Diamond_Jim

If you can find me one sports scientist or professional coach that says that playing in Darwin is a good idea (and by that I don't mean a neutral opinion) then I will agree. Football is a game of inches and we need every advantage we can get. Playing in Darwin is not an advantage.

I would doubt it. An MFC home game so the gate proceeds are ours for what they are worth. May be a contribution towards travel costs but as I understand it the interstate clubs have always had a bigger travel allowance. It's different to say the Port v Suns game in China where the Suns get a decent slice because in the last two years it's been a Suns home game. It just makes no sense whatsoever to take a team from a mid winter environment to play in sub-tropical conditions unless one absolutely has to do it a la the Socceroos last year with games in Thailand and Malaysia.

we whinge about Darwin each year and rightly so. Time the club came out with the financials on the escapade and seriously looked at the revenue it would need to replace the NT funding. $50 each member to avoid the Northern territory or whatever but let's put it on the table and work it out. By the way nothing commercial in confidence about the figures because no other club in its right mind would commit to the Darwin game.

I remember in junior football with the good players that they would play a season on their non preferred foot in order to develop. Made a lot of sense.

Yep and that's where the spreadsheet kicks in. What did the salary gurus have planned for Tom Mc and AB at season's start and what has their form as well as interest from other clubs done to those estimates. In a way planning for the solid players is easy by comparison to those like Gus who while we all knew had potential has come from the clouds in the last ten games. FWIW I think Gus will sign but it will make a mess of that salary spreadsheet. Riddle me this... what do you think Fritsch will need to be offered next year and do you think the salary gurus had that one in their spreadsheet.

Well picked DZ even if it took a howler by the keeper to make it so. While not quite hitting the highs of champagne football it was an entertaining match. I thought Croatia's tactics of soft fouling early and often went a long way to stopping France from getting any breakaways. Croatia should be proud. They played a good game but France were the best team of the tournament. Thoroughly enjoyable world cup and my time in Moscow and Kazan will always be a highlight for me. The Russian people in the end made it their world cup and it was a great one. Thanks to you all on this forum .... it's been great to swap thoughts with you all. Mbappe the fist teenager to score in a WC final since Pele... wow that's a big burden to carry. I will always feel lucky to have seen that France v Argentina game where he announced himself to the world. Now for a new coach and the Asian Cup.

matching a six year deal with some form of loading (front or back who knows) would be a challenge for any club. BTW I heard the Hawks football manager on 3AW saying that Cyril Rioli's would not be in their salary cap next year as he had retired. Understandable but it does open the cap up to some manipulation. A retirement job at Visy or similar perhaps. Not suggesting that was the case for Cyril.

England should have iced the game in the first half. Their second half was woeful but they seemed to wake up a little in extra time. Well done to Croatia. They were the better team probably. If France play to potential it could be a big win but somehow I don't think that will be the case. France 2-1 in normal time. PS: The success of Belgium and Croatia in this World Cup augurs well for the smaller teams. Did we beat or draw with Croatia in 2006? Interesting comments on the academy systems in the guardian. People suggesting that by putting your money into so few(often identified at age 8-10) England is effectively limiting its talent pool.

Good first half between France and Belgium but the game seemed to fizzle out a little after the France goal. England v Croatia ... who knows? Must say I was taken aback by Croatia in the black shirts against Russia. Very reminiscent of the days of Tito etc. England in extra time is my wild guess.

Evaluating the worth of Brayshaw both from a dollar and trade viewpoint would be a challenge. Interesting to see how it works out and where he fits in the relativity spreadsheet. Just hope North don't come in with a silly offer as they are prone to do. Gus deserves the success he is presently having as I am sure we all agree. Glad to see some sensible words about Tom Scully. In hindsight many of us over reacted.

A new fortress... a la the Northern Bulwark !

Not going to happen guys until someone at VFL level pushes him out and that isn't happening as far as I can see. More the pity ..not because of any loss of form but it has been so obvious that his place and that of Vince is up for grabs. Getting to the stage where we may need to trade for his replacement come seasons end. Hunt or Wagner anyone ? They certainly don't cut it at present.

Boy o boy... Sweden were so bad Could not help notice the absence of the usual "pretty girl" shot amongst the English supporters. Obviously the young ladies do not travel with the lads... Sensible methinks ? Think it was the Uruguayan game last night where we had the crying child... three times. Whoever decides the feeds really needs a new producer. Now for Russia v Croatia Imagine if Russia wins. We then have Theresa May v Vladimir Putin or should I say Virtue v Evil except I am not sure who is what !!

Didn't we hear recently that they renewed this disaster but we are trying to get it scheduled before the bye ?

really is a game of inches. Brazil could have won that 8-1 but lost. France could not really get their game going but got the win. Good signs and are probably the tournament favourites now. Mind you being the favourite in this WC is not a good thing !!

By the way would anyone like to comment on the penalty given to England against Colombia. Not a soccer expert but it looked like the clumsiest act I have ever seen and so worth a penalty. My only question and I am not sure it is relevant to a penalty is that Kane did not seem to be in a realistic spot to score. The Colombians are still complaining backed by no one better than Diego "hand of God" Maradona. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/05/colombia-dirtiest-team-ive-ever-played-against-john-stones

Well a big couple of days coming up with the quarter finals. No real stand out teams but France and Brazil probably the most skilful. Other than Russia who would surprise if they make the next round one would not be surprised with any result. Hopefully not 4 matches decided by penalties though.

Macca, if Russia beat Croatia the lid will really come off. Only 37 in the beautiful city of Tbilisi today. Georgian wines are thought to be amongst the oldest in the world so I am doing my best to research as many as I can during my week here. They are rather good and not too expensive.

yep.. relative humidity is the term you should be looking at. In simple terms the hotter the temp the more water the air can hold and thus you feel a lot "wetter"at 30% humidity with a temp of 27 than with 30% at a temp of 17. Thus the term relative tries to standardise the comparison

That second half of the Belgium v Japan game was amazing. I had a long hot day (power outage included) in Tbilisi so after a boring first half I followed the second half on the Guardian blog before going back for what I thought was sure to be extra time. How wrong can one be.. five goals in a half and the winner with 8 seconds to go. On a different note the penalty taking is not subject to VAR so early movement by the keeper is not monitored. Wonder if this will change

Yep time to slowly head back ... (might have been a bit quicker if the Dees had been on a roll) Four weeks in Russia was enough... great experience.. saw 5 games. The tickets get much harder to obtain from the quarter final stage and quite expensive. Quarter final tickets are US$320 for example and the accomodation costs are very high during the WC period. Mind you the food and drink is very cheap and top quality. I am now in Tbilisi Georgia. The travel people call it the new Prague. Great old city with good food and wine plus it's very cheap. For example I'm in a two bedroom airbnb and out of the large number I have stayed in over the years this is up at the top. The price... $40 a night. If only it wasn't so hot ... may have to return outside the summer months. It's a big weekend getaway spot for all the expats in the Middle East.

Well I can tell you the old Soviet apartment blocks in Kazan are rumbling with the cheers of the locals after that win !!! Off to Georgia tonight on the 4:30am flight

Yep they do like their food here ! Now we are off to Penalty Lotto Old Vlad must be upset that he didn't drop in for this one

Lewis and Vince will go when someone from Casey forces them out. So far there really haven't been any standout players in that regard. Hunt injured and the perennial Wagner doesn't instil much confidence that a change will come soon. Playing Petty on the back of a few reasonable games smacked of desperation

Perhaps not a game for the ages but the break away speed France was at sometimes breathtaking. I noticed it in the early stages of the game against Australia but tonight it went for almost the whole match. France were unlucky not to score another two or three whereas Argentina's goals were against the run of play. Argentina's fans of which there were many are certainly noisy but as they left the various vuvuzele at home I rank them above the Colombians.