suewhistle

Oh come on, that's a tap-in prediction. :-)

True, but the natural state of the football fan is anticipation of the new season tempered by black-humoured cynicism. How many of you are are going to meet up with your footie friends in the pub before the first game, looking forward immensely but saying something like "oh gawd, here we go again"? It's a useful reminder to the team before they disappear on their French training camp as to how much needs to be done. I'm pretty certain Hughes won't be as obtuse as Pellegrino. Derby were ahead of us in the physical and teamwork side, and I'd never expect Lemina to bust a gut if he's not at 100%, but certain aspects such as the defending for the last goal were worrying. At pretty well any level of the game leaving that much space between the two central defenders would be subject to heavy criticism.

It's in The Sun. Make up your own bloomin mind. As much a fact as anything on here. ;-)

It came up on one of my feeds :-) :-) https://www.thesun.co.uk/sport/football/6822537/arsenal-danny-welbeck-sell-unai-emery/

That seems to have a certain internal consistency. Long could do well in Scotland (C or R). Ings is a local lad hence his presence, but any interest has been denied pretty strongly. We definitely need a new striker. Welbeck appears to be on his way. Thanks for that, and for that price he'd be a good buy in today's market. I thought Everton were sniffing, but then at the moment they seem to have a permanent cold..

Probably. I noticed Dalek's got his prediction in already. But there's nothing original here, and some posters are as predictable as Ashley Young cutting in on his right foot. Best to leave it for a bit and enjoy the sun. I may be a bit worried about our central defence but not to the extent of lamenting too much on here.

Thank goodness we have Cedric, Yoshida and Bednarek to come back. Interesting article about this close season in The Grauniad: https://www.theguardian.com/football/2018/jul/21/premier-league-2018-world-cup-preseason

Hagiology Press have a range of books you may be interested in..

Ooh, beetchy! You could have added Long.. To the other things people have pointed out re family and chaotic loans you could also add that he had a couple of growth spurts in that time, which tends to mess about with fitness and coordination. Anyway, we'll no doubt see him for a bit this afternoon and get an idea of where he is. Some players look the part from the beginning (Stevie Mills, Bale, Shaw etc.) but others take a little longer to get into their stride. Let's hope he's a late developer like Lambert.

I see there are some supportive dads on here, and others who have been so blinded by the professional game that they don't seem to appreciate that sport is enjoying yourself, enjoying the challenge and trying to improve. Do you tell your daughters not to bother in other walks of life too, "because you'll never be as good"? The 19th century called and wants their attitudes back. For all the talk about 'investment' at these higher levels the money involved is peanuts: a week's pay for Zaha, shared use of decent facilities. The reality for most amateur teams is scrabbling around to get matching kit, decent practice balls, access to all weather training facilities, coaches who have had some training and a little shovel to clear away the dog sh*t. It's enthusiasm for the game that we share: at one stage I was training twice a week, travelling hours and not necessarily getting off the bench - unfortunately getting slightly better technically coincided with getting a lot slower! Forgive me if all this negativity makes me feel a little weary. But at least some of the attitudes here don't surprise: some names you just know the attitude they're going to have on any particular subject, and they rarely disappoint. This is a subject that obviously and directly interests me: why some of you are here gawd only knows..

If I had a quid for every guy who made the effort to come onto a thread about women's football and say they were not interested and/or it's substandard I'd be paying for my season ticket in bags of coins and not by credit card, which my statement reminded me of in the post this morning. Let's just posit that GCS is a fat c***, and he may even acknowledge the fact. I go into the pub and make an express effort to go up to him and tell him he's a fat ****. Nah. Just keep quiet, in neither case are the comments helpful, needed or wanted.

Training with the under 23s? Have to admit I checked the background of the training photos and not even there out of focus!

Absolutely this. It will show what is available as you progress, none of which was around 40 years ago. I'm vicariously excited about the opportunities, so get out there in the back garden with a football tonight, DT. :-) Incidentally, I was watching one of the videos with MSC inside the dome at Staplewood with some of the girls practising in the background. More control than I've ever had!

Sigh. I don't think anybody here doesn't expect games to be moved. I was at that game, but it's an irrelevance. What we should be aware of is the slow process of Sky etc. pushing at the limits. From Fridays, now various times on a Saturday, various times on a Sunday, Monday night, with often changes done at short notice. It's for their convenience not ours; they gain, we don't. I've got a season ticket, but quite a few people have mentioned on here that they've given theirs up, with one of the reasons given the inability to get to games. How many games would you have to miss before any one of you gave up theirs?

True, but when did Friday night and Monday night games get introduced? When did the very late changes get introduced, which make it particularly difficult for away fans with pre-booked transport? Nobody has addressed the point I suggested that, if we as fans are so unimportant financially, we should be recompensed if our tickets are not used for rearranged games. There is a benefit to all clubs from being on TV: why should it be the fans who are disadvantaged by the arrangement. As for the attempts to put people down when they get annoyed or raise this issue, I find it a bit sad, but then I find certain people upthread a bit sad anyway - no names, no pack drill - but the sort that are always posting sarcastic, negative comments. We all know who they are.

It's not just Turin though, is it. Every poxy town in Italy has their Juventus club or bar, even down in the south. They make our plastic Mancs seem few in comparison!

Except he isn't a first choice keeper, that's the problem!! I know what you mean though - three keepers paid first team rates! Which is the main real problem.

Thanks for the information Monk. Saints are really raising their game here and I presume with the aim of getting the licence after the recent disappointment. Don't think we've got any girls worth poaching in my club, but it's exciting for the game in Hampshire to have such a local professional centre. I'd love to play on the Staplewood pitches!

Well, he's certainly not a vibrator as he doesn't move much.

That's what I thought too. Where did you read that item, Fudpucker? I wasn't as disappointed as some with our loss to Croatia, as I hadn't convinced myself we'd win like many - and I'm not talking about this forum, but more generally. We have a competent and pedestrian midfield; no Hazard or de Bruyne. A left sided player would have been a useful addition, given our poor showing down that side. I recall Ashley Young crossing once with his left, and that drew remarks from the commentators. I'm sure our opposition had done their homework on him. He's not a bad player but not necessarily the right one in a team context. Anyway, that's over and we've got less than month to wait until the real thing and we'll know by then if RB is still with us. I hope he is.

I listened to a bit of the interview. No chance of any gig there teaching him English as a foreign language. There's always a tremendous difference between northern and southern Europeans in their English ability, but he sounds like an intelligent guy. Let's hope his positioning is better than Stephens and Hoedts..

Or go by train and have a few pints in The Brunswick..

Well, thank you for that cheery thought!;-) Thank goodness we've still got Yoshi, Bednarek and Vestergaard to come in.

Can we afford him? We're going to have to put in non-standard doors throughout Staplewood..

Wait a second, I'll shuffle them. I wonder what else will happen on the CB front? No rumours there then? Apart from the Yoshi/UAE suggestion?