Sounds about right. What is the standard in Ligue 2 like? Very decent stats for last season on the face of it - 17 goals from 31 games.

I knew I should have added the words "as a comfort blanket".

Just a box ticking exercise from the Club's point of view. The longer the release of the minutes is delayed the greater the chance that anything vaguely unpopular and controversial will either have been partly forgotten about and yesterday's chip shop paper or superceded by events and fairly irrelevant.

Interesting take. Weaker at LB then imo. Tyjon COULD be sensational. But do you think he'll feature enough to be considered a Dolan replacement? If he does, might be an inspired move.

I dont know but they probably take their plastic snake to bed with them every night.

I shouldn't really be dignifying that attempt at being clever with a response but go on I'll bite. As the original discussion was whether we'll be stronger this season than last - that's sort of the point.

Fair enough. The question then until we sign a replacement will be "Will we be weaker with Dolan or Hedges on the right?" I think most of us know the answer to that. Cue Mr. Mani. Edit: Whoops. And Rigger.

De Neve and Dolan dont even play in the same position or the same side of the pitch. Until we sign a replacement the question is 'Will we be weaker without Dolan?"

Im not convinced Brittain and at least one of Travis or Tronstad will still be here by the end of the window so a lot depends on who leaves. If no-one of any import leaves then we're 14 goals down on a squad that wasn't exactly prolific last season. Against that we may have added a bit more athleticism in the midfield areas and Tyjon is the unknown variable who could be a sensation. Defensively I doubt Mclaughlin will be as good as Batth was last season but I really rate Wharton and if he stays fit his return is a huge boost imo. As things stand today I dont think there's a massive amount to choose playing wise between this season and last. It'll basically depend upon how well VI shapes up against Eustace.

Don't follow the Lionesses as it were but looking in from the outside it does seem as though this group of players peaked when they won the Euro's 4 years ago and are past their best. Still, they're in the Final so if it were the men Im sure everyone would be saying "Who cares how we played, it's the result that counts".

I remember one of the old time referees (might have been Jack Taylor) saying many years ago that you couldn't penalise every foul in the penalty area or you'd be giving 12-13 penalties a match. My reaction back then was (and still is) why not? If they clamped down hard it'd soon stop. In recent years it seems to have got way worse again. Defenders aren't even watching the ball before it comes over and their only remit seems to be to block the attacker off and they frequently have hold of the attacker with two arms and go unpunished. They were meant to be cracking down on it a few seasons back but that initiative quickly fizzled out and it's gone worse.

Because he tried to get the Club to tie down those very same players here? He's being nothing if not consistent.

We could always let them wear their home strip as well to make them feel even more at home, whilst we wear one of our alternate strips in the hope of flogging a few more of those.

It's really sad that the greats of a certain era are all retiring or dying/ have died off. As a classic/ heavy rock fan I tend to take the opposite view to K Hod and would opine that music stopped round about 1990 with one or two notable exceptions.

Ugh. I know it's slightly more of a squad game than it was in the past but can we not get too Americanised and refer to starters or finishers please? I've not seen anyone seriously suggesting we should sell Gueye, we're at least one striker short as it is imo.

That's one point of view, the other is that you're not a genuine fan if you blindly accept everything that happens at the Club good or bad. As Matty and Ira have alluded to in more detail. Each to their own though.

Sad news about Ozzie, saw him interviewed many years ago - he was hilarious could have been a stand up comedian. Sabbath were a great band - just heard a clip of an interview with him and he said they recorded their debut album Black Sabbath in a little back street studio in 12 hours flat. I find the title track also called Black Sabbath genuinely creepy and unsettling, especially if you listen to it on your own in the dark etc. RIP

Nailed it. Edit: With a bit of luck from their point of view, might get 3-4 years out of a complete reset and a new Mowbray type "journey" before everyone cottons on it hasn't worked.

Apologies. Initialism?

Of course. Lol. Must brush up on my acronyms.

Not sure what an S and C Coach is but it sounds a bit Oooo.....Matron.

And in this scenario the mate has actually done everything he possibly can to try and dissuade your wife from leaving you but she's said "No, I dont love him anymore, Im leaving him whether we end up together or not".

Does that mean we've sold 969 more? 🙂

I think you're completely wrong on this. 100% of the blame attaches to Venky's and our management. 0% to Eustace and Derby or any other Club. That's even before taking into account that Eustace tried to get assurances on these players contract situations in January or February. If Eustace had got his way then, at the very least, even if he'd left, Clubs would be having to pay a small fortune to land these players now.

Seems likely Brittain is going to one or the other. We have a valuation on him seemingly and dont appear to be making any particular effort to persuade him to stay. Was always on the cards when that other RB rocked up.