leffe186

Find I don't mind these games or these teams while we're not in that league. I really only hate one prem team atm. Liverpool?

Any American guys having trouble with the NBC feed online? "Coverage Will Resume Shortly"?

Few more than 90 tbf.

"They can all sing where you come from!"

Absolutely, but it looks like the really big signings are out of our reach for the most part. We just don't have enough money to compete at the top table in terms of wages. We need to keep trying to develop the young players so they either make a big leap forward (Kane, Alli) or generate cash (Mason, Townsend). Even the really top youth players have wage demands that we just cannot meet. At the same time, we need to try to find players like Payet and Mahrez - let's say Eriksen and Modric - players who are just bubbling under the top echelon for whatever reason (youth, unfashionable leagues, off-the-field stuff) but who given the right training and situation might develop into top top class players. Based on the past 3/4 years, who are our competitors? Man U, Man C, Chelsea, Arsenal, Leicester, Liverpool, Everton. Five of those teams have wage bills that dwarf ours - that pay way more than we do per player. The other two teams (and Liverpool) have finished above us only once in recent years. The four big boys all bought "real quality", but they were players whose wages would have been out of our league. Leicester and Everton didn't manage any "real big signings", and although they kept their squad largely intact, they both lost one key player to the big boys. Liverpool probably had the most similar window to us - shedding some squad players, bolstering the first XI, and then overpaying you guys for a midfielder. Their "real big signing" was presumably Mane, and I'm perfectly happy to have Janssen and Wanyama instead.

Most lower league clubs rely on loan players, it'd ruin lower league football and just give even more power to the top. It'd also harm the development on young players, who are not good enough yet to play for the first team but are good enough to step down a league for a season for experience. There should be a cap on the number of players you can loan out, but that is it. I don't know how you can argue that removing the loan system would give more power to the top - the loan system quite obviously does exactly that. Chelsea aren't loaning out 38 players out of some sense of altruism. If you remove the loan system, or severely restrict it, then those players that are stockpiled at places like Chelsea would be forced to find other ways and places to build a career. It's simply a way for bigger clubs to soak up all the best talent - talent that otherwise would be spread across more clubs. There is certainly an argument to be made that it might harm the development of some young players by reducing their access to top level coaching. However, with a more restrictive or non-existent loan system, if you're not good enough yet to play for Chelsea but are good enough to play in League One...then just sign for a team in League One. I'd prefer to see that, than to see Chelsea hoover up everyone to generate more money for themselves.

Yup, sure sounds like $35M to me .

This was from two years ago: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2014/sep/09/chelsea-loan-players-change-rules-wild-west-football IIRC they have even more out on loan now. I feel like I go on about this a bit, but it's a fucking joke.

Agree with that, his ambition seems to outstrip his actual ability though. He thinks Real Madrid, reality is Real Vallecano-ish. I feel like I really don't have a handle on how good he is tbh. How would you guys describe him? Like a low-rent Yaya Toure?

I quite like him from what I've seen, but he's nothing special no. He is very tidy on the ball. It's really hard to tell from limited appearances though. He's perfectly fine back-up, but injuries threaten to be a real issue. Like I said elsewhere, most of our youth products have ended up at Hull for a nice wodge of cash.

http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-3762696/Manchester-United-snap-highly-rated-young-coach-Kieran-McKenna-Tottenham-Hotspur.html?ito=email_share_mobile-masthead Yet another Spurs youth coach lured away by one of the big guns. I suppose we should be flattered.

Yup - was toying with it anyway but now I think it's a given. A fairly terrible start all round.

Don't think he was all that embarrassing tbh, seemed fair enough to me.

..."The amendments made will continue to ensure qualification based on sporting merit, and the right of all associations and their clubs to compete in Europe's elite club competitions. "We are happy that European football remains united behind the concepts of solidarity, fair competition, fair distribution and good governance."... Hahahahaaaaa, ahaahahaaaaah....hahaaha.

If ever there was a Sunlun transfer. s***, English try-hard from a big club who had a purple patch never to be repeated for a no doubt massively inflated fee. Let's hope so. Our youth teams are generating an insane amount of money now.

I'm not so sure. I mean, if they get these new guys in they've spent 90M+ and not really lost anyone important. Of course they're up against Man U and Man C spending fucking bonkers nutso money, but what can you do about that? I don't think they're going to make a great leap forward this year, but they're still better than the rest. They did get 2nd last year after all (the cunts).

Hee hee. Of course, if you're essentially giving tickets away to randoms then...this is what happens. I hope this whole fiasco continues in the same vein.

Jammy b******. Well it certainly could have been worse . It's actually the hardest group to call, it's so well-balanced. Nobody great, but nobody shite either. It looks more like a Europa Cup group tbh.

I don't think there's any way we can get a group that isn't as hard as fuck tbh.

He's fast as fuck, but got a lot to learn. Loads of encouraging signs in pre-season though, so it wouldn't surprise me if he does the business in the Championship. I hoped he'd stay tbh, so I have to expect him to do well for you guys.

To be fair, that's your fourth home draw in a row in the League Cup. I think someone switched the numbers - we got a proper Chelsea draw, and they got done .

(You've done this: Ed)

Beer Sheva miss a pen . Should have been a free kick anyway.

We've extorted tons of money from Hull over the years .