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Tom Cannon scores that

It's a great ball but ideally I think you'd want your centre back to do something other than watch it all the way and then shag it into the bottom corner

Routine win

I absolutely love Toney

Toney and particularly Wharton as well, getting no minutes in a tournament where Kane has been totally anonymous in every game and our midfielders have been gash. Imagine sitting on the bench while your manager sends on a right back and Conor Gallagher ahead of you and then cries to the media about how much he misses Kalvin Phillips.

You know what, I was rude and there was no need for it. I do find your absolute hatred for possession football funny and I don't think there is any discussion we could have that would change either of our positions on it but we all like different things. All I'll say is I don't think it's accurate to say Southgate is blindly following the Pep/City/whatever blueprint - I think he is instead blindly following the Portugal '16/France '18 blueprint without any real idea of how or why those teams actually won the things they did.

First time I can remember them all looking so frustrated and pissed off with each other under Southgate. Like loads have said, there is huge late-era Rodgers energy about it.

I'll vote for whichever party pledges not to allow Kieran Trippier back into the country

I like her. Maybe it's the way they pose the questions but she gives a lot more insight into the decision making process than Peter Walton and isn't a humourless jobsworth like he is either

I don't think he's anyone's dream appointment - ragtag squad or not, his Forest played some of the worst football I have ever seen - but while we are a Premier League club, we are also a basket case relegation candidate and he has recent history of keeping one of those up, as well as a track record of developing young talent which is very important if we want to stop haemorrhaging money. After Rodgers' self-sabotage and Enzo leaving after one season I don't blame people for warming to the prospect of a manager who might actually want to be here.

Worth tempering expectations I think as it's the graphics engine rather than the match engine that's getting the overhaul i.e. it ought to look better on Unity whereas the underlying simulation probably won't be all that different. As with pretty much every social interaction in the game I did always feel the way shouts worked was pretty stupid.

Unless they literally couldn't continue then bringing off McGinn, Gilmour and Robertson seems a really odd thing to do

Go on Youri, some hit

I did sometimes wonder what he'd have been like on the left instead of the right and apparently the answer is he'd have been like the mirror version of Mahrez

Deliberately so, yes. I'm not equating Billy Sharp's current ability as a player to Steve Cooper's as a manager. Replace his name with Fabio Silva or any other very average but semi-plausible Premier League striker if it makes more sense to you. My point is I think the "argument" you proposed is not one that makes any sense because I don't see why having a list of available and willing managers should be an prerequisite to expressing disappointment with getting Cooper. I think it's a middling-to-underwhelming appointment because as a footballer supporter I've watched his teams play, and yet I don't have a little black book of plausible alternatives to hand because I'm not a football agent or well-connected journalist. Similarly, when Rodgers was stinking the place out I thought it was pretty reasonable for people to say he needed sacking without necessarily being able to name a replacement.

Because it's absolutely deranged mate. "Had Leeds hit form" - from January to April they went on a 15 game unbeaten run of which they won 13 and yet we finished 7 points clear. You say it was OK when we won, then when it's pointed out we won most of our games apparently that doesn't matter because when we won we were lucky and we also lost some games. It is complete and utter drivel from you unfortunately and I really believe you ought to go to bed and have a think.

Very confidently asserted that Scamacca was left-footed as well, which he isn't. Perhaps lost his notes and/or mind

They could well end up being quite similar except now it will be the other team having all the ball and winning

There's not really much point engaging in that argument because unlike the people responsible for hiring Cooper, fans unhappy with the appointment have no way of knowing who was or wasn't interested in the job, nor can they conduct a recruitment process using the contacts and resources the club has. If we're in the market for a striker this summer and we end up signing someone like Billy Sharp, I think I'd be justified in saying that's a shit signing without producing a list of alternative targets because I don't get paid a lot of money to identify them.

Reminder that if you don't think this is a masterstroke appointment then you are not a TRUE FAN and must report to King Power HQ for mandatory re-education (they strap you down Clockwork Orange style to watch 24 hours of Top playing polo and force feed you donuts)

Pretty much where I'm at. I sorely hope the stuff Forest played under him was a result of the disjointed nature of their squad or else this season is going to be even more unpleasant than previously anticipated. I don't get how going from Maresca to Cooper fits in with our "vision", or how we end up with the final two of our shortlist being Cooper and Potter - what have they got in common besides both working in England? Does nothing whatsoever to dispel the notion that they're just making it up as they go.

The first couple of levels are definitely the most difficult I would say, just because of how few tools you have to affect battles. By level 3 everyone will have their subclass unlocked, level 4 gets you your first feat, level 5 lets most martial characters attack twice with their action and gets spellcasters 3rd level spells which is when they start to get really powerful. As @syston_foxsays, saving often and focusing targets are both very good habits to get into. I would also personally say that healing during combat is a bit of a waste because you're likely not going to outheal incoming damage without expending all your best spell slots, which you could just use to kill the enemies and prevent the need for healing. Rest at camp often because the world is absolutely crawling with supplies (pick up all the food you find and then send it to camp so it doesn't weigh you down), it fully heals everyone and progresses quests and relationships. I wouldn't worry about combinations of classes necessarily, more having a good mixture of capabilities i.e. single-target damage, area damage, crowd control, buffs and so on. It's nice to have someone with high Charisma for dialogue, someone with high Dex for picking locks and disarming traps. I like bringing a Cleric because they're very versatile and martial characters like Fighters tend to outperform spellcasters early on, but having said all that you can more or less just bring whoever you like. Most problems you encounter will have enough potential solutions that you shouldn't feel punished for not bringing a specific character or class. As for spells, things that help you land hits more reliably are good early on - Bless gives +1-4 on attacks, Faerie Fire makes enemies easier to hit. Despite what I said about healing in combat, Healing Word is very useful because it allows you to revive downed allies from range and is a Bonus Action to use - it doesn't do much actual healing so they will often just get downed again but that means enemies are essentially wasting their turn. Clerics and Druids get Guidance which is +1-4 to ability checks and is a cantrip so can be used endlessly at no cost. If you are using Gale and/or Wyll as casters then you can give them a shield to make them a bit less squishy. Don't use Shadowheart or Astarion's Firebolt cantrip because it uses their Intelligence modifiers which are not good. To the north of the starting beach there's a little dungeon where if you fully explore you will meet a nice old man who can revive dead party members for 200g. You can also use him to change classes and respec ability scores for both you and companions. I rarely do the former but almost always do the latter because most of them start with sub-optimal stat spreads.

I can't see what the point would have been in him playing a warm-up game for a tournament it had already been decided he wasn't going to, and perhaps he couldn't either

Is there anything in particular you're struggling with or would like to know?