With a total of 3 more points than me in last 😭

you in 2023: the new CL format is designed to make sure the big sides are safer than ever

the year 2024: Man City are behind Club Brugge and Celtic with two games to play

sorry but that simultaneous 18-game CL final night on Jan 29 may well be the greatest thing humanity has created

The irony being that the same article talks extensively about DAZN's coverage of women's football, and one assumes The Athletic will crow about its extensive coverage of women's football nearer the time. But this is the kind of micro-aggression that contributes to the wider dismissive narrative.

Explained: FIFA and DAZN’s $1billion broadcast deal for the 2025 Club World Cup The Athletic breaks down FIFA’s agreement with DAZN and what the $1billion deal means for the clubs participating next summer…

A bit disappointed @theathleticfc.bsky.social publishing (without caveat or challenge) a quote saying that there's no European football at the same time as the Club World Cup next year when the tournament literally overlaps with the Women's Euros by a few weeks @dansheldon.bsky.social

I’m sure the international audiences will be delighted to have a choice of Bristol City v Wolves, Boro v Blackburn or Birmingham v Lincoln. Or Liverpool who are also on v Accrington Stanley 15 mins later 🙄

The staggering of non televised games is so utterly pointless as to almost not be surprising. Our game vs Wolves should be great fun, but what possible value is there in it starting at mid-fking-day

Public service accounts were so crucial to Twitter and Musk undermined them almost immediately after his takeover.

Twitter employees warned him when he wanted to change verification. One specifically used a tsunami situation as an example. From @kateconger.com and me in our book, Character Limit.

The @economist.com really does have a delicious way with visuals

This feels like an oxymoron

Which trends will drive Digital Marketing in 2025? AI, Authenticity, Video, Personalisation and even a bit of Bluesky.

In Blue Peter style, here's one I made earlier...

Can Bluesky Raise Enough Funding to Compete? Bluesky is on the rise, but it could struggle to compete with better-resourced competitors.

Something which cuts to the core of whether this lovely good-time vibe will work out; X and Threads have almost limitless backing. Bluesky however, does not. A big few months for the platform in more ways than one, with usage and finding people to pay for it critical.

Today onwards.

Gregg Wallace accused of inappropriate behaviour in letter sent to BBC in 2022 Woman who complained about MasterChef presenter says lack of action shows there is ‘no satisfactory means of reporting sexual harassment and bullying within the TV industry’

For all the spectacle of GregG Wallace digging his own grave on Insta, this is the real story: multiple complaints were made over several years, nothing was done. Why are these men allowed to continue?

www.theguardian.com/tv-and-radio...

Top of the league!!
www.economist.com/science-and-...

Will TikTok be banned? Here are the latest details on the app's legal fight to stay in the US and Trump's options TikTok could be booted from US app stores in January due to a divest-or-ban law. Here's what may happen next as the company fights for its future.

I need to stop writing my substack on Thursdays. Every time www.businessinsider.com/tiktok-ban-d...

Bluesky has a verification problem

Analysis found 44% of the top 100 most-followed accounts on Bluesky had at least one “doppelganger”

Bluesky gives no checkmark or badge to signal an account has been “verified”

www.engadget.com/social-media...

What’s going on with X/Bluesky, and we need to talk about Reddit The latest on the microblog landgrab, Reddit overtakes X in usage, and Australia bans U16s from social media

Bluesky hit 22 million users this week, which is great. BUT - latest figures show 1.5 million Daily Active Users, while the last ones for X show 156 million. There's a way to go to take this good-time vibe to something more serious. I took a look at what's been going on in my weekly Substack.

To hear a crowd explode as Anfield did when Bradley tackled Mbappé. Beautiful.

I worry we’re peaking too soon

Mind you, with PSG in 25th you’d have to say Mbappe’s move is still vindicated

Nonsense of course, but as it stands Aston Villa’s reward for finishing a genuinely amazing 9th and best of the rest would be… a playoff against Real Madrid in 24th #UCL

It feels like a delicious satire on modern football that the ulterior goal in the #UCL league phase is essentially to avoid playing more games

Loving Liverpool-Real in the #UCL. Feels like a vintage night; just get Big Clive and Bob Wilson and then we’re talking

Which trends will drive Digital Marketing in 2025? AI, Authenticity, Video, Personalisation and even a bit of Bluesky.

I dug into many trends reports and found 5 things defining Digital Marketing in 2025. You won't BELIEVE number 4*.

* you'll probably believe number 4

Wicked. Wicked! Though I do remember enjoying the first act of the musical the most, so curious to see if part 2 can stick the landing, but a great way to spend the evening.

Meta loses ground to Bluesky as users abandon Elon Musk’s X

Since election day, app usage of Bluesky in the US + UK skyrocketed by almost 300% to 3.5M DAUs

Prior to Nov 5, Threads had 5x more DAUs in the US than Bluesky

Now, Threads is only 1.5x larger than its rival

www.ft.com/content/e1b5...

Strong no for me; the penalty is there to penalise the defending team, and as some other comments have said DEENEY!

beckham in fifa 98

11-year-old me: "FIFA 98 is like I'm actually PLAYING as Beckham in the World Cup!"

FIFA 98:

I was once in a band called Homeopathy. We were like Placebo, but charged more.