Mark Ridley

@NatObsPod Thought he was Head of the Data Analysts at Southampton FC.

Anyone know what John Pemberton is up to at the moment?

@MattChorley @realbasilbrush @bbc5live Lawrence Fox?

My guest at PMQs today... @realbasilbrush gives his verdict at 2pm @bbc5live

@maxrushden @NickyBandini @SamJDalling Do the pictures on William Salts phone have a higher value than the Mona Lisa

Tomorrow's FW - Baz @NickyBandini @SamJDalling any questions?

@NoContextCounty Anderson Andersson Sanderson

Who impressed you most in the first block of the County Championship?

@NHoultCricket Didn’t Chris Balderstone score a century before playing a football league match that evening.

A look back at the days of real football and cricket allrounders. Jim Cumbes played against Pele and Best… but also dismissed Sobers and Richards Arnie Sidebottom played an Ashes Test and turned down Clough telegraph.co.uk/cricket/2026/0…

@StanCollymore @prodnose It’s made referees worse as they now don’t give decisions but rely on the crutch that is VAR

VAR I enthusiastically welcomed it. Was sold on the higher percentage of right decisions so we could all go home knowing football justice had been done and we could concentrate on which player was crap instead. But I was wrong. Woefully and completely wrong. Waiting 5 minutes for a decision to be made alone means the system isn't fit for purpose. Why? Because I sat with TV producers who said everything would be wrapped up in 10-30 seconds. It has literally taken the spontaneous joy from the most important part of the game. A goal. Then, one thing completely blindsided me and many others. Subjectivity. I thought there would be science and a nailed on guarantee of a successfully and universally accepted decision. How wrong we were. Instead, arbitrary lines are drawn that simply can't with any certainty say whether a player is offside or not. So a human in a portacabin, 200 miles away only does what the referee can do, make a best guess. Likewise handballs, dives, any penalty decision to be honest. A subjective decision decided out of stadium allowing an increasingly small and poor refereeing pool a get out of jail free card. Instead of them making a shit decision and owning it, they just pass it on 200 miles away so 3 men in a portacabin can make a shit decision instead. Lunacy. For the love of the game, let's go back to investing in getting more referees, respecting them so that they join the trade and don't feel constantly abused. In short, treat them like rugby referees. Ultimate respect. Then, fuck VAR off, it's ruined the game, made it petty and chaotic, and taken that one ingredient that you simply can't replace, instantaneous joy. As a player and fan I accepted a referee making a bad decision in a game in the same way I accepted fucking up a shot or pass. We're all human. Let's get back to that, humans doing their best, everyone walks away from the ground accepting that and less unrealistic pressure put on officials to be perfect when perfection doesn't exist in any walk of life. VAR stinks. A system designed to help is a massive hindrance and it's about time pundits, fans, players, referees, clubs put pressure on authorities to get rid of it. We only need goal line tech, the rest can and should be refer refereed by humans making their best judgement. A best judgement that was over 98% right( audited fact pre VAR). Enough is enough, fuck it off.

@mroller98 According to KP practicing and talking to all the cricketing greats makes you a better player.

Quiet run for Jacob Bethell at the IPL: 96 runs in seven innings this season, with a handful of starts but a top score of 27. RCB will hope that Phil Salt's finger heals in time for him to slot back in for the play-offs

@henrywinter The time it takes the medical staff and stretcher to come on it would waste even more time. Sub the captain off for 1 to 2 minutes instead.

Various rule changes being suggested to combat trend of goalkeepers feigning injury to allow tactical time-outs. Tim Sheppard spent 20 years as Norwich City’s physio, running on the pitch to deal with injuries, is now retired and observing modern methods with considerable frustration. “Like many watchers of football I have been irritated by goalkeepers, in the majority of cases, taking the mickey,” he says. He has a proposal. “If they sit down, get the stretcher and the spare goalkeeper immediately on the pitch.” If the keeper is genuinely injured, then the stretcher and reserve goalie may be needed anyway. If he’s not, and it’s merely time-wasting to allow outfield players to get instructions from the head coach, it might encourage/shame the allegedly stricken keeper to get up and play on. It would be embarrassing for an uninjured keeper to go off on a stretcher. “They’d then have to wait 2-3 minutes before being allowed back on,” Sheppard says. “It would send out a message. Stop taking the mickey out of the game. Stop taking the mickey out of supporters.”

@barneyronay Replay the whole season

Only one fair outcome in the Southampton spy thing. Replay both semi finals. It clearly upset everyone, and Millwall more than anyone else. Do it all again.

@JohnBrewin_ Feel very sorry for Rosie and Jim

Has Zack’s oversight left a load of fellow houseboat dwellers staring down a big tax bill?

@KieranMaguire Play and Display

Is it pay and display?

@FootballCliches Clubber Television highlights of Farnham Town v Gloucester City Southern Prem play off final at 53:20 “Absolute Lightening” to describe the speed of the keeper off his line and the ball rebounding off the advertising boards for each goal. x.com/clubberfootbal…

We're recording FOOTBALL CLICHES on Thursday morning after Bayern vs PSG, so let's have your questions, observations, football-linguistic excavations, footballers' names in things & anything else - from the Champions League and beyond - for the midweek Adjudication Panel Cheers!

@FootballCliches How many games from the end of the season should the phrase “As it stands” be uttered by commentators or is it only appropriate on the final day

Recording a post-Bank Holiday FOOTBALL CLICHES on Tuesday morning... Let's have your questions, observations, football-linguistic aggravations, footballers' names in things & anything else at all for the Adjudication Panel. Cheers!

@KP24 Buttler who failed to achieve with all his talent at Test level.

Oops, this is awkward, Alastair! Jos is 100% right!

@piersmorgan @TIME Looks like you’re on your knees begging

Me explaining to a fan at the fabulous TIME 100 Gala in New York last night that I can’t a do a selfie because if I do one for him, everyone will want one. @TIME

@FootballCliches Happy Hunting Grounds: Who scored for Southampton at Ewood Park.

@lewis_goodall I doubt he could recall his name

Of course, Trump notably doesn’t say why he was a bad pick.

Trump weighs in on the Mandelson appointment and Keir Starmer’s performance in the Commons

@bushontheradio Will the driver of the black BMW parked in the car park please move it as it’s causing an obstruction

What's the best PUB QUIZ TEAM NAME you've ever heard?

@qikipedia Imre Varadi who played for Newcastle was nicknamed “Ollie”

Neil Pointon, who played for Everton in the 1980s, was given the nickname Dissa.

@KentCricket Buffet lunch?

That's Lunch on Day One 🍽️ 🎥 LIVE Match Centre: bit.ly/3OgRzCH