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Leo Scienza has started following Imran Louza on insta 👀

Yeah, Peretz and Larin signed as a PR stunt and they really don't want to be here. They've actually got a gentlemen's agreement in place that we'll sell them on by the end of the window. Meanwhile Solak's running around threatening to leave horseheads under their duvets if they let slip. It's dark days in the SFC dressing room... Won't laugh if that actually happens 🙃

Yeah true, I think at the time I was saying how maddening it was that we were attempting another season just flip-flopping between Bazunu and McCarthy and people felt that would be just fine. A new GK should've been a priority last summer. That said, we tried for Peretz then and he went to Hamburg, only to end up with us in January, so it kind of worked out... The striker position was a bit more of a muddled mess. We actually did spend a decent fee for the level (£7m) we just unfortunately spent it on Damion Downs. Then Still kept playing Armstrong as a lone striker, stumbled onto a solution with Stewart as the lone striker and overplayed him to the point he was back in the treatment room

Down to the Zs already. When they tell us to fuck off too, do we start again with Aarhus?

Its one defeat Hypo, relax. This squad will get wins as it is, its far more settled than what we had this time last season, and we know its good for the league - and if we lose a couple and buy a couple, we can only really have faith in Spors at this point... he bought in Azaz, Jander, Scienza, Peretz, Larin, Fellows, Roerslev, Dobbin after all - Those are all good players for this level and the only blot on his copybook is Downs for me.

Totally agree with you. Still wish there was a way to get the federations to unify around an early cut-off for transfers, but with all the calendars sitting slightly differently, it won't happen. Either that or find a way of capping the ins/outs once the games start

But we still did a poor job of it that needed rectifying in January.

That may well be the case. Just frustrating that the main advantage we had over our slow start last year was that we had a more settled squad and a better chance to settle in with a winning mentality. That's not really going to be the case if we lose a load of players at the last minute and replace them all with players who haven't been here over preseason. I know it can't be helped but as you say it's frustrating.

I suspect the Watford player didn’t take the piss out of THB’s stammer which is probably why the reaction was different.

No I didn’t try and tell you that. Nor did I make any conclusions about how effective he or the team are based on his position. I am trying to point out how hysterical people are acting over a slight change in player position though. Given a) you seem to think Watford wiping Scienza out at every opportunity in the first 20 minutes was not ‘something for them to think about’ and b) the actual thing that affected the game you have just glossed over with ‘yeh, but’.

To be fair there were some similar grumbles about the recruitment not really being addressed in some key areas around the same time last year, then Fernandes moved right near the end of August and we signed Jander, Azaz and Fellows all in the same day - with Scienza following on deadline day - and it seemed to go away I presume it's going to be the same sort of thing with Spors where we will make some more decent signings that he has had on the back burner for a while, just towards the end of the month using the money from Charles (and maybe THB/Jander/Scienza, if one or more of them suddenly move on) Just annoying that the transfer window works in this way (especially when you're not at the top of the pecking order) and you then have to wait until after the September international break before your squad/team really starts to settle down and gel properly

It's hard not the get the jitters at this time of the window but we normally make a few quality signings as the day approaches. It's also not in the club's interest for teams to think we're desperate

Shovel

Are you trying to tell me that Scienza never drifts in from the outside and draws fouls from there, as well as being able to go on the outside and beat his man there too? Do you think he, and the team overall are more effective with Scienza playing through the middle?

Yes I get that. My point is that if we have rather limited funds and if we deemed it likely that we would be selling some big names like THB we'd have been better strengthening a real area of weakness such as cb rather than spending what appears to be a large chunk of our budget having two top players in that one position. If we have less monetary resources than we thought then I'd have thought we'd prioritise other areas of the pitch. With an inform Azaz Dobbin becomes a nice option to have rather than something more vital.

If Azaz gets injured we have no no.10. Dobbin is decent in the middle - just didn’t get played there

I think if you ignore the pr stuff from the club, players would obviously be very pissed off with the situation and maybe there was more private unrest or requests to leave than we know about. Publically it's been all united and going for automatics but if what Pilchards says is correct and they all want out then I don't see how it can be as united as is claimed.

The Oman thing is interesting, and if you read his words re bombing them, he didn't mention them getting in the way of a deal to open the strait. That's the wide spread assumption, but not what he actually said. The strait won't open. The South Korea thing is odd, but I think it may just be punishment for their unwillingness to get involved in Iran, and leverage to get them to buy more US oil. Either way, he's nuts, but there's more in play here than appears at first blush.

The two players on a booking were due to Scienza playing inside. So moving him outside would literally have been making it easier for them.

Statistically he did some of those things, probably better than you're remembering. But I agree things haven't come off for him so far. But it's two games and this whole "I expected him to be someone else, so I'm annoyed" narrative is ridiculous.

Grave

How much are we paying them?

If the Save America Act gets passed then plenty of non-MAGA people will find it much harder to vote.

Was just thinking over my cornflakes this morning that DZ would be the perfect new club for Gav. Get it done Johannes…

While hailing the Watford player who gave him some after the miss. However, unlike Ayling, THB didn't go off running to the ref to try and get him sent off. Ayling, the perfect example of someone who can give it but can't take it.