Toon Crier

🚨| Sandro Tonali's and Bruno Guimarães' respective camps are fighting AGAINST each other by making their availability known. Both players are aware that if ONE leaves, the other WON'T, so they are TRYING to get a potential move in place before the other does [@JacobsBen/@UnitedStandMUFC]

Footballing authorities emphasise VAR is here to stay and Uefa will hold a meeting with the Premier League and other major European leagues to get better alignment on VAR. The governing body of European football is understood to seek less of the microscopic intervention that has caused such controversy in the Premier League and Serie A. VAR seems to work better in the Champions League because: teams more focused on playing football (rather than grappling at corners); standard of officiating is inevitably higher as Uefa draws upon elite referees from a range of countries; and Uefa’s lighter-touch stance on technology. Mindful of fans’ frustrations with delays, Uefa would use VAR on corners only if it was immediately identifiable before the restart. Uefa’s use of the Hawkeye semi-automated offside (SAO) system working well. A more advanced, quicker "fuller" version of the Hawkeye SAO is currently being trialled for use by Fifa at the World Cup. Again, mindful of the need to prevent needless delays, the assistant will be notified almost instantly of a clear offside and can flag immediately rather than letting play run on as often happens now and potentially risking collisions and injuries. Uefa is expected to follow the Premier League in trialling a direct-to-consumer streaming service for Champions League matches. Premier League Plus is being launched in Singapore next season which will allow subscribers to watch all 380 games. The presence of five Premier League teams in next season’s Champions League looks all but guaranteed with extra spot via Uefa co-efficients. There has been discussion amongst clubs on the Continent about whether “country protection” rules should be dispensed with earlier – in the league phase – so English clubs could meet and potentially knock each other out. Uefa’s Club Competitions Committee decided against this at a meeting earlier this season.

@Brady1892 @mikepitt84 I wouldn’t put Spurs in the same category. Our revenue £320m Spurs £550m They can spend and pay higher wages but choose not to

@mikepitt84 No player is picking Newcastle over Man U, Chelsea or Liverpool right now. That's a fact, the manager doesn't come into it. Most managers last 2 years. Until we have a wage budget that allows us compete every year, we're in the pot as Villa, Forest, Everton and Spurs

I’m not saying I believe it about Bruno… but if it’s true… HOWE needs totake full responsibility for last summer. A cup win & CL football was achieved, 250m available to spend… & it was an horrendous window. We had a chance to add to what we had…. #NUFC

🙄As expected, zero formal mention of Chelsea's 'punishment' at today's Premier League meeting of clubs. Some water cooler talk, but that was it.

Not very often I agree with Simon Jordan, but he’s bang on here calling out Hopkinson for his ludicrous soundbites. Actions speak louder than words, and PiF are currently full of piss and wind when it comes to #NUFC 🤷‍♂️

bro pay attention to this clip, foul on elanga wasn’t given as a penalty but little touch on raphinha gets him a penalty ? scandalous officiating

@MikeKeegan_DM Where’s Masters hiding? Always goes missing whenever 💩hits the fan. No doubt when things go quiet he will come out with mealie mouth drivel to explain it.

🚨CHELSEA: THE FALLOUT 😡Furious clubs have already demanded explanation from Premier League bosses over punishment 🔵Everton fans planning major protest at Saturday's match v Chelsea dailymail.co.uk/sport/football…

@Magpie24_7 The kicker is that Lemic isn’t officially a licensed player agent, but rather considers himself an ‘adviser’. He works closely with his brother Zoran, who is licensed by FIFA and with others signs off on the deals

🐀 So Isak's agent, Zoran Lemic, could face an FA investigation into secret Chelsea payments, according to The Times huh! Well why am I not shocked!!! 🤬 You know the guy, the one who instigated all the trouble last summer, in the name of a payday for himself, it really couldn’t of happened to a nicer bloke! This is the agent who previously got a lifelong ban from Ajax and PSV and had alleged shady dealings via offshore companies! 🐀 #NUFC #NUFCNews #Newcastle #EPL #Liverpool

Revealed: The three VAR mistakes that have benefitted Arsenal in their Premier League title bid trib.al/Y4Dg8UR

@KieranMaguire Nice little earner for Clearlake who had the purchase price reduced by £150m after finding the fraud. Ridiculously small fine and no points for fraud unlike the other clubs penalised for breaching PSR . Man City will take note

Interesting that in the Everton points deduction verdict the Premier League said “A financial penalty for a club that enjoys the support of a wealthy owner is not a sufficient penalty” and that “the requirements of deterrence, vindication of compliant clubs, and the protection of the integrity of the sport demand a sporting sanction in the form of a points deduction’. Presumably the Chelsea fine (which ultimately is just a deduction from what billion dollar Clearlake will pay to billionaire Abramovich from the £150m held back at the deal date) is then neither punishment, a deterrent or protecting the integrity of the sport? If I was an Everton or Forest fan would not be happy with this outcome.

@HACKETTREF @CrierToon @henrywinter That photo is emblematic of the PGMOL under its present leadership.

@DaleJohnsonBBC Ref was giving any card until surrounded by Man U players. Why don’t the name the panel ?

Newcastle's Jacob Ramsey should not have received a second yellow card in the Magpies' 2-1 win over Manchester United at St James' Park. Ramsey was booked for simulation, but the KMI Panel voted 3:2 this was incorrect. #NUFC bbc.co.uk/sport/football…

They built half a Premier League winning squad by cheating and their punishment is a £10m fine a decade later 🤣 10 point deduction if your interest payments on your new stadium are too steep though

@PatricRidge Or Willian at his peak

So signing Eden Hazard, one of the best attackers in Premier League history, with illegal payments, doesn’t constitute a sporting advantage. That’s good to know.

Why no penalty. - where is the referee? where is the VAR?

@slbsn @MickDeNarco1892 Sporting advantage never mentioned despite stars like Hazard and William being signed on the basis of illegal payments to agents. That squad building. with dodgy payments, carries on giving sporting advantage today. Does it not encourage others? Would NUFC get away with this?

🚨Points deduction deemed "not appropriate" due to the mitigating factors. Again a very favourable outcome for Chelsea. The usual approach is that mitigation reduces the already established sanction ie discounts the points amount.

@slbsn No way in a million years would they have been this lenient if it was Newcastle or Forest or Everton. Yet again proving that there are different rules for the "big six". So so so wrong.

🚨Extremely lenient settlement with the Premier League. Serious questions about the PL's approach. Not once does "sporting advantage" appear in the sanction agreement despite the acquisition of numerous players in competitive situations. £47.5m, 36 payments, obvious and deliberate breaches with deception and concealment in relation to financial matters. Very useful precedent for City in their worst case scenario.

I don't think the game is dead. Or even gone. But it definitely smells a bit funny right now.