No Irish, No Yanks, No Clogs - FIFA World Cup 2018

var good so far and once defending players adapt from cheating as a reflex it will benefit the game hugely imo

has anyone made a VARdy joke yet

the laws of football are completely immutable

They're not though are they

not trying to pile on but not they're not

lamonti are you and im only asking an england or man city or kyle walker fan and im only askin

Ref last night gave one medium-soft pen to TUN and denied ENG two medium-soft pens. He was a ‘leveller’, these things happen.

lamonti entirely correct on VAR

part of the fun of football is coining/chanting insults about their mother/issuing death fatwas at the hapless arsehole in black who has done some bad officiating, or laughing when the robbery goes your way. I can't be bothered with VAR.

just so cards on the table while discussing this

im not english and im aware number none isnt english

lads?

yeah the table is festooned with tricolours and pictures of the big fella what of it

no one in this thread has said anything about VAR that has been worth typing out and sharing, I think the peoples of the lesser britannic nations in particular should spend this morning respectfully contemplating a fine performance by their betters

I’m Scottish and support AFC Wimbledon, VAR is unlikely to have an appreciable impact on the success of any team I care about xxp

xp the whole of cork run screaming to the UN making screen motions with their hands

many and varied

I imagine it will take twenty years before someone from the poetic end of the football writing community eulogises the loved lost liminal seconds between the ball hitting the net and the disembodied approval from the VAR car, that thrilling suspension between scored and not-scored which was the most golden of all footballing moments.

they've probably got Andy Townsend to dust down his tactics truck and drive it over to Moscow

I’m a Trinidad supporter and VAR would have caught Peter Crouch pulling Brent Sancho’s dreadlocks when scoring in 2006, a grudge I will take to the grave with me, so I am all for it.

Colombia - Japan should be good. Japan have been appalling recently so it’ll be interesting to see whether they can get it together.

I'd completely forgotten about the horrible Le main of frog incident, but I just take it as a given that ROI are one of the small nations that prefer to punch below their weight and not make too much of a fuss about it!

I’m a Trinidad supporter and VAR would have caught Peter Crouch pulling Brent Sancho’s dreadlocks when scoring in 2006, a grudge I will take to the grave with me, so I am all for it.

I was just thinking about this when Lineker was grumbling about decisions never going England's way in the WC

the whole of cork run screaming to the UN making screen motions with their hands

― tired culché (darraghmac), Tuesday, June 19, 2018 8:11 AM (one hour ago)

???

i quite enjoyed ENG in the first few minutes: nippy and limber and connected and far less hateable -- then HK got his goal and the commentators switched into same old same old insufferable so i was delighted by the pen in terms both dramatic and moral, PRIDE GOES BEFORE A LOLSOME FALL MOFOS WORK FOR IT

which i guess they did but it was already less fun than it had been for those virginal first moments

reasons VAR is good: increases the arguments, image of putin's agents in an underground moscow bunker busily faking back-up footage to send to wikileaks etc , possiblity of a strong VAR-MIDGE interface at some point (swarm stopped play)

xp twas an attack on our sovereignty mick

The banks of the volga in june is like the hajj of midges

And if Tunisia could defend corners they'd have won 1-0.

― We can be herpes (Tom D.), Monday, 18 June 2018 23:45 (yesterday) Permalink

Kane was bought down a couple of times so at least a pen for England.

that whole area is basically the midge urals

Just think if the Nazis had made it past winter the fuckers wd've been eaten alive anyway

now Kane seems to been pondering the historical significance of the region, perhaps he could go bone-hunting at some of the local Wehrmacht death field sites - The Sun would love it!

Giving Harry Kane a Nobel prize in History #bogMood

Looking forward to checking out the teams that will knock our brave boys out in the last 16 today

that whole area is basically the midge urals

puntastic

hoping senegal take things up a notch for the african nations

also some wolves involvement in the senegal team amirite?

we let Alf N'Diaye go at the end of the season but yeah

Definitely some Stoke action tho

Nicked list:

Here are the odds to win the World Cup after Monday’s games, based on the consensus of several legal betting sites, including Ladbrokes, William Hill and Betfair.

Brazil 4-1
Spain 5-1
Germany 7-1
France 7-1
Belgium 8-1
Argentina 11-1
England 12-1
Portugal 20-1
Uruguay 25-1
Croatia 25-1
Colombia 33-1
Russia 50-1
Mexico 50-1
Poland 80-1
Denmark 80-1
Switzerland 100-1
Serbia 100-1
Senegal 150-1

That Switzerland odds seem very long for basically holding Brazil back without too much strain on their part...

Mexico look long also

Mexico were 100/1 last week.

33/1 on Colombia isn’t bad.

now Kane seems to been pondering the historical significance of the region, perhaps he could go bone-hunting at some of the local Wehrmacht death field sites - The Sun would love it!

― calzino, Tuesday, June 19, 2018 12:44 PM (thirty-nine minutes ago) Bookmark Flag Post Permalink

lmao

Were England always rated ahead of Portugal or does beating Tunisia 2-1 in the last minute always trump drawing 3-3 with Spain?

The odds are driven by bets placed rather than any critical thinking so England always have shorter odds than you'd expect

Yeah English bookies have never put them over 18/1 to win anything iirc.

If the bookies put them at evens, you'd get mug punters taking it, going "YAY WE'RE GONNA WIN" and that.

Would love to see Japan and Senegal get something today.

How does Denmark have better odds than Switzerland?

Christian Eriksen plays for the Spurs, duh.

More players in the PL maybe xp lol

xxp
probably because somebody in Basildon just put £2.50 each way on Denmark just as the odds were refreshed.

I imagine it will take twenty years before someone from the poetic end of the football writing community eulogises the loved lost liminal seconds between the ball hitting the net and the disembodied approval from the VAR car, that thrilling suspension between scored and not-scored which was the most golden of all footballing moments.

finally a var post that delivers

that bet was me, i wanted to rile fred and visit basildon at the same time xp

Ugh this weird FIFA rule where the 'away' team can't just wear their away shorts with their home shirt so instead the home team has to wear their third or even fourth choice of shorts and socks. Happening in most of the games. Lots of money spent on kit designs the teams can't even wear.

Disaster!

Ha amazing

Wow!