2026/27 Premier League & General Football Discussion

  • Thread starter Thread starter Liquid
  • 96 comments
  • 5,771 views
Famine
Given that it'll be managed via a Jared Kushner company too...
Click to expand...
Welcome to FIFA, sponsored by Aramco.
 
Blitz24
Welcome to FIFA, sponsored by Aramco.
Click to expand...
The whole point of the 64-team World Cup is to make it prohibitive for any one country to host it except large ones that already have lots of stadia and training grounds to accommodate the teams individually (the USA) or those that can blast money at the problem to build new ones (Saudi Arabia), while allowing more petrochemical and high-population nations (China, India, Indonesia which is both) the chance to qualify - as well as all-but eliminating shock non-qualification from the countries that the best (and most TV-bankable) players in the world represent.

Saudi Arabia is already doing its part, ready to host in 2034, so we'll just bounce between Saudi Arabia and the USA (which is slated for 2038) with the occasional pan-continental one in Europe and South America, and a nice backhander from somewhere awful in-between.

Oddly, the UK might work, as we've got so many Moneyball and ex-Moneyball teams that there's just about enough 30,000+-seat football stadia that you could play every match in each round all at once, and enough upper-tier training grounds to accommodate everyone separately - even just in England.

Edit: So... this is bribery:

www.bbc.co.uk

Fifa sets 19 September deadline to claim initial $20m as World Cup row boils over

Fifa has set a deadline of 19 September for member associations to access cash as FA voice disapproval of world governing body's funding plan before emergency Uefa meeting.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

And UEFA has called all 55 members for an emergency meeting:

www.bbc.co.uk

Fifa World Cup plans: FA 'deeply concerned' as Uefa plots emergency meeting

Fifa's plans to seek private investment in its major competitions - including the World Cup - has caused outrage within the FA and Uefa.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

CONCACAF reportedly also concerned.
 
Last edited:
Famine
www.bbc.com

Newcastle: Eddie Howe to leave as manager with immediate effect

Newcastle manager Eddie Howe is set to leave the club with immediate effect, sources tell BBC Sport.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Bit late in the pre-season to be going about this, and it's only a surprise that he lasted this long.
Click to expand...
Yeah the timing of this is odd, something must have happened between him and upper management, as well as his obvious unhappiness at their transfer business, although some of that is self inflicted and Newcastle aren't as big as they like to think they are, so holding on to top players is more of a challenge.

Replacement is reported to be Matthias Jaissle (yeah no idea either) currently of Al-Ahli, where he has won back to back AFC titles and previously has won 2 Austrian Bundesliga titles with RB Salzburg.
 
The thing is, the Infant-terrible seems so high on his own supply that I can see him pressing ahead with this while trying to undermine UEFA with some more stuffed envelopes words of encouragement to select nations.

It'll be a massive shame if the Women's WC gets wrecked due to this nonsense, the playoffs for the European teams are supposed to be in mid-October...
 
MagpieRacer
Yeah the timing of this is odd, something must have happened between him and upper management, as well as his obvious unhappiness at their transfer business, although some of that is self inflicted and Newcastle aren't as big as they like to think they are, so holding on to top players is more of a challenge.

Replacement is reported to be Matthias Jaissle (yeah no idea either) currently of Al-Ahli, where he has won back to back AFC titles and previously has won 2 Austrian Bundesliga titles with RB Salzburg.
Click to expand...
It sounds like it's related to discontent over the exodus of players. They just need to let Lewis Hall leave for United now, the exodus isn't complete until then. There's Guimaraes going to Arsenal that's reportedly getting close too.
 
MagpieRacer
Let's see if UEFA have the balls.
Click to expand...
Cojones confirmed...
Famine
The whole point of the 64-team World Cup is to make it prohibitive for any one country to host it except large ones that already have lots of stadia and training grounds to accommodate the teams individually (the USA) or those that can blast money at the problem to build new ones (Saudi Arabia), while allowing more petrochemical and high-population nations (China, India, Indonesia which is both) the chance to qualify - as well as all-but eliminating shock non-qualification from the countries that the best (and most TV-bankable) players in the world represent.

Saudi Arabia is already doing its part, ready to host in 2034, so we'll just bounce between Saudi Arabia and the USA (which is slated for 2038) with the occasional pan-continental one in Europe and South America, and a nice backhander from somewhere awful in-between.

Oddly, the UK might work, as we've got so many Moneyball and ex-Moneyball teams that there's just about enough 30,000+-seat football stadia that you could play every match in each round all at once, and enough upper-tier training grounds to accommodate everyone separately - even just in England.

Edit: So... this is bribery:

www.bbc.co.uk

Fifa sets 19 September deadline to claim initial $20m as World Cup row boils over

Fifa has set a deadline of 19 September for member associations to access cash as FA voice disapproval of world governing body's funding plan before emergency Uefa meeting.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

And UEFA has called all 55 members for an emergency meeting:

www.bbc.co.uk

Fifa World Cup plans: FA 'deeply concerned' as Uefa plots emergency meeting

Fifa's plans to seek private investment in its major competitions - including the World Cup - has caused outrage within the FA and Uefa.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

CONCACAF reportedly also concerned.
Click to expand...
Re your non-qualification point, even with 64 teams I bet Italy don't qualify ;) :lol:
 
That's 91 out of 211 nations.

It'll be really interesting to see what happens next.
 
Hopefully it's the beginning of the end for Infantino. Can we get Blatter or Platini back please?

Ah, the good old times 😂.
 
Dave A
Hopefully it's the beginning of the end for Infantino. Can we get Blatter or Platini back please?

Ah, the good old times 😂.
Click to expand...
Words few people ever though they'd would say or hear.
 
The AFC has now also come out in opposition to the plans.

www.bbc.com

Gianni Infantino 'wrong man' to lead Fifa says Prime Minister Andy Burnham

Prime Minister Andy Burnham says Gianni Infantino is "the wrong man" to lead Fifa as criticism grows of the controversial investment plan.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com

Assuming they all vote in line with their public statements, it seems like Infantino can't possibly get enough votes for the go ahead at this point.

Liquid
Another legend has died - Franco Baresi.

Quite possibly the single greatest centre-back of all time.
Click to expand...
An absolutely fantastic player. I never got the chance to really see how good he was while he was playing as I was too young and he was coming to the end of his career when I started to appreciate football, but an absolute legend of the game.
 
Famine
Welp.

www.bbc.com

Fifa World Cup plans: Gianni Infantino scraps private investment proposal after widespread opposition

Football's world governing body Fifa abandons plans to sell off stakes in its major competitions after widespread opposition to president Gianni Infantino's proposal.
www.bbc.com www.bbc.com
Click to expand...
Damn it. Just came here to post it and someone has beaten me to it AGAIN...

Also, my previous guess still applies - I think Infantino will be gone by Monday morning, or more likely, he'll state that he will not be seeking reelection in March and will be a lame duck for 6 months while they look for a successor.
 
Last edited:
Looks like England are about to follow suit, and rightly so.

www.bbc.co.uk

Gianni Infantino: Opponents threaten 'non co-operation' with Fifa

Opponents of Fifa president Gianni Infantino are threatening "non co-operation" with the governing body unless he steps down, according to senior Uefa sources.
www.bbc.co.uk www.bbc.co.uk

Scotland will hopefully also follow suit shortly too.

--

Liquid
AI takes another job.
Click to expand...
Jake Gyllenhaal Reaction GIF
 
Last edited:
www.theguardian.com

Charlton up for sale again as US owners look to cash in after three years

This would be a fifth owner in six years for the club whose current owners, a group led by Gabriel Brener, paid £15m for it in 2023
www.theguardian.com www.theguardian.com

general election uk GIF by BBC


Here we go again, though it feels impossible that anyone could be as bad as the Belgian ****. Those were dark days, I pretty much walked away from following the team. Hopefully the new owner will actually stick around for a while.
 
In case anyone hasn't seen, I have once again created a Fantasy League for anyone on GTPlanet to play if you want. Please join the league in this thread!
Jimlaad43

Thread 'Fantasy Premier League 2026/27'

Fantasy Premier League 2026-27

Fantasy Premier League, Official Fantasy Football Game of the Premier League

Official Fantasy Premier League 2026/27. Free to play fantasy football game, set up your fantasy football team at the Official Premier League site.
fantasy.premierleague.com fantasy.premierleague.com

Create a team, give it a name (puns involving Premier League footballers are preferred) and join both leagues.

Classic League ID:

kp69ky

Enjoy the season!

Sign up open until 18:30BST, Friday 21st August.

IMPORTANT: Please make sure you state your team name when you sign up in the thread or your team will be removed.


User Log + Team Names
@Jimlaad43 - Jacquet Potatoes
@MUSC4EVER - It'll be fine
@MagpieRacer - Generic Bird Nicknam
@sirjim73 - Enzo no...​
 
Well, it’s been 48 years as an LUFC supporter. But the time has come to end that. Cheers for that, Jeff.
 
It's not state ownership yet somehow worse.
 
Back