trousers

Yup, agree... Larin being a case in point... Extremely underwhelming résumé before joining us, yet turned out decent (at this level at least)...

Not one? Every forum has a clutch of contrarians, surely...?

Yeah, poor choice of word on part... I have been gardening all day, so delirium starting to kick in (more so than usual, and it's a pretty high bar...)

AI's view of why Eckert might be treated differently to Bielsa by the FA...

I've been searching for the FA's statement (not the EFL's) following their investigation into Bielsa and Leeds in 2019, and this is all I can find (as reported by the Guardian at the time)... Bit of a wishy-washy second paragraph when they refer to any future occurrences of this nature...

F*** me... The tinpot local 'journos' up there have still got us on their radar... They're beginning to make Portsmouth News employees look half intelligent...

Thanks to Spygate, we've got that covered...

Yup...

They're fuchsia, not pink FFS!

Hmm... 😁

And so was the Bielsa / Leeds case... In fact, Bielsa admitted to much more widespread spying than Tonda.... Unless the FA have changed their charging and/or punishment criteria since 2019, then they surely have to give Tonda the same ticking off that they gave Bielsa?

Watching on my laptop... Defo an orange tinge to my 58 year old eyes!

Any idea who they're there to spy on?

Why are England wearing a top that looks more orange than red...? Or do I need new glasses?

Are FIFA going to expel c.11 teams for illegally spying on their opponents training then...?

Yeah, he should have done much more in the 3 championship games he played in, at an average of 10 minutes per game...

"Best keeper in the championship"

If only we now had a manager that was able to get a tune out of "mediocre championship players"... #wotnotongueincheekemoji?

What have they got to 'investigate' though...? Tonda's effectively already admitted to 'improper conduct' (albeit from a position of relative ignorance, in his words) so surely the decision on whether or not to charge him shouldn't need much deliberation? I can understand the subsequent part of the proceedings taking longer, i.e. for a defence to then be mounted and heard by the FA, but I can't understand why the "do we charge him with something?" part needs to take more than a few days, given it's already a given that he did something wrong.... Out of interest / comparison, was Bielsa actually charged by the FA, but they subsequently decided to give a warning rather than a punishment, or did they decide not to charge him with anything in the first place? The whole process is a mystery to me... All I'm asking for, as a punter with a vested interest, is some clarity on the FA's process... Which doesn't seem too unreasonable a desire to me....

We've had a fair few 'experienced' (over 25) during SR's reign too... But, I agree that they got the balance wrong (and the quality of the older players have been questionable too)... And I do feel a tad dirty trying to defend them, albeit in devil's advocate mode...

We jest.... However....

This is one of my points of concern... The EFL had a clear procedure laid out (ok, they ended up rushing it for their own ends, but at least we knew what was going on most of the time)... But we know absolutely nothing about the FA process, including their target timelines. I obviously dislike the EFL, but at least they were relatively transparent about what they were doing. Why aren't our local reporters seeking some kind of initial / interim statement from the FA rather than just sitting back and shrugging shoulders whenever they're asked by fans if they know anything about the FA timetable? Bring back investigative journalism, I say!