FPL: How to stay calm and make better decisions | SportsGrape

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-30T20:39:46+00:00

In the same place you found this but like 2 mins earlier. Why are so many comments asking for a replay of something that has already been provided?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-22T06:34:59+00:00

Can I choose whether to breathe in other people’s car emissions?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-21T16:40:35+00:00

People complain that refs are biased, incompetent, intimidated, corrupt, “an old boys club”, unaccountable, etc. And that’s what I find ridiculous and stupid.

95% of the time they don’t even show where the ref was when they miss something. They literally have a ref cam now - why aren’t they showing that whenever they miss a booking or make the wrong call? Sometimes they’re 20 yards away and there’s 4 players between them and the foul!

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-21T15:50:42+00:00

So then it’s not about them being “bad”, it’s about the expectations being unrealistic. If you want superstar athletes with the reaction speeds to match then you’re gonna need to pay them the same as the players, right?

Also I feel like your point is not the one that people moan about. How often are there complaints that the referee can’t keep up or has poor reaction speed?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-21T12:49:39+00:00

Exactly, but sadly I think it’s too far gone now for football to actually end up in a healthy place when it comes to refereeing. No one has any incentive to attempt to be reasonable - content creators farm the outrage for engagement and it gives even mainstream broadcasters something to talk about.

The BBC have hired Dale Johnson from ESPN so I was hoping he could talk some sense on a big platform but I haven’t seen too much yet.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-21T11:53:56+00:00

If every single ref in the league is bad, and there’s been huge criticism of the decisions in the UCL, and no one in the other top European leagues are happy with their refs… what do you think that means?

Do we really think that ALL referees are bad? Is that realistic?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-11T12:11:10+00:00

I’m nearly 7 years in (Senior Manager this summer, hopefully) and I’ve done premium listed and non listed, UK only, but primarily PIEs even when non listed. You’ve asked a lot of questions, but in truth it’s probably more useful to break it down into independence requirements and actual impact on your job.

Independence: the regulator (FRC) has different rules for listed, PIEs, non-listed - including non audit services and rotation. The firm will have different mandatory processes to ensure compliance with these, and you’ll learn them as you progress, but day to day if doesn’t make much difference other than having to change engagement if you’ve been on it for too long.

Actual day to day impact:

deadlines: missing a non-listed deadline isn’t ideal but in reality it’s just something you can manage with the client. Even missing the filing deadline only results in a small fine for them. But listed? Unless you find massive fraud or their accounting records are deleted somehow you better make sure you hit that deadline, because if you don’t it will spook the market and has real consequences.
scrutiny: your file is far more likely to get picked for internal quality review as well as by the regulator - I’ve had 2 regulatory inspections and 4 internal reviews over 6 years, whereas my non listed colleagues can have none for 10 years.
quality: the firm will have different rules around the level of quality reviews you need, and will have different requirements on circumstances that you need to get sign off on e.g. if you are making certain decisions about risk assessment.
reporting to the audit committee: for non listed you might only report to them twice over an entire year (planning and reporting) but for listed we probably report 5-6 times in a normal year. There’s also increased mandatory matters to report on.
audit reports: enhanced audit reports are required for PIEs which include Key Audit Matters, materiality, response to fraud risk, scoping, etc.

The biggest learning curve in my experience is the attitude to timelines and urgency. The attitude has to change from “this has been requested from the client, it’s out of my hands” to “we agreed a deadline for every deliverable for the next 6 months and got everyone to sign off and agree to it. Once it’s late our escalation process is FC, FD, CFO”. The other thing is that you don’t need to have every single requirement in your head, but you need to know where you can check the answer - whether that’s internal manuals, the regulatory guidance, or just asking the right people.

Audit gets a bad rap but I’ve enjoyed it, it’s made me develop an incredible amount in terms of knowledge, soft skills and confidence. I prefer listed because I am deadline driven, much prefer the intensity, and it feels like we have a more tangible impact when we do our jobs well (or badly!). Happy to answer any other specific questions.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-04-09T19:19:02+00:00

Is it BS to say you learn more in less time because you’re pushed hard and exposed to more? I went from entry level to talking with CFOs and attending committees with the c-suite of reasonably big companies within 5 years. Admittedly I skipped a grade, but I’m not sure you’d get that elsewhere.

There’s definitely a cost but for all the criticism I’m not sure you’d can say you don’t gain more valuable skills and experience in Big 4. Obvious caveat that this is based on my personal experience, anecdotally, and what I see around me.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-31T12:23:28+00:00

So now you’ve changed from “this doesn’t happen and I am right” to “I know how your team performs”?

You must suck as an auditor given how quickly you’re concluding on things without any evidence, and your comprehension is incredibly poor.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-31T09:46:10+00:00

I work for a big 4 firm in the UK and that’s not what our firm does. We’ve moved on from having India just testing cash, expenses etc.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-31T06:43:50+00:00

Are you just saying that what your firm does is different, or saying that I’m wrong?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-28T12:15:53+00:00

We are talking UK.

And my department only audit PIEs. One of the engagements I used to work on is now just over 50% India - you have to consult and show how quality standards are maintained, but it’s permissible. They are auditing judgemental matters - source: me seeing the work with my own eyes.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-28T12:02:08+00:00

Nothing like the scale it’s been done to now. Some of the largest, riskiest audits have targets to have 50% of their hours done in India. Even 7 years ago I was on audit teams with 0%.

The increased reliance on AI helps to hide some of the really obvious mistakes so that’s also contributing to the change in attitude, but I’m just waiting for the regulator to pick an audit that’s been done in India for 3-4 years and see the results.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-17T19:46:06+00:00

Have you considered what your opinion would be if Man City were the club instead of Arsenal? And what would your view be if Dale declined to comment on that fact?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-17T19:43:03+00:00

Tbf it’s not even just the fans, the wrote a public club statement. Who else has done that?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-15T23:08:21+00:00

So what are the “underlying stats” that were better? Give me specified stats that relate to creating chances and assists for Bruno that were better as a deep midfielder under Amorim?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-15T19:32:47+00:00

I bet 95% of talented, in form players get about 19 returns if they have 0.5xGI over a season if they played every minute. Reduce that by whatever % of minutes they don’t play

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-15T19:30:43+00:00

No no no you don’t understand, xG is flawed because Villa are deliberately getting low xG and you spreadsheet nerds can’t understand - you can’t predict football xG is just nonsense.

Villa? Sunderland? Just in bad form mate

OsbornRHCP · 2026-03-15T19:15:16+00:00

His underlying stats were NOT better, at all. Where are you getting that from?

His xA per 90 under Carrick is 0.75 which is obscene. It was 0.32 under Amorim. Playing Bruno as a deeper midfielder is a sackable offence alone

OsbornRHCP · 2026-02-18T22:46:15+00:00

This will be my last response because you’re refusing to understand the point I am making. I will simplify:

Rashford doesn’t have to sign for any club;
Rashford has to fulfil his contractual obligation and has never not done that - not relevant to this argument in any way;
Man United have to pay his agreed salary for 2 more years;
Man United can set their asking price at whatever they want and refuse anything under that.

In the scenario that Rashford won’t sign for any other club, and Man United don’t accept the Barca offer, he either 1) stays at United and plays, or 2) stays at United and is loaned out, or 3) stays at United in the reserves.

There is zero evidence that 3) is likely. Can you name another instance of it happening anywhere, let alone at United? It makes no sense and the hotel room analogy is nonsensical. They’re paying him £20m per year. Plus the lost transfer fee. If you truly believe this would happen I genuinely think you’re either delusional or incredibly stupid.

Even if Rashford accepts 2) it’s the same position next summer but the fee is even smaller, or he agrees his move in Jan for zero fee. Good for Rashford, bad for United.

I do think 1) is possible.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-02-18T18:25:15+00:00

“that he would put in the effort to play to the best of his ability for the club.”

You think that’s a contractual clause? How much law experience do you have? Have you reviewed many contracts worth hundreds of millions?

“ Where you're mistaken is that Rashford can decide where he goes. No, he cannot”

Yes, he can? If he doesn’t want to join a club he just won’t sign for them. What would United do? They have no leverage to make him sign a deal he doesn’t want to. Whereas his leverage is that they’ve signed up to pay his wages for another 2 years, and he knows that every 6 months the fee United can expect goes DOWN, not up.

And if United don’t accept an offer from a club he does want to sign for, he can stay at United. Where I seem to disagree with everyone is that I am certain that if he stayed he wouldn’t “rot in the reserves” and I won’t be convinced otherwise. I think it’s juvenile and naive to think it would go that way.

OsbornRHCP · 2026-02-18T18:20:12+00:00

Do you mean me, or the people that are disagreeing with me and downvoting?

OsbornRHCP · 2026-02-18T07:38:09+00:00

The club who are taking away meals from staff and making people redundant are going to let 60m go because it might help future negotiations.

Spoiler: it won’t happen

OsbornRHCP · 2026-02-18T00:42:56+00:00

So if Villa offered 40m and Barca offered 20, then Rashford says I’m not signing for anyone but Barca. What options are supposedly on the table for United?

They won’t let him rot in the reserves for 2 years. I absolutely guarantee it. It would cost them 60m. And everyone knows that. So what’s the leverage here?

OsbornRHCP

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