CB Fry

In fairness they weren’t friendlies to "learn from". Over the two games Danny Ings played about as much as I'd expected and JWP probably about 80 minutes more than I expected. Ings was nothing more than a form-based call up that Southgate had to make. But in reality Ings has no England future, I wouldn’t worry too much about it.

Why? If you're a reporter or the political editor of, say, Sky or CNN, then you're the front person of a collective effort. Newspapers do the same thing ("The Times can reveal"). Saying anything other than "we" would be incorrect. I guess what I am saying is that the small thing in life that annnoy me is people not really understanding how journalists/ism work.

I'd like one with Matt Le Tissier's face on. Circa 1993.

Says the man bawling his eyes out because some people on a football chat show might be different to last season.

The fatal combination of supreme self-confidence combined with being pitifully as thick as mince. Trending with the word "Holocaust" is some achievement for him, probably up there with that first goal against Newcastle.

Jesus wept.

You're kidding yourself son. Salisu was reported in the same "random" way as McKennie was.

Le Tissier made it incredibly easy for them to sack him with the absolute horseshit he was and is coming out with on social media. I called it several weeks ago, and here we are. Utterly predictable. The money and prestige won't be comparable, but would be good to hear him on Solent replacing Big Dave who hs absolutely appalling.

Obviously I've known about the opening fixture for some time but seeing the full list it looks nice and balanced. I will always look at the last three matches and they look perfect if we are in any relegation bother. Fun fact - this is the third consecutive year that Leicester away has been in mid-January. Its my closest away game and it is continuously clashing with my daughter's birthday weekend. Three effing years in a row. FFS.

Fucking have it.

Something about this makes me think that this was the fitness issue that LeG was talking about.

Maybe they picked the wrong international manager from the Low Countries.... Belgium's Roberto Martinez for Barcelona!

Little tip = if you're going to say in a post that something is a "myth", try and avoid making shit up. Koeman never finished fifth with Everton. And the point is he was given an effing fortune post Lukaku (a player he only inherited) and utterly blew it on a load of old shit.

He's not unproven. He is proven to be not really that good whenever he's been anywhere with genuine pressure or expectation. It's a romantic not pragmatic appointment.

The U-turn has been upgraded to a C-turn.

No it doesn't. That's how the Christmas fixtures work and exactly how it should be.

Quite, it sounded like bad news. Vestergaard leaving won't be bad news.

Koeman to Barcelona is a bit like Alan Ball to us back in '93. I remember how excited everyone got about him coming and he was seen as a saviour even though his actual management career was nothing particularly special. And he was great of course. Any other manager with Koeman's record would get nowhere near the Barcelona job. It's just a bit of romance for them. Also, ginger.

I would suggest most of that is the nature of The Athletic, the freedom they give and the kind of articles/content that are looking for rather than Carl being some unbelievable talent. Its highly unlikely the new guy is just going to write Echo-style reports from now on.

Yes, but only those who were only ever going to vote for Trump anyway. This is pretty desperate stuff, and any swing voters from 2016 that put him in the White House i doubt will fall into line this time.

My sources tell me that our first match is Crystal Palace away.

Won't be far away from the first insider knowledge fixture predictions of the season then.

What better way to welcome a new signing by paying tribute to one of Britain's most recognisable paedophiles?

Please can Earthworm confirm.

It's a strange comment. The only thing it tells us is that this journo is absolutely certain we're not interested at all. Because as the official Saints reporter for The Athletic he must be certain that he won't need to interview or profile this guy anytime soon. Imagine if he signed next week and poor old Carl has to write that up.