Colos Short and Curlies

Hopefully get to 3-0 then bring the recovering horde on for the last 10-15

Willock, Barnes, Wilson and Isak on the bench. first sub on 75 mins, Hall on for Burn

Nice to see we've got the Pro Evo Fabian in the u21s

It would only work if you had someone with no or very little value left on the balance sheet. although in theory you could do a £100m sale either way

Looking at that I'd be disappointed with less than 24

He's out of contract in the summer isn't he? May be as much giving him a chance to get another deal elsewhere if we don't see a future for him here

How can the medical be tomorrow if the deadline is tonight? They signing him taking the risk that he passes or something? Oh hang on, its Spurs so obv the window closing doesn't apply to them until Saturday

Understandably we concentrate on the impact FFP has on our ability to buy/grow/compete but it will be interesting to see if there is a knock on impact from this window, and then the summer if it is also quiet, on the sustainability of lower league clubs. Trickle down may be an awful concept, but it does happen in football, if premier league clubs aren't paying £15-£20m for a couple of championship players this will really slow the whole money flow down the pyramid. Basically doing the exact opposite that the press release for it claimed it would do

I'm sure I read that they were selling Mangala

Maybe that's when we see Hall and find out he is a regen of Shearer

Joking aside, 5th may look doable after our next 3 games

It's time

If you were Villa right now you’d be psyching up to score earlier than Luton or Sheff Utd. if we were a home I’d say the same about us

I know, it’s fucking played in statistics and data wells these days

im a keegam disciple, it’s 3 at the back!

And I’ll get this in now - there are 4 on the bench who I wouldn’t be unhappy if they end up on the pitch tonight, 3 of them who could switch up the attack and/or midfield

3 at the back, 2 sitting deep and a hybrid 10/8 it’s a subtle shift from how we end up a lot of the time but puts more discipline in the deeper 2 and gives Isak more support.

those other signings included Wood and Burn. on paper tit makes him even crazier for joining after those signings! (actually was Burn a 31st signing?)

The Blackburn loss in 92/93 is the only time in the Premier League era where we've got to the 5th round and not made the quarters. Will we exorcise the ghost or have a nice bookend after this game?

History is on our side today - its historically been a good day including a win against Villa, agreeing a fee for Woodgate and completing the Bruno signing. On the downside Cabaye got a 3 match ban on a retrospective review and I fully expect Bruno to have a 2 match ban after tonight

the more you hear/read the more the whole system seems gridlocked so even loans become fewer and harder to do. if we are right towards the edge of ffp limits then a loan would be the only option now and you’re not going to get anyone that you would want in the team unless you strike it really lucky. At that point you may as well chuck one of the u23s in

He’s nailed on for a yellow tomorrow night

And plays a fucking blinder

The way transfer fees are talked about is a little bit misleading. You don't buy/sell a player and you are not buying them out of a contract. Its the registration that is being purchased, and this is just like any other asset. This particular asset is in effect a license for a player to play. Its all technicality really, you don't have the registration without the player but buying/selling players would kinda be modern slavery And I think you know that in any case. Player contracts are a little peculiar as well in that they don't have clauses that give the right for either party to serve notice, combined with the registration a player has no way of exiting the contract and the club cannot exit it without paying in full. If you go back to Bosman this is why transfer fees were allowed to remain and why mid season transfer windows are in operation. Anyway fuck FFP, its going to be challenged, my guess is by Forest using the additional fee obtained on the BJ sale as the lever to bring a case. Again my guess, the PL will pull back on them and give them a suspended sentence and will rush through some fudge of a reform that allows for greater owner spend. We will no doubt be putting soft pressure from the sides on FMV at the same time with sponsorships and this too will be modified to allow FMV + a % to allow for owner sponsorship. Hopefully Everton don't get let off