Cornish Steve

Autocorrect!

For the first time this season, I missed a prediction. I was traveling but am home again now. I'll catch up shortly.

Everton 1-1 Spurs own goal

Two 10-pointers this week: Congrats to AlbanyNYToffee and Palfy. Matt won for the month of January, while Boston Toffee retains his lead for the season.

You haven't twigged yet, have you?

On a completely different topic, this is a fascinating article. It's sad to realize just how racist this and other countries were in the past. Frank Soo's parents could never have married in the US because of laws prohibiting mixed marriages, so at least Britain allowed that. What caught my eye, though, was reference to Tyias Browning. I had no idea his name is Jiang Guangtai, that he's a Chinese citizen, and that he plays for the Chinese national team. https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/67418972

Fulham 2-0 Everton none

Only three people scored points in the last round, the pick of which was Matt's 10-pointer. Boston Toffee still leads for the season. Bill remains on target to win per prediction. @Patto: Would you like to inherit Bill's scores and continue with them from here?

An excellent win for England. After the first day, few expected that.

Yes, especially Premier League football. Focus, focus, focus on survival. No-one likes to lose, but we don't have the luxury of a squad good enough or deep enough right now for extended cup runs. That's the reality of our situation. The day will come again, for sure, but all that matters right now is surviving another season in the Prem.

Absolutely crucial. Fulham is just the type of team we need to beat, so let's hope we won't tire at the end because of first team players playing twice in quick succession. I was really hoping that Sheffield United would hold on for a 2-2 tie and then win in the replay. They don't have the squad depth to focus on both the league and the cup. The same is true of Luton, though, so today's loss does have a silver lining.

Give some key players an important break before a crucial league match next week. Virginia Patterson Keane Godfrey Mykolenko Onana Garner Harrison Danjuma McNeil Beto

There's something a little incongruous about Ashley Young playing for the Under-21s. It would be like watching a player's dad fill in for a missing player to make up the numbers in a school football game.

Hey, what would a thread be without covering a wide range of irrelevant topics?

Don't even suggest it.

You forget where I'm from: the answer is a bisyllabic, 5-letter word.

Since you're going to nit-pick, it's 'fewer' and not 'less'. (Nods to Mike.)

I wish!

I confess that it's my natural inclination toward unnecessary and loquacious verbosity that may at times obscure a simple and straightforward message to the point of absurd or even confusing hyperbole.

I see you made the same point!

To make the analogy a little closer... The traffic cop notes your time as you pass by various mile markers. Local statutes demand that they measure your average speed over three miles. On this stretch of road, the speed limit is 65mph. Only if you exceed 65mph over three miles can you be charged with speeding. Here's what they observe: Mile marker 1: 45 seconds Mile marker 2: 90 seconds Mile marker 3: 135 seconds The police note your total time over 3 miles: 135 seconds. This means you've been doing 80mph. On come the blue lights. You immediately slow down to 60mph (a mile a minute). The police car isn't behind you yet. Maybe you got away with it. Mile marker 4: 195 seconds Mile marker 5: 255 seconds Now they've caught up and pulled you over. "Sir. From when we started monitoring your speed, we measured it at 80mph over three miles. Did you know the speed limit is 65mph? That'll be a £200 fine." You take out your wallet and hand over the cash. Before you can drive off, the police officer continues: "But we also started monitoring your speed after Mile Marker 1. For the next three miles, you averaged 72mph. That's a second offense. That'll be a £400 fine." You're annoyed. "But from the moment I spotted your blue lights, I slowed to 60mph." The officer smiles as he thinks what he'll do with that £600. "Sorry sir, but the law states that we must measure your speed over a 3-mile stretch of road." Now you're angry: "But you can't fine me twice for speeding over the same stretch of road! Anyway, national law is different." The officer considers this for a moment before continuing: "What matters is my patch, not national law. Now, we also measured your speed for three miles starting at Mile Marker 2. From there, you averaged 65.5mph. Now, I was going to be kind and overlook it, but since you've taken umbrage... that will be £600 for a second repeat offense." This points out just how ridiculous the whole scenario is. We're being threatened with a second fine when we were already fined for much of the same stretch of road. Either they restart the measurement after three miles or they calculate over one mile. It's ridiculous that they claim the right to fine potentially three times for overspending in just one year.

1) The rules changed, and you can't undo a stadium project years after it's planned and begun. That's not about poor ownership. 2) We lost millions in funding when forced to break ties with Russian nationals. 3) As Mike mentioned, we lost millions because of the Gylfi fiasco, for which any reasonable body would make allowance. Things haven't been perfect, for sure, but it's a cop-out to only blame the owners and executives. If it were me, I would be challenging everything and not accepting guilt at all. We tried to play nice by keeping the league informed of our finances and abiding by their restrictions during transfer windows. Playing nice these days counts for squat.

We differ on this. I do NOT accept that we broke rules - because those rules were changed after the fact, after we'd committed to building a new stadium, after we invested in the community affected by the move, after interest rates soared, and after we lost some funding due to Russia's invasion of Ukraine. Do correct me if I'm wrong on this point.

The entire case for supposed over-spending is based on two decisions by the league that ought to be contestable in court. 1) Change the rules about stadium spending. 2) Change the cycle for annual calculation. There's little a team can do when the league changes the rules either at a moment's notice or after the fact. The stadium is a long-term and costly project, and everyone knew that. Not only is the league being unfair to Everton, but it's going to make every team think twice about making such an investment themselves. Frankly, extraordinary financing for stadiums should be separated from regular spending and not be counted. Applying the same penalty twice in the same season is without precedent and a totally arbitrary decision. Why do that now? Why do it in a season when you know a team will suffer twice? We can all argue about the number of points to be deducted, or applying a fine instead of a deduction, but I don't see this changing. It's a power play at this point, and league officials will do anything not to lose face - or be subject to an independent commission. Our best recourse, in my opinion, is to take the league to court over these two fundamental issues. Sue them for hundreds of millions. Sue league executives personally.

True, but this is our reality. Money carries the most sway in today's league, so our goal this season must be to maximize it, and that means winning the most TV money that we can. Apologies to sound this beating drum too often, but we really must focus and not be distracted.