Colos Short and Curlies

after 5 mins was put up on the board

Said it before but I'd love a season where everyone in the top leagues in every UEFA nation qualifies for a straight up one legged knock out competition with no seeding and no country restrictions. It would be absolute chaos but great fun and you would have a genuine champion of Europe. Real Madrid vs some Welsh minnow first round, playing in front of 10 angry welsh men and 50 sheep

Exactly, if the bench is padded out with kids who won't get on then its better to have these 2 back involved, even if there is zero chance of them setting foot on the turf

I think this is an important point when thinking about the longer term sustainability of how(e) we play. This season has been one of pretty much everything that could go against us going against us whereas the opposite was largely true last season - starting at the top no Europe, early FA cup exit, 3 of the Sky 6 underperforming, Villa giving everything a Gerrard sized head start, relatively few injuries and when they did occur they were in a 'good' order such as one of Wilson or Isak being available. Next season will take away some of the issues from this season in terms of level and amount of games being played but we can't expect it to be like last season unless we upgrade in a few areas of the team or evolve the style of play

But we were after him the summer we bought Isak

Or we accept that Isak, Bruno and Botman are our crown jewels and we should consider if Howeball as it currently looks gets the best out of them. If not then 2 options - (a) we sell them and replace, (b) we necessitate a change in playing style.

Give them Wilson for £12m and we'll take Solanke for £55m Seems a fair trade to me

I'm sure we've got some SD mugs still kicking around. Give them 100 of them

But the 'expert' in charge of the footballing side of things will be the Sporting Director. As Sushimonster points out we are in a weird position where the manager was in place before the SD and therefore had to play a dual role in shaping the transfer activity and overall style of play that the club was to follow in the first 2 windows. It is right and proper now that if we bring in a good SD then Howe's influence over them will diminish, even if just through having more people at the table. Howe will leave at some point, merging into the right structure now will minimise the chances of a totally unsuitable manager coming in after him (like Kenny following KK or Souness following Bobby)

The latter obviously, but if you sign up to be a coach you cant complain if you don't get to decide on the managerial bits. Of course we don't know the terms of his remit/contract but its also fair to say his stock with the board won't be quite as high now as it was the summer of 22 or 23 when it comes to the remit of Ashworth's replacement

release clause should mean zip when it comes to intra group transfers. Let Liverpool set the market value for that one

Head Coach isn’t he?

There's a difference in a Pardew team at Old Trafford and a Howe team at home to Luton/Forest/Bournemouth

No Europe and I think he will be replaced. Unless they take a view with 5 games left to write it off and get players with niggles in for early surgery etc - thinking Isak in particular here. The DoF position is an interesting factor here as well. Howes position isn’t as strong as it was 12-18 months ago and the DoFs say in the manager will play into negotiations. i just hope that if we don’t make Europe that they powers that be don’t go down the route of giving him 5 games next season to see. Back him to the hilt or let him go the morning after the season ends.

I don't disagree on City, but I don't think they will rock the boat and challenge FFP unless the PL starts trying to apply sanctions from the charges. The legal Beagles know the position and know they would likely win, but taking a concept to court as being unfair and uncompetitive is different to taking a judgment to court as part of the that challenge. Same with us, yes we may take a view that we need to go legal down the line but we'll be more than happy to wait and see how the Everton and Forest cases play out first

City are tying the PL in legal knots, they have no real desire to challenge FFP knowing they will win in court if and when needed. Everton don't really have a leg to stand on as they blatantly played a game with FFP expecting the PL to roll over. They can only challenge the concept of it which may be tricky and take a long time We have no real appetite to be the ones challenging it, I think we know that any challenge by us would just result in other rules being put in their place Forest, as above have a real tangible challenge on how the FFP rules contravene competition law and also go against the principles of why transfer windows remain post Bosman. They'll appeal first and then challenge the rules in court if needed. The worry with this (for the likes of us) is that the PL buckle under appeal and make a soft provision for sales and purchases within the summer transfer window which lets Forest off the hook but does no good to anyone else

If we ever have the luxury of having Bruno, Willock, Miley, Longstaff, Anderson all fit before the end of the season I'd seriously give Anderson a game upfront if Isak isn't available at the same time. He's the next Shearer I tell ya

I'm sticking to the idea that it will be Forest if they get a points deduction, using the fact that they sold BJ to Spurs within a transfer window that spanned 2 accounting periods, but by delaying the sale they got £15m more than thy would have if they had sold before the 31st July.

Yes, and he has no book value so its all profit in the bank (assuming we don't then spend the same amount prizing someone away from their club). If the compensation is £20m its essentially the same as selling Longstaff for £20m

But a corner is too low a punishment for stopping an almost certain goal

Jumpers for goal posts First man back Last goal wins I'm taking my ball home But seriously, I'd simplify the rules. Go back to it being the same game at all levels. Take money out of the game. less seriously Make players less 'perfect' - more Ginola and less Ronaldo. No idea how I'd do that. Basically take it back to the mid to late 90s 100% deadly serious Remove the stats and analysis, who gives a fig about xG, xA, XXXX. Little White thing in the big white thing is the only thing that matters I'm basically an old man ranting - and I'm only 43

There will be restrictions in his contract as well about what he can and can't be involved in when he leaves

I know we are all about to bask in the glory of an Adidas launch, but I'd love it if we could get some retro Asics training gear as well

and Liverpool don’t have a manager

Seems a little unfair that red cards carry over but not yellows