Keegans Export

Agree with all of this. I initially wanted two CMs but the emergence of Miley and the improvement in Anderson means getting one CM of real quality is enough. It's also interesting that Ashworth (I think it was him) said it would take three summers to get the squad where we needed it. Assuming we address CB and RW next summer, he's not going to be far wrong, although we may need to factor in Trippier and Wilson in particular being another year older.

I've got a lot of time for Poch and I think he'll ultimately turn Chelsea into a top four (or five) team but by the time they get things clicking this season it may be too late to make a push for the Champions League places.

Quite the opposite, I applaud you for your bravery, was a different time back in the 90s

Unfortunately I'd say that there are two people in that scenario that have been working the system for a number of years - the original ticket holder who has been artificially increasing their own "loyalty" points tally, and the new ticket holder who has managed to go to every away game despite not having any themselves - and as is often the case, the crows are coming home to roost. It sounds harsh, in fact it probably is harsh, but I'm struggling to find another way around this issue of people hording "loyalty" points and the fact that away games were/are essentially a lock-out under the previous system.

We keep hearing how easy it was to get away tickets pre-October 2021, so why did so many people apparently have to get their mates to get them tickets and therefore don't have any loyalty points of their own? Genuine question, I haven't done aways since the 09/10 Championship season and that's so long ago I can't even remember how it worked then.

Some (eg The Athletic) are reporting a break clause but no details about the specifics of the clause

Credit where its due, I was skeptical when you claimed the Adidas deal was done and dusted but clearly your info was spot on ??

Doesn't seem like grounds for postponement. If the club have offered to move the scheduled KO and provide a private room (plus food & drink) to watch the game then this is just Halifax just deciding to not turn up. Plus, according to the Halifax statement the league allowed games to be postponed if both teams agreed. Clearly that hasn't happened in this case.

Definitely. If one of the CBs we've looked at ends up being available on a loan + obligation we'll 100% investigate it. I don't think we'll do any more deals that aren't loan first though.

I don't think it can be a 10 if we don't get a CB - all the reports were that we wanted a CM, LB, CB and a forward/winger. Potentially we wanted a second CM but I think Anderson/Miley have changed that and I think the combination of Barnes coming in and Gordon's form means we're pretty set out wide. 9/10 for me if Hall (or a similar quality LB) comes in.

I'm absolutely shocked and appalled at this brand new information that our club is in some way aligned with Saudi Arabia of all places... This is no different to the green away kits, the sponsors, the "warm weather training". We're owned by their sovereign wealth fund. We are owned by Saudi Arabia and we have to take the rough with the smooth on this one.

Regarding Chelsea... Both from today's article in The Athletic. Basically, if more of the signings are hits than misses then it may well work, but if not they're going to struggle to fund another rebuild down the line.

I got size 18 (4-5 years) for my 4 1/2 year old daughter and it was a little too big if anything. And yes it comes with shorts which are pretty good quality.

I think our priority is probably a RCB* but that we accept we probably can't afford any of the ones we really want, so we'll look for a more available LB on a loan with option/obligation. *on the basis that the drop off between the first choice (Schar) and the backup (Lascelles, Krafth) is greater than any other position

That's right but the issue is that we're also still paying off the amortisation of Bruno, Isak, Botman etc That's why we couldn't go mad this summer on the back of "The Champions League money" - that money is only guaranteed for one season at a time and until our secured revenue (sponsorship mostly, or a stream of sellable reserves like Man City, Chelsea etc) goes up we're always vulnerable down the line.

Is it all safe standing in the away end?

Mine was 2 weeks on the dot, same as @midds Quality is fine for £13. The sponsor sticker is a little bit creased/damaged on the far left side. Some of the stitching isn't great. Name & number printing is spot on. I think for a kids kit (4½ y/o) that she'll probably grow out of before the end of the season I'm more than happy for <£15

Mine was the same at the friendly last weekend. Obviously didn't take long to swap to the barcode but if that's happening to 10,000 it's going to slow things down

Well the football argument is that rebuilding the stadium is a way to channel non-FFP funds into the club (by investing in "infrastructure") which can then create FFP income (via matchday, corporate and sponsorship income). The "sportswashing" argument is essentially "We're Saudi Arabia, look what we can do".

What has given you the impression that the Saudi's would be reluctant to spend money? The $400m painting? The £1tn sideways skyscraper in the middle of the desert?

He does score a few cracking pens in the video I've just watched tbf He's a funny one to watch actually. It looks like everything is quite effortless - doesn't seem to be running particularly fast but then you see how much ground he's made up, or he just sort of flicks his leg out and makes what is objectively a really difficult challenge. Reminds me a bit of Yaya Toure in the sense that he never seemed to be really trying but just did everything so effectively.

I've had a quick look on Google Maps and that stadium in Atlanta has a bigger footprint than SJP but it's not that much bigger. Maybe 30%?

I ordered the same, although a little after you on the 29th. Still just listed as "We're expecting it" on Royal Mail tracking so might be a while yet I did opt for getting Bruno G. #39 on the back so maybe that'd delay it.

Yeah Ive seen the same, but it all counts towards FFP and I imagine it's currently very heavily weighted towards the first team pot.

The main difference is that our first team squad is (or was) so far away from where we want it to be that we have to focus investment in that area. Once the main squad is about set we'll start to see more of those Minteh/Brighton-style signings.