Pamplemousse

Does he need a fast start? Really? I'd be disappointed to not beat Leeds at home but the other 4 games are toughies, let's be honest

We have better players so the manager who has kept us up with worse players will get us relegated? What?

My only prediction will be IF we sack Ralph mid season, we will end up relegated.

Right I'll spark the Broja discussion that MLG wanted If indeed Fab is right, and he usually is, not sure it changes the fact that Chelsea want more than we are willing to pay for him. I reckon this drags on until deadline day, which isn't helpful for us.

Not a bad thing tbh, much prefer to be underestimated, same as in 2014 when every man and his dog were predicting relegation after we lost Poch and a load of players. Opposite scale, seem to recall Villa last season being tipped to do very well after a period of heavy spending and that went well for them. More than happy for us to go under the radar.

Some of the stuff towards McCarthy, especially on Twitter, is bordering on vitriolic. He's likely to be the number 2, so everyone just calm down. No need for some of the abusive OTT comments I've seen on social media.

The usual suspects trying to blame Ralph for everything again

Agree with what everyone has been saying above. I rewatched the highlights of our games from last season the other day and the amount of chances Adams missed was incredible really. But he gets into that position so you really have to think that with a little more composure and confidence, he could easily add more to his tally I think it would be stupid to sell him, and especially to a team who it immediately strengthens.

Yeah, I thought 4 was very low bar. Maybe loads of our STHs only do the home ones? Having said that, I was able to get a Brighton ticket as a non-STH and that was our closest away game.

To me it reads like agent talk, wanting to get him a better contract here. And in my view, he deserves a new deal. I expect the conclusion, a bit like with all the JWP stuff last year, will be he signs a 5 year deal and everyone is happy.

I'd argue lawyers are part of the problem. A lot (not all) of them exploit the migrants financially, charging extortionate fees for things like sending emails/sending a letter etc. The reason most people want to come here is actually very simple - we speak English and we have a good economy. And a lot of them believe they will get work easily here, only to be paid far less than the minimum wage (illegally obviously). Most people trying to cross the channel are not asylum seekers, they are economic migrants. After all, why so desperate to come to England when they are already safe and sound in France?

It is true, she's done a documentary with ITV about it as well

I don't think I will ever, ever, ever get over that. I'll be moaning about that in 50 years time to anyone who will listen

He's an odd one on Twitter (although there are lots of them about - we could have a separate discussion about some of our twitter fans and the state of them) Terrible opinions in general on the team and about football in general.

Thanks for the info, it's definitely appreciated to hear these snippets. Do you know what our aims are for this season and what circumstances Ralph would likely leave i.e. only if we're in a relegation battle/sudden collapse in form like last season etc.?

Anyone know how much we would realistically spend before needing to start selling one or two players?

Paul Merson keeps on trying to get JWP there. In an article in the Star, called him soft for staying with us.

Nixon saying he'd be available for between £10-£15M.... Now we know for certain this story is nonsense

Aren't we linked with right backs because of Tino's injury? That was my impression Everton can't afford KWP anyway. In the same vein as Villa bidding for JWP last summer, I'd be surprised if we sold him. Hopefully just agent talk and we'll respond by giving him an improved (and deserved) new contract

Not fussed either way with Broja, but tbh for the price there probably aren't better out there.

I think it's brilliant personally. A lot better than the home kit.

I sent them an email. Apparently they are having payment issues

They needed to sell a player by 30 June to avoid any FFP sanctions. Think they could be in trouble next season. They stayed up but their squad is in a worse state than ours, and their strategy seems to be going for overrated players on big wages

I guess from a distance it will just look like orange with black sleeves so that's probably the template that fits the best

Wolves the only one I think. They wear black shorts so we usually change shorts but wear our home kit