Cornish Steve

I don't agree. With Alcaraz alongside, he looked assured. Today, he looked vulnerable.

Study after study in the business world has revealed that money comes quite a way down the totem pole in the list of reasons employees give for staying with a company. At the top of the list are things like being part of an exciting team, pursuing a vision you believe in, working in a challenging and stimulating environment, and working for a great boss. I'm sure these things matter in the footballing world, too.

Starting the new year, Brett Angel has taken a commanding lead by predicting correctly the score away to Stoke. For the season as a whole, the fan to beat is c1982.
 
And now we're up to date!

Wow, what an amazing listen.
 
One of the things that really stuck with me was when he talked about Barkley playing like he was afraid to make a mistake at the beginning of the year, and how he tried to get him out of that mindset.
 
I've always believed, in sports and in life, that fortune generally favors the bold, and that's as true in the BPL as anywhere else. Too many coaches, especially coaches of second and third-tier teams, have a "damage limitation" mentality, where they don't always make the smartest substitutions or tactical decisions because they're too concerned with preserving their jobs and reputations to take a gamble that might backfire and leave them open to criticism or second-guessing. They'd rather settle for a draw or a 1-0 loss than go chasing a win and possibly end up losing 3-0 or 4-0. I know what some of you are thinking, but I'm not singling out any particular manager when I say that simply because 90% of them are guilty of that negative/conservative strategizing, regardless of whether they're managing in the BPL or Serie B or some part-time league in Outer Mongolia. How often have we complained this year about teams like Cardiff and Palace packing ten behind the ball against us and spending more energy frustrating our attack than trying to score? I'm extremely thankful that Martinez is in the other 10%, because that 10% are the managers who are winning games and winning trophies while their peers are too busy trying not to get fired.
 
Circling my point back to Barkley though, players aren't any more fond of losing their jobs than managers are, and a player who gets the message from past experience that he has to play safe and avoid mistakes if he wants to stay in the starting lineup is a player who's hamstrung; he starts thinking too much instead of being able to just play his natural game. By coaching to win, Martinez gives Ross and the other players the freedom to play to win, and not be afraid of making an occasional mistake. For instance, even after their farcical two-man comedy act against Sunderland, Howard and Osman were both back on the pitch the next time they were eligible to play. And that's what we're seeing with Ross - someone who has the backing of his manager and the confidence to try different things on the pitch, and as a result of stretching himself like that, he is finding out just how good he can be at this level, which is only going to make him even more confident.

Forget what we paid for him. The issue is how much is he worth today as a player - taking into account his abilities, his form, and the remaining time on his contract. Would Everton pay 6-8m for Jelavic if he was playing, for example, for Stoke? No way! So why do you think other teams will pay that much for him? Maybe we would pay 3m - which makes the current bid understandable.
 
Consider Andy Carroll. Should Liverpool have held out for 35m from West Ham? What about Aidan McGeady? Should Spartak hold out for 9.5m? Of course not! You win some and you lose some. Just like it's a big mistake to hold on to losing stocks in the hope their price will bounce back, it's a big mistake to expect the value of some players to return to what you paid for them.
 
The real question to ask is: Can we get more from Jelavic than we can get from another player we could buy for 3m? If not, sell and buy.

Forget what we paid for him. The issue is how much is he worth today as a player - taking into account his abilities, his form, and the remaining time on his contract. Would Everton pay 6-8m for Jelavic if he was playing, for example, for Stoke? No way! So why do you think other teams will pay that much for him? Maybe we would pay 3m - which makes the current bid understandable.
 
Consider Andy Carroll. Should Liverpool have held out for 35m from West Ham? What about Aidan McGeady? Should Spartak hold out for 9.5m? Of course not! You win some and you lose some. Just like it's a big mistake to hold on to losing stocks in the hope their price will bounce back, it's a big mistake to expect the value of some players to return to what you paid for them.
 
The real question to ask is: Can we get more from Jelavic than we can get from another player we could buy for 3m? If not, sell and buy.

And, of course, we have another Paraguayan on the team: Alcaraz.

In the US, Fox Sports has started to broadcast English football games on their principal channel. Since we cut the cable cord a while back, this is great news because I can watch over a standard antenna. It's quite possible this game will be shown as part of their broadcasting. Whoohoo.

For playing? That's like getting a bonus for showing up for work! Instead, I should be getting a bonus only if I help bring in the biggest ever contract.

That's how teams become healthy financially. The richest people in the world never got that way by splashing out. Being careful and looking for value has been their lifetime habit.

In industry, bonuses can be used to focus employees on a specific goal. Sales people, of course, earn much of their compensation from commission or bonuses linked to revenue targets.
 
Why shouldn't this apply to football players? Why not bring in new players for a modest salary with the promise of a big bonus if, for example, we make it to the Champions League? Let's say we win an additional 5m from reaching the CL? Then give out 2m of that in bonuses to players. That way, Everton could bring in good players on lower salaries with the promise of big reward when the team succeeds.
 
There just seem to be so many players out there who earn big bucks whether their teams succeed or fail. If they were incented financially to win, surely it would benefit their teams. Players would suddenly become more hungry to succeed.

That's how teams become healthy financially. The richest people in the world never got that way by splashing out. Being careful and looking for value has been their lifetime habit.

He needs to go, and today's performance maybe increased his price. I'd much rather plan for the future than linger in the past.

Gracious comments from 'arry after his team's defeat....
 
"It was a disappointing afternoon, we were well beaten today. We were beat by a far better team. I thought Everton were excellent. Even though they made lots of changes, they were strong all over and made life very difficult for us. They've got some real quality throughout their squad and it really showed today. We struggled to live with them at times. Their movement, their passing, their attacking play - it was top class."

He needs to go, and today's performance maybe increased his price. I'd much rather plan for the future than linger in the past.

Gracious comments from 'arry after his team's defeat....
 
"It was a disappointing afternoon, we were well beaten today. We were beat by a far better team. I thought Everton were excellent. Even though they made lots of changes, they were strong all over and made life very difficult for us. They've got some real quality throughout their squad and it really showed today. We struggled to live with them at times. Their movement, their passing, their attacking play - it was top class."

Gracious comments from 'arry after his team's defeat....
 
"It was a disappointing afternoon, we were well beaten today. We were beat by a far better team. I thought Everton were excellent. Even though they made lots of changes, they were strong all over and made life very difficult for us. They've got some real quality throughout their squad and it really showed today. We struggled to live with them at times. Their movement, their passing, their attacking play - it was top class."

Gracious comments from 'arry after his team's defeat....
 
"It was a disappointing afternoon, we were well beaten today. We were beat by a far better team. I thought Everton were excellent. Even though they made lots of changes, they were strong all over and made life very difficult for us. They've got some real quality throughout their squad and it really showed today. We struggled to live with them at times. Their movement, their passing, their attacking play - it was top class."

Gracious comments from 'arry after his team's defeat....
 
"It was a disappointing afternoon, we were well beaten today. We were beat by a far better team. I thought Everton were excellent. Even though they made lots of changes, they were strong all over and made life very difficult for us. They've got some real quality throughout their squad and it really showed today. We struggled to live with them at times. Their movement, their passing, their attacking play - it was top class."

Since I'm volunteering to keep track of everyone's preductions versus actual scores and to publish a table each week with everyone's score, and since it's taking me a lot of time to create the necessary spreadsheet with automatic formulas and the like, I'm taking the liberty to change the rules for points awarded. These changes, in my opinion, will make the competition a little more fair and will address idiosyncrasies pointed out earlier in the thread. To compensate, I shall publish everyone's most recent game score, monthly score, and total score for the season. That way, no one has to worry about being too far behind to care (me, for example) because you can still win the game and monthly competitions. Please don't change the way you predict scores. For example, you may predict:
 
Stoke 1-1 Everton (Baines)
 
So, here's the new approach to scoring, with a few examples to make it all clear.
 
- 1 point for predicting the correct result (win, lose, or draw)
- 1 point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton
- 1 point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1, -2, etc.)
- 1 point for predicting correctly the first Everton goalscorer (or 'own goal'). No point awarded when no goal scored.
- 1 extra point for predicting the exact score
- 1 extra point for getting everything right
 
To quote examples, let's take the Southampton game. It went Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman).
 
Example 1: You predict Southampton 0-0 Everton (Lukaku). You get zero points.
 
Example 2: You predict Southampton 0-1 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result (a win) and a point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1 Everton). That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 3: You predict Southampton 1-3 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result and a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 4: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result, a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton, a point for predicting the correct goal difference, and an extra point for the exact score. That's 4 points in total.
 
Example 5: You predict Southampton 1-1 Everton (Coleman). You get a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton and a point for predicting the first Everton goal scorer. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 6: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman). You get the maximum 6 points.
 
I'm working on the spreadsheet still and will post current standings ASAP.

Since I'm volunteering to keep track of everyone's preductions versus actual scores and to publish a table each week with everyone's score, and since it's taking me a lot of time to create the necessary spreadsheet with automatic formulas and the like, I'm taking the liberty to change the rules for points awarded. These changes, in my opinion, will make the competition a little more fair and will address idiosyncrasies pointed out earlier in the thread. To compensate, I shall publish everyone's most recent game score, monthly score, and total score for the season. That way, no one has to worry about being too far behind to care (me, for example) because you can still win the game and monthly competitions. Please don't change the way you predict scores. For example, you may predict:
 
Stoke 1-1 Everton (Baines)
 
So, here's the new approach to scoring, with a few examples to make it all clear.
 
- 1 point for predicting the correct result (win, lose, or draw)
- 1 point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton
- 1 point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1, -2, etc.)
- 1 point for predicting correctly the first Everton goalscorer (or 'own goal'). No point awarded when no goal scored.
- 1 extra point for predicting the exact score
- 1 extra point for getting everything right
 
To quote examples, let's take the Southampton game. It went Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman).
 
Example 1: You predict Southampton 0-0 Everton (Lukaku). You get zero points.
 
Example 2: You predict Southampton 0-1 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result (a win) and a point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1 Everton). That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 3: You predict Southampton 1-3 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result and a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 4: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result, a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton, a point for predicting the correct goal difference, and an extra point for the exact score. That's 4 points in total.
 
Example 5: You predict Southampton 1-1 Everton (Coleman). You get a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton and a point for predicting the first Everton goal scorer. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 6: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman). You get the maximum 6 points.
 
I'm working on the spreadsheet still and will post current standings ASAP.

Since I'm volunteering to keep track of everyone's preductions versus actual scores and to publish a table each week with everyone's score, and since it's taking me a lot of time to create the necessary spreadsheet with automatic formulas and the like, I'm taking the liberty to change the rules for points awarded. These changes, in my opinion, will make the competition a little more fair and will address idiosyncrasies pointed out earlier in the thread. To compensate, I shall publish everyone's most recent game score, monthly score, and total score for the season. That way, no one has to worry about being too far behind to care (me, for example) because you can still win the game and monthly competitions. Please don't change the way you predict scores. For example, you may predict:
 
Stoke 1-1 Everton (Baines)
 
So, here's the new approach to scoring, with a few examples to make it all clear.
 
- 1 point for predicting the correct result (win, lose, or draw)
- 1 point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton
- 1 point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1, -2, etc.)
- 1 point for predicting correctly the first Everton goalscorer (or 'own goal'). No point awarded when no goal scored.
- 1 extra point for predicting the exact score
- 1 extra point for getting everything right
 
To quote examples, let's take the Southampton game. It went Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman).
 
Example 1: You predict Southampton 0-0 Everton (Lukaku). You get zero points.
 
Example 2: You predict Southampton 0-1 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result (a win) and a point for predicting the correct goal difference (+1 Everton). That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 3: You predict Southampton 1-3 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result and a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 4: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Lukaku). You get a point for predicting the correct result, a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton, a point for predicting the correct goal difference, and an extra point for the exact score. That's 4 points in total.
 
Example 5: You predict Southampton 1-1 Everton (Coleman). You get a point for predicting the number of goals scored by Everton and a point for predicting the first Everton goal scorer. That's 2 points in total.
 
Example 6: You predict Southampton 1-2 Everton (Coleman). You get the maximum 6 points.
 
I'm working on the spreadsheet still and will post current standings ASAP.

No, it's not. I'm a perennial masochist and enjoy allowing people to witness just how terrible I am at predicting scores.
 
This evening, I may sit down and create a spreadsheet to record predictions and scores and generate everyone's points. Watch this space.

If SAF was still there, they would have been given a penalty at the end there. It's not only other teams that no longer fear OT; neither do the refs.

No, it's not. I'm a perennial masochist and enjoy allowing people to witness just how terrible I am at predicting scores.
 
This evening, I may sit down and create a spreadsheet to record predictions and scores and generate everyone's points. Watch this space.