stevegrant

Grass

I should have a (more-or-less) full set of the sky blue one at my parents, I think, but worth bringing more just in case, I guess.

He must be fairly highly rated, to be fair, as he wasn't even on the Football League list until two seasons ago.

Once I've got confirmed "extras" and their positions, I'll pick the squads in advance.

Ah yes, should probably have confirmed that... 10.30 kick-off, so please try to be there for 10.00. For those unfamiliar with Fleming Park, the changing rooms are in the small building very close to the astroturf pitch and tennis courts.

Robert Madley has been appointed to referee our game on Saturday, it'll be his first in the Premier League. I assume the powers that be have had to relegate so many of the elite list in recent weeks for terrible performances that it's meant they've had to draft others in to replace them.

All we need is a suggestion of relocating to reclaimed land on the coast to make the most of the potential property value and we'll be right back in 2008/9 again

Also, can I request that everyone brings their own shorts and socks if possible, simply as that'll save me a lot of washing on Sunday...

Yes, now get rummaging

Amazing

Liverpool won't sell him, he's far too valuable, and they definitely won't sell him to Chelsea

Yes and no. The rules come with a very significant caveat. The £4m increase limit has been brought in to ensure that the extra cash from the new TV deal doesn't all end up in the pockets of the players, but the rules also add that the wage bill can increase by more than £4m if the increase is sourced from an increase in commercial revenue. Hence why Man United have been signing up dozens of new sponsorship/partnership agreements. Getting £15m a year from Aon just to sponsor their training ground means that's £15m a year they can add to their wage bill if they feel the need to make any marquee signings.

Liverpool have clearly learned from the Suarez/Evra affair (presumably appointed a semi-competent PR/communications manager), apology statement released already.

Interesting to note that Suarez never actually served all of that 7-match ban he was given in Holland, as the incident happened towards the end of the season and he was sold that summer.

Who'd have thought that, as the total value of the Premier League TV contracts increase, so have the subsequent parachute payments. Come on Nick, I'm sure you're not stupid, but you don't half come across as though you have absolutely no common sense or ability to think sensibly. It's not as if the exact structure of the parachute payments Pompey have been entitled to for the last 3 years haven't been regularly posted on here either. £16m per year for two years followed by £8m per year for two years.

Won't make a great deal of difference. The only impact it has is on the amortisation figure for players we've paid a fee for. For example, we signed Lambert for £1m on a 5-year contract, which means the accounts show a £200k charge each year in amortisation/depreciation. However, having "paid" £800k of that over 4 years, we've since given him a new 3-year contract so the remaining £200k will be split over those three years, reducing his annual contribution to the amortisation bill by £133k a year. Our wage bill is too low to be affected by the "maximum £4m increase" rules that come into play next season. The threshold is £52m, I expect ours will be around the £35m mark.

OK, so this is where I think we lie with a week to go: GK: Chris Summers, Kev's +1 DF: Kev Thornton, Adam Moore, Andy Porter, Lee Chamberlain, Mike Florit, Scott Phillips, "Lighthouse", "Nexstar" MF: Chris Knight, Stu Holloway, Andy Mintram, Jordan Florit, Ben Coombes, "Bwanamakubwa", "JustMike", Tim Mumford, Lee's +1, Andy P's +1 FW: Steve Grant, Scott Griffin, Brad Smirk, "diggs", Andy P's +1 Still need a few more.

TV games for that weekend have already been announced, so no, it won't be moved.

Since Luke Shaw broke into the team, Fox has started 4 league games, all of them due to injury. I'd hardly say that's "persisting" with him. Matt Targett seems to be the next left-back coming through the system but I assume he's not deemed good enough yet. Let's face it, Shaw's the number one and we're unlikely to sign another left-back who's either a) better than Shaw, or b) good enough to challenge to be a first-choice Premier League left-back but happy enough to sit on the bench behind someone who will be 18 years old next season. For the low number of games where Fox is going to be needed, he'll do.

2076 is the official allocation, it seems.

No it wouldn't, Leeds and Boston both went into administration and took an immediate 10-point hit at the end of the game that relegated them. In fact, in Boston's case, it was at half-time of the game that relegated them.

Sure there must be a few, Fleetwood, Burton, Crawley, Accrington (might have played the old version, I guess, but they re-formed), Morecambe...

You were already on the list

OK, at the moment we have the original squad of 15 plus three others, I'd need to get it back up to at least 25 (preferably 28 so each side has a few subs to account for varying fitness levels) to make it viable.

Worth noting, though, that Bradford's attendances have been propped up in recent years by ridiculously cheap season ticket deals. Even if they somehow discover that it's possible to run a football club on a break-even basis, they'll still have by far the biggest budget in that league.