chinapig

His loss is a huge blow. Without his power and pace we are nowhere near as threatening. His mere presence scares defenders and creates space for others. Let's hope he is back in September but with our record of underestimating how long players will be out I'm not holding my breath. I think we have a dilemma with Scott as well. He is an 8 not a 10 so we are unlikely to get the best out of him playing 3-4-1-2. But we don't really have the players to suit 4-3-3.

Don't worry we'll get a letter of apology that will make everything all right.

I wouldn't say mental weakness but yet another injury time goal conceded thanks to a failure to close down is a continuation of last season's pattern. Let's hope that is the last one but when it happens repeatedly it seems less and less like chance. God knows how you put a stop to it though.

We have moved on players we wanted to move on and kept players we wanted to keep. Unless you think we should have got rid of Bentley, Atkinson, Tanner, Dasilva, Williams, Weimann, Scott, Semenyo etc. etc.

Mornington Crescent! I win.?

Yep, a very District Line sort of name.?

Their pressing from the front is ferocious so we're going to have to find a way of bypassing that. In that respect Keira Walsh and Leah Williamson, both good passers, could be key.

I'm not going to hold my breath. There have been numerous "clampdowns" over the years that have been forgotten after the first game. Remember the alleged clampdown on holding at set pieces? Yet a player can still wrap their arms around an opponent at a corner, drag him to the ground even, and referees don't bat an eyelid.

Except that a officials now need to consider 5 bullet points before making a decision apparently. Including what constitutes travelling from a distance, moving quickly and so on. By adding those bullet points, no doubt in good faith, they may have provided more sticks to beat officials with.

Agreed. Sweden like Spain did are trying to deny her space but when she gets on the ball she uses it so well. In her quiet way I think she is one of our key players she just doesn't get the attention the attacking players do.

Though it is prudent to reduce debt from a business point of view the conversion into shares doesn't impact the FFP calculations unfortunately. FFP is essentially concerned with losses over the relevant 3 year period rather than cumulative debt. So we need to reduce costs and/or increase income to stay within the limits. No doubt we have shared the figures with the EFL to assure them we will do so.

Ben has bigged up Scott and Semenyo in the past so I'm afraid the secret is already out.?

Signing lots of players and building a team aren't necessarily the same thing. I do wonder also how much say Arveladze has over signings.

Scandalous. Priority should go to journalists (mostly women) who have been covering the women's game for years but no doubt some bandwagon jumpers are getting accreditation ahead of them.

Under Ashton it meant being unsustainable. Perhaps Steve needs a dictionary?

This seems to be contradictory. If there are plenty of suitors now why have we had no offers? If there are plenty his agent doesn't seem to be doing a very good job of flushing them out.

Perfick!

Man hands on misery to man It deepens like a coastal shelf Larkin's lines on being born in to a Gashead family I think.?

You're right of course. Shame we aren't in a position to stand on principle and tell a player if they aren't committed to us we're not committed to them.

Nice one?. And the Robins of Charlton in the bottom left I think.

It could be of course that he just wants to return to France for personal reasons but if that is the case he and his agent should just tell the club that rather than just not responding. If however his agent is telling him somebody will pay him significantly more money if he runs his contract down then there should come a point when we withdraw our offer imo. Though if he thinks he will get big money in France in particular he clearly has no idea of the parlous state of French clubs. In the meantime Nigel will use him if he has to but he'll be on the bench most of the time.

The problem is nobody seems to want to buy him. Perhaps he and his agent should reflect on that.

Nice Clash reference btw.

At one point Richard Gould claimed we had lost £30m in transfer income. Absolute nonsense imo but I wonder if we nevertheless tried that on with the EFL?

My personal opinion is that he best affects play in the final third from central midfield, not as a AM/10. In modern football parlance, he is an “8”, he’s Josh Brownhill in his middle seasons here, but better with it technically (although Josh improves this part massively). I feel he’s wasted as a 10, I want him to get in the ball as much as possible. Don’t get me wrong he’d still be good in there, but I feel he’s more influential starting in a conventional CM role. We saw that in the Euros this summer too. From the BBC piece yesterday: I think maybe as a box-to-box eight is probably my best position ... We've agreed before Dave that he is best as an 8. The fact that he agrees with us is further proof of what an intelligent young man he is.?