benjii

He's 27 and they are probably offering him a contract worth about £20 million to him. Or he can play on reduced wages in the Championship. Simple as that

I thought Russo looked hot when she was crying.

What, their blatant dive? No, it was a blatant dive.

Patterns of play etc. on the ball are good. Dominating again in an away match that was marked down as a tricky banana skin. We do desperately need more in centre mid though. Charles isn't even really sitting deep, he's pushing up to win the ball and then there's a big gap between midfield and back line. Full backs being narrow help to plug it but Plymouth want to go direct and wide, so it suits them.

Rod Wallace.

Are there now? I hope you don't post any mote details.

Don't worry about the Ipswich thing. The best League One team was our one, with Fonte, Schneiderlin, Lallana, Lambert etc.

Probably a spare-rib tickler, melon farmer, pussy footer, knicker picker.

Skate.

I'm with you on this, although if Smallbone is fit I'd start him instead of Downes, I think. Edozie had a poor match, Adams looks too good for this level and Armstrong seems in confident form and is also working very hard, so I'd bring Che in and move Armstrong to the left.

Better off keeping Che and losing him for free next summer. We've got enough money coming in. He's a top player at this level. Norwich couldn't really handle him. Plus he'll probably have more options on a free next year, or a fat new contract with us if we go up. Better than shitty Palace. Move on Sulemana or Tella instead. Then, assuming Downes is coming, we don't need any more midfielders or forwards so just focus on bringing in new a centre back - assuming ABK is leaving - who is an upgrade and can dominate in the air.

If we had a couple of people who could head the ball we'd be great.

Smallbone is class and we have plenty if good forward options at this level. Just need some aerial power.

Drinking in Walkabout in Cardiff before a match there. Police decided to send a bus to escort all the Saints fans to the ground. For some reason, a big chant of "No surrender to the IRA" commenced. I joined in as it seemed funny. That's it.

I think Charles needs to come in at CM. Should give us a bit more defending set pieces (and attacking them). My friend is a Norwich fan and reckons they will probably sit quite deep so hopefully we can get a hold on the game. Other than that, I would say last Friday's team picks itself, with the only question marks being Adams/Adam Armstrong and Edozie/SAA/Stu Armstrong.

They would be fine if we had Pelle up top and Wanyama at centre mid. But we don't have anyone in the team who is genuinely good in the air. [Caveat: haven't really seen enough of Charles to know.] Most teams will have several players better in the air than any of ours. Means we will be vulnerable at set pieces. If we add height somewhere else then they might be fine but I think we should be trying to find a big bugger that's good on the ball (maybe easier said than done).

Not as fit as Nathan Jones was.

Yes. Even if we're going to have very high possession all the time, we can't afford to leak goals from corners and free kicks launched into the box. Even Man City, the possession masters, have a decent aerial capability. Two good centre backs, often a nominal centre back at left back, Rodri (who si very dangerous in the air) and then Haaland as well. We could really use a midfielder or striker with aerial power to help the CBs at set pieces.

If we're being greedy, then the areas where we are currently lacking are: - proper competition at GK - aerial ability at defensive set pieces Other than that, the squad is fine as it stands. I'm not sure we'll do anything much at GK so, really, I think it's just a case of replacing any of the important leavers and, ideally, taking into account aerial attributes as part of that process. When ABK goes we should sign a centre back that is very good in the air. Obviously we'll be looking for one that can pass but I think the Stephens/Bednarek combo will leak goals and we don't have any real height in CM or up front. Likewise, if Adams goes, it would be good to sign a striker with some physicality. I guess if JWP goes then Smallbone might play further forwards (although we saw Stuart Armstrong being very effective in that role) with Charles at deeper midfield, and that will give the XI a bit more aerial strength.

Last night we had 15 minutes of additional time in a match that wasn't particularly incident-packed and only had one or two moderate injury stoppages. I completely agree with clamping down on time wasting, but I didn't really see any of that going on. There were also 8 yellow cards in a game which, again, wasn't particularly rough or ill-tempered. I'm totally on board with the yellow card issued to Armstrong. It's been a real peeve of mine for a long time - if your team has conceded a set piece, you should touch the ball. But, if we're looking at 8 yellow cards and 15 minutes of additional time in a one-sided and fairly uneventful game then we're going to see plenty of matches where the referee has a huge influence on the outcome. It will be interesting to see if they keep this up or if it will be like that time referees started giving penalties for pulling in the box at corners for about a month, then stopped.

He's cheesed off.

Why is there an estate agent in the picture?

China already did that.

You make a fair point. Americans are notorious for not getting involved in racial politics.

Not sure why George Burley didn't go with this. His players out of position could have wandered into their position. P.s. Edozie and Tella are well offside.