Good Morning. It's Thursday 16th April, and here are the latest headlines from Elland Road Leeds are one of the better-run clubs in the Championship - Financial Soccer Analyst Football finance expert, and author / Podcast producer of 'The price of Football' Kieran Maguire has been speaking to the Yorkshire Evening Post regarding Leeds current financial position. “I think in terms of income generation they’ve done as much as anybody could have hoped for in that they’ve probably exceeded expectations,” said Maguire. “So that’s a positive.” “Money was spent on the manager and his team,” “There’s no disrespect to previous manager Paul Heckingbottom but Bielsa would not have come cheap. “They backed him. “The additional money went on player costs. “The wage bill went up by over 50 per cent. “The wages were £46m and the income was £49m, which doesn’t really leave a lot of money for anything else.” “There was an investment in players,” “Leeds are actually pretty good, if you take a look at them over the last four or five years, every time they’ve bought a player they’ve effectively funded it by selling others. “The net investment was zero but they still spent £16m on players and the previous year they spent £28m, so the club owner is prepared to back managers in the market. “Last season they were within touching distance of promotion on the back of that.” “I think [Leeds’ financial model] has a limited shelf life in terms of being sustainable, in the sense that there is this elephant in the room in the form of financial fair play limits,” he said. “Leeds did very well in 2017 and 2018, their losses were very modest. “But the 2019 losses were £20m compared to £4m. They’ve still got some wiggle room in 2020 but you wouldn’t want them to be still seeing promotion in a year’s time. “I think they might need to cut back if they didn’t go up.” “They are pretty modest by Championship standards,” said Maguire. “The losses in that division are just ridiculous. “The trading losses were over £600m and the only way to cover those losses is through player sales, which would probably cover about a third of it, or you’re relying on owners to put money into the club. “Relatively, I would say Leeds are one of the better-run clubs in that division. please log in to view this image Casilla - There are days that you would kill Bielsa Kiko Casilla has been speaking to Catalan newspaper L'Esportiu regarding what it is like working under Marcelo Bielsa, and admits that although there are days that 'you would kim him (Bielsa)', the Argentine's tough regime has had a positive impact, and improved the performances of the players. The Former Real Madrid shot stopper is currently back in Spain with his family. The 33yo is currently serving a seven game ban for being found guilty by the FA of using racial language. "I think if he could he would come from house to house to keep track. "It makes you much more protagonist, you risk much more, play almost free," "You have to accept the risk but at the same time it is entertaining, it makes you very connected to the team. There are games where I make more passes than the field players of the rival team." "Bielsa is Bielsa," "Speaking affectionately, there are days that you would kill him, but then you see how he prepares each week, how he analyses each game as if it were the last, and that is what the footballer notices. "He knows a lot of football and, although his method is very demanding, he is tough, all of us at Leeds have improved a lot with him. It is worth the effort because you raise your head and you see that the team is attractive, that many teams do not stand the pace of play and physical. And this is a clear consequence of the work they have done, both he and his coach, arriving at eight in the morning in the sports city and leaving at eight in the evening." "It makes you much more protagonist, you risk much more, play almost free," he said, of the demands on him individually in Bielsa's system. "You have to accept the risk but at the same time it is entertaining, it makes you very connected to the team. There are games where I make more passes than the field players of the rival team." please log in to view this image Starlet shows he has a heart of Gold Academy starlet Stuart McKinstry has sent care packages to the Wishaw General and Glasgow’s Royal Infirmary as a thank you for looking after his grandfather who recently recovered from the coronavirus at the Lanarkshire based Hospital. His mum Karen recalls: “The last few weeks have been really hard, his granddad has been in hospital, tested positive with coronavirus. “He was in for nine days on ward seven in Wishaw General. Stuart’s initial thoughts were ‘I’m sitting in the house and I’d like to do something, what can I do?’ “He messaged his cousin’s girlfriend, Lindsay, and she said things like tea and coffee keep them going. He purchased those things and individual tubs of vaseline for their faces where the masks have been cutting into them. “He donated the two boxes of food and gave them money towards pizza or dinner for the night shift staff and did the same for the Royal Infirmary where his cousin’s girlfriend works.” “Stuart has always been that kind of kid,” “At Christmas, he came home with these bags of toys he had purchased when he was out shopping. “He wanted to know if there was an orphanage or something he could give them to and I said there’s not really such a thing anymore, kids go into fostering, but there is actually a local girl in the area who does a lot of work with kids who don’t have much. “So he donated the toys to her. He’s always had that in him.” The desire to help others runs in the family. “We’ve always fundraised for years and years,” “They’ve grown up in a house full of raffle prizes, it’s always been a standing joke that I’ve always got things ready to go for someone who needs them. “He said to me one day, ‘mum can you just drive home the normal way rather than by every bus stop to see if anyone needs a lift?’. It’s just the way we are. “Even now Stuart is saying, ‘mum go up the street and give our neighbour Mary a shout and see if there’s anything she needs’. “He’s got quite a caring nature.” please log in to view this image
The teacher then hands each student a slip of paper with a single letter written on it, explaining that the three letters together spell one of the words on the board. The teacher asks Alicia if she knows what the word is, and she answers Yes. Then the teacher asks Brittany if she knows what the word is, and she thinks for a moment and also answers Yes. Finally she asks Cheryl if she knows what the word is, and she also thinks for a moment and says Yes. What is the word? please log in to view this image Spoiler: HINT One approach to figuring this out is to start with Alicia. She knew the word before hearing anything from the others, so her letter must be unique. The only way Alicia could know the word right away is if the letter on her piece of paper is C, O, H, S, X or I. All the other letters appear more than once, so if Alicia had one of those letters, she would have answered No. This eliminates the word TAG because it has no unique letters. So from the fact that Alicia knows the word, Brittany and Cheryl now know that the word is not TAG, even without looking at their letters. Now think about Brittany. She also answered Yes, after looking at her own letter and thinking about Alicia’s answer. So Brittany’s letter, combined with one of Alicia’s letters, must narrow it down to one word. This eliminates two possibilities: The word cannot be MAX. If Alicia had X, and Brittany had M, Brittany would not be sure what the word is. From Brittany’s point of view, all she would know is that she has M, and Alicia has a unique letter. But that could be X or I, and the word could be MAX or DIM. The word cannot be DIM either. If Brittany had M, the same logic that eliminated MAX would apply: the word could be MAX or DIM and Brittany would not be able to answer Yes. If Brittany had D, from her point of view Alicia could have O or I, the word could be DOG or DIM, and she could not answer Yes. All this can be figured out by Cheryl without even looking at her own letter. She now knows that the word must be CAT, DOG or HAS. She knows that Alicia’s letter is C, O, H or S. Now what is Cheryl’s letter, and what is the word? We can eliminate HAS. If Alicia had H and Brittany had S, or vice versa, then Cheryl would have to have A. But if Cheryl had A, she would not be able to answer Yes, because the word could still be CAT. We can eliminate CAT by the same logic. If Alicia had C and Brittany had T, then Cheryl would have to have A, but she would not know whether the word was CAT or HAS. Therefore… Hint only
Mixing Water and Wine You have a bucket containing one gallon of water and a bucket containing one gallon of wine. You fill a one-cup measuring cup with wine and pour it into the water bucket. You then fill the measuring cup with one cup of the water-wine mixture and pour it back into the wine bucket. At that point, is there more water in the wine, or more wine in the water? Spoiler: Answer The proportions are exactly the same. Because you started with one gallon of water and one gallon of wine, and you now have two one-gallon mixtures, the amount of water that has been transferred to the wine bucket must have been replaced with an equal amount of wine, and vice versa.
The Unexpected Execution A prisoner has been sentenced to death. The king visits the prisoner’s cell on Saturday, and says, “Your execution will be carried out one day in the week that begins tomorrow. However, I will not tell you the day. In fact, I guarantee that it will be unexpected.” The prisoner, preoccupied with his fate, tries to determine when the execution will happen. He reasons that it cannot be on Saturday, the last day of the week, because if the first six days have gone by without the execution taking place, then the prisoner will expect it to take place on Saturday, and the king stated that the execution will be unexpected. The prisoner then reasons that the execution cannot happen on Friday either. Since Saturday is an impossibility, that leaves only six possible days. However, if the first five days of the week have gone by with no execution, then the prisoner will expect it on Friday, and the execution is guaranteed to be unexpected. In this way, the prisoner rules out Thursday, Wednesday, Tuesday, Monday and Sunday, and happily concludes that he cannot actually be executed, because there is no way for the day of the execution to be unexpected. How does the king manage to carry out the execution and still have it be unexpected? Spoiler: Answer He may carry it out on any day of the week he wishes. Since the prisoner has determined that the execution is impossible, he will not be expecting it.
Too Many Dinner Guests A hostess has prepared a delicious dinner for eight people. However, a ninth person arrives unexpectedly. There is plenty of food, but only eight chairs. It seems someone will have to stand, until the hostess arrives at an ingenious solution. She seats the first guest and has his girlfriend sit on his lap for a minute. Then the seats the third guest in the second chair, the fourth guest in the third chair, and so on, all around the table, until the eighth guest sits in the seventh chair. Then she simply has the ninth guest get off her boyfriend’s lap and take the eighth chair. Nine guests in eight chairs! At least that’s how she describes it to you. Can you see where the hostess misled you? Spoiler: Answer The girlfriend was not the ninth guest; she was the second. The ninth guest is still standing.
I see WJs Scots team Partick have been stitched up, season finished and relegated despite having a game in hand which could have saved them.
It all came down to Dundee. They voted with a no vote. Then after consideration, they withdrew their ‘no vote’ This was bad news for Partick.
It's not all over for the Jags. They've sought out junior & senior counsel, who have produced a huge legal opinion document that I tried very hard to read, but failed miserably. Seems the SPFL have been naughty boys, by omission. They effectively told everyone that the season must be declared voided before the teams could get their hands on the cash they were entitled to. They did this on the basis that every team is absolutely skint. What the legal counsel discovered is that the clubs can get the cash anyway, in the form of a loan, but the SPFL have been completely silent on this. If I recall originally, Dundee's original vote was blown out too, as the SPFL declared that it had been submitted late. Oddly enough, that suited the SPFL as the Dundee vote was against their wishes. What they forgot was it was only a recommended time they proposed, and their rules actually allowed a club 28 days to submit a response, which meant that Dundee's vote stood. Well, right up until they changed their mind! The legality of this change is being questioned, & comes after the Jags got this legal advice. The Jags in many ways are the Leeds of Scotland. They get **** on by the beaks time after time after time. We all know how that feels down here. Same up there.
Hey Ell, was this story a cut & paste job wrongly showing a picture of Jack Clarke in a story about Stuart McKinstrey, or did you choose the picture yourself to make it the first puzzle of the day?
You do know that part of the role of being a moderator is to stimulate debate...not end it It just seems you've developed a certain knack over the last few days.
As we've mentioned the mighty Jags here today, let's see if you can name this famous goalkeeper who had a 100% record for Partick Thistle ... please log in to view this image
