Don't know about "Premier League legend", but he was certainly a tough enforcer in his day. The Dutch tend to know their youth development as well.

Allardyce doing a favor for an agent? I have loads of these, but the one that immediately comes to mind is that I though Grabbi might come good after all when he scored one or two times after he came back from a loan spell in Italy (?).

Decent punt, as long as he's on reasonable wages. It's worth noting that while his main problem throughout his career has been injuries, Mowbray and the medical team has managed to keep notorious sick note Charlie Mulgrew on the pitch for over a year now. My main misgiving is that this has the potential to take valuable first team minutes from Travis, Tomlinson and Wharton.

Norwich started with three ex-Rovers today; Rhodes in attack, Ben Marshall at right back and Hanley in central defense.

Rhodes in his prime would never have created the space and opportunities for Dack and others that Graham and Armstrong do though.

Grow the hell up.

Is Freeman being brought in as compettion for Dack? Or will he be played out of position on the wing? Seems like a strange hole to spend £4 million to plug.

Lucas João came off he bench for Sheffield United and got an assist earlier today. If the owls were ready to part with him I think we could do way worse, massive potential in that lad if he'd be given a it of confidence and a clear role in the team IMO.

I wouldn’t be so quick to get rid of Evans. We’re basing our team on young players on the way up in their career, which I think is the right way to go, but we still need a contingent of experienced players who knows this level or higher, certainly in the central positions.

It's the Premier League as a whole. West Ham, with no money from player sales, European cup play or commercial revenue has still just bought a player for £35 million, and has brought in 6 players before him. Just being in the PL, regardless of quality or result, nets you enormous money these days.

Marcus Antonsson is close to signing for Malmö FF, according to Swedish media.

I appreciate that any tired player could make a similar mistake, but I do wonder if a traditional, out-and-out centre back would have sliced that ball like Walker did.

Pfft, we would have won that if it weren't for Pickford. ...in all seriousness though, a solid example of how a counterattacking team runs into trouble if the other team scores first. Bad decision to bring off Forsberg for Olsson as well, our best period of the game ended there and then.

Sending the Swiss home without breaking much of a sweat... Who's next?

That's Holland, Italy and Germany we've sent home so far. Who's next? Taking on all comers!

Terrible result for Sweden, we'll just have to start with 3 points tomorrow against South Korea and take it from there. At least the German strikers look to be off the boil, might become a big problem for them down the line.

Bleach. I miss the AC Milan ripoff away kit.

Agreed. Sunk due to a combination of losing some of that pace, and coaches falling in love with his abilities as an extreme target man rather than a runner or finisher.

...and in the same category, Shaun Wright-Phillips was a joke at Chelsea and QPR after his pace went as a result of injuries. Looked lethal when he emerged at Man City.

He probably wouldn't have become an England international, but I certainly had higher hopes for David Thompson than what his career turned out to be. Ravaged by injuries, and could then never realign his playing style when his place and tenacity went down a bit.

He's very tactically inclined, likes switching formations and using players in different positions to get the most out of them against various oppositions. Favors an attacking style of play with lots of possession, and he's had a remarkable record when it comes to giving players who are seemingly over the hill or have failed elsewhere second chances and turning their careers around. Östersund's results have waned so far this season, but that's likely mostly due to criminal charges being brought up against their highly influential (and possibly crooked) chairman.

If I were him I'd get the hell out of a club where the manager tells me I'm best used as an impact sub. He's only 23 years old, no time to waste away his career on a bench.

I can see clubs being wary of signing Dack. He's unproven at Championship level, has a season-derailing off the pitch scandal on his resumé, and plays a fairly specialized role that only exists in certain formations. If he keeps performing for us in the Championship next year it will of course be a different story.

Said in an interview a few weeks ago that his contract wouldn't be eligible if the team were relegated. Still, I suppose it wouldn't be the first time a player and his club had different views on that sort of thing.

My shout for a new centre forward: Sebastian Andersson. Available on a free after having having scored 11 in 28 for relegated Kaiserslautern (German second division) last season. 26, strong, tall, hardworking, but still with a bit of pace and not a Heskey-like lump. https://www.transfermarkt.com/sebastian-andersson/profil/spieler/147573