Checko

Ellen White is a much better pundit than Joe Hart. Think she has a very natural TV presence as well.

I reckon Olise might stay at Palace another year if a Champions League club doesn't come in for him (obviously there's Bayern, but not sure that's his dream move).

Begonias flower in summer and should be planted in spring. They're also tender so probably won't survive the winter up north. All very on brand for Ashworth.

Think Foden on the left, who wants to come infield all the time, won't work well when you have a fullback like Trippier who wants to cut back infield as well on to his right. Someone's got to stretch the play and get to the byline. Would rather have Bellingham in CM with Rice, Foden 10 (though with plenty of flexibility to swap with Rice) and a LW who's going to offer width and get to the byline.

Tadic is a Football Manager blast from the past!

Watching this game, sometimes football's simple. Get down the flanks, get a cross in, cause problems. All the tapping it around and that's the only thing that's caused a problem all game.

Trips did some overlappping recently. Nothing specifically relevant to this summer, but the one thing he mentioned about future plans was that he hopes to be playing still in 5 years time and is perfectly happy to drop down the divisions to do so.

Now I'm hearing Froggy's posts in a Humphrey Bogart voice.

I still wonder if we might go three at the back a bit more. He'd be perfect on the left of a three and it would allow Tino and Newcastle United Fan Lewis Hall to just bomb forward with gay abandon.

I love a dodgy source rumour to be fair. Thought he looked great when we played them.

You can speak to a player from another club with written permission from his existing club.

He does dribbly dribbly. He does shooty shooty. And he does passy passy. Only silver cloud in us inevitably missing out on him is we won't have to go through the most excrutiating interview in NUFC TV history.

I watched a highlights video of Olise. I shouldn't have watched a highlights video of Olise.

Believe it's first of July so the fee counts for the next acounting period. He was in Chelsea's end of season retained list, so I think that means he's still contracted to them until the end of the season.

Not professional enough to spell his name right!

Reckon you'll be in for him? I heard he was a boyhood Man U fan and you can offer him a prestigious club, immediate European football, big wages and a clear starting spot in his favoured position. I'd be in on that if I was Man U. I imagine it's very unlkely we'll get him but a boy can dream.

And to the list of players whose firstname and surname can both be surnames.

He's got a good thing going on here with a team he's building and ambitious owners. Can't see him trading that in. Also his favourite part of the job is coaching and he basically won't get to do that for England. I can see him maybe doing it for a bit later on when he's burnt himself out here, but I'd be shocked if he went now.

I doubt him being an Ashworth signing is a factor in the sale. I imagine these prospect signings are scouting team & DoF territory, rather than the manager. Just seems like an obvious way to make a bit of money - he's had a good season, good stats, if people are interested it opens up the finances a bit and gives us more options in the market. I'd be suprised if anyone is offering the reported 40 million outright though, unless there's a bit of a bidding war. Maybe 20/25 million upfront with some extras and a sell on? There's probably a couple of other guys I'd sell first to make money, but you can't force peope to buy your players.

Dunno what happened with Sancho, but the flip in blaming Ten Hag is to say maybe Eddie should have found a way to integrate Ryan Fraser back into the squad instead of banishing him. Could have done with his little legs at times last season. Obviously Sancho is a much more valuable asset, but sometimes you've just got to put a red line in the sand to avoid crossing the rubicon to the tipping point of no return.

Wonder if they're going to start trying their luck with Football Manager streamers.

Probably nothing in this, but that's not going to stop me embracing that sweet, sweet righteous indignation.

Yeah, I can see the doctor asking him to sign a consent form for the examination and as soon as he does the doc rips off a prosthetic mask, A-Team style, and it's Todd Boehly holding a signed 8 year contract.

If Barca need to sell players I bet they're releasing rumours about bids at low prices to drum up some interest.