ALC Fox

Great finish from them. Neale and Fisken standing out for us so far, I think.

Having Monga as an actual capable alternative may actually help Mavididi. Keeps him fresher and also means we remain a proper threat on that side when Mav isn't playing. Like all wingers he blows hot and cold. He's clearly not as talented as Fatawu on the other flank but when he gets going he's a real danger in this league. He'll be fine.

There's a lot in football that requires fans of different clubs coming together to save clubs, the culture of football in this country, and the game in general. The Super League protests was one. This is another. There are days when tribalism should take a back seat. So often we don't allow that to happen but today we did. More power to Wednesday fans. I hope an actual fit and proper owner can come forward and buy the club, or it can go into fan ownership for a while. No club deserves the treatment they're getting but Wednesday especially are too proud and historic a club to be going through something like this.

- Good player in the Championship, not good enough in the Prem - Has wanted out for a while so I'm really not fussed about keeping him even for a season in which he should more or less boss the league - I'm glad he's professional enough to still give it his all even though he wants out and a large proportion of the fans want him gone - I'm also glad he's given us a bit back, shows a bit of fight. If he suddenly became good enough for the Prem (a big if) I'd be happy for him to stay. Relationships can be repaired - Thanks for scoring an unmarked header in the Championship that won us the game. Not the most difficult thing for a professional footballer to do but it's given us two extra points - I've enjoyed watching his Championship performances but if he was to get a good offer and he's keen on going then I'm happy with the other options we have. A lot of these things sound contradictory but I genuinely don't dislike him as a person, I just think he's a massive weak link in a Premier League team. If he stays this season, I'm happy for him to be involved. He's proven himself at this level.

Slow to get into gear but absolutely bossed it in the end. Some better decisions in the final third and a bit more speed of thought and we could've battered them.

Tipu Sultan in Oadby is a banger. Really flavoursome and moreish. The lower spice levels are a bit higher than your average curry house as well. They do the basics really well too. Can't get enough of the daal and pilau rice. Edit: Obviously not in town, should've read the OP properly. But if you fancy walking the food off, give it a go

I'll have to see the pink kit in person or in proper HD on the telly before providing proper judgement but the two different shades looked shocking in the friendly

Alves not in the squad is a wake-up call for him and for us, I think. He feels a bit underused in pre-season but maybe Martí needs to see a lot more from him. I really want him to do well but it's a cut-throat business and needs to probably have a look at himself and ask why 16 and 17-year-olds are making the squad ahead of him. Huge season ahead for him and his future here, I feel.

I found a higher cadence meant shorter strides but I also found it easier to go for a harder effort than I should on my recovery runs. I'm going at around 170 usually at the moment and it has taken a bit of practice to go with higher cadence but lower effort. But yeah, I have also read conflicting opinions on it but do feel the shorter strides feels like less of an impact for me. Whether or not it's purely psychological, I don't know. And, yeah, I know what you mean about the bros online. Gym bros, running bros, calisthenics bros - it's hard to tell what's good advice and what isn't Best of luck with the half marathon. Hopefully you get there and through it without too much pain. Maybe afterwards it might be worth taking a break through the winter, replacing running with swimming and resistance training for a few months and then emerge in the spring recovered and refreshed? I'm sure a doctor or physio will have the right advice for you though.

Yeah that's fair. I'm not saying it was a bad deal for us, and clubs have to choose where they put their money wisely. But PSR can often mean that a frugal period can then be followed by massive spending, especially if good player sales have been made. West Ham might not currently have that capability to spend big but with some of the fees flying around I still think £18m is low in today's market.

I had them a few years ago and also growing up. When I was a kid the doctor advised six months off all sport which about killed me as I was doing everything: football, basketball, rugby, judo, swimming. He even advised time off swimming which with hindsight didn't make sense. A few years ago in my mid thirties they returned because I was literally running every other day trying to beat my previous runs every time, whether 5Ks, 10Ks or speed runs. On the other alternative days I was doing home workouts. Then one day my legs gave up and the pain in my shins was unbearable. I blame lockdown for making me obsessive. I took several months of running and it probably took me about a year before I properly started again. A few years later I know my body much better. Proper running shoes help. When I started back up I ran almost exclusively on the grass at my local park (I'm now almost exclusively on roads again). I run twice a week now and don't get shin pain at all. Even after sprinting sessions or 10Ks. I tried going up to three days but sensitivity returned and I knew I was on a path to shin splints again so dropped back down to two per week. Knowing my body better and listening to it is helping but it does also mean that progress is slower than I'd like. But I do have to remind myself that it's better than needing months off again. I may try adding another run in soon, but potentially starting at only 5 minutes and adding a few minutes on each time before turning it into a substantial run. But for now on four days per week I do other exercises including strength training and flexibility and things are feeling pretty good. Oh, and increasing my cadence has helped too as there's a softer impact each time my feet hit the ground.

£18m is nothing in today's market. It helps us out re PSR, represents around £12m profit to us and we have an able goalkeeper ready to step up at this level. But for a fee between two English clubs, £18m is peanuts in 2025, especially from a club that's as guaranteed to stay in the Premier League as they've ever been, even if they have a disastrous season.

He'll be at Chelsea, Arsenal, Man Utd or PSG in a season or two. Still hurts that we're losing him to West Ham though. It wasn't that long ago that competing with them for signings was considered as beneath us. Best of luck, Mads but don't stay there too long, you will regret it.

Welcome to the Championship™️

What could go wrong eh?

A UK police force to use ‘DNA tagging spray’ to curb disorderly soccer fans https://apnews.com/article/football-fans-dna-spray-bf4a8d1f46919fcabea9125e85f7b339 Essentially, DNA tagging spray clings to skin and clothes for months but is invisible except under UV light. The article doesn't say how it will be used after it has been sprayed on people, but presumably the idea is that troublemakers will be sprayed and then possibly identified at subsequent games via a UV scan. So if someone causes trouble while they're standing next to you and you get sprayed accidentally then you're screwed? Or if a heavy-handed or inexperienced officer is trigger happy with the spray and a load of innocents get tagged then they're also screwed? Also, is this not potentially a case of 'tagging' people as guilty before any possible trial? Seems like a really flawed scheme to me.

Grown adults who say 'verse' when they mean 'versus'.

His PR is fantastic isn't it. Let's hope he can match it when the season starts. Early signs are pretty good, I think.

Interesting that Nelson has worn the armbands during training. Quite an indication of trust from the manager. Presumably he wore it when the team was quite inexperienced but still good to know that his name is in the hat. Could be quite the honour if he gets it due to substitutions at some point during the season. Ricardo is definitely the obvious choice. I can see Ayew wearing it at times even though he's not the most popular member of the squad among the fanbase. Have to agree that Choudhury would be a bad choice. If he ends up as official vice-captain or something, I'd hope it would be accompanied by a statement of contrition or some sort of indication that he's matured and wishes to make amends for his poor behaviour in the past.

I know it's been said but the gold fox really is crap.

A possible AI-enhanced photo from the club's Thai account and they can't fix the sun-bleached seats. We look like Sunderland on their way down the divisions. As for the propaganda, Thailand could be entirely justified in their indignation. But we just don't know. How could we possibly know which side is telling the truth in this case? This messaging shouldn't have been shown. Thai politics has been rife with corruption with coup after coup. The world can't trust the message. If it goes up again (I don't think it will during competitive games) then it should be roundly booed. That's the only real message we can give them unless we can sneak in anti-propaganda signs.

What a guy. Abdul, give us at least one season in the Prem, please.

To be fair to the club, they've probably left it as close as possible in order to try and get a sponsor in after the KBet backlash. It's a great indication of fan power and actually good from the club that they've listened. It shouldn't be a massive deal really. Hopefully they get a decent sponsor sorted relatively soon. Chelsea had no sponsor for the majority of last season and their sponsor for this season is also to be confirmed. Obviously they're more able to afford to go without than us, but if we can sort one relatively soon, we shouldn't miss out too much. If our sponsor is a palatable one, I'd say things have turned out quite well

Oh my. They actually sell a shirt in the type of yellow-gold we've been crying out for in an away shirt for so long.

In theory he could have been a good signing for us but his injury at the start of 23/24 put paid to that as Vestergaard established himself alongside Faes and Justin in the three-man defence in Maresca's offensive shape. In truth, Vestergaard, Faes and Justin (and Doyle before his injury) were always more suited to Maresca's style of play. But upon promotion, after Maresca left, and we adopted an approach where we were always admitting that we would see less of the ball, you would have thought that he would be more of an asset as a traditional defender, and yet when he came in he was part of an abysmal defence that conceded easy goals no matter who was selected. Some may say that he was never really given a fair crack of the whip here. And his personality will surely have been a help in the dressing room. But he never fulfilled the promise that he held: to be a stabilising presence on the field, to not only achieve promotion but help us stay in the Premier League. His legs may have gone entirely now. We can't really be sure. It's an easier task for Wrexham this season. Anything above relegation will be a success, even if they publicly aim towards the top end of the table. I don't wish him any ill will. I know he rubs a lot of our fans up the wrong way but I honestly haven't consumed much of the content he produces, so I'm not so bothered by what he gets up to. He could have been a hero, but has just been a footnote in a dreary episode in our history. We move on and so does he.