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It would have been a certain goal but the keeper got a very slight touch just before it came to Akpom that changed the trajectory in a way he couldn't quite adjust to. I think he would have needed genuinely superhuman reactions to score. On another note, Sheff Utd look absolutely tragic

Lovely work from the one and only Jools Holland on the outro as well if memory serves

Can't say I was familiar with him but remarkable to now read some of his previous comments on shootings and their victims. Awful thing for a family to have to witness.

So can Aluko basically play anywhere along the back line? Seems to have been mostly a left back last season and that's where he came on for his debut, then I think he was playing centre back in pre-season and right back tonight

I quite like the way it looks but it really doesn't seem like any of those changes are the sort that are actually going to materially impact the way you play the game, or are anything that skin creators couldn't replicate. What does the Portal screen allow you to do that the Home screen didn't? Maybe they all add up and you need to feel it for yourself to appreciate it. FMpedia I suppose is a good idea for new or returning players who find it a bit overwhelming these days but I'm not sure how big the overlap is between people who are playing a football management game and people who need help understanding what a squad is. Between the match footage and this, it does very much look like a fresh coat of paint over the exact same game which is underwhelming after two years.

Getting done for pace by Harry Kane should be an automatic red card so no complaints from me

Always good to see British coaches testing themselves abroad so fair play to him. Difficult to wish him luck while Bobby Reid still has two years on his contract and Skipp is here until 2029 but it'll be interesting to see how he fares

As far as I know the new Vault Hunters are part of the story pack DLCs, the first of which is scheduled for Q1 next year

Buzzing. First time I've not been able to decide which character I'll start with, usually there's one or two that don't do it for me but this time they all look class

If nothing else you've got to admire the brass balls of sticking up two AI topics in less than an hour

We've got three senior keepers which is in no way out of the ordinary

In terms of what they achieved here it's obviously not Rodgers but I can understand those shouts because he's the only one I can remember visibly giving up trying to manage the team in favour of politicking and protecting his reputation. Don't think I'll ever forget him bringing on ****ing Lewis Brunt at left back away at Forest, or conversely not bringing on anyone against Brentford and then blaming the heat. His early 19/20 team was still the one I've had the most fun watching and being at Wembley for the cup win was a special thing to experience so I think I give him a bit more slack than most as a result. Taylor is before my time but he seems the obvious one. More recently Cooper and Ruud were both abysmal, the latter record-breakingly so - given what we saw from him I'm amazed anyone thinks we'd have been noticeably better off if he'd also been given a pre-season and money to spend, the guy was genuinely clueless. Holloway unarguably gets in the conversation too for taking us to our literal lowest point, and Sousa probably also deserves a mention for so quickly stripping our team of all the positive qualities Pearson had imbued it with.

As a primarily 2D user I can't say I care that much about what the graphics look like but here they are. Lighting and stadium/environment are quite nice, animations and models less so. I think it'll probably look pretty decent from the more zoomed out camera angles. Minimum and recommended specs up on Steam for anyone wondering.

Jordan Ayew's goal against Chad has brought to my attention for the first time their flag, which is almost exactly the same as Romania's

The thing you should be really worried about* is they've got him down as being slower than Jordan Ayew. *you should not be worried about this because FIFA/FC ratings don't really mean anything

What tune's that to?

Yeah that's where I'm at too. I think it's unlikely that Carranza is going to smash the league to pieces but you look at some of the strikers who've hit 15+ in recent seasons - Emil Riis, Tom Bradshaw, Lewis Grabban. It's not a high standard. It remains to be seen if we'll create chances consistently enough but if we do I think even a distinctly average striker should score goals.

£9.99m

My instinct is somewhere in the middle but really it's difficult to assess because so much of it seems to have revolved around trying to un**** our finances, and none of us have any real way of knowing to what extent we've done so. From a football/competitive point of view, I'm not blown away but it certainly could have been worse and I'm pleasantly surprised we've got three incomings over the line today. Need to wait and see how they get on obviously, particularly Carranza who I'm not that optimistic about but am looking forward to seeing. James and Ramsey I hope will prove decent additions to what I'd have said was the weakest area of the squad and it's good to get the likes of Alves and Braybrooke loans. We've also kept hold of Fatawu and, even better, not kept hold of Coady. Disappointing not to have shifted any of Faes, BDCR, Vestergaard, Daka, Soumare, Winks and Ayew, particularly given you'd imagine the last four will now almost certainly be leaving for nothing at the end of the season without Turkish/Saudi intervention.

I accept there could well be more announcements to follow but as it stands I think that's quite a generous assessment of our window

They did this when Faes signed as well but unfortunately not quite enough to stop him becoming Woot Faze. They'll probably have to do one for Jordan James as well

That sounds lovely, see you there

HAMPSTEAD HEATH

Is this the sort of swamp-draining everyone was after?

Another one on the "selling makes complete sense as long as we're able to get a replacement in" pile and I fear time is running out for us to do that