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POSTMAN PAT

Short version for anyone wondering: Percy reporting that our charges will be heard next week. Accused of breaching PSR in 23/24, failing to provide our accounts before the deadline and basically failing to cooperate with the Premier League. Nick De Marco "expected" to be representing us again. As for the outcome, "a final verdict is not expected until the end of this year at the earliest" and any sanctions, including points deductions, can be imposed this season.

Very common in my experience - playing solos I've had more friendly/neutral interactions than hostile ones, though I do expect that to change over time. Trios is very different.

What a man. If someone ever ends up displacing him as my favourite Leicester manager they're going to have done one hell of a job

Finished The Cartel, enjoyed but not quite as good as The Power of the Dog I didn't think. Got the third waiting on the shelf already but I feel the need for something a little less bleak to cleanse the palate.

Well, I have picked up from your posts over the years one or two hints that you may have one or two very slight reservations about modern football and the way teams play, so I don't hold out much hope of convincing you here. That said, off the top of my head I'm thinking of Yamal, Kvaratskhelia, Vinicius Jr., Pedri, Dembele, Dybala, Doku, Olise, Palmer, Musiala, Mbappe, Saka, Bruno Fernandes, Nico Paz, Vitinha, Nico Williams, Barcola - what are they if not flair and/or creative players? If you're thinking Premier League specifically then I'd add Ndiaye, Eze, Mitoma, Cunha, Maddison, Rogers, Minteh, Estevao, Foden, Neto, Damsgaard. I'll stop now because I don't expect anyone to spend all day reading me listing footballers but hopefully you get the point. I don't think there's any doubt that teams generally play in a more structured way these days and that you're much less likely to see players given the freedom to just do whatever they want wherever they want, which is maybe what people actually mean? I just think it's an exaggeration to say there's no room for creativity, imagination, improvisation or whatever because there clearly is, even within the confines of a comparatively more rigid "system". I do generally have a very low tolerance for this sort of stuff though, "all modern x is rubbish", "they don't make music/films/TV/games like this anymore" chat, so maybe that's colouring my perception. At the risk of repeating myself, what I think is really dying out is the kind of luxury player who would be a complete liability out of possession because if you're in an important game where you're essentially playing with ten whenever you don't have the ball and your opponents aren't, you've got a problem. Maybe if the current trend towards set pieces continues for long enough then we might actually be looking at an existential risk for more technical, creative players but I'm not convinced.

Suppose it depends what exactly is meant by a "true no.10" but I don't think this is really true at all. The thing that's actually dying out is the sort of player who was really good on the ball but didn't do anything without it, whether they weren't physically up to it, spent the week drinking and smoking or just couldn't really be arsed - teams can't afford to carry players defensively and the average player is so athletic now. You see stuff like this quite often as well as people similarly complaining that nobody is allowed to express themselves or dribble with the ball anymore but there is demonstrably still a lot of room for flair, creative players.

Enjoyed all three singles so far. Saw rumours they're considering bringing the release forward to January which would be nice

Reading some of the defences of him, we'd surely have been better off not getting anyone in to replace Ruud and saving the money because it doesn't sound like he actually has any responsibilities. Doesn't decide who's in the squad, doesn't decide who starts, doesn't decide what style of football we play. What are we paying him for?

That's all well and good but our ppg without Jordan James starting is nearly double our ppg with him starting, so personally I'd be terminating his loan with immediate effect and building the team around the Skippmeister

We'd have been signing one of the key players from the unbeaten Bundesliga champions so I think most people would have been OK with it. It's not exactly Jordan Ayew and Bobby Reid stuff is it?

After 19 games the threshold goes up to 10 yellows for a two match ban, and then after 37 games it goes up to 15 yellows for a three match ban

On about Sunderland obviously

Still early of course but it's already becoming quite difficult to see how they don't win the league, unfortunately

I don't think that's right but very interesting nonetheless

I'd love to know what you think is meant by 8 and 10

Yeah I don't disagree with any of that. I certainly don't hate him like a lot of people seem to, I like the guy and would love him to start scoring but at this point it's just hard to see how that happens - we all know his technical limitations, at this point his confidence must be through the floor and he's in and out of the team which is not a healthy combination. That said, even if he continues to misfire I'd still be starting him over Carranza or Ayew.

He's bad but they all are and I think he's bad in the way that's least detrimental to the team

Some strike from Ayew, convinced that was flying in

Cop-out answer: I don't think there's any guarantee either has much of an impact and I suppose it depends largely on which replacement and striker. Actual answer: probably A. I remain unconvinced that a new striker is the silver bullet that gets us creating and scoring more chances (not that a new manager necessarily is, either). Improving on Carranza, Ayew and Daka should theoretically be really easy but I think we're unlikely to be able to identify/attract/afford a striker who is good enough and well-rounded enough to consistently score goals in a team this unproductive. I think it's more likely we could find a manager who is just better at coaching a team to attack.

Arc Raiders is great, remarkable how consistently every raid throws up these memorable, cinematic moments. Cool how friendly everyone is as well (in solos at least, I understand team play is much more shoot on sight) though I expect that will change somewhat once we're out of the honeymoon phase and people have better gear.

Schlupp came off with a hamstring injury tonight apparently so at least we shouldn't be stepping on that particular rake

The team is almost entirely devoid of creativity as it is and I'm not sure throwing into the mix an ostensibly attacking player who can't take on defenders or pass the ball would be all that helpful.

No need to be sorry mate

Reading the sequel at the moment, good stuff