Sheaf Saint

Yes, just not at PL level. He's the kind of goalhanger who will do very well in the lower leagues, but the intensity of the PL these days is just too much for him. it's quite obvious he's not up to Ralph's pressing system.

That commentary...

It was a weird one. If he hadn't drawn his right foot away then it would have been a penalty anyway because it was a terrible challenge. But yeah, an odd one indeed.

He hasn't exactly set the world alight at Everton has he.

I don't think this is necessarily a bad idea. He has markedly improved in terms of his defensive capabilities since Ralph took charge, and he showed with his goal last weekend that he can make runs without being out-muscled in the way he always used to. He may not be especially quick, but he's no slouch either and he's the best crosser of the ball at the club. Worth trying out IMO.

I think you are being far too generous to him here. His delivery is consistently dreadful. Never have I seen him put in a cross that looks like it might trouble the opposition defence. They're either rugby-style up and unders, or they go all the way out for a throw in on the other side. I think this might be one of the reasons behind the decision to get rid. Cedric may or may not be a solid enough defender, but his attacking threat is essentially zero, and if we're playing a wing back system we need someone who can put good balls into the box as well as defend.

Let's just wait until 1st Feb before we start bashing the club over this. It's entirely possible that this "don't need to replace him" line is just a smokescreen. If we really are in for this young Danish lad from Genk, we're hardly likely to go shouting about how desperate we are to sign a RB and how much money we've got from the Cedric deal. That would be straight out of the Theresa May negotiation playbook. Yes, the club has got recent form for selling experienced defenders in the January window and failing to adequately replace them. If they have failed to learn a lesson from that then it could prove costly, but let's wait and see shall we?

Think you're forgetting someone, pal

It's because Sala was still the subject of a transfer to a PL rival when this occurred, so it was worthy of discussion in that context. It's an interesting and eye-opening thread, and I think most people are avoiding the Lounge like the plague at the moment due to all the childish nonsense being posted on the Brexit thread. So I hope it stays where it is.

One of which was the Cardiff debacle (which can't be pinned on Ralph, given he only had one day with the squad prior), and another was against last season's runaway champions in a game which he effectively 'threw' by resting several players.

What did we pay for him originally? Was it around £6m? To make a tidy profit on a player whose performances have gone backwards and who only has 18 months left on his contract would be a very welcome bonus.

No thanks. Imagine trying to come up with a song for him!

Let's just hope the doctors made a better job of his surgery than they did with J-Rod's. From what I've seen of him, I think he is a better backup option than Targett, and I think he could fit well with Ralph's philosophy. Fingers crossed for a decent recovery for him, but I guess there is no need to rush him back so I doubt we will see him again this season.

Yeah, because player loyalty has been such a massive aspect of our club in recent years eh?

Well as we have discovered with the whole sorry Pompey saga over recent years, football clubs are pretty much exempt from the normal rules of business.

Oh and I've just remembered - there was a screw loose on the instrument panel, and it was shaking all over the place with the vibration of the engine!

Yeah that's my reading of it. I think I made the same flippant comment after I had my first flight in a Chipmunk trainer when I was in the Air Cadets in the late 80s. It obviously wasn't actually falling to bits - I was just commenting on the apparent age of the thing (which was fair considering it was around 30-40 years old!)

http://www.footytube.com/video/southampton-8-0-sunderland-307218

OK. This report fits his account perfectly... https://aviation-safety.net/wikibase/wiki.php?id=18649 What is your agenda here?

I'm assuming he's referring to one of these... https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Gulfstream_American_GA-7_Cougar

Worse than Darren Powell? I don't think so.

https://twitter.com/RCCelta/status/1087658686879883265?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw%7Ctwcamp%5Etweetembed%7Ctwterm%5E1087658686879883265&ref_url=https%3A%2F%2Fwww.skysports.com%2Ftransfer-centre

Talking to a Villa fan at work today and apparently he hardly featured. Seems a bit odd if they were paying such a huge amount for his wages.

Would have thought this would be a good opportunity for Gallagher to get some game time to build up his match sharpness.

Sky are reporting that Yannick Bolaise has exercised an option in his loan deal to return to Everton, while they evidently expected him to remain at Villa for the rest of the season. I wonder what implications that will have for their squad and their willingness/ability to buy or sell any players?