WEEKEND BOXSET: blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/week... Our previews of the seven games to watch this weekend @firefli.es on ARSvTOT and PNEvBBR @terryduffelen.com on SHWvSHU and CHEvBUR @garyandrews.bsky.social on SYDvMVC and INTvMIL @janbilton.bsky.social on NEWvMCI

Another rights shake up in the UK will mean uncertainty for colleagues in the industry and this is now permanently ongoing. Security is hard to find. It’s why I have generally preferred not to be exclusive to one broadcaster & instead work across the board & pick what motivates me.

Reckon these are the pots for the playoffs: Pot 1 Italy Denmark Turkey Ukraine Pot 2 Poland Wales Slovakia Czechia Pot 3 Ireland Albania Bosnia Kosovo Pot 4 North Macedonia Romania Sweden Northern Ireland One off games, pot 1 at home to pot 4, pot 2 at home to pot 3. Single leg final playoff

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... Having not lost a World Cup qualifier in Max Dowman's lifetime, England went one better this time by winning every game and not conceding a single goal. Will that mean anything though next June? We also discuss the decision to switch the MLS calendar

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... Having not lost a World Cup qualifier in Max Dowman's lifetime, England went one better this time by winning every game and not conceding a single goal. Will that mean anything though next June? We also discuss the decision to switch the MLS calendar

Currently in that wonderful moment of feeling good for teams that have qualified for their first World Cup. That moment before I discover that their success is almost entirely down to a corrupt FIFA exec

Reckon these are the pots for the playoffs: Pot 1 Italy Denmark Turkey Ukraine Pot 2 Poland Wales Slovakia Czechia Pot 3 Ireland Albania Bosnia Kosovo Pot 4 North Macedonia Romania Sweden Northern Ireland One off games, pot 1 at home to pot 4, pot 2 at home to pot 3. Single leg final playoff

KEEP PLAYING. I WANT THREE MORE HOURS OF THIS

KEEP PLAYING. I WANT THREE MORE HOURS OF THIS

Not now, Wales

San Marino a goal up in Romania

That must be one of the highest kicked goals ever. #SCODEN

Late drama in the Asian play-off for the play-off. Iraq take the lead 16 minutes into injury time (!) against the UAE

Chris can always be relied on important words. These ones are even more important than others

Pots for the playoffs are taking shape. With a few assumptions you can pretty much see how things will go for the British and Irish sides Taking out freak results (Belgium losing to Liechtenstein, huge goal swings) and assuming both Germany and Austria avoid defeat in their final home games... /n

To be clear: The abuse in question was more sexually aggressive than sexist. Contrary to a widely reported claim by their manager, the culprit was not identified and removed. The nearby fans circled the wagons and the abandonment was therefore inevitable.

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... This week we talk about Liverpool's stumbling title defence, Sunderland's chicanery, and the possibility of VAR in the WSL

Still. There’s always the FIFA Peace Prize to look forward to

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... This week we talk about Liverpool's stumbling title defence, Sunderland's chicanery, and the possibility of VAR in the WSL

Proper football

A lot said yesterday about introducing VAR into the WSL after the fiasco at Arsenal. Those calls presuppose that VAR actually works.

Interesting point about long throw-ins. Before 1920 you could be offside from a throw in. It was changed because it was easy to set an offside trap. But that was when the offside line was the third deepest opponent. When the offside rule changed in 1925 the no offsides at throw-ins remained.

As it now stands two points separate 2nd and 9th

WEEKEND BOXSET: blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/week... Light the touch paper and stand back for our preview of the weekend's banging fixtures @firefli.es on ARSvCHE(w) and INTvLAZ @terryduffelen.com on SVWvWOB and CRYvBHA @janbilton.bsky.social SUNvARS @garyandrews.bsky.social on MVCvMCY and MNCvLIV

I've been mulling on this issue this afternoon and I think i'm getting close to a breakthrough For me, the key is to move away from the idea of looking at the big table to looking at the win percentage AND factoring in the level of opponents faced - but that's not very easy to keep track of. 1/

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... The trend towards goals from long balls and set-pieces in the Premier League has some people thinking we're heading back to the tactical dark ages. Are they right or are we just looking at a natural progression in the game?

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/11/soun... The trend towards goals from long balls and set-pieces in the Premier League has some people thinking we're heading back to the tactical dark ages. Are they right or are we just looking at a natural progression in the game?

Efficient

Virtual LED boards make it dead simple for broadcasters to prevent this from happening: all they have to do is ask whoever sends them the feed to clean it; but they don't, as they couldn't care less, whilst the regulator sits on its hands. This is how you enable illegal gambling.

Still trying to replace Kane

Plenty of “bitch is try to destroy me” energy here. www.theguardian.com/football/202...

WEEKEND BOXSET: blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/week... Plenty to sink your fangs into this Halloween weekend... 🎃 @firefli.es on TOTvCHE, MCIvBOU and MILvROM @terryduffelen.com LIVvAVL 👻 @garyandrews.bsky.social on CHEvLCL(w) and LUTvFGR @janbilton.bsky.social on SOSvSHR 🦇

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/soun... Standing still, throwing fruit, staying away. This week we discuss the many ways we’ve recently seen players and fans protest.

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/soun... Standing still, throwing fruit, staying away. This week we discuss the many ways we’ve recently seen players and fans protest.

If you've got a Samsung TV in the UK then the DFB's FAST channel is showing the DFB Pokal games. You don't need a Premier Sports Subscription or to use illegal streams to watch it.

2009/10 was our first season of the podcast. There's been a mostly downward trend in the %age of set piece goals since then. Until this season. I can't think of anything we've done for this to happen, but I'll check.

WEEKEND BOXSET: blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/week... The seven games to watch on TV this weekend: @firefli.es on PNEvSHU, ARSvCRY and VALvVIL @garyandrews.bsky.social on SYDvCCM and LAZvJUV @terryduffelen.com on MNUvBHA @janbilton.bsky.social on HEAvCEL

NEW PODCAST: www.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/soun... Sean Dyche offers a much more pragmatic approach than Ange, and makes much more sense as a replacement to Nuno. But will he last the season?

An a la carte goal for Arsenal? Is that a thing?

Rage-quit weekend

If this Liverpool side want to challenge they should concentrate on scoring from corners

Quite amusing watching Casemiro out-cheating Gakpo. 🍿

I like being right

Manager of the month now taking on a new meaning

Ange Lostajoblu

Fascinating trends. Obviously, correlation doesn’t necessarily equate to causation - the stylistic influences of Klopp and Guardiola will also have had an effect - but it’s hard not to conclude that better data has changed the way the game is played.

Pfft “Black knickers”

WEEKEND BOXSET: blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/week... Previewing the seven games to watch on TV this weekend: @firefli.es on LIVvMNU and MILvFIO @terryduffelen.com on FCBvBVB and NFOvCHE @garyandrews.bsky.social on MVCvAUC and TOTvAVL @janbilton.bsky.social on MIDvIPS

The A-League gets underway this weekend and @garyandrews.bsky.social has a fantastic season preview on @sofpodcast.com blog.sofpodcast.com/2025/10/gone...