egg

The simple point is that it's not our choice whether a player extends his deal. We may have tried to tie him down, who knows, but there came a point when it plainly wasn't going to happen. I don't think we end up giving away more players than other clubs anyway. Plenty of clubs have to, it's just one of the harsh realities of the game.

Because we won't allow his contract to run down if there's a decent offer, and common sense says that he'll take big cash/bigger club/guaranteed PL football next season if it's in offer. The only alternative to leaving is that he runs his contract down and walks next summer.

Good post, although I can't agree with the criticism of not getting him tied down to a new contract. It's completely unrealistic to have expected him to commit to a new deal when we were odds on for relegation, and then in the championship. Him going this window is inevitable, and I wish the lad well.

Neville, "basic in the first half is being kind". Good lad.

Ditto!

It was worse than that.

Gordon could have been enjoying his holidays. Poor lad.

And businesses fail all the time. Are you saying that we should have not supported them? Or is it just people that we should have left to perish? And yep, the NHS is shite. I'm not sure anyone has suggested otherwise.

Yep! Genius. Or something.

He's taken the only one off! Good to see Palmer out there though.

Mainoo taking up some decent positions to be fair. We look better with him in there.

No idea, but with Rice sitting deep, we don't need someone else playing the same way. Mainoo in there and no other change sums this manager up.

You know it. Obvious choice is Bellingham in alongside Rice, Gordon wide left, Foden in the hole although if he's done nothing in 20 mins I'd like to see Palmer on.

That was fucking awful.

Yep. Hard to imagine any manager doing much worse with this squad.

Yep. No press. No runs. Doesn't hold the ball up. Doesn't play anyone in. Great finisher, but that's it.

I'd have started Palmer and Watkins, and either Eze or Gordon. Gareth not exactly embracing his squad.

The front 4 just doesn't work. There's no urgency, the press is shit, Kane doesn't link with them, we offer nothing down the left, Bellingham has to drop deep as the midfield 2 don't offer enough and is pretty wasteful. Tonight is a wasted opportunity to mix it up and give Gordon, Eze, Palmer, Watkins an opportunity.

Yep, Sweden too I think just let it do it's thing. The Aussies and Chinese clamped down hard and seemed to be stuck with it forever. In truth, no country had a clue what to do, and there wasn't (at the time) a right or wrong approach imo.

You're better than that. Re the "who's whining". You. I appreciate you got hit hard, but I know people who died of COVID and who've bene left very ill and disabled. Perspective is thinking about those poor sods, not your bank balance. This whole episode has exposed a load of selfish and self centred people.

This will go quite far and wide I'd imagine. Shady as fuck.

No, because that's hindsight, and individual opinion. No country got it right, and understandably so. The price we're collectively paying now (and ongoing) has nothing to do with lockdowns, it's down to the give aways and dodgy deals. Sure, some people suffered a heavier financial price than others, but others lost health and loved ones and those whining about the financial impact upon themselves need a bit of perspective frankly.

Yep. He is "establish[ing] facts on the ground in order to make Judea and Samaria [an Israeli term for the occupied West Bank] an integral part of the state of Israel”, and “We will establish sovereignty … first on the ground and then through legislation. I intend to legalise the young settlements [illegal outposts],” Smotrich said in comments reported by Haaretz. “My life’s mission is to thwart the establishment of a Palestinian state.” And several on here insist that this mess is down to just the Palestinians.

I'm struggling to see how anyone can argue that wasn't a pen. Matey ran into the back of him and bought him down. Penalty all day long. That said, if Stu didn't limp into a jog when tracking back after that corner, he'd have been better placed to help stop that goal. He was level with the lad at one point, went into a jog and the fella ghosted in unmarked. No excuses for that when you've been in the 25 mins and the other lad 100+ mins.

He doesn't use the ball well enough for me, lacks discipline, and I can't see where he'd fit in the RM system - I wouldn't play him as a CF, he's not a winger, not a CM, but arguably he could play off a CF in a 352.