Fiery Zac

I'm going to stop soon and calm down. But it's also a joke that this will soon be forgotten, Hooper will continue being useless, VAR referees will continue making pathetic decisions, the game will be described simply as a hard fought victory and the bigger teams will continue to get these not-even-close calls when they need them because the PL want and need them to. Corruption is here to stay, and is only getting worse.

It's just soo early in the season for my faith in football to be completely shattered. Thanks Simon Hooper and mates for reminding me that, despite all the good intentions of the rule changes, that PL football is still as corrupt as ever and will favour the big teams when it matters most.

It's too late for Wolves but there needs to be repercussions from this. An apology to O'Neil and Wolves. An admittance of error. Demote Hooper and the hapless assistant referees. I hope O'Neil is furious in his interviews and just talks about that pathetic decision and how they should have won the game, and would if it wasn't against a so called big team at old Trafford in the last minute.

We get bull**** decisions from VAR and decisions supposedly overturned due to being clear and obvious errors.... and then we get this atrocity. I'm getting more angry than I should because it's just a game but it's just so unbelievable that something else must be going on. How can 2 people (at least) not have deemed that penalty??

Absolutely. How did he not see that in normal time?? Onana had 2 arms around Kalajdzic and flattened him

The better team lost. But the Premier League can't have that. Man U must win because they need someone to rival City. They couldn't possibly drop points on the opening day at home to Wolves.

It's corrupt, simple. There's no other reason for that not being a penalty. What is the point of VAR??

All these new, stricter rules. Yellow cards, no time wasting etc etc But same old decisions going for Man Utd. Absolute farce of a decision to not give a penalty for Onana assaulting the Wolves player. Premier Leagues a joke. VAR is pointless.

Won't do any harm for them either true. It'll be interesting to see if it's sustainable as the world cup attempted it and soon realised it was adding around 10 to 20 minutes each match. Klopp and Pep won't be happy if the PL follow the same rules - they don't like playing 3 games in a week!

Martins even doing the Farke celebration 😁

Not ridiculous if you want fair play. The amount in virtually every game up to now was simply not reflective of the amount of time football wasn't being played. Why shouldn't the time it takes for a goal to be celebrated be added on for the team that conceded to have a fair chance to equalise? Etc etc. The nonsense token 2 or 3 minutes added on, with often no real justification was ridiculous.

Why aren't we Southampton

Like the new stricter rules for yellows, particularly for the really annoying knocking the ball away tactic that never got punished before. Hopefully there will be consistency across the league...and PL?

And Rusell could very quickly outgrow the desire to come and manage us. As with Farke and city (right place, right time), if Martin and Southampton click, he'll be a PL manager and then attracting much better offers. I realise this is very much an 'if' and 'maybe', but some solid seasons with some ok sides but nothing like the squad he now has to work with. The chance to shine is now.

Southampton very impressive

reminiscent of that wicket and that catch from Stokes 8 years ago. Broad still as brilliant as back then, and everyone else looks so much younger!

Admittedly my first reaction was one of anger as an Englishman and I enjoyed Broads reaction and comments to the Aussies out in the middle. But in the moment, with the Ashes at stake, can Stokes and England really be sure they wouldn't have just gone with the decision had it been the other way round? Would they really have withdrawn an appeal with the chance to level the series made that bit easier with the dismissal? It's an interesting one. But this was no way to help win a test match. Win through clever bowling, tactical field placement and pure skill and bottle under pressure (something Australia were already doing). No need to tarnish the game a little more with underhand (😉) conduct. Spiced the series up a bit though. Let's hope (if you're English), it's not come too late. Would be an incredible story to comeback and win an ashes series after being 2 down. One things for sure, the Aussies won't believe it's over yet, Stokes innings has shown what can (almost) happen.

The brain fade was with Cummins for not withdrawing the appeal. Understandable due to the intensity of the match and series, but still, a major lapse in judgement. Is this something he wants to be remembered for? Sure he'll be a hero in Australia, but in the spirit of the game of cricket? In basic sportsmanship? Bairstow ducked a bouncer. He didn't leave his crease whilst evading the ball. He stepped in the crease and slid his boot across it as the umpire he is looking at is taking the hat (?) to return to Green. Why did Carey throw the ball at the stumps? Bairstow wasn't playing outside of his crease and never moved forward. If, as the Aussies claimed later, they had observed Bairstow moving out of his crease momentarily during previous deliveries, then fair enough but the issue is then that Bairstow CLEARLY thought it was over, and so to claim the stumping, is simply unsportsmanlike and Cummins should then have withdrawn the appeal. It's not clever cricket. It's not excellent keeping. It's not a brain fade on Bairstows part (other than not realising how low an opposition could sink below sportsmanship behaviour.) It's simply poor judgement from Cummins who had it within his control to sort out the mess quite quickly and simply. Yes I'm English and I've thought a lot about whether England would've acted in the same way and honestly, I'm not sure. I'd like to believe they would have withdrawn the appeal. However, no matter what we believe would've happened had the shoe been on the other foot doesn't change how wrong the action was for the appeal to be upheld. That is was the Aussies is irrelevant. It was players acting against not just cricket integrity, but basic sporting integrity.

Started to recognise he's actually a really really good footballer this past season. But also, with recent interviews, and in particular the one on the pitch after the CL final, realised he's just a boy who loves football. The tears and comments he made show that he's not all about the money. Refreshing to see emotion about winning a football match, about playing in a football match and the journey he's gone on to get there. Restored my faith in football for a moment, and then I remembered who owns Man City. Oh well.

Game was ruined when VAR bottled a clear and obvious error by Tierney not to send off Casemiro (the free kick was given to Man Ure!) Now Man Utd are unjustly back in the contest. It's all about entertainment unfortunately, not sporting integrity.

Denmark

That's why it explains how many matches played and gives a percentage. But ok, going on tournaments that existed then and still do now... Ronnie is still ahead. Other than weeks at number one and youngest to win the world title, Ronnie is ahead. I'm not sure what other metric you can use to argue his superiority, other than you're extremely patriotic. Good for you. Ok, you prefer Hendry. Hendry was a phenomenal player. His determination and relentless desire to win was unparalleled for a decade or so. I believe Ronnie has proven himself a better player. Both by statitistical evidence and purely by watching him play. Without some of the mental health issues he's had, who knows what Ronnie could have achieved. He's, incredibly, under performed compared to his potential. Hendry realised his talent and strove to be the very best he could for as long as possible. He achieved that and its something very few players will do. As Ronnie himself has said, others will decide who is the GOAT. I just believe there's only one real way to look at it. Ability and actual historical results. Ronnie has it in both.

Indeed he does. And Hendry conversely openly envies ROSs longevity and reinvention of himself (maybe that's why he's attempting to return?) I believe winning the world title 7 times over the course of 20 years is a more significant achievement than 7 in 9, as RoS has had to contend with numerous talents come through the game. That he can still beat anyone consistently enough to win the world chamlionship is incredible But that doesn't then even begin to look at all the other tournaments he's won compared to Hendry. The number of centuries etc etc. Its not close I believe Hendry retired early. He was in a decline, admits to having lost motivation and wanted to go. Despite all the talk, ROS has the hunger and is clearly good enough despite his age to carry on at the very top of the game. It's a question of how much longer he wants to carry on. There's no contest. Hendry agrees.

Sorry but I don't see a debate here about ROS and Hendry. I loved watching Hendry and I also believe he's by far the best commentator, but he simply won't be remembered as the best of all time. 7 in 9 world championships is a fantastic achievement, but its ROSs longevity that marks him out as truly the greatest of all time. Ronnie has conquered the game over numerous ERAS, Hendry had one era, his own. I hope Hendry can compete at a decent level again but Ronnie has been doing it for 30 years, and winning tournaments consistently, all while dealing with multiple other issues. A true champion, reinventing himself time and time again. Natural ability has taken him a long way (as Hendry himself always compliments him on) but he has to have the desire and drive and mental stability too to become the world champion again. That he keeps doing that when it would be easier to quit, sets him apart and makes him the greatest, imo. Statistically the best, by miles. Natural ability the best. Longevity the best. Entertainment the best. Overcoming adversity the best. Peer and fans reputation and popularity the best (though with numerous controversial incidents).

Dwight Gayle scoring a brace today probably didn't help the mood either - and one was a header 😁