DISQUS

Ladies and gents,


I call it as I see it and I have no axe to grind against Liverpool. Some of my family still live in the city, not far from Walton Breck Road.



But I prefer to be impartial since I don't support any Premier League teams. If you've been following me long enough, you'll know I don't despise Liverpool FC.



In fact, I probably focus on the Reds too much (to the detriment of other clubs). A perfect example of this is that the last 3 EPL Talk Podcast episodes have featured Liverpool fans. This wasn't planned, but it's obvious that I have nothing against the Reds or their fans.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Thirteen inch telly. Not perfect but it does the trick.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

Sadly, the band's management cancelled all interviews scheduled for today - their last day of their US tour. So no interview but I'll keep on trying. It may be several months before the band returns to the US on tour (which will give me another opportunity to interview them).


Cheers,

The Gaffer

The interview with Guillem has been postponed until Wednesday, 12/12 - so there's still time to post any questions you have for him here.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

MJ:


The decisions to sack Jol and Mourinho were sound ones. Chelsea is playing much better football now than they were in Mourinho's last days, while Jol wasn't adding anything of value to the Spurs side.



Allardyce is a different story. It's more the team than the manager that needs work. With the right amount of patience, Allardyce will be able to get more results and to keep his job safe.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Put the pressure on them through the press and petitions and convince them to step down.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

Listening to Harry Redknapp's interview on this week's The Game Podcast from The Times, I was impressed. He was the right attitude and could be a good fit.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

Mike,


Thanks for the tips. The fascinating thing for me is that it allows football fans such as ourselves to have direct contact with footballers. I'm surprised their PR representatives or agents haven't stepped in to prevent this.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Thanks for the kind words Lance. I appreciate it.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

MJ:


It's unlikely that tams like Newcastle would go down, but I would definitely not count out any of the teams in the bottom ten. They've all looked terrible, at times, this season and have played like relegation candidates.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Ceefax is still alive and kicking. You can even run a Ceefax widget on your Mac from http://www.gingerbeardman.com/ceefaxviewer/
... you can learn more about Ceefax at http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Ceefax

</b... have to write a blog post in the future on what Ceefax was and how useful it was for me and other football fans.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

The second round of the first knockout stage of the Champions League is March 4-5. Would that be better?


Cheers,

The Gaffer

Thanks for the info about Tavistock. They're based in Windermere, which is just outside Orlando.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

Yep, audio will be tuned down a bit on the next episode. No worries.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

MJ:


You must be Cristiano Ronaldo. Boro got 26,000 at the Riverside this past weekend against Spurs.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

MJ:


Middlesbrough's ground has a capacity of 35,000+ so even with average attendances of 26,800, the ground looks like it has plenty of empty seats.



Unlike American sports, Premier League attendances only count the number of people who show up to games instead of tickets sold.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

No comments posted by you, the readers, but I did receive several emails. The consensus is that everyone likes the first pilot, but had recommendations of how to improve it (I agree).


Starting Monday morning, EPL Talk TV will be released on a regular daily schedule with five minutes of news.



The EPL Talk Podcast, meanwhile, will be published on Fridays instead of Mondays moving forward.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Mike,


Looks like we're debating the word "reason." Maybe "reason" wasn't the best choice of words, but maybe it should have been "5 Opinions Why Playing a Premier League Match Won't Happen in the USA."



As it is, the Premier League has dismissed the idea of an EPL match being played in the US as I thought.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

See my related article here about Besiktas fans as well as my viewpoints on the EPL Talk Show episode here.


Yes, they are fantastic.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Not sure. There ought to be a way to do a right click (or similar way on a Mac) to download it to your desktop.


Cheers,

The Gaffer

MJ:


I'm wondering whether Fratton Park and Craven Cottage look smaller because the stadiums themselves are some of the smallest in the league (and antiquated)?



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Anonymous,


If you have a broadband internet connection speed, the picture quality isn't bad.



I believe ITVN offers a 30 day money back guarantee so even if you order it and aren't satisfied, you can return it.



If you do decide to order, please order via http://www.itvn.com/epltalk



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Is This Betting,


I completely agree with you and didn't mean to paint Hillsborough as a hooligan problem. I know the facts, as you do, and the police were the main reason for the blame.



However, as you mentioned, a lot of people in America considered it as another hooligan-related event - sadly - which was quite untrue.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

Jabba,


Good point. Even the poor teams get weeded out of the Premier League, well eventually.



That definitely adds a lot of enticement for people who may not understand soccer.



Cheers,

The Gaffer

If you get a chance, listen to last night's EPL Talk Show available via podcast at iTunes or http://www.epltalk.com/podcast


During the show, I go into a more thorough analysis and discuss Marseille's fine performance.



Rather than repeat myself on the blog, I decided to focus on a different aspect of the game (i.e. Rafa's poor selection).



Cheers,

The Gaffer