Wallace

Injured I think.

I would say the Barnes purchase contributed more to the PSR issue than Gordon.

I heard he was going to be part of the deal if we signed Trafford and that was why he stayed behind when the squad flew to Asia. He did join later - not sure if that co-incided with the Trafford deal falling through.

I don’t think it is that unusual. Going back to the Allardyce/Pardew era, I knew a personal trainer that was employed by both Newcastle and Sunderland players independently of their clubs..

Think Liverpool have already told us that when it came out they were willing to pay whatever it was they said. They are manipulating every part of this and trying to appear all innocent at the same time.

From what I’ve read, it seems as if Guehi is going to Liverpool. Apparently Liverpool and Konate are still far apart in contract discussions and Real Madrid are keen. Usually Madrid would wait to sign him on a free but Alonso wants to play 3 at the back and apparently they are light on centre halves. I am guessing whether Guehi moves this summer or next depends on what Madrid decide to do.

Glad I hadn’t got around to buying a season ticket. Bit of a nightmare for me getting to the GIS.

It was definitely reported that the deal was too expensive for them. Whether that was the whole package or just wages, I don’t know but I did read that his wage demands were high.

The frustrating thing about this is how close it is to the season starting. It really messes us up. We needed a striker to replace Wilson and now need 2 - and one of those needs to be pretty decent. The price for any player (whatever position) will now go up. Unbearable to think that come the first home game of the season, Isak could be playing for the opposition. Mind you he probably won’t be fit to play at that stage.

Media are probably enjoying the narrative that we are failing with our targets. Stepping down a level and still failing will just encourage their spin even more.

The Greek and Dubravka are probably not yet back in training because of international duty.

Guess it is because he has often mentioned in interviews that he likes to read self-motivational books.

Think that was the story at the time - that the club wanted him to put in a transfer request - as they did not want to pay him the bonuses he would have been entitled to.

The unlikeliest friendships are often down to sharing the same agent.

Yes the link is usually the same agent these days.

Not sure. I just heard it on the radio so it may well include the Australian clubs.

Apparently there was an agreement with the NZ FA that they would only receive 50% of the money and the other 50% is to be shared between all the other clubs in their league.

And if he goes, we then need a new right back as a priority.

Personally think Isak is here for one more season. Ideally you would want to bring a player in this season to share the role with him and then take over next. If and when he goes, no doubt other clubs will be asking monstrous fees for any replacement we are looking at so we don’t want to end up desperate next summer. There must be some younger players out there who are happy to learn from Isak knowing they are the future like Livramento was happy to learn from Trippier and take his chances when they arrived.

Might be wrong but I seem to recall that Watford wanted a big fee for Pedro so we backed out and they then got him to sign a new contract. I think Watford then sold him to Brighton the following window for less than they wanted from us.

Could Chelsea have an issue with their home grown quota - at least of first team quality. That could be why they are considering him. They must be looking to offload a ton of players because they can’t have a separate squad for Europe next year,

You could try Backpage. They normally stock a few but no idea how quickly they sell out. Not sure if the one in the Metrocentre also stocks them.

I am not aware of any other club (or even our own previous players) where the players seem to know all the songs and sing them so regularly. Guess that’s all down to Bruno. Never known a player with such an infectious personality.

Where would the entrance be to the Town Moor? Can’t walk too far so if it is at the Blue House end, I think that would be too far for me.

He always said he would come back once we won something.