Holmes_and_Watson

81 million. 2 seasons at 35 and 1 at 13. The forest article I saw had them at 61 million.

An interview I caught yesterday asked some questions on tax rises. The labour representative wouldn't be drawn, and then also indicated a growing economy would be picking up the difference. Like links to Corbyn, Labour will say as little as possible and get it over the line. And to be balanced, the Conservatives have kept very quiet too on rises to come. Like @Weston and @Egg say, it would be nice for some transparency/ honesty. Being lied to by omission, is just rather sad. Expecting something better from any of them seems pointless. Some of that is down to them knowing the impact of honesty on getting votes. Labour will have plenty to do, and every rise will be used as a giant stick by their opposition. Their own clock will be ticking as soon as they are in. It won't be long before they are deflecting their own record, blaming what they inherited. Internally, there is already pressure to do more. But it's not funded.

I was picking up on "It really doesn’t matter. It was 5 years ago and has no bearing on what is happening now." That clearly indicates a view that the past doesn't matter. Which is the opposite of what Starmer himself said. A few further posts were also discussing scrutiny applying to all.

Devo 🙂

There will be plenty of clubs looking closely at the Manchester City outcomes, to see what they can then get away with. Assuming, the rules don't change yet again, and Man City, Newcastle and Villa get their way.

Our thoughts are with you, your family and Elijah's many friends at this terrible time.

In our age range to bring in, then. 🙂

From a Villa forum " He's a very good championship player too. Will score lots of goals, bit like Adam Armstrong. " Lots more, the recent ones saying he's not really PL level. https://www.villatalk.com/topic/19280-cameron-archer/page/240/ But Villa have just brought him back, and Emery might see him as useful depth in their CL playing squad. I remember his early cup games, where he was really good. People who watched Sheff It's last season can perhaps offer a view.

I liked him. Got forward and tried hard. Got a chucked under the bus for lack of outcome once, when others were worse. Martin clearly didn't want him. To the point that there may have been things going on behind the scenes. Possibly, just to get Manning in though. We've KWP, Bree, Manning, Meghoma, Larios, Stephens and ABK has played left back (not spectacularly says my, admittedly dodgy memory cell). Oh, and if Fraser arrives, then that's a wing back option. I'd be surprised if we brought in more, unless 1 or more of those goes.

Stig Johansen available. Ex player, bringing valuable experience to the team. A sprightly 52. 🙂

Starmer made a point of focusing on the Conservatives history in the first debate. That you couldn't ignore it. Heavens forbid we call them, or supporters, hypocrites, by not applying it to them. And people do, recalling the alleged war criminal, the guy who sold off half our gold reserves, the state of the economy, unions and the milibands and Comrade Corbyn. People know, as they watch Conservatives and Reform battle, that there's plenty of similar internal struggling within labour. As for Starmer: politician in abandoning previous positions power bid shocker. Not a chance he's going to link himself with Corbyn. No mention of any speeches or internal discussions agreeing with those positions will be volunteered. Just as there hasn't been for any of the pledges or various u-turns. He just has to hold the line for a couple more weeks, and he's in. When he was looking particularly bland, one of his allies called him ruthless. He will ignore all the above, pointing to having made them electable. His positions, policies and stated views will continue to change with the circumstances. Which is just him doing what all of his predecessors, across all parties, have done.

Happy to see us playing our two title rivals in the last month. Massive games.

A common sense, low key, fully costed manifesto ... https://www.countbinface.com/manifesto

Bit messy for fans to take apart tikka masala in front of the England support.

My dad counters this with "Priceless", as no amount of money would have got him away from Norwich. 🙂

Young Farage's Beatles Tribute band, Sgt Pepper's Hitler Youth at Heart Band thankfully didn't last long. 🙂

They just want us to see how close they are to the world's bestest player, at the world's bestest club, recently under the world's bestest manager. He has systems he works better in, and obviously is a good player to reach the levels he has. But playing him in midfield is an indication of how few options we have there. Offered no control, protection or direct attacks when Serbia changed in the second half.

I'd not be giving SR any left field ideas, they could take literally. 🙂

How much would a modern day Martin Peters be worth?

Southgate has been in charge a long time now. Getting a win, however narrowly, in the first game is exactly what's important to him. Of course, he'd love us to get more than that. But is happy that we take as few risks as possible, once that lead is in place. The next game will be the same. England need a point to definitely progress. Southgate will be focused on that. And risks will be taken accordingly. He's not there to have the side express themselves and attack all the time. He's there to get the side through. Which is what he's done.

We could. THB is £20million already (although say spread at £5million over a 4 year deal). We will be carrying the amortisation costs of previous purchases into the current 3 year period though. Downes, if he arrives, might be in tha same area. We have all the loanees coming back on nice premier league wages again. So, that is going to bloat our squad and cost us, until we can ship a few out. The others will have their wages boosted too from last season. In 22/23 we we already at 75% of wages against income. No doubt SR will want that lower. But it's a massive drain on our available funds. Then there's club debts to payoff/ service, depending on what the debts are for. We made a £87 million loss in 22/23. Hopefully that was, as you say, offset against sales. And should we go back down anyway, we'd be looking to offload costs again, to keep in with EFL rules. And next time, clubs will know you are sailing close to PRS, and look to take advantage. I'm hoping it's something we do this season. When I were young, £80 million meant £80 million. Not like these days... 🙂

Overall, Southgate will be pleased his tournament set up got a win, easing off pressure for the next 2 games significantly. Few chances for England, as they looked to capitalise on mistakes, with their lead, rather than push a very strong, physical Serbia back. That approach did mean we got to see some of England's weaknesses. We needed control and central dominance after the lead. TAA doesn't offer that, and Bellingham was given duties other than supporting Rice. TAA offered a lot of mobility, when some direct steel was needed. Gallagher came on, doing better in that regard, but it's not the best part of his game either. It's the squad's biggest weakness. Glad I'm not the only one finding Foden to be droppable. Obviously, to get where he is, he must be excellent technically. But I don't watch much City, and he rarely drives England. He complained about others not controlling possession, but didn't do it himself. Gordon offers more direct threat. Pickford had to make some saves, and the defensive unit looked as though it could be unlocked. Enough done in an excellent opening spell to get the win, and onto the next match.

Bellingham a class apart. Saka causing them all sorts of issues. Kane hardly in it, but taking up all the attention of one of their defenders, moving opponents out of the way. Few chances. Solid, apart from a Trent misplaced pass. As they push forward at some point, Southgate will be looking to exploit the space. Tators fawned a bit over Trent at one point. He's not the specialist in midfield you'd ideally want. But no one has been poor.

Ah. I wondered if that's what you meant. No, the 105 million is the cap. Ours is lower at 81 million. We're playing to a smaller total than those who've been up across the 3 seasons.

https://www.nytimes.com/athletic/5203371/2024/01/15/nottingham-forest-and-alleged-psr-breaches-what-are-rules-when-will-punishment-be-known/