CB Fry

Really it would be easier for all concerned if he was just shit. Then we could go back moaning about lack of cover at full back, and how Chelsea pulled our pants down for five million quid.

Lenny Bruce never walked in a dead man's shoes, even for one night.

"Pomp And Circumstance" I believe is the name of the Instrumental that Macho Man comes out too (same tune) Oooooooooh yeeeeeeeeah Tried to put a Macho Man Gif in but absolutely no idea how to. And there are fucking loads.

No problem: Why are you being such a twat about Haaland?

Bring me my bow of burning gold.

Why don't you just go and support Brazil or Germany then?

Quite. From my point of view I have no interest in seeing that lad play for England. What with him not being English and everything. Honestly it is utterly bizarre that there are some people having a go at the lad for wanting to play for his actual home country rather than to give his international career up to play under a flag of convenience. Well done to the lad, be proud of your home.

He will never be a true great until he goes on the longest unbroken run of victorious sporting bets in the history of gambling.

It's been a funny old day for that kind of thing. The Boris Johnson dad story where he is slapping women's behinds is apparently due to different standards and different culture in old days gone by.....for something that happened in 2003. 2003 FFS.

He won't sing a frigging word of the Albanian national anthem. Not a word of it.

When do they start drilling for that oil down at Jackson's Farm? With the way these do-gooders are going on about so-called "climate" "change" if they don't get on with it sharpish we're going to miss the petrol powered boat.

Didn't realise how complicated the play off stages are. Still twelve teams in it for three slots. Scotland at least guaranteed a home draw but still looks entirely within their power to choke it.

Jesus wept.

Honestly by some distance the least plausible explanation. He had a long contract with Villa so would have been paid by them for the next two years anyway. He wasn't going to be hard up. I am sure he has his reasons for getting back in so quickly but "it's a pay day" will be nowhere near the top of the list.

How about obviously no I didn't and have never, ever said anything remotely close to that. Nice try though.

Involved in five consecutive games off the bench, offered plenty of cover and security and scored a goal in open play. Fuck me, just imagine what the "he's proved you all wrong, he's proved you all wrong" forum div brigade would be making of that if that was Lycano's contribution for us already this season. Clue: they wouldn't be sneeringly describing it as "nothing of note".

You wrote them off, didn't you. You wrote them off.

Like people who said Harry Maguire and Jordan Henderson should have spent the entire European Championships watching it at home on TV? Those kinds of people?

But people wrote off Valery at the beginning - he's definitely going to prove everyone wrong by being brilliant any day now right? I think that's how it works.

Yes, and it is also possible to sign players for the first team: like Adam Armstrong, like Stuart Armstrong, like Che Adams, like Kyle Walker Peters, like Jannick Vestergaard. I didn't think it was a unjustified opinion back then that Vestergaard's replacement should be a player signed with that intent rather than a "one for the future". In Stephens and Bednarek we have two third choice CBs competing for second choice. I would say now that Salisu being an absolute beast this season has made that less of an issue so I salute Ralph for that. Jury still out on Lycano himself though.

As someone who far too often gets into pointless bickering on here about nothing (Look, I'm sorry everyone), this seems a particularly thin issue to argue the toss over. Fight the good fight, though 👍

Nah, you're alright. He didn’t like a particularly exciting signing at the time, which is the kind of thing I said when we signed him. If he turns out to be a Ballon D'Or winning greatest centre back of all time, that doesn't make what I said in August incorrect. He didn't look like a particularly exciting signing at the time. Said it then, still true. My main criticism was that he wasn't the front line centre back i thought we needed, and oh look I'm right. He didn’t go into the first team as a first choice CB. So I was right there too, he's barely played. So remind me what people have been proved wrong about again? What victory lap are you actually on here?

Really odd post. The comments around the time of his signing were closer to "it's underwhelming" (his appearances, reports from his club, the general underwhelming-ness of it, the fact we were picking up third/fourth choice players from relegation level Serie A teams). We'd also just sold a centre back for £15m and in previous windows we'd been buying CBs for £16m-£18m. This guy was nowhere near that. Most people wer not saying "he's useless" off the bat because most people had never seen him fucking play. If anyone is "imagining" things its you.

Yes I get that, but I just think he's had four years of absolute triumph at his boyhood club, in his hometown, as a hero. Within a week he is suddenly flat hunting in East Anglia, or living in a hotel and charged with turning around a completely different club. Also loads of pressure next season because Farke did deliver two amazing title winning campaigns. He scraped Villa up through the play offs. But its not really about "football". I just think at a human level it's a bit mad for him to rebound that quick.

In ten years time when he's signing copies of his autobiography in Waterstones Solihull, they'll be a chapter about how he regrets going to Norwich within a week of being sacked by Villa. Feels absolutely mad to me at all levels.