S-Clarke

This is where it goes too far. I'm all for showing respect and I think it's nice to see at a certain level as this is a big historical moment that a lot of us may not live through again, I didn't have an issue with the football being cancelled and I could see why, but what Centre Parcs and the NHS are doing isn't showing respect. It's just nonsense virtue signalling which is showing zero respect to their own customers or patients.

That's nonsense isn't it. What the NHS is doing is incredulous though. GP's shut for the day, hospital outpatient appointments and routine surgery cancelled (which some people have had to wait months for as it is). Is it just me who thinks that is absolute nonsense? I know it's only one day and it is technically a bank holiday, but it's a bank holiday with little notice so they should at the very least honour the appointments booked. For the NHS to shut down at a time when they're already dealing with a backlog is nothing short of diabolical.

He's going to kill Chelsea.

Jeez.

It would be scandalous to ignore it. I'm not a royalist by any means, but this is an event that over 80% of the country have never lived through. You can't just ignore it and expect things to carry on as normal, it's probably one of if not the biggest news events a lot of us will ever live through. As I said I'm not a royalist, but out of respect and in the tradition of this country and all it stands for then it's only right we follow the protocols set out (which were set out before all of us were even born)

I read £4m somewhere.

That's a great statement by Redmond - that's appreciated by all. Clearly a decent human being. Don't wish him anything but success.

Protocol stipulates that all sporting events are postponed for the period of mourning (10 days). This will be announced as postponed tomorrow, as well as Villa next weekend (as this will be the state funeral weekend)

When the news came out at lunch it felt a bit ominous. It is very sad, a lot of us have known nothing else than The Queen. It's just part of life, tradition and she's always been 'there'. There are obviously clear protocols which are now followed but it will still feel odd in the weeks ahead. She has been a great example of our country, makes you proud to live here. A very historical moment to live through.

4-0, jeez.

The pundits love in over TAA is just weird. James is just as good with deliveries from the right, Trippiers delivers are really good as well. But Trent...wow, what a pass, what a cross. STFU seriously. Most over rated player we've had for many a year.

I don't see anything wrong in what he said. It's true. He probably ignored all the advice from good people a few months ago and without question chased the money. Now he's coming back, so the advice people were giving him has been validated. He should have listened as it's delayed his progress now. He was on the bench for us at the end of last season, now he's probably miles away again. There's certainly courage in admitting a mistake and coming back, but equally he needs to realise he made a mistake in the first place and it wasn't what was best. He was too young to really judge that, he just saw the $$ as i said.

I agree, he's nowhere near good enough defensively for the top level. He shouldn't play for England at the world cup, I'd have Trippier/James/Walker/KWP all in front of him.

They do love their OTT welcomes over in Turkey don't they!

Oh I agree with all of that, it doesn't feel right at all. But you have to take it if you believe in yourself, the money he'll earn in a short period will set him up for life probably. I see a lot of Brighton fans on their forum in a bit of denial. He believes in what he has there, he won't get that at Chelsea etc, the players at Chelsea aren't right for him and so on. So some think he'll stay at Brighton because of that. He'll leave for the money and size of club, just as every manager in the history of football has ever done when presented with similar oppertunities.

Signed a 5 year contract in 2020 - so he's still got 3 years left, but he's edging into the territory where we'd need to start talking about renewal.

Brighton have accepted Chelsea's approach to speak with Potter. I imagine they easily accepted because they threw a massive amount of money under the door.

They sacked a lot of their scouts, DoF and technical director though - so who was advising and recommending these players if it wasn't the incumbent manager?

They do strike me as a club with absolutley no direction. They've just spent almost £300m on players which will have ultimatley been Tuchels choice, as they have no footballing people in the boardroom anymore. So they would have been identified and signed on Tuchels recommendation. They feel very unstable and the new ownership don't seem to have any idea how football operates.

Wish him all the best, this is a good move for both parties. My most overriding emotion of Redmond is frustration, he had the tools but you never really saw it on a consistent basis. He did have good potential but he's never realised it, I doubt the craziness of this club since he arrived has helped, but without sounding too harsh he has been part of the problem. We've certainly been ruthless this summer which is refreshing to see, as for too long we've kept players that weren't good enough just for the sake of having 'numbers'. (Kayne Ramsey a case in point).

That miss is why he'll never be a top striker. No composure and he panics at chances, which is a disaster for a striker. Got no problem with his overall game and what he brings to us, but it's all pretty pointless unless we have someone who can score profiting from his hold up and hustling (As we did with Ings)

Crikey, that's a shocker. It was really innocuous as well. I don't think anyone will be able to top that for a worst debut. He has had bad knee probs in the past too.

It strikes me that Leicester got a little too far up their own backsides, thinking they are always going to be/should always be competing for Europe. That's not just their fans, but the club as well - a little bit full of themselves, like we did under Les Reed. Big wake up call for them now. What they're doing now is probably more their level, mid-table here and there and getting dragged into relegation battles with potential relegations. They're pretty much identical to us in that sense, they just managed to get success during that period that all other fans of of clubs at their level will never, ever experience. It's never nice seeing your team get trashed though, there does seem a bit of a toxic feel there running from the top to the players. Rodgers looks spent, so the immediate change is probably going to be a new manager. I doubt it will get them back to where they were though, that's probably them done competing in the upper ends of this league.

Officials are probably the right people to run it given their supposed understanding of the game and the laws, ex players would bring too much emotion into it. But sadly all of our officials are inept, so we're a bit stuck. I see people calling for ex players and even impartial non-football people, but this is just going to make it worse imo. Can we steal some of the European officials for our VAR? We seem to be using our VAR as a a retirement home for failed referees.

I'd agree, this is the wrong kind of game for Elyounoussi. We are going to be expected to be on the front foot here and he's not the player for that, someone like Stu has the legs to burst with the ball and open it up a bit more which we'll need. Edioze is someone to have up our sleeve to replace Adam Armstrong as the game stretches, hopefully he can have the impact Broja did against their somewhat slow defence.