Armchair Pundit

Fucking hate the back by the way, bloody great white expanse, horrible - the whole thing is dog awful, I just can't fathom how anyone can get black and white stripes so, so fucking wrong.

Absolutely honking, imagine messing with the one thing that's synonymous with a team's home shirt - it looks like a bloody barcode, the backs mangin as well.

It's bad enough that Arsenal won the league, imagine how annoying their fans would be if they'd won the CL and done the double. Don't get me wrong, I'm sure English teams have to play against 12 men in a lot of their continental games against teams like Real, PSG, Barca, etc, but the Prem hasn't been anywhere near up to scratch in the last few years, so it's not really a surprise to me that - I was more surprised that Arsenal actually made it to the final to be honest.

I wonder if they or Alonso are miffed at the missed opportunity Fucking scrotes, I hate em

I don't think £69.3m, inclusive of add-ons, is enough tbh, especially not with Everton's sell-on clause. A 25yr old England international, with CL experience should have been another £10m on top of that, especially if there was other interest. Not really sure on why we sold prior to the World Cup when his value could potentially increase even further if he has a decent tournament. The only redeeming point is that it means it won't drag on and any negativity from him will be negated.

... still don't see how teams like Man Utd can be allowed to 'carry' a £650m debt but still be able to spend pretty much what they like. How is that playing fair financially or allegedly 'protecting' the club's financial interests? Meanwhile, we don't have any significant debts and owners who could pull £650m out of their pocket change, but aren't allowed to spend to bring our team up to a similar level. Fucking corrupt bollocks.

Fair enough, I've just been looking at our recent sales over the last few years, you're right - I think, other than being completely screwed over by the Elliot Anderson sale and the Isak balls up, we've done okay. It does annoy me though that if it was any other team, players like Gordon, Tonali, Bruno, would all be 100m+ players (when you consider what we paid for them and how much they've come on).

That could be a good point I guess, but then, if he's seen as that good his fee should reflect that - there's plenty of other players that have been sold in excess of £60m-£80m who haven't had CL experience, etc or been coming up to their peak age.

You say that, but it's not really what he was worth to us and is probably the exception to the rule

But... it's Gordon. I mean, he's 'good', he's quick and he knows how to get a foul, but Bayern, Barca all in a 'race' for him? Is he really their level??? And £60m-£80m being bandied around for him? A 25yr old England international? When we paid what, £40m for him, plus add-ons and sell-on clauses included? How does every other club manage to rake in huge over-the-odds fees for their players, but we seem to barely break even or sell at what appears to be discounted rates?

Just got back from a couple of days away, nice to see other clubs getting their transfers underway, ahead of us as usual... considering the nonsense form last year that contributed to this year's failures and the absolute mountain of changes we need, I'd have expected us to have something lined up early on (still time I know, but it's going to piss me off is teams like Man Utd, Arsenal, Chelsea are able to get their ducks in order that quick while we're still sitting on our hands).

I don't know, ever time I see a player linked with us, suddenly Chelsea's there, like flies round shit.

Good on the EFL if it's upheld, a harsh punishment but fair imo. Cheats should never prosper.

Somewhere that he can spend and buy success again I'd guess, he's never managed a struggling club to success has he? He's done, Spain, Germany and England, I imagine his next stop will be either Italy or France, depending on whether the top club job in either league is available at some point.

Ah yes, thanks for clarifying for Pata

What's that got to do with a player swearing at their captain? They were knacking each other

Can you imagine anyone doing what Pillock did when Shearer was captain back in the day? It wouldn't happen then and it shouldn't happen now. I'm not saying players aren't allowed to disagree with their captain, but he is still the captain and should command a certain level of respect - if Pillock wasn't happy about being called out for not passing, then it's something he picks up with Bruno after the match.

Yeah, can see him going, this summer could end up being a massive clearout of dross and older players as part of this supposed big rebuild. I only hope that we get plenty of transfer business done nice and early, I don't want another missed pre-season.

Chamone, mutha-fuckers!

Amazing what some extended, uninterrupted training can do, just a shame that it's needed us to come out of all cup comps to get to it. Emphasises the need for greater quality depth across the squad though imo.

I can't fathom why any half decent manager with anything about them would touch chelsea with a 10ft barge pole personally... apart from an absolutely obscene amount of money (but even then, is it really worth the reputational damage?). I mean, I'm glad he's not gone to Liverpool, but still.

I've always liked Krafth, rarely put a foot wrong and has been a no-bother, useful squad player. Wish him all the best.

Better, but still don't like the hoop sleeves, should be stripes

I don't like it, they're not our proper stripes imo