villa89

I wonder how much of the 25 million they'll get back for him, two million?

Diego Simeone? Thomas Tuchel? It doesn't really matter what Dr. X's ambitions are, someone like Dean Smith or Gary Rowett is as good as we can do until we get into the premier league.

Well the first step that should have been done is (proper) video reviews of diving/cheating and proper punishments for those offences. It amazing just how incompetent the people running football are. It will be interesting to see how VAR works but I think it won't be used half as much as people expect it will and there'll loads of pundits bleating 'why didn't they use VAR there'.

He took the Sunderland job* and he's not exactly liked in Ireland, especially by the media who continually give him a very hard time (which he deserves). The only thing that might stop him is if he likes working part time, international management is as soft as it gets. *I know he claims to be a Sunderland fan.

I hope MON gets the job for two reasons, 1. It will mean no longer having him as Ireland manager, 2. He'll fail and it might put an end to the myth that he's a good manager.

It's the same reason most team play this formation, it's in fashion. Conte plays this formation and people saw that it works for him so they copy it to try to find magic solution that's going to solve their probelms, e.g. Stoke, Arsenal. If 3-5-2 was the best formation for Stoke/Arsenal Wenger/Hughes would have be playing it for years and buying players to suit that formation. Instead they just follow the trends, they'll be wearing skinny jeans and getting peaky blinders haircuts next.

I think the ship is sailing on him now. He's 28 so if you sign him to a five year deal then that takes him up to 33 which means zero resale value. Basically if you sign him he needs to be an instant success and then you hope that you get 3 good years out of him.

His 'glow in the dark' teeth that can be seen from space were punishment enough for that.

It's never going to change under Bruce. That's the way his teams play. It baffles me how people still defend him. I didn't see the game today but being outplayed by Peterbrough isn't a surprise. The local semi pro team here would outplay us because they keep the ball on the deck and pass it. Bruce out.

Do you always get this upset when our reserves lose?

Regardless of that mistake the FA cup would still be in the exact same situation now. Man United not entering wasn't the beginning of the end. The end was already well underway.

It is what it is and it's not going to change. For any premier league team outside the top six or any club fighting for promotion/relegation in the championship the fa cup is just an annoyance and something to get out of the way.

Meh. Probably a good thing as their will be no distractions from the only important task this season which is promotion. As said already it might also have the benefit of stopping people clamouring for the young players to be given game time. There's no such thing as a shock in the fa cup anymore, just sometimes a higher level club's reserves lose. That's what happened to us today. Meh.

There was no excuse for not being able to grab automatic promotion at the start of the season either.

I can't imagine any increase in wages would offset the £15m they are paying now. Seems very odd, also from his point of view why not wait and pocket the £15m himself.

Why sign a player for £15m when you can get him for free in six months? Would it have gone to a tribunal otherwise? I thought that only applied to players under 24.

This is the problem they will have. It already looks like Alli is preparing his exit by teaming up with Wolves saviour Jorge Mendes. Once he leaves then what do Kane and Ponchettino do? Stay with a team who don't seem to be able to win anything and who's aim is to get Top 4 every year and get out of their CL group. Their are six top teams in England and only 4 CL spots so Spurs are always going to be on the bubble. If Kane leaves and joins a Manchester club or one of the big two in Spain then suddenly he's winning things and challenging for titles every year. Spurs also have a shiny new stadium to pay for so it's not like there's going to be lots of money to spend.

True, but I'd say it didn't help that he was utter shite and 90% of the time it was his fault. The Spanish Joe Hart.

A countdown timer that's using hundredths of a second as a measurement.

That's because of the Martinez/Henry management dream team that Belgium have.

Yeah but you can't blame the board for panicking after the Moyes/Van Gaal debacles. They needed someone who could guarantee them champions league football every year and Mourinho will do that. I think he'll last until next season unless he walks in the summer. But I expect he'll complain all next summer he's not getting the transfer targets he wants and use that as an excuse for his failure.

Play the kids and anyone needing a run out. The result is meaningless.

Me too, I don't see much to his game to be honest. I think he could develop into a decent championship player but I couldn't see him becoming good enough for the premier league. Just my opinion but I haven't seen a huge amount of him, just a few appearances this season.

Jordan Ayew.