TheBrownBottle

I just hope they don’t sack ETH before we play them. Give him until the end of the season

They’re absolutely horrendous. A club with its guts ripped out. They’ve got problems that money couldn’t fix

They couldn’t afford Moyes - the parachute payments ended a while ago.

Yep. I love it when they give it the old ‘no-one wants to read this stuff’ patter as well. As if what we really want to know is Lee Ryder’s view of whether the right back deserved 7 out of 10 or 8 out of 10, and not about that stuff which actually impacts the club’s transfer policy

Aye, it would look like a crazy fee to me. Patterson looks like a decent keeper, but any club buying him would be buying from a bottom-half second division club. Would they really say no to less than that?

You’d have to wonder why their camel partnership wasn’t announced when they had Champions League football if that was the case

Dokko isn’t a Mackem - I’d be frightened if he was negotiating transfer fees for us mind

I agree re the owners and their beloved ‘model’, but there’s no way that those players are all worth those values. Agree to disagree tbf

No-one is paying that money for those players. Clarke is the only one who might attract £10m+

1) hate Villa 2) Villa qualifying for the EC is worse for us 3) hate Villa

We’re a country mile away from Spurs’ income. Villa qualifying is far more damaging to us.

I hope they were both depressed, too. Proud and depressed.

Sponsorship deals are amortised, even if the payment is all upfront

Not sure where the advantage would be there - the club has just been commercially inert. There’s no reason at all that they couldn’t have got a training kit sponsor etc for this season - it wouldn’t be disadvantageous for next season to have got one.

Ferdinand was definitely one of those players. He scored 12 goals in October; he only managed another 13 from November to May. First three months of the season he was unplayable.

Yeah, that one raised my eyebrow too - and I was one of those who felt Peacock was underrated as a centre half!

I don't think either has any relationship with Bruno staying or not

And we'll qualify for Europe ...

TBF some of those selections are baffling

As an unpatriotic Englishman, I've never seen the great draw of being England manager - for me, it should be your last job before retirement. But it might hold greater draw for Howe - particularly given the combination of England's current squad (the midfield and attack is like Eddie's dream side I reckon) and the mediocrity of most of the rest of the field. I do see the appeal of winning a World Cup. I would still be surprised if he's England manager in August, like.

*remembers 1995 and shudders*

I'd be surprised if we sign another CM - we're overstocked in that position. Of course, that's not allowing for us selling any of them.

I've always hated non-BBC coverage of football in the UK - but I also think that the rights for MOTD negotiated by the Beeb is piss poor value for money for a public service broadcaster (over fifty million quid per season), especially given swinging cuts to its news and world service arms. It only pulls about two million viewers - there's no chance it would be seen as commercially viable if the BBC didn't overpay for the rights. The audience share actually went up when Lineker and co. weren't on for one edition. The BBC is a Good Thing generally, and the UK would be significantly harmed culturally and globally with its sell-off. But I don't see how they justify the cost of MOTD.

Me too

The highlighted one is the one for me. Could the player realistically get into a world XI? Gordon doesn't get into my England XI tbh - but that doesn't mean he isn't a top player. Personally, I think his ceiling is a tier below world class - but that's more than good enough for us. He's been outstanding this season.