seismic implications for some, whether they consider him a charismatic pantomime villain or a heroic victim literally attempting to kick racism out of football. “But for those of us who remember what happened next, there will never be anything comical or even romantic about that incident,” adds Witherow. “As a fanzine editor, I was asked to go on a Premier League panel organised by Sky in 2004, looking back at the league’s greatest moments. They’d put Cantona and Simmons in as one of their top 10. I refused to take part and walked out, and a few of the other guys from other clubs – all clubs of a similar size to Palace – came with me, too, as an act of solidarity. “You can’t celebrate something like that. Cantona should never be lauded for kicking out as he did. There were ramifications to what Simmons and he did that night. That should never be forgotten.”

Letting Pedro go might be right for Chelsea and the player https://theathletic.com/1559290/2020/01/26/chelsea-pedro-mls-miami/ Chelsea are in no position to sell too many players this month but Pedro might give them a decision to make before the transfer window shuts on Friday. Pedro, 33 in July, has received offers from David Beckham’s new MLS franchise Inter Miami, plus clubs in China and in his native Spain. With just five months left on his contract and little chance of being given an extension, it is now just a question of when, not if, Pedro will leave Stamford Bridge. Inter Miami have been linked with a number of high-profile overseas stars as they still have two Designated Player berths to fill, but Pedro is a far more realistic possibility to join than the coveted David Silva and Luis Suarez before they have to be roster-compliant on February 28. Inter Miami’s first competitive fixture is on March 1 and the club’s hierarchy have confirmed they want new talent to arrive as soon as possible in order to join pre-season training. Sporting director Paul McDonough told the Miami Herald a few days ago: “We still have some more players to sign, so hopefully that will happen this week, next week. “(We need) a couple of defenders, midfielders, and two attacking players. I feel very happy with the players we have here. Could we start this way? Yeah… but we’re going to add some more special players and I think that will push us over the top.” It is understandable why Pedro is regarded as a suitable target. He is one of the most successful footballers in the game, having won 26 trophies with Barcelona, Chelsea and Spain. He will probably be able to earn a lot more in China, where the window to buy players is open to February 27, but that would require him to move further away from his three children. They now live in Spain, with Pedro and his ex-wife having got divorced three years ago, which is why any possible move back there would be attractive. By negotiating with Inter Milan over the sale of Olivier Giroud, who has already agreed personal terms, Chelsea have shown they are prepared to allow fringe members of their squad to depart in January. They have history in this regard, having sold another individual past his prime, Cesc Fabregas, to Monaco 12 months ago. Like Giroud and Fabregas, Pedro has become a stranger to Chelsea’s first team. If he doesn’t feature again this season, it will be the second-fewest amount of appearances he’s made in a single campaign in his career. The current two lowest were recorded when he was just breaking into the Barcelona side from the youth ranks, playing just twice in 2007-8 and 14 times a year later. To his credit, sources have told The Athletic that Pedro’s demeanour hasn’t changed. There has been no sign of any sulking or complaining to Lampard about his treatment. He remains a popular figure in the dressing room, although naturally spends most of his time with players close to his own age like Willian and Marcos Alonso. Pedro hasn’t been the most vocal member of the group anyway over the past four and a half years. But just as he left Barcelona on good terms when a lack of game time became an issue in 2015, it appears he is being just as professional now. The forward has earned a lot of good will at Chelsea. He won’t be regarded in the same manner as Eden Hazard — not many will — but his contribution has been positive overall. There have been 42 goals in 195 games, a record of just under one every five matches, which is pretty respectable for someone in his position. Some of Pedro’s most notable strikes came en route to Chelsea’s last Premier League title triumph in 2017. There were nine in the top division but supporters most fondly remember his efforts in wins against Manchester United, Tottenham and Everton. He helped Chelsea win the FA Cup the following season, his header in extra time clinching a narrow 2-1 victory at Leicester City in the quarter-final. And in the Europa League success last year, he found the net five times. One was a vital away goal in the semi-final against Eintracht Frankfurt and a typically assured finish in the 4-1 thrashing of Arsenal in the final. Unfortunately, it has been some fall from grace under Frank Lampard in 2019-20. Pedro has played just 329 minutes in the Premier League while his appearance in the FA Cup fourth round match at Hull was only his 12th in all competitions. Judging by the way the Spain international performed against the Championship club, he may have quite a wait before making a 13th outing should he remain at Stamford Bridge until his deal expires. On paper, Pedro’s statistics at Hull looked good, ranking high in a number of categories. He made the most tackles of any Chelsea player (four), gained possession on 10 occasions (tied with Mateo Kovacic), attempted the second-most amount of passes (63 with 81 per cent completion) and made more passes in Hull’s half. But the Opta stats also reveal he also lost possession 18 times (second only to Alonso’s 19) and produced just two crosses from open play. It was how he performed to the naked eye though which provided the most accurate reflection. He looked so slow and clumsy on the ball, the normally-reliant finishing touch deserting him as two good chances were wasted. Even if he doesn’t command a transfer fee — unlikely given director Marina Granovskaia’s impressive record — Chelsea could save themselves around £2.5 million in wages should Pedro make an early departure. When everyone is fit, Pedro is now fourth choice among Chelsea’s wingers behind Willian, Callum Hudson-Odoi and Christian Pulisic. Pulisic has been ruled out for a few weeks with a groin injury but he is set to return to training this week. Should the contest against Leicester on February 1 come too early, the 21-year-old will definitely be available after the winter break when they host Manchester United. And there is the welcome sight of Ruben Loftus-Cheek back in first-team training following a ruptured Achilles, although working up to match fitness will take a bit of time. Mason Mount has been used on occasion on the flanks too, so there is an argument that Chelsea have enough cover in the position to let Pedro go. However, Lampard is hoping to bring at least one signing in during the current transfer window rather than compounding the imminent loss of Giroud. The coach admitted recently that he wants Pedro to stick around. “He is part of my plans,” said Lampard. “I started the season and he was in my team. Unfortunately, he got injured at Norwich before the game and I had to make a change. Then, he was out for a while and I do have competition in that area. “He has had bits here and there. I know he wants more games — I get that. But he certainly has something that he can contribute here with his experience, ability to break lines and run behind people, and maybe get those goals in and around the box. “I know his contract is up at the end of the season but I’m not even looking that far ahead. He’s here, he’s part of the squad, and I need everybody because football can change very quickly.” But performing like he did at Hull or in the 1-0 loss at home to West Ham back in November — his last start in the Premier League — won’t be of much help to anybody. Even Pedro appeared crestfallen when his touch let him down at the KCOM Stadium on Saturday. Before Christmas, the 32-year-old made it pretty clear he was already thinking of life after Chelsea. He said: “There are offers. There are always clubs that are interested and that is a joy. I still have years to play but you’re thinking about what things are going on. I’m running out of contract at Chelsea. I’m free and we’ll see what happens.” Pedro has proved value for money since joining from Barcelona for £21.4 million in 2015 but perhaps he should be allowed to pursue a 27th winner’s medal somewhere else.

CIES Football Observatory n°281 - 27/01/2020 Performance Efficiency rankings in 31 European leagues Issue number 281 of the CIES Football Observatory Weekly Post compares points achieved by teams from 31 European leagues with points expected according to a statistical model taking into account ball possession, as well as the number and distance of both shots taken and conceded as per InStat data. The analysis highlights the great efficiency of clubs such as Benfica (+0.71 points per match), Liverpool (+0.66), Juventus (+0.64), Schalke 04 (+0.57) and Valencia (+0.55). The pitch production of Benfica should have allowed them to achieve 2.11 points per match compared to 2.82 in reality. The greatest positive gap out of the 496 clubs from the 31 leagues surveyed was recorded for Astra Giurgiu (+0.85). The Romanian side obtained almost two points per match despite having conceded more shots than those taken and having had only about 45% of ball possession. The same holds true for Turkish league leader Sivaspor (+0.73). The greatest negative gap overall was registered for Heart of Midlothian: 0.62 points achieved compared to 1.39 expected (-0.77). Champions League round of 16 participants Atalanta (-0.71) and Napoli (-0.61) were also particularly inefficient with respect to their pitch production. Manchester City (-0.36) and Chelsea (-0.33) are at the bottom of the Premier League efficiency rankings. More exclusive InStat data is accessible in the CIES Football Observatory Performance Atlas. Gap between points per match achieved and expected, season 2019/20 Domestic league matches until 20/01/2020. Data: InStat. the entire table at the link above

I may get flamed hard BUT I am really curious why this lad never really came up I mentioned him in passing I rate him he is having a great year, is young, English, pacy as hell, presses hard, is now scoring in multiple ways Dominic Calvert-Lewin