Tomaszk

Believe the football league are looking to push through play offs even if leagues are cancelled. More resources could be pushed towards three playoff matches to get them done.

Maybe I've misremembered but I thought he was more or less back for the next game before we stopped. I do (genuinely) think Drinkwater could contribute. He was so disgustingly slow and unfit he couldn't even start to play. If he's fit and can move I can definitely see him starting at the base of midfield.

He should be neck and neck with everyone fitness wise? They're all going through essentially a preseason.

Rangers have proposed a league reform with some B teams in the lower leagues. Could keep the lower end going but only worth doing if the clubs down there are going to go out of business, maybe this could get those leagues a TV deal? Talk of L1/L2 in England going north/south out of this as well. This will stretch out the finances even more. Teams at the top will be further away than ever.

Well up for Davis coming into the team to smash stuff. He could punch some great holes for McGinn scuttling or Grealish gliding through. Also well up for 3412 shape with McGinn deeper alongside Luiz/Nakamba, but my concern with Grealish as a 10 that they can put 5 men round him and crowd him out. To my eye, we've only ever played 4231 once under Smith and it was the first half of Swansea away last season. It was very noticeable how little McGinn was getting forward and we switched it at half time back to the usual shape with Grealish and McGinn as 8s. It's Smith's biggest weakness by a mile for me. He wants to only play the Liverpool/Man City/2011 Barcelona 433 formation and until Samatta arrived none of our forwards were good enough for it. They couldn't guard the ball well enough and the two advanced midfielders played so far forward it left the holding player, usually poor Marvellous, to try and mark seven players. With Grealish being moved out left and McGinn being injured, it's horribly exposed how bad the rest of our players are. It's possible they might fall into a 4231 I suppose, but I'm certain that's not the setup they're meant to be in. I always think Marvellous tries to hold position and do what he's "supposed" to do even when he's not quite good enough. But at times with Luiz and every minute of every game with Hourihane, they hide away and move to where they can't receive the ball so they don't have to deal with playing in a match.

Steer Konsa Engels Mings Fred Nakamba Targett McGinn Grealish El Ghazi Samatta 4231 or 352. I think we would really suit a 352 bearing in mind none of our full backs can defend and everything revolves around getting Grealish the ball. It's hard one to pick up though, we've needed an alternative setup for over a year. I don't think that 343 was something Smith was ever comfortable with. I'll be stunned if we don't play 433.

I would love not to play 433. Love it. Or the 343 when we have two lost souls in midfield.

He would be nuts to consider coming here if Jacko left IMO.

Tammy right now is holding off signing a contract with Chelsea as he wants what 19 year old Callum Hudson-Odoi (arrested on suspicion of rape last month) is making. I can understand why. I think main reason they've moved on Werner is his flexibility, he's very comfortable wide left or right as well as through the middle. Wouldn't be surprised to see a front three of Werner Tammy Ziyech Start next season for them. Signing Werner on £200k+ a week may mean Tammy wants even more of course. If we pull off a miracle and stay up there is zero chance of Tammy coming here unless Jack stays.

Thanks. Perhaps whether future deals like this happen again will tell us how successful this one has been away from the pitch.

Yep, fair and logical, if it's working as they'd hope. I can't see too many practical direct benefits we'd get even if he stayed in his current squad filler role for three seasons. I don't know the industry though, @NurembergVillan usually has an insight into these things. Targett another hideous financial error we made. Christ, 14-17m it was reported as!

Sadly that's why he's been signed. In theory you're absolutely correct but I'd be interested in seeing some figures (we never will!) on how social following of a player could have been converted. Has he been a success in the club's eyes already perhaps? If we're signing players on their Instagram followers we won't be very successful on the pitch ever again. We were not in a position to waste £10m on a player who couldn't contribute on the pitch. A foolish transfer.

It'll be an interesting one for him. Brave I think to be heading out there under current conditions. He won't get more than a two year deal off anyone.

Yep. Attention came from Makelele doing it in a good Madrid side and moreso from being the first player to play in England who was used solely as an anchor in front of defence.

Brighton having a crack at this sort of thing ATM. Well done to them for trying to replicate a successful strategy.

Oh you haven't seen them all? "To have and to hold" it's called. Just had a quick glance down the episode list on wiki and there are so so many brilliant episodes I'd forgotten about. Series 3 & 4 are stacked.

His busy agent that got him transferred here already making moves then. Truly embarrassing to pay the money we did.

One of my favourites. Cold comforts is amazing or the one I can't remember of name of when Pemberton has his trains down in the cellar... couldn't believe the way that episode went.

Useful player I think Hendrick. His ideal role though is right mid in a narrow, Sean-Dyche-4-4-2, he'll probably struggle if asked to do much different.

If we drop, he's going for £50-75m. If we stay up, he might stay but it's unlikely. We'll be collecting £80m rising to £100m and crossing our fingers some agents come to Suso with some decent players.

Absolutely. Be so interesting to see how they get on if they get up. I think they could easily go down first or second season but I'll be surprised if they aren't an established Premier League side in 5/6 years.

I don't think Reina would stay if he wasn't no 1. And it doesn't make much sense for the club to pay £50k+ pw to a guy who has been poor and could see 0 mins.

We need to do better across the board I agree. No problem with the signings of El Ghazi and Jota for me though. Ghazi showed plenty in the Championship and, ability wise, he's absolutely got it all. Evidently it's not quite worked, getting through mentally is a big challenge. He can come good IMO. Jota was arranged before the end of last season as a part exchange with Blues for Gary Gardner. Jota has been of much more use to us even with his very limited apps. Plus, if we hadn't have gone up, he'd have played a lot more. Trez is a terrible signing of a player who is borderline uncoachable due to having zero football intelligence. A waste of money and a squad number.

It really is the absolute best. The most creative, exciting show on TV.

Albrighton has had such a unique existence as a footballer. The only time in his career he's started more than 30 league games was the year Leicester won the title. How can a key part of a title winning side have played so little the rest of the time, ever? I never thought he was great, but would adjust fairly well to the level/team. Never stuck out in a good team, but never stood out in a bad one IMO. Crossing was the only thing you could say he was "great" at. I always thought his dead ball should have been much better when he could hit a cross like that. For us, where we were at the time, he should have been offered a deal definitely. Funny to think Leicester wouldn't have won the league if we did. In fact they probably would have gone down the year before, they only turned it round when he broke into the side at the end of 2015. Madness.