FFP strikes again…

The saviour of football clubs and all round sporting integrity hits home exactly at the right time…

Everton are currently in the process of selling the club and this will naturally put a spanner in the works.

FFP is a selective corporate monopolising technique which has tarnished football since the owners of the biggest clubs in the UK (and subsequently Europe), clubbed together in a dimly lit room with the sole aim of stopping any ‘piffling little club’ from winning anything significant. The dream is now almost impossible and it comes as no surprise that Everton have been smashed with FFP just when they are on the brink of selling their club and building a new stadium.

FFP has not protected a single club ever and nor it will. The PL and FL ‘pick n choose’ as to who they “FFP” smash next based on either rock, paper, scissors or which club is proving a danger to the status quo and it is disgusting. Hopefully one day this appalling stain on football will be confined to history.

Well it makes perfect sense when you look at it i the way it was designed.

FFP was concocted by by your ‘Super Clubs’ to ensure that the likes of City, PSG and Chelsea didnt ever break the Status Quo again. If the PL didn’t enforce FFP, your ‘Super Clubs’ would have left the PL and made their own league.

So no club can now transition up (watch out Newcastle) and the PL and FL only act when they are told to act or forced to act. At least 3 other clubs in the PL have broken FFP in the last few years and they have not been punished, however, and here is the kicker for Everton fans, your club has broken FFP AND SHOWN SOME AMBITION. This has ruffled feathers as with a potential new 60k stadium and new American money they pose a threat. The PL lapdog has been told to bite and so it has.

So in this sense, FFP is working perfectly by fining and deducting points when it goes against all logic of protecting the football club.

I mean a transfer ban and a cash flow management plan would only make sense if you wanted to protect the club.

It’s your opinion and that’s fine, however, I don’t see your point.

Being a professional sportsman does not exclude you from addiction. If anything, to become a top sportsman or woman, you need some kind of addictive personality to be able to maintain the necessary drive to reach the top.

Having money does not exclude you from having an addictive personality. Particularly with gambling, the constant and easy access to plenty of money would accentuate the situation.

Being a professional male footballer, does conspire to put potential addictive personalities under a lot of pressure. Constant advertising acting as reminders, social media commentary working overtime mentioning whether you won or lost a bet for someone, etc, etc.

Every individual case is different, but having listened to some ex players (such as Hendrie and Etherington), I certainly do have some sympathy. The truth will out for Tonali and Toney, but I do sincerely hope they get the get the help they need (if they do need it).

Walkers hand was in a natural position though, he was decelerating (being Walker this would be a significant slowing down process), whilst simultaneously looking over his shoulder. The forward can’t recall who it was, gave him a slight nudge (just part of the game) and so Walkers hand raised slightly away from his body to provide a balancing pivot. This was entirely normal and it’s OK that players hands move up and down when slowing and accelerate at tremendous speeds.

James also shouldn’t have been penalised in the example you gave.

This is what the rule should be, but unfortunately IFAB bizarrely changed it for VAR and TV…

But this is what is totally wrong with the new hand ball rule.

Walker doesn’t want to handle the ball, he’s running back towards his keeper who is making a clearance, as a defender the last thing you want to do is deflect the ball in anyway.

He puts the brakes on, the striker gives him a little nudge, his hand moves out naturally to balance and Ederson makes a slight miss kick and the ball brushes Walkers hand.

He never intentionally handled the ball in a gazillion years, he has zero benefit to handle the ball and clearly didn’t make any move to handle it deliberately.

Nobody, and I mean nobody had any issue with the handball rule before it got changed to accompany VAR and it should be reverted back ASAP as it is farcical.