ponsaelius

Scored a brace against Korea

Clubs know we need rid of players and who they are. We have an awful bargaining position.

Part of it with Milan is that CB isn't the priority it was previously with the way Kululu has emerged. They still need a CB, because Romagnoli is probably going on a free, but it's not the major target it was when Kjaer first got injured. They need a CM, RW and striker as a much greater priority and have a limited budget. So I think if they can't get a deal they will move onto another cheaper CB option.

I've been massively unconvinced by what I've seen like. But Liverpool rarely miss a step.

I don't get the accusations that he's bad going forward based on what we've seen like. He's not a flying wing back but there's more ways to offer offensively than that. He generally looks to cleanly distribute the ball out from the back which is massively valuable in an attacking sense. I was expecting a lot more safety first clearances but more often than not he would play it directly into midfield or accurately down the line to the wide player. He also is comfortably carrying it forward into the opposition half and links up well with the wide player. Even if he's not the one playing the cross just offering the overlap is very useful in an attacking sense when your winger can then go inside. Finally - he has shown good set piece delivery which is an attacking attribute in and of itself l. Maybe it's just we've been so short of competence at left back for so long we've forgot what it looks like - but I definitely wouldn't have said he was a defensive full back. If anything I think his attacking qualities have been equal to his defensive ones rather than particularly excelling one way or the other.

I don't see why it would need to be or how you could do so? If not a loan deal it would I instead just be structured with installments. Ultimately it will catch up with you anyway if you overspend or buy badly regardless of when the fee is paid.

I was on board for Lodi but if this means funds focused on forward, wide player and midfielder then it's a good decision IMO.

Love a dodgy loan to buy for FFP reasons. Delay until there's a sweet new sponsorship deal.

Spence is a Boro player.

Balkan central midfielder with a central European football schooling? Yes please.

Messi getting a taste of what it would have been like to get to statpad in UEFA qualifiers.

The line between forwards and wide players is obviously blurred now anyway with teams playing front threes. Many of the highest scoring players basically play out wide. He seems to have a lot in his game and could still be moulded to a particular position.

Appointing a foreign manager hasn't worked in the past. It's not jingoistic to suggest that it usually doesn't work very well. Club managers can spend every single day on the training ground moulding a team to play the way they want, they can go out and sign players to fit a system or an ideology or mentality. Nationality barely matters in that context - particularly in the PL where the squads are so multinational. It's plainly different at national team level. Your squad is monocultural, monolingual - and in the case now will have all come through the same footballing system at youth level. There isn't scope for a manager to come in with a grand tactical plan and pull up trees. You have to deal with what you've got, put a tactical system in place with limited time on the training pitch, foster a good team spirit, and keep the press at bay. As manager in this context you're basically just a placeholder to facilitate the wider system. Southgate is an average coach tactically but he's self evidently brilliant at all of the above that is required to be England manager. I can't understand the clamour to replace him because 1. there really isn't any superior candidate screaming to come in and 2. because he's the most successful England manager since Alf Ramsey.

Reaching a World Cup semi final and the final of the Euros for the first time ever is extremely successful for an England manager. It's utter nonsense to suggest otherwise.

I'm really not sure who England are supposed to appoint instead. It's not like there is a long line of top class English managers who have won loads at club level waiting to be appointed as is the case for the likes of Italy, Germany, Spain or France. In lieu of the above you are best having somebody already on the inside, who already knows the whole FA set up from top to bottom, understands the country's culture intuitively and is good at handling the press. England have in the past, with very strong squads, appointed top class club managers who have performed infinitely worse than Southgate has. All their experience and tactical nouse counted for very little in the England job. Managing a national team is such a different job. My only criticism of Southgate is that he's a bit negative. But negative teams win tournaments - even the best sides revert to it late in tournaments.

Southgate is the ultimate example of victim of his own success like.

Milan is a pretty dull city to visit as a tourist. It's a bit monolithic in scale and reflects its industrial growth. However it has great restaurants, shopping and nightlife and as a footballer it is quite easy to blend into the background there. And as said - most players don't actually live in Milan unless they choose to have an apartment there as well. They'll live in a wealthy suburb or near the lakes.

Different architect but similar mistake was made on the application to move the Shearer statue with NUFC not listed as the applicant originally. In this instance the new consultation period is probably immaterial for timescales because of the need to provide ecology info

Man City were able to offer far more money to players than we are at the beginning (relative to overall wage levels at that time). They also had less barriers to breaking the top 4 at that point in terms of competition. They also started from a better position - with players like Kompany, Hart and Zabaleta already bought by the previous ownership. That's not to say it can't be done and leapfrogging in with a particularly good season. I mean if you extrapolate our form over second half of last season we would have finished top four over a full season. West Ham have not actually been that far off. But I still think there's just as much chance of us being 5th-7th for a good 4-5 years before cracking it.

If I was a top footballer I'd want to win trophies in as many places as I could and have a great lifestyle. With the shorter term deals now more common that is becoming ever easier while still maximising your earning. As a neutral the things that would make me choose NUFC over Milan right now would be if I had a guarenteed starting position and more money. To be honest they're both clearly good options. It really is an incredible fortune to be a professional footballer.

I just don't see why would he regret it if he went there over us? He'll possibly win the league, play in CL, have a great lifestyle. Then still only be 25 in a few years and could move to a top PL team if he wants to. The door is hardly going to be shut. Our project is going to be a hard sell over that. It's likely to be 5 years of gradually pushing towards CL.

Going to Milan is guaranteed CL football from next year, more likely to win trophies in next 5 years, and getting to share your life between a flat in Milan and a house on Lake Garda/Como. As much as the PL is obviously stronger that's also a barrier for us because we cannot promise European football or trophies right now.

Hope we do have some lower league sides away tbh, good excuse to easily tick off some grounds

Must have been agreed as part of the Nunez transfer

Something to the tune of Chiquitita