kingxlnc

Given how much Eddie loves inverted wingers who come in and shoot HBA would have become Mo Salah He is very good at the psychological side, which makes me think he would have spent some time trying to make it work for him, instilling teamwork etc. HBA just wanted to be loved. Our set up now there’s definitely tight knit love across the board.

At least they had two sendings off, are they banned for our game?

Im very surprised Jamal Lewis couldnt be Howe'd

I just mean when you look at the depth that Aston Villa have - letting those two go, and getting Vlach who has played 0 games so completely pointless, it just means there's a lot more work for the recruitment team to do this summer, whereas we'd have been in a slightly better place without it.

It’s crazy to think what a huge difference just having Minteh and Anderson would have done to our summer plans and having strength in depth. Anderson would have become 4th choice midfielder ahead of Willock in my opinion and Minteh would have been a great option against tired legs. Given the terrible transfer window we had in the summer it’s not been a bad season in that regard.

You only need to look at the chaos and how uncompetitive cricket has become because of India and BCCI throwing their weight around. It’s no longer a level playing field, they’ve got too many advantages. Part of why the PL still has worldwide appeal is the TV deal distributes money equally. If it became lopsided it would completely kill the league. This is definitely the American influence as they’re used to having closed leagues without any jeopardy so they need to sway the rules in their favour to ensure they benefit. None of them really care about sporting integrity they care about making money first and foremost and can’t bear losing their seat on the gravy train. ironically the likes of Man City and us don’t need the money so much so they genuinely want to dominate the sporting aspects because of the soft power it gives them.

Was screwing at that one he didn't cut back to ISak in second half No need to be that greedy - I thought Murphy was in the team because he wasn't greedy, but he does make the wrong decisions still quite a lot. He's not a player that's good when he has time on the ball, instinct is best for him

They are a carbon copy of us 22/23 - extremely strong defensively. Wilson that season is like Wood for them this season. Even Pope was as good as Sels has been this season.

One thing about PIF is that they’re notioriously strategic and process driven. Every penny is accounted for and purposeful. When you have unlimited money it’s easy to be careless and a bit like Chelsea but I’ve been surprised how sound the decision making has been in general. With great power comes great responsibility and it does seem they’ve been very good on that front

Even Ekitike is now being linked with £80m(!) moves... Trust our guys blindly tbh - they defo know what they're doing

Shola makes me laugh though, because, you know, it's his interfering, it's his timing. Going on about he wants some youngster out on loan-it's April Fools Day, you know. Ooh, what's more important, you Shola, with your crappy loan deals, or developing some hungry youngster? Ooh I don't know. Ooh what would Eddie say? I think we know-imagine him going out of the door on a training day and Mad Dog is going 'Where you going, you haven't washed the bibs. You haven't put the cones out.' 'Do it yourself I've gotta train some Australians.'

Beyond a joke if so Forget white privilege, this is blue privilege

Get him training in the first team until end of the year, Howe will Murphyfy him in no time

Would sort out PSR overnight

Can you imagine if we managed to fluke a cup under Bruce or Pardew? Not that we tried to compete of course but don’t think the city would have come together in this kind of way, fully united its also the fact it was proper deserved and so comprehensive and the fact the team is so likeable

Why do people think Delap won’t want to be second choice to Isak? He’s 21, surely he would learn a ton from one the best strikers in the world and being coached by Howe. It’s not like he’s 26-27 and first choice at a top or even middling club. It would be a great move for him? Whereas David I understand to an extent

Crazy figure Spurs did the same for that Leeds youngster so wouldn't be surprised Chelsea and Spurs are too focused on the talented youngster strategy - where they'll even pay top dollar. At least with Brighton and Bournemouth they're getting them cheap, so it's lower risk.

I think he will want to see if stage 2 of the project involves us investing enough to become title contenders. He will have been sold the project as a long term thing - stick around you are our poster boy, our Aguero. Bruno will have been told he’s our KDB, Botman our Kompany. So I do see the cup win as critical validation for such players who bought into it in the early days. CL will seal it, so as long we get CL genuinely don’t expect any of the blue chip players to leave this summer at least.

Extremely unlikely of course but would completely refresh the team in one fell swoop and keep the powder dry for two proper purples

Yeah can see him at Barca. However, if we get CL, he will surely see plenty of games. Could even revert to Howe's Bournemouth 4-4-1-1 (with King and Wilson) for some games where we want to play both.

That would be some coup if so. You can't get a better Wilson replacement.

“Let’s play”

Ok impossible then for us. Nailed on for Man U

Would love us to get him and have Osimhen and Isak up front. unlikely of course

They will want a new figurehead because Salah is their icon as is Van Dijk. And Trent is the local boy superstar too, integral to how they play. Allison could also go because Marmadishivilli is coming in the summer. All are amongst the best in the world in their positions. It would like if we lost Isak, Botman, Bruno and Hall in one summer. That’s a heck of a spine.