StanBalaban

Lawrence will have enough connections in the paddock to ensure Stroll Jr. gets a drive. Danny Ric back in the RBR with Perez at AM would be something I could forsee if that seat opened up.

There's definitely the 'Gerrard's mate' factor, you're right.

I do agree, and I have no issue with him leaving if he can't hack it anymore. It's the joy that some seem to find in the hope that he might be pack off to Saudi, Turkey or anywhere. Coutinho seems to be a pretty quiet, humble, family-oriented fella that was once a truly world-class footballer. I have no idea how much of that is truly left as I loathe to judge the merits of a player playing under Gerrard. If the manager doesn't think he's got it anymore then we'll need to send him off somewhere, but given the amount of games we have, and the lack of players with the experience of playing midweek games in Europe, he could still have a role to play.

I understand the need to get unutilised wages off the books, but I'm somewhat surprised by the glee shown by many to kick Phil out of the door. Sure he has a high salary, but he's hardly some toxic, N'Zogbia, Stephen Ireland or McCormack figure. When he arrived, he was great which prompted many of us to want him to sign full time. There was even talk of Spuds nipping in ahead of us. Like many, he massively regressed under the Talentless Mr. Prickly, and then got a longer-term injury. Who knows if he can also improve like the rest of the squad did under Unai. Top clubs pay big wages - we see players on 200k plus per week in this league. To compete near the top, we'll have to get used to players on salaries like Phil, and Lucas 'Bezos' Digne - but even they are at the lower end of a Man U, Chelsea or Arsenal squad player. We're not used to it but, unfortunately it's a part of the game if we want to compete. If Phil has no part to play, he'll be quite rightly sounded out to other clubs for sure but, until then, I don't get the reaction of pleasure derived from wanting him out the door - akin to a new signing coming in. Until Don Unai suggests otherwise, he's a Villa player with a good character, with bags of top European experience, and I hope there's enough left in the tank to play a part in the coming season.

The S*n and the Athletic claiming that ManUre could look to Watkins as a cheaper alternative to Harry Kane.

Yeah. Dated Michelle Pfeiffer in her prime too. Also has the world's thinnest neck.

Whilst I'm in no position to say what anyone should find offensive, I can say that as someone from Indian heritage myself, I'm not particularly troubled by this. I'm probably more bothered by the fairy tale itself, but that's for Off Topic. Sure it's a clunky tradition which wouldn't be acceptable in many parts of the world now, but there's no real intent to cause harm or ridicule anyone here. Had their tradition been to make their wise men brown, I wouldn't be particularly fussed either. Context and intent are important. I'm certainly not going to look at Monchi in a lesser light having seen this. It wasn't really that long ago that Hollywood had films like Short Circuit, where Fisher Stevens was browned-up to play an Indian scientist. Looking back, something like that is far more inappropriate (especially for a family movie), and they could have easily cast an Indian actor to play the role. Pretty cringe worthy today, but not something I'm going to lose my shit about when watching him in Succession. As JV says, context and nuance matter a great deal.

Caicedo looks to be going to Chelsea

Joe Kinnear.

We should get plenty of VAR decisions in our favour, as Monchi has been brushing up on his PG(MOL) Tips.

Given that most, if not all, of our players improved under Unai, I would like to see what Phil has left in the tank. The player that arrived and made such an impact wasn't immune to the massive regression suffered by others as Gerrard's tactics took hold. However, maybe he has lost it?? Don Unai will know if he still thinks Phil can play a role next season. With his status in the dressing room, and the fact that he seems to be a thoroughly decent character, I'd like to see him stay.

Couldn't think of a fish pun.

Time to show us what you're made of...

Now all I can think of is Monchi Tucci.

We need a squad and we've just signed his international team mate. If Bouba is injured and Dougie suspended for example, we'll need YT and LD. Gives us perfect competition for places and the option to rotate players throughout the season.

I think we shouldn't ignore the effect on YT of playing for a manager that has run out of ideas and, as a consequence, constantly being on the end of shit results. As fans, we only get to see the player's output on match day, but look how good footballers have suffered in that past. Our team has been littered with examples: Veretout, Gueye, Ayew, McGinn, Konsa, Chester, Watkins, Coutinho have all shown prolonged periods without any notable form for various reasons. If we had sold McGinn under Gerrard, I don't think many would be congratulating the buying club's fans. Under Emery, he's one of the first names on the teamsheet. Poor management, confidence issues, tactics, playing out of position, poor physical fitness, playing with a niggling injury, mentality, morale, family matters or a combination of a few thing, can make the difference between excelling and looking like a player has never kicked a ball in their life. Sometimes given our vantage point, it points us to the conclusions of downing tools, or simply that the player is shit. As much information the Leicester fans think they have, they can only see Tielemans' match day output, and not necessarily the causation. Don Unai will have a full dossier on every player he considers and, given he's the smartest footballing man we have at the football club, will go through every facet of a player's worth to him (and actually understand the data he has). That doesn't mean everything will work out 100% of the time, but I don't think he would leave much to chance.

FWIW, the Plop fans seem to be complimentary of Ox in the comments

Yeah, butLiverpool fans still love him

We couldn't even fill our bench towards the end of the season, and Young has already left. We have more games this season so we definitely need rotation options. Whatever we think we know about the player, Unai will have left no stone unturned. IF he wants him in the squad it's an absolute no-brainer.

Friend of mine is a Celtic fan and agrees it's a brave move. Says Ange is notorious for being a slow starter. Given time, he thinks he'll be a success, but also thinks the fans will keep him on a short leash.

Thanks. Love you too.

Dated Michelle Pfeiffer in the early 90's!

Not sure, Phillip.