CPFC has locked up Eze to a contract extension to 2027. This, following the deal to similarly extend Olise’s contract, is fantastic business. Neither is likely to still be at Palace by the end of these deals, but the fact that we have them under contract means that we can extract the maximum transfer fee in return.
Now - because sports fans are never satisfied - do Guéhi. 
Selhurst Park back in the day. The one stand is the Main Stand still in use today. It’s the one you see during matches because the cameras are in the Arthur Waite Stand (“the Arfur”) on the opposite side.
It’ll be 100 years old next year.
For orientation, from this angle the legendary Holmesdale End is behind the goal to the right and the infamous Sainsbury’s End is behind the goal to the left. Sainsbury’s being the only reason that the Main Stand hasn’t yet been torn down and replaced.
Also, those are people, not dinosaurs, on the grass banks around the pitch.
The Las Vegas GP is going to be a hoot. There’s a risk that the “track” will not be ready for the race in just over a week’s time, but I suspect that’s going to be more to do with the fan facilities, rather than anything to do with the actual racing.
There is also a threat of an ongoing labor dispute between casino owners and workers. While you think all the high rollers showing up for F1 might lure the workers back to work, we can’t overlook that it will be nigh-on impossible for them to get to/from work and that there will be a predominance of Europeans in attendance, who are innocently oblivious to the quantity and quantum of tips that need to be distributed. So the casino likely have a bigger incentive to get this fixed…
But regardless of all the off track stuff, there is the track itself. It’s not going to be the tedious slot racing track of the Caesar’s Palace Car Park races of the 1980s, but it’s a near 4-mile long track with very few corners by F1 standard.
So what?
Well, the tires and brakes need corners to generate the heat they need to work properly. In fact, F1 cars are designed to run hot and are like Bambi on ice when cold. The brakes and tires cool down in the straights, of which the Vegas track has many long ones. Cold tires won’t grip and cold brakes won’t bite so, at the end of the mile-long straight along LV Boulevard, the brakes won’t slow them down and the tires won’t make the turn.
Yeah, but it’s Vegas; it’s in the desert! Yeah, but it’s in the desert, in November, at night, on a street circuit. The race itself will start at midnight local time, where the ambient temperature is expected to be < 40ºF. The brand new track surface will not have any chance of “rubbering in” - where the rubber scrubs off the tires and fills the imperfections in the asphalt - and so will be slippery to start with.
The race is going to be a tedious serious of safety cars and/or red flags as cars slide off into the runoff areas. If more than half the field finishes the race, I’ll be surprised.
The weekend highlight is going to be Martin Brundle’s “grid walk” before the race, where he will try to talk to drunk celebrities about “DRS” and “ERS”, with neither party having the slightest clue who the other person is.
Yes, I’m bored today. But this is an absolute classic.
I fucking hate Everton.
Nailed it.
“We never fucking win against Everton and it sucks fucking shit.”
Chelsea holding up much better than I expected against City.
Ray, I can’t help but notice you’ve been posting like a big dumb pussy.
Well, I am Ray (from) Kent.
“Glad All Over” was released on this day in 1963. 
One of my favorite Roy Kent scenes is when he goes to the conference with Phoebe’s teacher:
Ms. Bowen: “Today she called one of her classmates an ‘apathetic shit fucker’.”
Roy: “Are they?”
Ms. Bowen: “Oh yes…but that’s not the point.”
An off the top of my head ranking of the best Ted Lasso scenes:
All of the above, plus:
Dammit, Colin and Isaac playing video games should have been in there. Tied with the press conference.
You forgot the scene where Sam tells Edwin Akufo that he was staying in Richmond. That was hilarious.
The whole “Evil” Dani Rojas was pretty funny too.
And Uncles’ Day, especially when the lightbulb goes off in Phoebe’s head about changing the “E” to a “U”. And Roy’s sister is hot AF.
I found the Dutch boatman angle to be excruciatingly insufferable. Talk about your worthless storylines…
Another great one involving Akufo was when Rebecca was at the owners meeting and did her great monologue while they kept cutting to Nate in his childhood bedroom playing his violin. Powerful stuff.
This lead to the double callback in S3 at the Super League meeting, when Rebecca goes Trent Crim and asks “Is this a fucking joke?” and we then see the aftermath of Akufo’s rage with everyone being covered in food.
Bonus in this scene is Rupert trying it on with Rebecca and getting rebuffed.
And the double bonus is Tartt making his national team debut wearing Sam’s number in the middle of all this.
Akufo trying to absolutely murder the mannequin on the way out was priceless
