The Kraken

Well that’s cheered me right up 👍

IIRC “aswell” is very much a South African thing. And I never met a nice one of them…

Baptism of shite.

I’ll check out Trustnet cheers, as I might be looking to change one of my funds. I’ve heard it said that HL platform fees are higher than others, and it’s true, they just are. I don’t really use HL for reviews of funds, I know someone who got caught out in the Woodford debacle so I take HL promotions with a pinch of salt.

Definitely get advice from an expert, I think that's a given. But also be aware that there are plenty of ways these days where its much easier to monitor and/or manage your investments. When I started investing many years ago, I used an IFA who basically took money off me each year and set up an ISA for me to pay into. I got a letter once a year telling me how much my investments were worth. I fairly soon realised that I was wasting money with this guy as he wasn't offering me any advice, I was just paying into a managed fund. And he still got paid, even if my fund went down. I've been using Hargreaves Lansdowne for many years for all my investments. At any time I invest in around 5 managed funds within an ISA wrapper. You can pay up to £20K into an ISA every year for tax free savings. So get as much into that as you can, do it in yours and your partner's name to double up if you've got lots outside of an ISA. I have ported all my previous workplace pensions into a SIPP within my Hargreaves account. And much like my ISA, I invest in a number of managed funds with it. I also have a savings account through HL for emergency cash savings. That's something that works for me. I like to check my investments every week or so, I can be very flexible about topping up funds. And my ISA's are managed by experts, so I have a comfort level that they basically should jut track the markets. On the flip side; three of my pals have no interest in self management and they use a financial adviser who they have all used for many years. They seem really happy with him, they have an annual review to go through it. Just a case of finding what works for you.

Correct, hostages, my mistake. Very sad news.

Hamas have suspended their prisoner release. https://www.bbc.com/news/live/c2056vkpkrgt

Exactly this. It was a failure of recruitment in the summer. You could see what they were trying to do, they just messed it up with actual decisions. Ramsdale, decent keeper so can’t complain too much but he cost a hell of a lot. Bournemouth showed a different option when they took Kepa on loan and by most accounts he’s having a brilliant season for a fraction of the outlay. I maintain there’s a decent player in THB but he needs someone good and experienced alongside him. We all assumed Downes would step up as he was our most influential player last season, but he’s been an actual shadow of that. And we spent £25M on Sheffield United’s strike force, one of whom isn’t at the club now, so you’d argue we’d have been much better off just targeting one striker for the combined sum/wage. Get that spine right and you’re in with something of a fighting chance, as they can bring along others alongside them who aren’t as strong. Sadly we don’t have much of that at all right now. Our spine yesterday was an absolute disgrace both in terms of personnel and performance.

Quite interested to hear the answer to this too.

The JWP one was better tbf.

Fuck off 🤣

He was our most influential player last season. This season he has been an abject disappointment. I think he’s a much better player than we have seen so far.

We also saw it in the first half with something of a comedy moment. Sulemana picked up the ball in our half and was very positive, going through two of their players with a nice move. He looked like he was going to continue to drive forward but was promptly tackled by Mateus Fernandes who then proceeded to pass it to our left back.

Yeah I read earlier today he’s contracted to 2027. And I’d imagine he’s one of our highest earners. Not sure I see Juric being here next season so a fresh start for everyone if that turns out to be.

Trying to get him out of the way for Sugawara to play sweeper. 5 full backs ftw.

I don’t disagree.

Devil’s advocate, but a CB is probably the least likely of players to get a few minutes of a game unless you’re trying to shore things up, and we’re very rarely in that situation. I agree though, it is somewhat weird.

You’re a very strange man 🤣

I think ABK is bad juju but his limbo of a situation does seem a bit odd.

I’m not sure I’d agree that today was “experimenting” to be honest, though there is a bit of truth to the injury situation (although tbf we did have two centre backs on the bench so it’s not as if we were completely out of options).

THB was contractual but it was a still a managerial decision to loan him with obligation to buy. Im not sure what the rest of your point is tbf so prob best leave it there. You think a lack of money was the overwhelming and primary reason we’re currently so bad. I disagree and think it’s a lot more nuanced than that.

We didn’t have to spend that money on existing players. It was a choice. You just said it yourself. £25m gets you a premier league player, if you get it right. We spent 4 times that amount. In extremely basic terms that demonstrates that the transfer policy in itself over the summer was flawed. Blaming a lack of money on all of it seems illogical to me.