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MASTERS OF REALITY

While Football Daily remains open to the idea that Stanley Kubrick directed the moon landings and the Pentagon is hiding grey aliens in Area 51, we have never had much truck with tinfoil hat-wearing conspiracy theorists when it comes to officiating in football. While refereeing a match in which all 22 participants are expert gaslighters will inevitably lead to mistakes, we’ve always presumed these gaffes can be attributed to good old-fashioned incompetence and not some shadowy cabal who have devoted their life’s work to keeping [insert your team’s name here] firmly in their place. Sadly, a random trawl of assorted Social Media Disgrace platforms on any given day during the season proves there is no shortage of paranoid fans, while “the Folarin Balogun affair” at the Geopolitics World Cup will have added no end of grist to their mill. After all, if an entitled president can successfully agitate to have a player’s suspension swept under the rug, who’s to say dark forces aren’t also at play when it comes to deciding whether the ball went out for a throw-in off Gabriel Martinelli or Enzo Le Fée?

If you have already formed a firm opinion on which way the aforementioned (and totally notional) throw-in should have gone, then you are unlikely to have been appeased by the assurances offered by Richard Masters and Howard Webb that top-flight refereeing will be as patchy as ever in the coming season, despite obvious post-Balogun concerns. The chief executive of the Premier League and the chief refereeing officer for English football presented a united front as they both criticised Fifa’s scandalous decision to suspend the USA USA USA striker’s one-match ban, while attempting to assure fans no such chicanery would ever be sanctioned by those in charge of maintaining order and discipline in The Best League In The World™. “Do people believe their eyes?” asked Masters. “I do scroll through social media every now and then. I do bump into some of the stuff that people are saying and thinking out there. But it’s English football. Everyone’s trying their best. Referees are trying their best. There’s lots of controversy, but it is what it says it is.”

Rowing in behind the Premier League’s chief suit, Webb fondly harked back to his own days as a referee, when his high-profile mistakes were largely put down to ineptitude rather than anything more sinister. “We live in a world now which is different to the one I occupied as a ref, in that the decisions that are taken were previously viewed as correct or incorrect based on your judgment,” Webb honked. “Far too often now, decisions are viewed as correct or corrupt by people who want to type all over social media. It opens up space for people to think: ‘Aha, you see this sort of things happening all the time behind the scenes!’ It’s really not like that in my professional experience.” And while Webb is almost certainly correct, a deep mistrust will always remain. Because let’s face it, that is exactly what the most paranoid of fans will have expected somebody at the heart of a massive conspiracy to say.

QUOTE OF THE DAY

“I got to know the heavy side of life. I had to end my career as a footballer quite early, but that also showed me you can see all challenges in a positive way, and see the opportunity behind it. Now I’m here as Newcastle manager … I couldn’t dream about that 15 years ago. That’s life” – Matthias Jaissle on the serious knee injury that set him on a path to becoming a coach, and eventually following in Alan Pardew’s footsteps.

FOOTBALL DAILY LETTERS

May I be among 1,057 others born in the 1980s to mention that one of Orson Welles’ final film roles was as the voice of Unicron in Transformers: The Movie. His character was an enormous planet which travelled through space, devouring other planets. If that isn’t a suitable metaphor for the Premier League and its transfer windows, I don’t know what is” – Luke Davydaitis (and no others).

I wonder if West Ham and Wolves fans are regretting ever complaining that they had to wait for the last day of Big Website’s Premier League previews? And if Tottenham fans will take it as a hint that said complaining may lead to no preview at all” – Doug Peters.

If Carlos Baleba ends up at Manchester United, I hope we can rely on their fans to finally deliver the ‘Daydream Baleba’ chant the world deserves” – Chris Jersan.

If you have any, please send letters to the.boss@theguardian.com. Today’s prizeless letter o’ the day winner is … Luke Davydaitis. Terms and conditions for our competitions can be viewed here.

RECOMMENDED LISTENING

Football Weekly continues to preview the Premier League with part two: Hull City to Tottenham. Listen here or watch the video version – and here’s part one, in case you missed it.

NEWS, BITS AND BOBS

Gianni Infantino has lost the support of yet another Fifa vice-president, as Hungarian suit Sandor Csanyi blasted the president’s “professional judgment and leadership” in an explosive letter. There’s no respite for the besieged Fifa supremo, with fans’ groups launching a petition calling for him to resign.

TNT Sports will make the first half-hour of their live Premier League broadcasts available on YouTube this season, starting with Manchester United’s trip to Hull this Saturday.

Two goals from Celtic’s summer signing Camilo Durán saw the Scottish champions build a commanding first leg lead over Austria’s Lask in their Bigger Cup playoff. “He was exceptional. Really exceptional,” cooed Martin O’Neill of his new striker.

Frank Lampard wants Coventry to impose themselves on the Premier League ahead of their Friday night curtain-raiser against Arsenal. “The last thing I would like to have … is a regret of our approach and that we didn’t give it everything,” he boomed.

In the transfer window, Manchester City are targeting Roma’s Manu Koné as Tottenham pursue a £150m double deal for City fringe lads Savinho and Omar Marmoush. Meanwhile, Aston Villa are losing Ezri Konsa in a £51m switch to Arsenal and bracing themselves for Saudi interest in Ollie Watkins. Poor Unai Emery.

PSG’s opening Ligue 1 game has been moved to Rennes with the Parc des Princes playing surface a risk to “the safety of players” after damage caused by extreme heat in the French capital.

And Sheffield United co-chair, Steven Rosen, is facing disqualification as a director by the EFL after the company he bought the club through two years ago, COH Sports Bidco Limited, was liquidated.

INTER’S THREE LIONS

A shiny English penny for the thoughts of Internazionale’s recruitment team, please. They appear to have become fixated on plucking players from the Premier League, with Curtis Jones set to become the Nerazzurri’s third English recruit this summer after a £30m fee was agreed with Liverpool. He would follow John Stones and Djed Spence in moving to the Italian champions, who clearly believe the only way to defend their Scudetto – a feat no team has managed since 2020 – is to buy English. It’s not as if they’ve gambled on three players nearing retirement, either. Stones may be 32 but he impressed at the World Cup and surely has a few years left at the top level, while Spence and Jones are 26 and 25 respectively and, in theory, at the peak of their powers. The English trio will double Inter’s all-time tally of English players, following on from Ashley Young, Paul Ince and Gerry Hitchens – and might bring a welcome Football Italia vibe to Serie A this season.

STILL WANT MORE?

Our latest pair of Premier League previews are live. Get clued up on new-look Newcastle and Oli Glasner’s Nottingham Forest army.

Manchester United must push through a deal for Carlos Baleba and also sign a left-back to properly back Michael Carrick this summer, believes Dominic Booth.

Milan, Napoli and Atalanta have new managers – but can any of them wrestle the Serie A title away from Inter? Nicky Bandini looks ahead.

Which nine newcomers to the Premier League could catch the eye this season? Opta’s Ryan Benson has the answers.

Speaking of fresh faces in the top flight, the Premier League fixture list has not been kind to Coventry, Ipswich or Hull. Andrew Beasley crunches the numbers on a tricky start for the promoted sides.

New WSL financial figures show the growing power of the elite, and the challenges the rest of the division face. Tom Garry reports.

The Rumour Mill is now in overdrive: Nico González to Newcastle, anyone?

And from instant classics, to some odd inspiration and … a barcode: Hannah Jane Parkinson rates this season’s Premier League kits.

MEMORY LANE

Brighton begin their Tin Pot campaign with a trip to Tromsø tonight, bringing back memories of Chelsea’s trip to the Arctic Circle in October 1997. The snowy conditions proved quite the leveller as the hosts went 2-0 up, with Gianluca Vialli’s late double keeping things respectable as Chelsea lost 3-2. Still, they won the return leg 7-1, and went on to lift the trophy, beating Stuttgart in the final.

DISGRUNTLED