Andy

I've just watched Isak beat the same man 45 times

Until another bid is on the table though they have to treat him as their player. If we suddenly changed targets and they didn't do the "welcome back" tweet for him, it would look a bit cack on their part

Edwards is always dodgy with any positive news tbh. Downie reported yesterday that a new bid wouldn't come until the next few days:

Has anyone credible reported that a bid is about to be accepted? Downie seemed to suggest we'd return with a second bid later in the week. It would look pretty bad from Palace's PR team if they didn't show him at training when the only bid for him that we know of has been rejected.

Bin Salman absolutely seething that his summer transfer plans have been ruined by this single PR photo

I'm sure some of these ITKs do get passed the odd bit of legitimate information. The problem is, as we've seen on here in the past (naming no names), they start to crave the attention and begin mixing bollocks-cocktails of vague hints, "educated guesses", and complete fantasy. The people who know stuff tend not to share it online and jeopardise their sources, in my experience.

In my experience: Edwards posting negative news - normally ends up being true. Edwards posting positive news - normally ends up being bullshit.

Probably him aye. Almost Ali Dia-esque.

Completely agree with this, we had one of the slowest backlines imaginable last season. No recovery pace at all and we were punished for it time and time again, especially when Pope was missing and we had no sweeper keeper either. We've been screaming out for an athletic, pacey CB.

Seems an incredibly difficult deal to do tbh, Palace don't have to sell and you'd think there'd be a lot of other interest. Putting pressure on Milan over Thiaw?

Guler let's hoy in a cheeky bid for Mbappe too while we're on

Said it before, but I'll wait until he does it in the PL before having any kind of reaction to this, Anderson was banging them in last pre season and barely threatened to even shoot in the league let alone score. If he ends up doing well it reflects well on our scouting at the end of the day, in that scenario it's a shame he had to let him go due to PSR but I'd still rather have lost him than Isak or Gordon, and I have a feeling it genuinely was a case of one or the other.

I think it's mildly reasonable to have some concerns about where we currently are in the window, it would obviously be preferable to be moving faster and to have new players go through as full a pre season as possible, especially since Howe generally waits forever to bed players in to the team. However, I don't think it's "bad planning", we've just been left in a position where things are having to be dealt with in a more reactive manner this window. I hate the phrase "it is what it is", but it is... If we get to September and haven't signed a right winger and padded out a few other positions, then aye, questions can be asked of the club. Until then some patience is required.

Nice goal but I'll save shitting the bed for when he does it in the Premier League. Literally seen Haris Vukic look like a better version of Zidane in pre season

The new one looks worse to me but I can't even describe why

Not too worried about the interview tbh. Most of what Howe has said is fairly normal given the changes directly above his head. The only slightly concerning aspect to me is the suggestion that we're not sure about transfer targets/budget with only a few weeks left until the season starts. Hate seeing players come in at the backend of the transfer window, always feels like a waste of the pre-season.

Calm down lads, it's just a power play to push through the transfers of Trafford, O'Shea, Berge and Odobert, nowt to get all worked up about.

I think Almiron's energy can be useful off the bench tbh, the priority is ensuring we aren't going into the season with him as first choice. Selling isn't as easy as it sounds if we can't get good money and he doesn't want to leave. Admittedly a new contract is not really the answer.

I don't think it's bias. If Potter had still been at Chelsea, for example, nobody would really entertain the thought of him leaving them for England. At the very least it would be a major suprise if it happend. International management is a graveyard these days. It's rare now to see managers at the top of their game going into it.

Aye almost all of her videos are absolute quality. One of the few true football "journalists" out there these days.

Incredibly damning when you look at the quality of attacking players available to Gareth.

Howe would be mad to take the England job imo. It's a complete poisoned chalice, and also doesn't suit his hands on style either. Couldn't see it going particularly well.

Would argue Olmo and Williams made their mark too, but outside of Spain you'd be struggling aye

Yeah good as Spain have been against the teams they've played, it's just a weak tournament in general. As KI said earlier, the likes of their 2012 team would have dusted them off no bother IMO. They wouldn't have laid a single glove on them.

This Spain team would definitely have lost to the teams you listed, but those three teams would have won this tournament without a single glove being laid on them. Over the course of this tournament though, Spain have definitely deserved to win for me. They've played the best football, won every match without needing penalties, and swept aside all the other favourites on their way. They are a poor team relative to some other winners, but still the best "team" in this competition.