Reaction to Neville comments spark ‘sissy left-wing approach’ derision
Gary Neville’s comments have inevitably brought division to a Mailbox that includes talk of ‘delusion’ among us ‘sissy left-wing’ types.
We do have some mails about Liverpool and Arsenal but it’s Neville who has sparked real debate.
Do us a favour and watch an England without Harry Kane and Jude Bellingham and then write to theeditor@football365.com
Where are all the flag-sh***ers?
If Sky Sports Football’s target audience is (a certain type) of “white, middle-class men” as Joey Barton asserts. Surely, that is the same demographic that F365 serves?
So, I guess we’ll just wait for Thursday’s mailbox to be flooded with and dominated by, foreigner-hating, flag loving, angry, white, raging, middle-aged men to prove him wrong.
. . . I bet it’s not, though, and it’s little Joey who might just be in the wrong here.
Colin Brown
…This is a football website and we ought to stick to sport and all that but I couldn’t read your bit on the response to the Neviller’s call for peace and love and not say something. I’ll keep it short though.
Speaking as a middle aged, working class, council house born and raised white heterosexual male I can tell you that middle to old aged white men of all classes are absolutely the problem with this country. They always have been. If we spent more time moaning at them – or in my case looking inward I suppose – we might actually get somewhere.
A recent poll showed that significantly more people want to keep us within ECHR than to leave but crucially less than half could correctly answer a series of basic questions about it. Sometimes we need to understand our own limitations and let the grown ups sort things out. Personally – as a middle aged white man – I’m self aware enough to know that I’m far from a grown up regardless of any education or knowledge that I have. A bit more self awareness from others of my ilk and we may feel that as a country we don’t need to persecute people of varying genders, ethnicities and sexualities etc in order to identify and treat some of the root causes of our issues.
Middle aged white men and “people called Jihad” can both be the cause of problems. It’s not mutually exclusive. If you can’t handle nuance, then stay out of the bloody conversation.
And, to bring it back to football, with a bit more self awareness we might get some quality content and punditry. I don’t want to hear Jamie Carragher and Gary Neville arguing about Manchester United managers any more than I want to see Gary Neville debating Joey Barton about racism (ie not at all). Zero balance in either of those conversations. At the moment, watching football feels like constantly punching myself in the face.
Much like modern British life I suppose. As you were.
Ashmundo
An e-mail entitled ‘Your pathetic left agenda’
Your reporting of Gary Neville’s comments is more shocking than the comments themselves, your sissy left wing approach couldn’t be further from what the majority of British people are thinking atm, my mind can’t even begin to comprehend where your deluded reports come from other than your own deluded minds, not to mention the fact you’re taking a smug approach when your opinion is completely redundant and irrelevant but keep doing what you do keep those morons in their own world like yourselves. Many thanks little men ❤️
Aaron Webb
Refereeing becoming a deciding variable
With regards to John Matrix AFC, mailbox contribution from a few days ago, as someone who is fairly familiar with data science and calculating metrics and variables, one thing people haven’t noticed is how the biggest data users in sports (Gambling companies) now give more weight to referee quality in matches when adjusting its odds.
What this means is, as the top 17 teams in the EPL become statistically closer in terms of quality and performance, referee decisions (both good and bad) are becoming an outsized variable in results.
Under this model, a match between two teams of disparate quality, eg Liverpool vs Sunderland , should have a consistent betting spread, heavily weighted to the favorite. The moment a referee who statistically has a “shocker” every month or so is assigned, the odds change, as the outcome probability is now less reliable for both sides.
Money talks, gamblers hate losing money, so eventually the PGMOL will start being pressured to recruit foreign referees. mostly boring, solidly consistent performers, who seldom deviate from one week to the next. They will likely also outsource VAR to be more independent panelists, not afraid to embarrass their “mates” by correcting one of their “clear and obvious” errors.
In summary, and to link back to another contributor from the same mailbag, Adidasmufc, Data and Boffins, may be the saviour, not the death of English football.
Norbuck, NZ
Liverpool fan writes to say Liverpool were brilliant
With the horror of this international break, I was reminded that it is now ten years since my beloved Liverpool appointed Jürgen Norbert Klopp.
I just wanted to say that the team which spanned 2019 and 2020 — the side that won the UEFA Champions League, UEFA Super Cup, FIFA Club World Cup, and finally the Premier League — was, in my view, quite possibly the best team the Premier League has ever seen.
Across those two seasons, between March 2019 and February 2020, over a 38-match league stretch, they amassed an astonishing 112 out of 114 possible points: 37 wins, 1 draw, and 0 losses.
What they won, how they played, and the sheer level of consistency they displayed is, I think, under-appreciated — partly because of the pandemic that followed.
To me, that side was superior to the “Invincibles,” to Manchester (115) City’s 100-point team, and even to the treble winners. I’m sure they would have given peak Barça a proper contest as well.
Best regards,
Ian H
Did Arsenal really have a tricky start?
It seems to be commonly accepted that Arsenal have had this really difficult start to the season, Dave Tickner being the latest to reference it in his piece on the newest nail in the football coffin.
Let’s analyse that against Liverpool’s opening fixtures shall we?
Current positions of the teams they’ve faced (excluding each other):
Arsenal vs.
5th
10th
11th
15th
17th
19th
Liverpool vs.
4th
6th
7th
8th
11th
18th
Hmmm.
What about last year’s final standings?
Arsenal Vs.
3rd
5th
7th
14th
15th
(Championship)
Liverpool Vs.
4th
5th
9th
12th
13th
(Championship)
A bit closer to be fair but quite why it was, and continues to be, painted as the toughest of all the starts is a little bewildering.
Anyway, they’re certainly looking more coherent on the pitch (and a lot more from set pieces) so deserve to be where they are. They’ve got a decent run of fixtures till the next international break so could extend their lead unless Liverpool get their act together and start pressing and passing with more competence.
Finally, as it keeps getting brought up and wrongly attributed to being purely a financial factor, net spend is relevant in that it demonstrates player losses as well as player gains. E.g. if Liverpool had spent what they did in the summer and still had Diaz, Nunez, Quansah and Jota (RIP) to call on there would be a wildly different dynamic to the season so far.
James Outram
READ: Premier League CRISIS Rankings: Forest 2nd, West Ham 3rd, but what of Liverpool and Man Utd?
You all love Mikel
I can honestly say that not once in my life have I woken up and thought, “today, I am going to write to the mailbox about the way a manager of another team once conducted his team talk and try to belittle that to make myself feel better”. Very odd behaviour. Is this the whole love/hate thing? RHT/TS, just admit it to yourself and get on with your life. You love Mikel Arteta, and we all know it.
Steve Lynch
…Do you know what I find really cringe worthy? An adult constantly referring to someone by a terrible nickname that no one else uses. Something like ‘Ickle Mikel’. Just awful.
I also think it’s really cringe worthy to waffle on about something that happened over 3 years ago and criticise it when the manager sits at the top of the league and has only lost 1 game all season.
Actually, that’s not ‘cringe’, its pathetic.
Thanks,
Stewart
Fanmail for Ford
Unless you have access to a Barcelona Multiverse – where they don’t need levers and struggle to register players at the start of each season.
How would they a) Pay for Haaland- Klarna? B) pay Haaland?
Just behave
Cheers.
K
…After reading the first few lines of Will Ford’s article on Martin Keown I am now fully convinced he is Stewie Griffin. Perhaps his articles could come with the now standard warning of a Stewie mail.
I get that it’s to drive traffic and I don’t really have a problem with that, money has to be made, but come on Will, try a little bit harder.
Andrew
The F365 old-timers corner
I saw reference to “the good old days” of F365 journalism in a recent Mailbox. This got me thinking about how long I’ve been interacting with this fine site.
How old is “Jack, 17” these days?
Eoin (keep up the good work. We don’t always have to agree with each other) Ireland
