Our new Substack is up. America First, Football Last. How U.S. immigration policies and visa reforms spell disaster for the 2026 FIFA World Cup. Please read, comment or share. Thank you. open.substack.com/pub/thepitch...

British climber Oscar Onley has signed for INEOS Grenadiers in one of the biggest transfers of the cycling offseason so far. 📝 @jacobwhitehead.bsky.social 🔗 theathletic.com/6917014/?sou...

🌱 All I want for Christmas is... maybe less growth-bias, fewer growth-obsessions, and more #postgrowthplanning? 🎄☃️ Peaceful Christmas days to everyone and equally to everyone who is not celebrating it 🌍. 📽️ And material for further thoughts: www.youtube.com/@postgrowthp...

Fairbreak, the organisation that on its website says that its mission is to “progress equality on a truly global scale, using cricket as our vehicle”, and that it believes in “treating everyone with respect, dignity, and equality” has launched a partnership with Cricket Saudi Arabia.

Landlords are already talking about introducing eye-watering rent hikes if the rent cap is lifted. Removing this limited protection risks creating a cliff edge that would cause families severe hardship. The Scottish Government must extend the rent cap to protect renters.

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Happily breaking my hiatus to share some Igamane propaganda.

Rangers limited Celtic to just 0.07 xG this afternoon, the lowest figure recorded by FotMob or Wyscout in a fixture against Hearts, Hibs or Celtic. This was just the 15th time Rangers have limited an opponent to >0.1 xG since the start of 2015/16.

that was quite a spectacle...

Updated efficiency landscape for @sprleaguebballm.bsky.social The quadrants show a very clear demarcation between the bottom teams and everyone else at the moment. Lots to play for

Long-read on the KNCB budget crunch, and implications for Dutch cricket touching on professionalisation, development, and fading full-memebership ambitions. Je n’ai fait celle-ci plus longue que parce que je n’ai pas eu le loisir de la faire plus courte. www.cricbuzz.com/cricket-news...

Here is a video of the interview in question where you can visibly see the interviewer somewhat shocked at what Ya'alonb had to say

A crude categorisation of "big games" is used here but adds some good context. It's fine teetering on decent, although the Celtic doubts almost single-handedly override that. Like many before him, it's not the games plotted here where the precarity comes from.

🔹Latest Top 15 chances which give 2 Champions League spots: 94.3% — 🇦🇹 Austria (-0.4%) 93.5% — 🇬🇷 Greece (+3.3%) 91.3% — 🇳🇴 Norway (-6.6%) 84.4% — 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁳󠁣󠁴󠁿Scotland (+10.1%) 73.9% — 🇵🇱 Poland (+11.2%) 46.0% — 🇩🇰Denmark (-10.1%) 15.9% — 🇨🇭Switzerland (-7.0%) 0.7% — 🇮🇱Israel (+0.5%)

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This Nice performance is one of the worst I can remember

Introducing Diego Luna, MLS Young Player of the Year. In this expansive long read, Luna tells SCOUTED his story of coffee, community, futsal and outside-of-the-foot passes – and hints at what comes next.

looks like it could end up in a Lennon Covid-season like scenario

Welcome to new additions to the #BritishBasketball Starter Pack. Follow everyone in the pack, let me know any teams, players, coaches, officials, fans etc. to add and let's build a British Basketball community on Bluesky. go.bsky.app/TDkA1st

A reminder that I curate the Associate Cricket starter pack on here. Includes people who write positively about the associate/emerging game and people who promote the game in the so-called "non-traditional" countries. go.bsky.app/35qJZYK

Here it is. However, as Alan mentioned in the other post you mentioned, it is important to note that Celtic have reached the upper threshold for xPts (2.9) on seven occasions, so 0.7 xPts of the 'overperformance' will be due to that.

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Rangers are.......exactly where they should be.

If you're going to be a bad team, you'd love to get out of jail regularly; that's certainly not been the case. We hardly deserve any luck on or off the field since we traded our soul for that UEL run.

It's crossed the threshold; it's untenable to deny that previous coaches (GvB + Beale) were sacked for less; both were no doubt deserving of their dismissal. It is much more than just UCL prospects that trickle away every day...

at least we didn't lose ground on 2nd 😬

For three of the past five seasons, Rangers overperformed their set-piece xG. In the past two years that trend has flipped. Clement's side are yet to find the net from a set-piece in the league this season. @joshuabarrierr.bsky.social investigates... www.rangersreview.co.uk/tactics/2473...

Something every fan base should envy: partnering with a homegrown clean energy provider after previous partnerships with polluting airlines and betting-adjacent platforms. cricketireland.ie/news/welcome...

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