LondonLax

Hahaha, yes we are just 1 manager sacking away from being a top side!

Potentially, however I am also not a big fan of assassinations on ethical grounds Sharing some of his sordid exploits with the world however? I am much more cool with that

Hence why it's much better to force him out through an embarrassing scandal rather than make him into a martyr.

FIFA wants China to qualify every tournament (potentially India too).

They pretty much double their places and North America is to get more spots than South America. "The proposed breakdown would comprise: Europe 16 teams (13 currently); Africa 9 (5); Asia 8.5 (4.5), South America 6 (4.5), Concacaf 6.5 (3.5), Oceania 1 (0.5), Host nation 1 (1)." https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/10/48-team-world-cup-fifa-plan-2026

Presumably a third of the fans who attended will now be travelling around the world to watch two matches before heading home?

Just voted to have 49 teams in the 2026 World Cup. 16 groups of 3 teams i.e. 1 team has a bye each round. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2017/jan/10/fifa-vote-expand-world-cup-48-teams-from-2026

Now that Corbyn has come out in support of Brexit where do 48% of the electorate now park their vote? Could the Lib Dems make an unlikely comeback from the death?

He is good at championship level where he can head balls clear but his lack of mobility is exposed against quick and tricky Premier League opposition.

As a point of comparison Martin O'Neill used to buy known quantities from the Premier League and pay the going rate for them. We didn't get very many 'bargains' but we did have our most successful period this century under his transfer strategy. I think any truly successful transfer strategy needs a combination of these approaches i.e. a foundation of reliable known quantities (some would say 'boring' signings?) supplemented with a couple of gambles from abroad. Last year the whole squad overhaul consisted of gambles and just based on the law of averages you would expect a number would not work out, that's before you consider things like the usual settling in period required for players arriving from very different leagues.

The game has not even kicked off yet. The lineups have not even been announced. At this point in your football scenario all that has happened is the draw numbers have been pulled out of the pot and everyone is speculating based on that

Someone has tagged an old photo of Lansbury with an abbreviation of the tagline "The East Midlands are better than the West Midlands, bye bye Aston Villa"

I used to hate Liverpool, Spurs and Man U but now we are out of the PL I find it hard to care about them at all.

That's Neil Horan, the guy who ran out onto the track at the British GP and who tackled the leader of the Marathon at the Athens Olympics. Quite the troll. https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Neil_Horan

Na, The Simpsons got in first.

What do you suggest should be done?

Another clear out of players like we had in the summer will set us back to square one again. You can't buy team cohesion, it needs time and a settled side for it to work. If we can get two or three key players and integrate them into the side we will be able to push on in the second half of the season.

Probably the right result all things considered. Our forwards don't play as a unit. It almost feels like McCormack is playing for a different side at times.

The difference between a forward and a defender?

Hutton's been alright to be fair. I'm not a fan of his work either but he's been the the better of our two fullbacks this match.

We probably had enough in quantity just not quality

I am not convinced that this £25m offer actually occurred but if it did it could only be from a club in China. It's too big a risk for a Premier League club.

He bought two central midfielders to replace the two we sold but for whatever reason one of them has not worked out. I think last summer highlights the difficulty in try to buy a whole new side. It is bound to end up unbalanced or with a number of duds. Evolution is much more sustainable than revolution.