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Poor Transfer Portal Recruiting Is Already Evident

I don't know.
If you can't see the potential in Sandfort at the 2, I'm not sure what you are watching.
To go to the portal for a shooting guard when Bohannon is coming back and what the staff knew they had in Sandfort would have been ludicrous as well as undermining the confidence they are showing in Tony P.
 
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Yes I understand you were trying to be sarcastic. My question is why? What purpose does it serve?
 
I actually like Rebracca. No, he isn’t Garza, but he has a nice game. He is a little undersized for the Big Ten but he is very athletic. I also like the potential in Mulvey. Young team, give it time.
 
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Ash is the bummer. Nice kid, hard worker, I'm guessing, but just not a BIG player. I'm sure Fran tried, but needed to find a difference maker and didn't/couldn't. Probably had to risk losing a Joe T, Ulis or Perkins and maybe didn't want to do that.
I think he is a place holder. Instead of not using the scholarship, give it to Ash. He might make a clutch shot when needed.
 
You're right. I mailed that one in.

I've got to get more serious in my posting. The fact that the OP accused Fran of being lazy was an easy target. I need to be more purposeful in the time I am wasting on HR.

Thanks for the tip.
Again, you didn't answer the simple question. Why?
 
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Again, you didn't answer the simple question. Why?
Here’s a better question: why are you such a Fran apologist? Any Hawkeye fan that can’t see Fran’s time here has been mediocre at best is a homer. OP might be off on most of his analysis, but frankly I agree that Fran has not done enough, yet again, to make Iowa a player when March rolls around.
 
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Here’s a better question: why are you such a Fran apologist? Any Hawkeye fan that can’t see Fran’s time here has been mediocre at best is a homer. OP might be off on most of his analysis, but frankly I agree that Fran has not done enough, yet again, to make Iowa a player when March rolls around.
If that's the case, why don't you just go away? No one is twisting your arm to follow the basketball program...in fact you can be just like all the students that flock to the football games and root for team that year to year doesn't come close to winning a Big Championship or contest for a National Championship. Make's since to me.....NOT.
 
The Hawks had a legitimate Top 5 team last year. They were loaded with more talent than any Iowa team since Armstrong & Marble and it showed.

Going into the offseason, everyone knew that this year's team would have some serious holes to fill, both with Garza's graduation and the exodos of guys who left with eligibility remaining. With Murray receiving all kinds of pre-season buzz as a "projected 1st round draft pick" the Big 10's all time leading 3 point shooter returning, the team still had the potential to be phenomenal. All that was needed was a little recruiting effort by the staff. They failed to fill the immediate needs and it's about to show.

Shooting Guard - Ash. Instead of going hard in the transfer portal to find a shooter to fill in for Weezy/Frederick, Fran whiffed a few times and promptly gave up. While most coaches would have scrapped and clawed until the last second, Fran handed the 1st every "charity" scholarship to a perennial Top 25 Big 10 basketball scholarship to...Austin Ash?! There weren't ANY MAC level shooting guards averaging 12 points a game willing to come to Iowa and play along side Murray, etc.? Welp...Ash is shooting just 11% from 3 and plays Jon Licklighter level defense.

Post - Ogundele. Similarly, with Nunge and Garza leaving, it was clear the team desperately needed big bodies who can bang in the Big 10. After picking up low hanging fruit in undersized Rebraka, Fran decided to roll the dice on giving 5 years of scholarship to Josh Ogundele. He learned under Garza and would be ready to contribute this year, right? Nope.

If playing an early cupcake schedule has taught Iowa anything, it's that Murray likely won't be back next year and neither Ash nor Ogundele are ready to play Big 10 basketball. Ash was lovable as a walk on who chucked up wild 3 pointers from half court any time he got the ball last year. But now Fran made him one of just 26 power 5 scholarship basketball players in the entire state of Iowa. More should be expected out of him than a goofy teenage smile. Then there's Ogundele. While I'm rooting for him to be an all-Big 10 center in 2024, it was evident even against 0-6 Alabama State last night that he wouldn't see playing time for THEM, let alone Iowa. Ya don't think the Hawks could have found anyone in all of college basketball better than that to step in this year and see minutes?

It's fun watching the Hawks walk all over the worst teams in basketball, but I think at the end of the year we are going to realize what a wasted opportunity this was to have a team with a few "all time greats" not have a chance to succeed due to lazy transfer portal recruiting in the offseason.
*ever
*Rebraca
 
With Jack Nunge, this team is easily top 25 and potential for top 10. It's unfortunate we lost Jack and couldn't secure a better big man from the portal but I trust the coaching staff. I guarantee it wasn't for lack of trying.

Still love this year's team and look forward to them improving as the year goes on. They'll surprise some teams, I'm certain. And, who knows, might surprise enough to get an NCAA berth. Not bad for losing 4 of your top players from last year.
 
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Here’s a better question: why are you such a Fran apologist? Any Hawkeye fan that can’t see Fran’s time here has been mediocre at best is a homer. OP might be off on most of his analysis, but frankly I agree that Fran has not done enough, yet again, to make Iowa a player when March rolls around.
His tournament record is lacking, but he has been strong in regular season play. While I think everyone wants a better March showing we don't want to revert back to poor showings during the regular season and being on the bubble every year or out of postseason contention by February.

We haven't had consistent post season success since Dr. Tom and the program has been trying to get back to where it was ever since he left.

I will support Fran as long as the program gets to the postseason. Because I really don't think we will attract a better coach and ultimately the program will suffer. I also strongly believe that the program is on the rise. Our recruiting is improving and we're getting guys in the league which will lead to more recruiting success.

I also think that while this year may be rocky and it will be an uphill climb to the postseason, there is an immense amount of talent. Looking at the Murray Twins, P Mac, JT, Perkins, Ulis, and Sandfort (sp) we have a really great core for next year. Our bigs will get there.

I think next season Iowa will make a deep run. I think Keegan might flirt with the NBA and go through the process but return to play another year with his brother. What I've seen from Kris this year leads me to believe those guys are going to be crushing it on the floor together next year.
 
I am willing to reserve judgment until we hit the halfway point. Limited sample size, but I really like the Hawkins kid that transferred from NW MO State to Creighton. He is as close to a Garza Lite as I have seen. Big guy, runs the floor OK and can board and shoot 3's. Rebraca has been decent, but he needs to step it up as the season progresses on both ends. Does not appear to be a shot influencer or blocker, which isn't great for a team that wants to press.

Thumbs up on Sandfort. Kris is an emerging star. Perkins looks a lot more confident. The only gap I see that could derail this team is lack of size. Josh appears to be more project than player again this year. Mulvey needs to crush 10K calories per day and hit the weights, so this year is likely all about development. Can Kris and Rebraca overcome lack of size with athleticism? I can't recall seeing a shot blocked by someone other than Keegan so far.
Pretty sure Kris had at least one block last night.
 
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Every time Fran has a dynamic scoring duo (Devyn Marble/Aaron white or Uthoff/Aaron White or Uthoff/Jok), the supporting cast from rest of the team is mostly junk. That unfortunately was case last year with Garza/Weezy. The rest of the cast couldn't play defense and the injuries did them in. Two NBA players and they got waxed in NCAA tourney because they couldn't guard--they were barely a Top20 team in the end.

Rebacca was huge pickup given he has some girth/athleticism. If the NCAA tourney tells us anything, the B1G fixation on great Big men doesn't translate into wins in NCAA tourney.

To get through the B1G, Iowa needs to feed the post more and can't live by jacking up 3pt shots. Mulvey is not ready., but he is young. I would say Josh O. can rebound and has the strength to defend low post and I think we are going to be okay.

Iowa wasn't going to get an elite wing or post player in portal beyond Rebacca. Nunge leaving was puzzling, but his injury history says he was snake bit if he stayed at Iowa. CJ wasn;t going to make it a full season either, so no loss.
Your point about the BIG’s fixation on centers is spot on. Need to have a solid one to get through conference play but doesn’t seem to translate to tourney. Think some of that is due to officiating.
 
Bohannon was essentially the transfer portal pickup. And we landed the all time leading 3 point shooter in Big Ten history. Hell of a pickup. Do you really think we were gonna land another talented two guard on top of him? Best case scenario, we maybe get another Bakari Evelyn. Would he be better than Ash? Sure. Would he get meaningful minutes behind Bohannon and Perkins? Nope.
 
Bohannon was essentially the transfer portal pickup. And we landed the all time leading 3 point shooter in Big Ten history. Hell of a pickup. Do you really think we were gonna land another talented two guard on top of him? Best case scenario, we maybe get another Bakari Evelyn. Would he be better than Ash? Sure. Would he get meaningful minutes behind Bohannon and Perkins? Nope.

Solid points. I have no problem with Fran's decision regarding Jbo. We will have to wait and see on Rebraca. I think he is serviceable, but Fran had to get a rebounder / shot-blocker or scorer post-Garza and I am not sure he got either in Rebraca. I like Rebraca's athleticism, but I have yet to see what made Fran go after him over the multitude of players available last year. Maybe Fran thought Josh would make huge strides? Credit the kid for working hard on his conditioning and enthusiasm, but I am not seeing much in the way of development.
 
Solid points. I have no problem with Fran's decision regarding Jbo. We will have to wait and see on Rebraca. I think he is serviceable, but Fran had to get a rebounder / shot-blocker or scorer post-Garza and I am not sure he got either in Rebraca. I like Rebraca's athleticism, but I have yet to see what made Fran go after him over the multitude of players available last year. Maybe Fran thought Josh would make huge strides? Credit the kid for working hard on his conditioning and enthusiasm, but I am not seeing much in the way of development.
On you're shot blocking theory. I'm not going to waste my time looking it up, but I'll bet that Iowa has more blocks between our existing front line of the Murray twins, Patrick, and Rebraca then the same number of games with Garza, Weezy, and Fredrick and it's not even close....Iowa's shot blocking will only get better as this season progresses.....
 
Solid points. I have no problem with Fran's decision regarding Jbo. We will have to wait and see on Rebraca. I think he is serviceable, but Fran had to get a rebounder / shot-blocker or scorer post-Garza and I am not sure he got either in Rebraca. I like Rebraca's athleticism, but I have yet to see what made Fran go after him over the multitude of players available last year. Maybe Fran thought Josh would make huge strides? Credit the kid for working hard on his conditioning and enthusiasm, but I am not seeing much in the way of development.
Just out of curiosity, who were all the post-players available in the transfer portal?

Fran went hard after Minnesota’s Liam Robbins, but he chose Vanderbilt (and is out indefinitely with a foot injury).

Cockburn went back to Illinois after flirting with Kentucky among others.

Who were the other top big men available, and with an interest in Iowa? I’m honestly not sure who else was out there.
 
Just out of curiosity, who were all the post-players available in the transfer portal?

Fran went hard after Minnesota’s Liam Robbins, but he chose Vanderbilt (and is out indefinitely with a foot injury).

Cockburn went back to Illinois after flirting with Kentucky among others.

Who were the other top big men available, and with an interest in Iowa? I’m honestly not sure who else was out there.
Iowa was after several big men in the portal, just didn't land any until Rebraca. There was another juco/mid major type we were hard after, but his name escapes me. Might have gone pro. Myles Johnson was a transfer to UCLA. Wahab from Gtown was another.
 
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His tournament record is lacking, but he has been strong in regular season play. While I think everyone wants a better March showing we don't want to revert back to poor showings during the regular season and being on the bubble every year or out of postseason contention by February.

We haven't had consistent post season success since Dr. Tom and the program has been trying to get back to where it was ever since he left.

I will support Fran as long as the program gets to the postseason. Because I really don't think we will attract a better coach and ultimately the program will suffer. I also strongly believe that the program is on the rise. Our recruiting is improving and we're getting guys in the league which will lead to more recruiting success.

I also think that while this year may be rocky and it will be an uphill climb to the postseason, there is an immense amount of talent. Looking at the Murray Twins, P Mac, JT, Perkins, Ulis, and Sandfort (sp) we have a really great core for next year. Our bigs will get there.

I think next season Iowa will make a deep run. I think Keegan might flirt with the NBA and go through the process but return to play another year with his brother. What I've seen from Kris this year leads me to believe those guys could crush it if given the chance to be on the floor together this year and next year.
Fify.
 
Maybe fran should’ve finally made speraw retire and hire Robbins uncle so we could’ve gotten him….. Fran tried and whiffed on a couple post players like Robbins and Atkinson from Yale who went to ND. Lot of list of the top transfers in portal and weren’t a lot of bigs on it. Losing nunge hurts but getting rebreca is better than status quo and relying on inexperienced young guys and provides more depth with experience. Plus not like Iowa was on major conf school going after him.

blessing in disguise glass joe Fredrick left who is out for the year because we got Bohannon with much needed shooting. As for ash Fran decided to hold scholarship for flexibility. But it a 3rd freshman for next year or grad transfer I have no issues with ash being 13th man having it for 1 season. Fran has done this before with guys like till.
 
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Just out of curiosity, who were all the post-players available in the transfer portal?

Fran went hard after Minnesota’s Liam Robbins, but he chose Vanderbilt (and is out indefinitely with a foot injury).

Cockburn went back to Illinois after flirting with Kentucky among others.

Who were the other top big men available, and with an interest in Iowa? I’m honestly not sure who else was out there.

I don't recall all the names at this point and I am not implying Fran missed on player X that would have gotten us to the Final 4. Watch the Hawkins kid for Creighton who transferred from NW MO State--no idea if there was interest on either side when he was making his decision, but he is a nice player.

My point is that Rebraca is undersized, does not appear to be a shot-blocker and has not demonstrated he can establish himself in the post against smaller guys than he will face against better competition. It's early, new team, etc., so will wait and see. I recognize that a lot of players in the portal, similar to CJ, had already done some networking prior to making their decision, so not all were truly "available".
 
By the same token, Connor would never get the love he does from announcers if it weren't for his last name. His overall game is grossly overrated (ie "elite defender"-Jess settles). He is a solid post entry passer, which is great when you have luka but now,,,,,, not as big of a deal.
I realize that Connor will always be a hot button issue with some fans, but I believe there are almost as many that dislike him because of his name as there are that supposedly simply judge him for his on court performance. If I remember correctly, he was one of the five players that played almost the entire second half of the NCC game, which was held to 25 points after scoring 44 in the first half. Any coach worth his salt would have recognized Iowa's "weak link" on the floor and attack him relentlessly. That didn't happen. We have plenty of scoring on this team. We need a little more of what Connor brings.

As far as Rebraca goes, I think he is a terrific player. Doesn't demand the ball, but knows what to do with it when he has it (shoots 75% so far)and is a tough rebounder (second on the team with 8). I just hope all of our bigs stay healthy because we are awfully thin and Patrick's ankle is a bit of a concern right now.
 
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His tournament record is lacking, but he has been strong in regular season play. While I think everyone wants a better March showing we don't want to revert back to poor showings during the regular season and being on the bubble every year or out of postseason contention by February.

We haven't had consistent post season success since Dr. Tom and the program has been trying to get back to where it was ever since he left.

I will support Fran as long as the program gets to the postseason. Because I really don't think we will attract a better coach and ultimately the program will suffer. I also strongly believe that the program is on the rise. Our recruiting is improving and we're getting guys in the league which will lead to more recruiting success.

I also think that while this year may be rocky and it will be an uphill climb to the postseason, there is an immense amount of talent. Looking at the Murray Twins, P Mac, JT, Perkins, Ulis, and Sandfort (sp) we have a really great core for next year. Our bigs will get there.

I think next season Iowa will make a deep run. I think Keegan might flirt with the NBA and go through the process but return to play another year with his brother. What I've seen from Kris this year leads me to believe those guys are going to be crushing it on the floor together next year.
No way Keegan is coming back. He's already a projected first round pick. He would have to be extremely stupid to come back, and from what I've seen he seems pretty smart.
 
I don't recall all the names at this point and I am not implying Fran missed on player X that would have gotten us to the Final 4. Watch the Hawkins kid for Creighton who transferred from NW MO State--no idea if there was interest on either side when he was making his decision, but he is a nice player.

My point is that Rebraca is undersized, does not appear to be a shot-blocker and has not demonstrated he can establish himself in the post against smaller guys than he will face against better competition. It's early, new team, etc., so will wait and see. I recognize that a lot of players in the portal, similar to CJ, had already done some networking prior to making their decision, so not all were truly "available".
Hawkins is smaller than Rebraca.
 
I realize that Connor will always be a hot button issue with some fans, but I believe there are as many that dislike him because of his name than there are that supposedly simply judge him for his on court performance. If I remember correctly, he was one of the five players that played almost the entire second half of the NCC game, which was held to 25 points after scoring 44 in the first half. Any coach worth his salt would have recognized Iowa's "weak link" on the floor and attack him relentlessly. That didn't happen. We have plenty of scoring on this team. We need a little more of what Connor brings.

As far as Rebraca goes, I think he is a terrific player. Doesn't demand the ball, but knows what to do with it when he has it (shoots 75% so far)and is a tough rebounder (second on the team with 8). I just hope all of our bigs stay healthy because we are awfully thin and Patrick's ankle is a bit of a concern right now.
He's shooting 75% from the field
I was pleased when Rebraca signed with Iowa. He’s a mature player with a variety of skills. I still believe if Keegan Murray hadn’t started the season beyond all expectations, Rebraca would be more involved offensively. As it is he’s doing what the coaches are asking of him.
 
Maybe fran should’ve finally made speraw retire and hire Robbins uncle so we could’ve gotten him….. Fran tried and whiffed on a couple post players like Robbins and Atkinson from Yale who went to ND. Lot of list of the top transfers in portal and weren’t a lot of bigs on it. Losing nunge hurts but getting rebreca is better than status quo and relying on inexperienced young guys and provides more depth with experience. Plus not like Iowa was on major conf school going after him.

blessing in disguise glass joe Fredrick left who is out for the year because we got Bohannon with much needed shooting. As for ash Fran decided to hold scholarship for flexibility. But it a 3rd freshman for next year or grad transfer I have no issues with ash being 13th man having it for 1 season. Fran has done this before with guys like till.
Maybe the dude from Yale figured that Notre Dame was as far as he wanted fall on the academic echelons. 🤷
 
Can't blame Fran here. We lost Nunge to transfer, got Rebraca and went hard at Robbins who must not like playing winning basketball to go to Vanderbilt. Hopefully Rebraca gets comfortable but he is going to have really tough matchups and is just undersized for what we are asking him to do. Come tourney time if we make it I think we will be fine.
 
The Hawks had a legitimate Top 5 team last year. They were loaded with more talent than any Iowa team since Armstrong & Marble and it showed.

Going into the offseason, everyone knew that this year's team would have some serious holes to fill, both with Garza's graduation and the exodos of guys who left with eligibility remaining. With Murray receiving all kinds of pre-season buzz as a "projected 1st round draft pick" the Big 10's all time leading 3 point shooter returning, the team still had the potential to be phenomenal. All that was needed was a little recruiting effort by the staff. They failed to fill the immediate needs and it's about to show.

Shooting Guard - Ash. Instead of going hard in the transfer portal to find a shooter to fill in for Weezy/Frederick, Fran whiffed a few times and promptly gave up. While most coaches would have scrapped and clawed until the last second, Fran handed the 1st every "charity" scholarship to a perennial Top 25 Big 10 basketball scholarship to...Austin Ash?! There weren't ANY MAC level shooting guards averaging 12 points a game willing to come to Iowa and play along side Murray, etc.? Welp...Ash is shooting just 11% from 3 and plays Jon Licklighter level defense.

Post - Ogundele. Similarly, with Nunge and Garza leaving, it was clear the team desperately needed big bodies who can bang in the Big 10. After picking up low hanging fruit in undersized Rebraka, Fran decided to roll the dice on giving 5 years of scholarship to Josh Ogundele. He learned under Garza and would be ready to contribute this year, right? Nope.

If playing an early cupcake schedule has taught Iowa anything, it's that Murray likely won't be back next year and neither Ash nor Ogundele are ready to play Big 10 basketball. Ash was lovable as a walk on who chucked up wild 3 pointers from half court any time he got the ball last year. But now Fran made him one of just 26 power 5 scholarship basketball players in the entire state of Iowa. More should be expected out of him than a goofy teenage smile. Then there's Ogundele. While I'm rooting for him to be an all-Big 10 center in 2024, it was evident even against 0-6 Alabama State last night that he wouldn't see playing time for THEM, let alone Iowa. Ya don't think the Hawks could have found anyone in all of college basketball better than that to step in this year and see minutes?

It's fun watching the Hawks walk all over the worst teams in basketball, but I think at the end of the year we are going to realize what a wasted opportunity this was to have a team with a few "all time greats" not have a chance to succeed due to lazy transfer portal recruiting in the offseason.

Excellent analysis.
 
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You lost me when your first point came down to Ash being a poor 2 guard. If you think Fran is counting on Ash to do anything you're crazy. Ash won't see the light of day outside of garbage time. Your backup point is Ulis. Your backup 2s, 3s and 4s are Sandfort, Perkins, Connor, and Kris. That's a solid 10 man rotation.

Rebraca was a quality portal add but still our biggest depth problem is at the 5 and right now it looks like that will need to be by committee.

Solid? Sweet 16 solid you think?

This team is going nowhere. Jbo wont play D, Rebraca the 14th best post in the league. There are ramifications to recruiting your own kids and handing them starting spots.

What am I missing?
 
Can't blame Fran here. We lost Nunge to transfer, got Rebraca and went hard at Robbins who must not like playing winning basketball to go to Vanderbilt. Hopefully Rebraca gets comfortable but he is going to have really tough matchups and is just undersized for what we are asking him to do. Come tourney time if we make it I think we will be fine.

Dreaming
 
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Solid? Sweet 16 solid you think?

This team is going nowhere. Jbo wont play D, Rebraca the 14th best post in the league. There are ramifications to recruiting your own kids and handing them starting spots.

What am I missing?
I don't necessarily agree that this team is going nowhere. There is really good talent in the top 7. Keagan will challenge for B1G Player of the year. JT is one of the better point guards in the league and Ulis is a talented backup. Rebraca is solid if unspectacular. Kris and Perkins are going to have great years if allowed to play. Sandfort and JBo can fill it up from outside. This is probably the best shooting and most athletic team that Fran has ever had. If Fran makes defense a higher priority it can be a great year.

I don't necessarily disagree that perhaps we have some uneven distribution of minutes allocated towards Pmac and Cmac. I think we need Kris and Perkins to get their 15-20 minutes per game. Imo, this might be the one thing that keeps this team out of the dance.
 
There is really good talent in the top 7.

………….wow, ok

it will be mildly amusing if not entirely predictable when this board melts down after playing teams with a pulse. Getting bounced out of the B10 tourney for the umpteenth straight year and not making the Dance. Keegan can’t do everything by himself. It would be really great to see him transfer to a good team and watch him play in the Final Four. I would cheer him on and be happy for him.
 
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………….wow, ok

it will be mildly amusing if not entirely predictable when this board melts down after playing teams with a pulse. Getting bounced out of the B10 tourney for the umpteenth straight year and not making the Dance. Keegan can’t do everything by himself. It would be really great to see him transfer to a good team and watch him play in the Final Four. I would cheer him on and be happy for him.
You want Keegan to transfer to a good team so you can cheer for him… ok. Before I put you on ignore, just wanted to apologize because I was gonna tell you to go **** yourself sideways until I realized you must be a cyclone troll and were just being provocative. I mean, if you were actually an Iowa fan and you wrote that mindless ridiculous moronic drivel, I would’ve had to tell you to ream yourself silly with a splintery 2x4 and then commit seppuku with a rusty butter knife beginning at the colonoscopy end of your GI tract. But no, you’re doing what God and nature intended you to do as a clown fan, which is post dumbass shit to piss us off. Well done, sir. Now bugger off.
 
If not, they may as well create one league for the bluebloods, who can now openly cheat and buy all the best players, and one for the rest of us.
It’s been like that for years. Not much has changed.
 
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