shurlock

Long's touch and control is too erratic to play on the wing. Struggled there before. A busy but ultimately technically limited player. Austin and Gabbi might be interesting, though hard to see how our formation would accommodate them. Gabbi coming off the left?

Brett Omerod would have converted that for a snippet of the cost.

Which he claims to have regretted and learned from. All on record.

Nice edit pal. Quick but not quick enough

8.6/10

Good header Yoshida.

Sloppy ball Caceres.

Tadic has always been bit of a flat-track bully. Excels when the side is clicking but rarely a match winner on his own.

Dodgy touch Caceres.

Good start.

Perhaps Tadic is injured again?

Coz everyone who leaves us is s**t or overrated and everyone we sign is an upgrade or has bags of moneyball potential. Or in Tadic's case, infuriating inconsistency was put down to mysterious, unspecified injuries

Agree. I have every confidence that RK would have seen out his final year, even if everything in football recommends caution and scepticism. Also doubt Les Reed would have come under much criticism if Koeman didn't sign a new contract. Koeman was pretty transparent from the day one that he would honour his contract, giving no real assurances beyond that. No more, no less. Three years is an eternity in management terms. Rather more likely, there would have been an acceptance that we were fortunate to enjoy his services for so long given his enhanced stock and reputation. Those claiming Reed was in a thankless and impossible position are risible and weasel-worded. Reed had choices: he played hardball, betting on his ability to find an effective successor should Koeman not back down -all of which is fair enough. But by the same token, he'll be judged on that decision.

So why don't you reframe your lazy question then.

Don't think its state sponsored in the sense that it is one centralised, joined up push to buy up football clubs and avoid premier league rules. The Chinese state is far too messy, fragmented and competitive for that degree of coordination. On the other hand, large swathes of the private sector in China have ties to government, often provincial government, so in a trivial sense, activity remains state-sponsored in one form or another.

8.2/10 #isitwhoithinkitis

Hard to see a Tuchel-type candidate coming here without assurances of financial backing. Puel may not have got the most out of the squad (so far); but utimately he's had to deal with a squad of variable quality -and a considerable downgrade on previous seasons. That isn't going to change with the appointment of a new manager, especially if the behind-the-scenes rumours are half true.

You think....

Long time, no hear Jack. Been busy cultivating your sources?

Two headers and a couple of posts away

Cheers. Certainly shines light on Rogers departure.

Thanks. Pretty disturbing if true. Don't use 606. Is he a credible source?

What's the news?

Doesn't it mention a potential £61.5m should all three bonus clauses be activated (2/3 seem more than feasible which would put the likely transfer fee at around £54m).

You mean all 0.7% of GDP which has been increasingly and explicitly tied to the UK's overseas military and economic interests. Pure charity and do-goodery it ain't. (see the government's 2015 Aid Strategy: https://www.gov.uk/government/uploads/system/uploads/attachment_data/file/478834/ODA_strategy_final_web_0905.pdf)