Murrr

Can't give rep more than once. Corrupt, crooked system. #DrainTheSwamp. Etc, etc. IMO, a huge share of the blame lies on the regressive left's shoulders, and I say that as a lifelong liberal.

Facebook. WhatsApp group is also good, if you still have my digits.

I didn't play last year, but I'm getting a copy of this year's from my employer so that I can write about it. I'm hoping there's not a massive jump from '15, which was the last one I put real time into. My first course of action, as always, will be to turn Barcelona into Stoke.

A lot don't though, and that's the problem. I'm not stupid enough to think that a 639% wage gap means Celtic should also be out-performing Aberdeen by 639%, but it's absolutely gigantic, and a huge, huge factor in Celtic's ongoing success. I'm also not ignorant to the factors contribution towards this figure (the fanbase, economics, the Old Firm rivalry, etc.), but I didn't mention them because they're irrelevant to my argument. Football is ultimately an "unfair" sport, but that's probably the way it should be. If it was structured more like an American sports league, where lesser teams are given favourable draft picks, it would completely eliminate the possibility of things like Leicester City happening. Said teams would never face such a prolonged spell in the doldrums, so the gloss would be taken off their eventual triumph, and the moment wouldn't be as special. I don't begrudge Celtic's superior resources at all. It's just a direct result of the game taking its natural course, and playing out without any interference. It's capitalism, basically. The free market in full flow. I'd just like more self-awareness from the other side, particularly those who perceive someone point-out the wage gap as an attack. It's not: it's a fact. It's why winning the League Cup a few seasons ago was such a hugely cathartic moment for Aberdeen fans. The greater the struggle, the greater the victory.

Neat.

I find it impossible to make this argument with most Celtic fans, which is completely absurd, because the gulf in resources as absolutely the reason they're able to achieve such success. In 2013/14 (the latest figures I could find), Celtic's wage budget was £901k, and Aberdeen's £141K: a difference of 639%. 639%! Aberdeen shouldn't even be in the same conversation, competitively speaking. The most common counter argument to this is "aye, you jealous?" or "yeah but we sign good players." What does that even mean?! I'm not at all upset about their superior resources but I find the lack of acknowledgement very frustrating.

A LIKELY STORY Nah, I'm back and forth, but mostly in Aberdeen. Sunday morning/afternoon would be perfect.

I'm up for getting a game or two in before I bugger off to Poland forever.

I must say I'm enjoying a degree of schadenfreude from Aston Villa's current malaise. 2 points off the relegation zone, manager binned after 11 games. They have such a weird chip on their shoulder towards us, and I'm not really sure why. It started on the day they relegated us back in 2009, when their fans showed-up with dozens of banners and celebrated the whistle as if they'd won the FA Cup. Weird. There's been some heat between our fans since then, and it has increased since we were both relegated. The handful of Villa fans I know are really insecure about their club's image, and will go out of their way to point-out that they're a "bigger" club with us without any sort of provocation. It's really strange, and the kind of behaviour befitting of those "deluded Geordies" the media always bring-up (but I've yet to meet myself). Hope they appoint someone shitty like Steve McClaren, and follow it up with a 17th-place finish. That Tony Xia strikes me as a daft one, too, particularly during the Twitter spat he had with Ian Holloway in August. He's very open with the fans on Twitter, which has its advantages, but I feel that certain aspects of a club's operation are best served behind closed doors. I can see this ending in tears.

Here he is giving Rafa a big bearhug and all. Love Mitrovic. Him and Shelvey are my two favourite players at the moment. They're both clinically insane, and equally capable of putting-in a great performance as they are a terrible one.

What a time to be alive, man. Rafa Benitez is the most wonderful living creature. Check Mitrovic trying to murder Gayle though:-

Gang signs, obvs. Here's my favourite Dowie/Shearer photo though:- Google tells me that Dowie is currently working as a sales manager for some surveying company. What a tragedy, man. A bright young managerial talent snuffed-out in his prime. Miss you, sweet prince.

More than anything else, I think the English national team would benefit from a real fresh face...

I'll likely have to write about this for work tomorrow. Who do you think's gonna get it? Pardew, Bruce, Southgate: not a particularly exciting list of English candidates, and the foreign options all come with caveats.

Thought it was a pretty ghastly appointment in the first place, although I guess I'm predisposed to dislike the guy given his managerial history. Looking forward to The King's inevitable coronation now.

http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/37479135 New or old news? Either way, might be a convenient "out" for the English FA on Allardyce's contract before he's able to grind what's left of the English national team to dust. The guy's a primitive hack.

LOL, I guess the 12-13 players we'd already signed just weren't enough for him. Actually, do you still work at Clariant? I've heard some tales of a Newcastle fan there. "Obertan is brilliant, should be playing every week." "Pardew was misunderstood." That kinda insanity.

£1.5m, yeah. We've Daniel Levy'd Daniel Levy. I'm actually ecstatic with this deal: I think the lad has all the physical and technical tools to be a fantastic footballer, but he rarely shows up. Moussa goes in a huff, his first touch goes to shit, and he starts trying to dribble through players rather than around them. I thought we'd signed an outstanding player at the time but it just hasn't panned-out, and I doubt he'll be able to keep his streaky motivation high when playing a rotation role at Spurs. Really solid bit of business, and I'm happy the club didn't compromise on their valuation too much. We stood firm and squeezed every lost drop of value out of the player. Tremendous bit of business.

£30m for Stroppy Sissoko is very pleasing, I'm not gonna lie.

You know what one of the most miserable things about relegation is? The transfers. Not so much in terms of players leaving, but the players you're forced to bring in, and those you're linked with. I completely understand why the calibre slips when you're in a lesser league, but it's still really grim. Today, for example, it's being reported that we've agreed a fee for Daryl Murphy, who was one of my favourite players to mock during his time at Sunderland and Celtic. Granted he's enjoyed a handful of productive Championship seasons since then, and I'm sure he'll be a good third option up front, but it's still quite jarring. We've also signed Grant Hanley, one of my last favourite players in the world, and Ciaran Clark. Last summer we signed a Dutch international and two of Anderlecht's most promising youngster. What a difference a season makes. We're signing an LB from Palermo, too. Once that and the Murphy deals go through, we'll have turned over a total of 25 players this summer: 11 in, 14 out. A bunch of wasters left the last time we went down, but our only incomings were Peter Lovenkrands on a free and my favourite guy ever, Danny Simpson, on loan. Benitez has taken a butcher's knife to the squad. I like that we've been able to shift melons like Cabella and Cisse, but was sad to see Krul leave on a loan-to-buy. I trust the manager implicitly though, and I haven't been able to say that in years.

Soda Jerk is Alan Pardew: confirmed.

I think he's a very good goalkeeper. Definitely a level below the best 'keepers in the league, but a very sturdy option between the posts despite his flaws. England has a nasty habit of crucifying its goalkeepers as soon as they make a mistake, particularly at a major tournament. Scott Carson, Robert Green, Paul Robinson, etc. etc. All very capable goalkeepers until the media jumped at their throats and sucked the life out of them. No position is more reliant on confidence and concentration, and I don't think it's a coincidence that these players started fading away when their mistakes made national press. I don't think the dogpile's been as bad for Hart, but he's certainly fallen victim to the same irrational shift in public opinion.

I think the Joe Hart arguments mostly show a chronic lack of understanding of what the sport is in 2016, or an overly-romanticised notion of what it should be. It's a results industry, not a loyalty or "respect" industry. Pep Guardiola's job is to bring success to his club, nothing else, and if he feels Joe Hart is detrimental to that success then he's more than entitled to shift him. It's that simple, but people's naivety is astounding in situations like this. It's almost like they're completely incapable of seeing the club's POV. The "disrespect" argument is ludicrous. I keep hearing "he's such a good servant" getting bandied around. Really? He's been paid very handsomely to perform on the world's biggest stage for one of the world's biggest clubs. Joe Hart probably has a brilliant lifestyle, and multiple generations of his family could live-off the money he's earned through his career. Where's the hardship? Why does this mean he's entitled to a contract for life? It's ridiculous to me, honestly. He's an employee who's being paid to do his job, that it. Their argument falls flat on so many levels. It's a mercenary industry, and yes, it'd be absolutely beautiful if football was based entirely on loyalty and sentimentality, but it's a big business now, and big business is cutthroat. It's like when people complain about over-inflated transfer fees: a basic lack of understand of how the world works. More money coming into the game = more money to spend on players. Simple. Quite aware that I'm coming-off like a cold bastard here, but people get so fired-up over things like this and it's silly. I've done my fare share of it myself when certain Newcastle players have moved-on, so I recognise that it's a tough pill to swallow, but it's just the game. This is what it is.

Been trying to wind-up other Championship supporters with the hashtags #BigClub and #SmallLeague this season. It's not working at all. I definitely need to work on my troll game. 2 wins, 2 losses. Kinda playing like a team of strangers at the moment, but I guess that's what happens when you sign 8 players in a couple of weeks. Still need another striker, a winger, and a left-back IMO. Paul Dummett and Jack Colback are just bloody ghastly, even at this level, which confirms my long-held theory that they're the type of footballer who gives a 5/10 performance at best regardless of the league they're playing in. Matt Ritchie is a G, though. Marvellous player.