Sly

I found the moment with Bocelli surreal. Footballing wise, that season had so many iconic moments. Vardy breaking the goalscoring record. That Huth winner against Tottenham. Huth on a Hat-Trick, then Mahrezs scores the goal by taking the Man City defence apart. The Welbeck winner then that stupid Arsenal dressing room photo. The Kane / Vardy lions tweets. Hazards goal in the battle of the bridge. Vardy getting sent off, then Ulloas penalty. Huths free kick. Okazakis overhead kick against Newcastle. That goal from Mahrez against Chelsea that put the nail in the coffin for Mourinho.

Brilliant player. Could he have left on better terms, of course. I don’t wish him ill in anyway though, as we got massive money for him. I’ve also heard stories contrary to him being a bit of a tool and he’s been supportive of children’s charities etc. Not everything is as the media portrays.

@Ricey use to work for SI Games I believe!

Outside of the Premier League - Yes

Nothing wrong with Seagrave itself I wouldn’t have thought. It’s a bit like filling the Playboy mansion with Great Grandmas. It’s not going to have the same result. World class facilities, need world class coaches.

Okay, I see this get asked a lot, largely in conjunction to our PSR situation. Capology is a website that provides salary information for the football. Is it 100% accurate on salaries - no. Is it largely in the ball park - However, the expiry dates will be correct. Name Expire Per week Data Daniel Iversen 30/06/2025 £20,000 Capology Danny Ward 30/06/2025 £40,000 Capology Luke Thomas 30/06/2025 £15,000 Capology Facundo Buonanotte 30/06/2025 £25,000 Capology Odsonne Édouard 30/06/2025 £90,000 Capology Jamie Vardy 30/06/2025 £140,000 Capology Jakub Stolarczyk 30/06/2026 £10,000 Capology Ricardo Pereira 30/06/2026 £80,000 Capology Conor Coady 30/06/2026 £75,000 Capology James Justin 30/06/2026 £30,000 Capology Boubakary Soumaré 30/06/2026 £80,000 Capology Patson Daka 30/06/2026 £75,000 Capology Jordan Ayew 30/06/2026 £30,000 Capology Will Alves 30/06/2026 Benjamin Nelson 30/06/2027 £3,000 Capology Jannik Vestergaard 30/06/2027 £60,000 Capology Wout Faes 30/06/2027 £50,000 Capology Hamza Choudhury 30/06/2027 £50,000 Capology Wilfred Ndidi 30/06/2027 £75,000 Capology Bobby Reid 30/06/2027 £35,000 Capology Mads Hermansen 30/06/2028 £10,000 Capology Victor Bernth Kristiansen 30/06/2028 £25,000 Capology Bilal El Khannouss 30/06/2028 £35,000 Capology Harry Winks 30/06/2028 £90,000 Capology Kasey McAteer 30/06/2028 £15,000 Capology Thomas Cannon 30/06/2028 £8,000 Capology Stephy Mavididi 30/06/2028 £10,000 Capology Harry Souttar 30/06/2028 £40,000 Capology Michael Golding 30/06/2028 £8,000 Capology Caleb Okoli 30/06/2029 £25,000 Capology Oliver Skipp 30/06/2029 £50,000 Capology Abdul Fatawu Issahaku 30/06/2029 £10,000 Capology

I actually think Hermansen has been our standout player by some distance. These ratings are often warped by personnel opinions on players. If you look at the goalkeeping stats for the top 5 leagues, they’re an interesting reading. https://fbref.com/en/comps/Big5/keepersadv/players/Big-5-European-Leagues-Stats In a nutshell, Hermansen was expected to concede more goals than any other keeper in the top 5 leagues. He is however now 2nd in the number of goals he’s prevented. He drops to 4th if you look at the per 90, however that’s still good going. He’s kept us in games and without him we’d be significantly worse off. I’d rate his higher than the average score he has.

You would imagine so. We’ve got Thomas, Ward, Iversen and Vardy all expiring in the summer. I don’t think any of them will be with us in August. Vardy aside, we need to shift the other three!

https://www.thestar.co.uk/sport/football/sheffield-united/sheffield-united-transfer-news-hamza-choudhury-among-sheffield-united-transfer-targets-as-key-window-begins-4927392 Premier League history-maker amongst Sheffield United transfer targets as key window creaks open Sheffield United have placed Hamza Choudhury’s name on their list of transfer targets this January, The Star can reveal, after the Leicester City man made history by changing his international allegiance to represent Bangladesh. Choudhury will become the first Premier Leagueplayer to represent the country when he makes his international debut. And he may do so as a United player, with Chris Wilder eyeing a move for the midfielder as he looks to bolster his squad for the second part of the season. United are light in midfield after the season-ending injury suffered by Oliver Arblaster while Vini Souza’s recent absence with a hamstring issue left Tom Davies and Sydie Peck as the only two central midfielders at Wilder’s disposal. The 27-year-old helped Leicester win the Championship title last season, but has made only four appearances in the Premier League this time around, the latest a 20=minute cameo off the bench in defeat to Manchester City at the weekend. Wilder worked with Choudhury, a former England U21 international, during their time at Watford, who host United this weekend, and was linked with the midfielder during his time in charge at Middlesbrough. The Blades chief is seeking some more experience in the centre of United’s midfield, with Choudhury’s previous experience of a Championship promotion push also playing in his advantage. Much may depend on Leicester’s own transfer business in the January market, with new boss Ruud van Nistelrooy looking to put his stamp on the squad he inherited from Steve Cooper, but United are keen to hit the ground running after being taken over recently by American group COH Sports. “It’s something that’s been in the works for a couple of years,” Choudhury told The Athletic of his international switch. “I represented England in the youth team, but as my career progressed, it came to fruition that is not an option for me. “It’s something I’ve definitely always had in the back of my mind, that I’d like to represent Bangladesh — and the people of Bangladesh more importantly. I’ve got a really good connection with the fans in Bangladesh. I get messages every day letting me know that they want me to come and play.”

https://www.footballinsider247.com/exclusive-tottenham-leicester-race-to-sign-thomas-kristensen-price-revealed/ Tottenham, Leicester City and Bayer Leverkusen are in a race to sign Udinese defender Thomas Kristensen, sources have told Football Insider. Kristensen, 22, is valued at £16.5million by the Serie A club and they could be tempted by an offer around that sum. Spurs are in the market for centre-back reinforcements due to their defensive injury crisis. Ange Postecoglou’s side are believed to have watched the 6ft 6in defender in action during Udinese’s win at Fiorentina just before Christmas. Leicester and Bayer Leverkusen are both looking to strengthen their centre-back options in January. Kristensen is set to continue his rapid rise by being called up to the Denmark senior squad from the Under-21s for the next round of internationals in March. He has made seven appearances in Serie A this term with a calf injury limiting his involvement in the first half of the 2024-25 campaign. The 22-year-old joined Udinese from Aarhus in 2023 and signed a contract with the Bianconeri until June 2028. Tottenham watch Udinese star Kristensen in action Kristensen has racked up 79 appearances during his senior career to date, notching two goals and one assist. Tottenham sit 11th in the Premier League and remain in contention to qualify to the Europa League knockout stages, while Leicester are 19th in their battle against relegation under Ruud van Nistelrooy.

I guess this then comes back around to what is an acceptable standard of living conversation. If people lived in Britain 1900s conditions, we’d be describing third world conditions. As the mortality rate of infancy and the age demographic has has risen, that social payments and care far exceed that which is paid to the unemployed for example. It’s a massive challenge in balancing everything, and as the world walks along a razor blade in terms of cost of living and better place to live etc, whilst we are living longer with better technology etc, are we actually living “happier lives”. I don’t have the answer to that. spot on.

Just off the player ratings we all do after each game. Mads Hermansen - 6.8 Jakub Stolarczyk - 6.4 Facundo Buonanotte - 6.1 Abdul Fatawu - 5.9 Will Alves - 5.9 Chris Popov - 5.9 Harry Winks - 5.8 Jamie Vardy - 5.8 Bilal El Khannouss - 5.7 Stephy Mavididi - 5.6 Jannick Vestergaard - 5.6 Wilfred Ndidi - 5.5 Boubakary Soumaré - 5.4 Victor Kristiansen - 5.4 Caleb Okoli - 5.4 Ricardo Pereira - 5.3 Wout Faes - 5.3 Oliver Skipp - 5.2 Jordan Ayew - 5.2 Patson Daka - 5.1 Kasey McAteer - 5.0 Conor Coady - 4.8 Hamza Choudhury - 4.8 James Justin - 4.7 Bobby Decordova-Reid - 4.6 Luke Thomas - 4.4 Danny Ward - 4.3 Odsonne Édouard - 4.1

I mean, you could just ditch all wide players and play through the middle in a 4-2-3-1 formation. We’d be so exposed down the wings though that the full backs would get slaughtered. Which is our weakest area.

I think the challenge we have, is that social media has made the world a smaller place. 50 years ago these things still happened, people will have heard of incidents in the Middle East, Africa and the states, however the news took such a long time to reach people, it was maybe not seen as that relevant or covered around the clock? Standard of living were typically lower overall, so larger issues at home maybe didn’t allow for column space on what was happening elsewhere. Social media is a faceless melting pot which allows people to steer propaganda whichever way they want. This only riles up opposing factions and before you know it, we’ve got all out warfare on he said / she said style school playground tit for tat. We need to turn the tide on carbon and quickly in my opinion. However whilst companies put profit before doing what’s right for the next generation, we will just have a load of ostriches sticking their heads in the sand.

Sid you catch the 2nd episode on iPlayer last night? I think it’s the episode that’s been aired tonight.

He’s been patchy though. 4 in one game against Portsmouth, who are woeful. One was a penalty. One was a freekick. Two from open play. 1 goal against Derby - Penalty 1 goal against Blackburn - Penalty. 1 goal against QPR - Open play. 1 goal against Luton - Open play. 1 goal against Sunderland - Open play. In the 21 games he’s played, he’s scored in 6 of them. Of that 21 games, he’s only scored in 4 games from open play. He’d struggle in the Premier League. His shooting is largely long range and good keepers and better defenders don’t allow those shots to go in. The crowd and fans would quickly turn, as it would be like watching Undër again!

Shoots a shit tonne!

Or Winks. Winks is a player that every clubs needs but they go under appreciated. He’d slot into a top 6 team and do a job.

Is he better than Choudhury and Skipp - Yes Do we need to make central midfield a priority - No

I do wonder if the world is a safer place than it was 20, 50, 100 years ago etc We’ve come on leaps and bounds on paper in terms of things like health and safety standards, more peaceful Europe, higher life expectancy etc. However it feels like we are on the cusp of that going back the over way, when you consider pollution, carbon, international conflicts, nuclear weapon enhancement, social media propaganda.

For £15,000,000 he doesn’t looks that great. Rarely uses his left foot. When he does, it’s a shank and lack technique. Ball control isn’t great, he’s getting punished in the Premier League. Doesn’t look that quick. His dribbling ability is knocking it past people. Which he loses. Why highlight that It is a hard pass from me.

The worst thing they do, is to name these people. It gives them the air time they crave for the

Traitors has started! We’ve got a barber from Leicester in it! Go on lad!

I’ve had a salad cream sandwich before

A ground share was discussed as an option, I don’t think it was ever anything more than a discussion.