Wow. If he’s won the league with that, I understand why we’d be interested. For all that we pontificate about managers, tactics etc, the wage bill pretty much dictates league positions usually. I do a predictions league with 20 others for the PL where you predict the final table. This year I...
I think Steele will move on and Bart and Rushworth will fight it out for the #1 shirt (though hopefully not on a rotational basis!), with Beadle out on loan. I have a few Oxford Utd STH mates who are totally convinced that Beadle will play for England so agree the stocks look good.
Was chatting with someone earlier and we put this side together of players we’ve sold in the last 2-3 years. (A liberty taken with Colwill to complete the XI). I still think RDZ did pretty well with he was given to finish 11th and it would be remarkable if we weren’t in a relegation scrap...
I’d add that, like it or not, good defences tend to win the Euros. Portugal, Greece, Italy. Even the great Spain sides didn’t concede many (largely because they didn’t let the opposition have the ball)
I can’t find the article but an interview with Calvert Lewin stuck in my head when he said that Ancelotti coached him that 90% of the time he should be shooting first time and not taking a touch. Given that he looked a world beater under Ancelotti and very average before and since suggests that...
That’s exciting. The Athletic is missing a trick not just having you write the Albion
if you think of it as a 3-4-3 it could work. Barco seems tailor made as the left side of the 4 and Solly is good on the right if he can get fit. We’d need to upgrade Lamptey on the right and Igor as LCB but I...
I’m less pessimistic than that. We have 50% of it already - we have the Champions League, which is where the big money is and where the big players want to play and the big managers want to manage. There’s an illusion of competitiveness but in practice it’s the same sides competing every year. I...
I agree with half of your post and not the other half. Personally I think the PL without the big 6 (or 7 with Newcastle) would be great. We’d have been in with a chance of winning it last year! It’d have less big name players, and a lot less money, but would be more competitive - I enjoyed the...
Depends on recruitment (of coach and players), and on FFP for others.
ReSigning Milner (I still find that completely bizarre) and missing out on our #1 coach target is not a great start on the former. And we know Pervis and Solly won’t be fit for the start. A tough start, continuing our form...
I agree with you. The promotion season under CH I think will always be my favourite ever. We played some great football,, which people forget as CH did what it took to keep us up. But it was right to part ways when we did, he’d run out of ideas and was in truth probably not able to take us to...