The fact he was about a leg away from that goal he claimed made his later claim make me feel slightly sick.
2 Likes
Three league games in hand and now a two legged semi final. Not sure how this is going to work.
They can be happy they’re out of the European Cup.
Let’s label it correctly the European Conference League.
They deserve the correction.
5 Likes
Yeah. European Cup is the predecessor of Champions League after all.
I’m telling you, they did it on purpose. Bloody snobs.
2 Likes
Not the European Cup Matey. They are out of the European equivalent of the 'Johnson’s Paint Trophy. 
5 Likes
While we are on it, the European Conference League… who wanted that?
The old European Cup was for league champions. The old UEFA Cup was for runners up (maybe top three if the league was one of the best?) The old Cup Winners Cup was for winners of the domestic cup. If you added up all three competitions, it would be similar to the amount of teams who make up the current Champions League, as the CL is so inflated to what it used to be.
Now add on the inflated Europa league.
Now add on the new-fangled European Conference League. It’s a joke.
At what point will pub teams be obliged to travel to Europe to play?
1 Like
Pretty simple - it was to create a mechanism to get UEFA funds and participation down into the lower seeded associations. It is sort of like a sub-Europa League for the leagues whose champions and 1-2 other teams end up in the Europa League. The concentration of European play in 3-4 clubs was seen as problematic, especially when 1-2 get knocked out in qualifying rounds. It makes much less sense from the English perspective, where having 7 teams in European group rounds is the norm and it basically gets damn near half the PL into Europe.
Predictably though, English football writers are undervaluing the coefficient benefits.
4 Likes
I get it. Spread it further down, lower, get more clubs involved. It’s lovely.
But it doesn’t seem worthwhile to a Prem team. Arguably if someone like Brighton got into it, they might give it a go, but even then, I suspect they would rather not have the bother, in relation to maybe getting a few places higher in the Prem without the distraction.
Definitely for a team like Spurs, who were in the CL final fairly recently (tee-hee) it seems like a booby prize. I think they were happy to spew it, but Conte will make a song and dance about it to try to gain advantage somehow.
Actually, for a Brighton, I don’t think it is worth it. A little bit more cash, maybe some interestingly different games, but at the expense of squad wear and tear with a good chance of costing you more at the end of the season.
For a club like Spurs, with real European aspirations, it is a get out of jail card. Instead of saddling their coefficient with 2-3 years of zeroes and all but locking in a Pot 4 placement in the CL when they get in, it provides decent points that all but guarantee a Pot 3 position, and make it much easier to get up into Pot 2. It would not surprise me if that is Conte’s real concern, given that he seems to be there for the long haul.
4 Likes
4 Likes
Kylian Mbappe on whether he would sign for Tottenham:
"I’m sure they will make something good this season with Conte, because he’s a great manager. So it’s good for them, but I don’t think I will play for Tottenham in my life.”
Spursy.
1 Like
Ouch
Why would someone even ask that question
2 Likes
Because that someone is kind of spursy.
1 Like
Now, if Spurs were doing one of those live follow camera documentaries, this would probably be a brilliant scene.
4 Likes
Son being a nice guy to a kid again. A little bit of New Year wholesomeness for our jaded, black hearts.
4 Likes
That was great, the child’s face is a joy.
4 Likes
Core memory right there 
2 Likes