Hughesy

Didn't watch the documentary so can't comment on how nice he comes across, but I always find it quite funny that the whole 'shagging OAP prostitute' thing doesn't come up (admittedly not on this particular intervirw, more just in general).

Would be absolutely brilliant to see him do that - obviously biased, but in a 23 man squad for a tournament there should always be a wildcard attacker like him I reckon, even if he is just there to bring off the bench.

Such a bad decision to let him go. I'll never get my head round it to be honest - such a shame that we aren't able to watch this guy play for us when we could have had him for his prime years.

This is the f***ing killer. Even at his fattest, most disinterested and greedy HBA would at least get you off your seat once a game. Yep. Both posts sum it up nicely. Yep - in any one season, HBA was a guarantee of winning you points by himself. Embarrassing that we got rid of him when we did - he is now equal second in Ligue 1's scoring charts.

I'll never understand why he doesn't just appoint a decent manager - on any analysis the recruitment 'blueprint' works far better if you invest in a quality manager.

It is imbalanced but has enough talent to be midtable with good manager

That's a massive exaggeration, like. Like f*** it is. Cabella £8m Thauvin £12m 8 + 12 = 20 - (whatever Marseille have paid and will pay in the future for Cabella's services). I don't think this equals £25m. Seems widely accepted that cabella was nearer 12 than 8. In any event we ended paying hba off and he was an asset.

That's a massive exaggeration, like. Like fuck it is.

Would give anything to see him back instead of colback. I couldn't give a shit about how often he loses the ball - he's better than colback. He actually tries to make things happen.

As if Tuchel was going anywhere else but Dortmund tbf According to some telegraph journalist, premier league clubs (plural) turned him down.. But yeah, probably not us.

You have to wonder why didn't just keep hba when you look at cabella and thauvin. We basically spent 25 mill to not adequately replace hba. Genius.

Glad we got this guy instead of Tuchel.

Never heard of anyone pronouncing Waugh other than how Steve and Mark Waugh are pronounced. Learn something new every day.

I thought Touching Distance was a really good read - managed to spot myself at one of the training sessions at Maiden Castle. I didn't personally think that Living on the Volcano was that good - starts off strong, but seemed to get a bit lost in terms of what it was actually trying to say. I'd say Calvin's book on scouts is a better read personally. I've just started Inverting the Pyramid, but I suspect that that might be a bit of a slog. Still, I've got the new issue of the Blizzard to keep me going for light reading..

Useful to have a look at Rooney's tournament record against Lineker's. Lineker produced when it mattered.

In fairness, the article basically says he isn't good enough and the writer has doubts about how good he is for us.

Hadn't actually seen the tackle - was expecting something far far worse than that.

Didn't actually hear the discussion but it was being talked about on The Game podcast where Wright maintained that the two month transfer window could not be shortened to a one month transfer window as that would breach EU regulations on freedom of movement..

Think we've got a squad with some very good players in it, but some glaring deficiencies that will stop us getting close to the top 8. One of the bigger issues that I think we really need to deal with in the next transfer window(s) is the make up of the two central midfielders. Ultimately I don't think either Anita or Colback are good enough.

Can't see the logic in this. We should be looking to keep hold of Cabella and actually use him properly.

Reading a few Roma forums last season and a lot of them seemed to think he was rubbish. Still wish we'd kept him though.

aye what I hate is people who feel like they have an informed opinion on everything football related. Lost count of the number of people who don't watch Belgian football who seemed to be experts on Mitrovic and Mbemba for example. Think I've been told about by a dozen people who haven't watched a single Anderlecht game how good those signings are. "They're absolutely quality they are." I've generally responded with "Are they?" Cue more awesome 'Geordies never happy' anecdotes from The Blizzard, Pickering branch. I agree to an extent, but... I've never seen Mitrovic play (apart from a few mins of CL action here and there), but I don't think not having seen a player means you can't have an opinion on him. For example - I've been aware of Mitrovic for a while through articles online, tweets from journalists or articles in magazines such as World Soccer that would, in my opinion, allow me to say he's a good signing.

Think I'm going to have watch that. Missing seeing him play..

I don't particularly mind him getting a new contract as I am sure there is still a good player if: 1) We buy another centre half and Colo is not automatically first choice; 2) He's on less money; and 3) We sell Williamson.

I'm sure I read that as a nation we perform exactly as you'd expect us to do give factors like population, wealth etc. I want to say the book was called soccernomics or something.