BubbaP
Occasional Player of Golf
Lineker has gone early, so won't be doing the World Cup ...
Don Barzini
Assistant Pro
Got to agree.
I mean don’t get me wrong. I’d love my team to be able to hold onto and keep the ball a bit better than we do. But if that means watching my back four pass it sideways to one another, back and forth across the pitch ad nauseum…..sorry but absolutely no thanks.
Possession is fine when you’re actually doing something with the ball and making progress. Possession for possession’s sake? Pepball. Yawnball. Boringball.
You’d have thought him intelligent enough to be more circumspect in his use of social media after his last run in with the BBC.
Clearly he’s either thicker than mince, or just likes to provoke.
Either way, I’ll be pleased to see him gone.
D
Deleted member 36742
Guest
Trust me, both definitions apply.
Swango1980
Well-known member
Seemingly one of these people who feels the world needs to hear his opinions. Perhaps because he isn't a pundit so rarely able to share his football opinions, he is desperate to feel heard any chance he gets.
It's his ego that wins over common sense. If I work for a company with no media profile, on am average salary, I am still careful not to post anything overly political, or politically incorrect, on things like Facebook, LinkedIn, etc. That could get me in bother.
If I earned millions from a high profile company that is famous for trying to be politically correct and neutral, I'd probably just delete all social media accounts just in case, and just do my job.
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
I said exactly the same yesterday to my lad. He looks knackered. My lad said he has been played to death until this season. It’s odd re City because this season has been a season to long for so many players. Yet Pep thought they had the legs to get a fifth crown. Rodri and Bobb missing all year never helped.
Am looking forward to Citys team next season as some of the old guard will be gone and not just KDB.
I thought it was odd that he was leaving motd but coming back for that. I actually like Lineker but if he was going after this season he should have cut all ties at the same time. The new team can now cover the World Cup as well, which is how it should be imo.
Swango1980
Well-known member
Don't the BBC call ALL football (highlights and live football) Match of the Day? It isn't just the Saturday night highlights package.
Therefore, I always assumed he would bow out at a World Cup, one last trip away wirh his friends and colleagues and hopefully cover a good run by England. Probably do their podcast thing in parallel
I suspect he is gutted it has ended earlier than expected.
I too enjoy Lineker’s football punditry, even if I sometimes disagree with his view on it. It creates debate, and it is an informed view due to his expertise in the game.
So why is he suddenly going now? 2023’s media faux pas is well in the past… it is his most recent media post that has made his position untenable. He’s admitted he didn’t realise that the cartoon he’d posted up had more serious connotations but the genie is out of the bottle.
The Beeb rewrote their social media policies after the 2023 spat, and he’s well over the line with his most recent post. Even VAR recognised he was offside!
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
After sorting one full back
Looks like we are close to a second
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
Lineker has never bothered me - think he had a good connection with Shearer and Richards and the podcast he does with them is good
But think the three they have got to come in are very good as well
Slime
Tour Winner
Not early enough!
Seemed odd that he is finishing MOTD this season but then gets parachuted in for the World Cup. Anyway, I am sure he will cover the World Cup for someone, one of the overseas companies. He won't be out of work if he doesn't want to be.
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
I think what you are missing is your team kills Pep ball. they have 11 sat behind the ball most games and do very well to hit in the break. Something Palace did for the winner.
Am not being critical of forests style of play or indeed any team that defends that way. But trying to break down a team of 10 defenders is not easy. If trying to keep the ball/pep ball is boring and wrong, what exactly is the answer. There ain’t one.
When Pep first came he had Sane and Sterling. They had pace. We battered teams. But teams soon cottoned on that defending with 10 and hitting on the break was the answer.
You find Pep ball boring but are ok seeing your team defend with 10 players from the outset for most games.
And re City v Forest in the semi. The first half performance from Forest was one of the worst this season and Pep ball destroyed Forest in the first half yet it was boring to watch.
Like I say. When you have the right players. It is good to watch. When you don’t. It isn’t.
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
I have no doubt that he will end up on either Sky or TNT to replace Kelly Cates
He is still a very good presenter
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
Again you talk about stats and boring Pepball.
Ederson has the most career assists by a goalkeeper in Europe's top five leagues, with 7 assists in the Premier League.
Not bad for a boring team
Don Barzini
Assistant Pro
I think what you are missing is your team kills Pep ball. they have 11 sat behind the ball most games and do very well to hit in the break. Something Palace did for the winner.
Am not being critical of forests style of play or indeed any team that defends that way. But trying to break down a team of 10 defenders is not easy. If trying to keep the ball/pep ball is boring and wrong, what exactly is the answer. There ain’t one.
When Pep first came he had Sane and Sterling. They had pace. We battered teams. But teams soon cottoned on that defending with 10 and hitting on the break was the answer.
You find Pep ball boring but are ok seeing your team defend with 10 players from the outset for most games.
And re City v Forest in the semi. The first half performance from Forest was one of the worst this season and Pep ball destroyed Forest in the first half yet it was boring to watch.
Like I say. When you have the right players. It is good to watch. When you don’t. It isn’t.
It's a bit of a popular myth/oversimplification to say Forest just defend with 10 players behind the ball from the outset. Certainly we've had to do that sometimes against the better teams who are chucking everything including the kitchen sink at us e.g. Liverpool at home 1-1 and yourselves in the FA Cup semi-final. But that's not a true reflection of how most of our games go.
You're certainly right about your analysis of our first half in the semi. City absloutely killed us with that early goal and it set the tone for that awful performance. The way to beat Forest is by doing exactly that - score early. But if you press for it, you risk being caught on the counter which we've been brilliant at all season. I think we are the team who has scored first in the most number of games in the Prem - or are at least well up there.
Don't get me wrong Tash, I'd be stupid to suggest City are anything but a class act. The point I was making is exactly the bit you've written in bold. I heard a quote once along the lines of "The Premier League has Man City in it and 19 teams who try to play like Man City." Not wholly accurate, but there's a lot of truth in it. By virtue of the fact that he has been so successful, Pep has convinced most of the world that the only way to play football is to pass out from the back and dominate possession. But it isn't.
It's been most amusing to me as a Forest fan to see and hear all these other football fans in their early twenties on YouTube and Twitter moaning about how we have low possession and low XG, like those stats are above everything else and automatically mean we don't deserve to be where we are, or that we have been incredibly lucky. XG Virgins is a good name for them!
Arthur Wedge
Well-known member
It's a bit of a popular myth/oversimplification to say Forest just defend with 10 players behind the ball from the outset. Certainly we've had to do that sometimes against the better teams who are chucking everything including the kitchen sink at us e.g. Liverpool at home 1-1 and yourselves in the FA Cup semi-final. But that's not a true reflection of how most of our games go.
You're certainly right about your analysis of our first half in the semi. City absloutely killed us with that early goal and it set the tone for that awful performance. The way to beat Forest is by doing exactly that - score early. But if you press for it, you risk being caught on the counter which we've been brilliant at all season. I think we are the team who has scored first in the most number of games in the Prem - or are at least well up there.
Don't get me wrong Tash, I'd be stupid to suggest City are anything but a class act. The point I was making is exactly the bit you've written in bold. I heard a quote once along the lines of "The Permier League has Man City in it and 19 teams who try to play like Man City." Not wholly accurate, but there's a lot of truth in it. By virtue of the fact that he has been so successful, Pep has convinced most of the world that the only way to play football is to pass out from the back and dominate possession. But it isn't.
It's been most amusing to me as a Forest fan to see and hear all these other football fans in their early twenties on YouTube and Twitter moaning about how we have low possession and low XG, like those stats are above everything else and automatically mean we don't deserve to be where we are, or that we have been incredibly lucky. XG Virgins is a good name for them!
There only a few stats that matter
Goals scored
Goals conceded
xG should only be used as a pointer for coaches
Having a high Xg and low goals will point towards poor finishing
Don Barzini
Assistant Pro
And the XG Virgin's response to that (in a whiny voice) would be "But low XG and high goals means you're overperforming, it isn't sustainable, waah waah waah!"
Tashyboy
Please don’t ask to see my tatts 👍
My lad was saying yesterday. He was listening to a City podcast. The guy said “ you win trophies not by playing good football but by having moments in the game”. He highlighted Rodri scoring for City v Inter. City played rubbish but got the result.
Palace had a brilliant moment v City.
My grief is that those moments are become more and more VAR related.
Palace had a brilliant moment v City.
My grief is that those moments are become more and more VAR related.
