ALC Fox

I want Rohl. If it's between Dyche and Wilder I'm going Andy King. Then Wilder. Then Dyche.

I wonder if he'll go straight into the squad for a Champions League qualifier tonight!

If you need a rigid CF at Championship level I can see Adams being of interest. But I do wonder if we even need that kind of player. We have an abundance of attacking talent coming through. I think with the following players in the squad, we can play a fluid front three with even a creative player behind them, using a combination of any of them and sharing the goals around the squad: Mavididi Fatawu McAteer Alves Monga Page Evans Ayew (assuming he stays) El Khannouss (assuming he stays) Golding I may have missed one or two more.

I liked the cut of Kingy's jib before the game as well. He spoke excellently about the first week of training. I'm not saying he should have the job or even that he will be a future Leicester manager, but he simply has to remain involved to some extent. He's not only a club legend but a consummate professional. His achievements with this club also demand respect from any player who puts on the shirt. Maybe one day he'll get a chance in the hot seat, maybe he'll have to go away again to be able to come back and get that chance, but right now he needs to be a real part of the new manager's backroom staff, whoever that may be.

I know he used to be a coach, and of course this is not the worst thing he's done, but does any other club's director of football constantly wander round in the training clobber? Is it not a bit weird?

I'm doing 70 in the inside lane of the southbound M1 last night. The road is very quiet, it's an easy drive. I'm approaching junction 22 and about start going past the slip road when a car in the middle lane pulls alongside me, suddenly indicates and drifts into my lane, causing me to brake heavily to allow them across so they can leave the motorway at junction 22. Clearly someone wasn't paying attention and only just realised that their junction was coming up, but it just baffles me why they couldn't have just eased off and let me go past instead of suddenly trying to sideswipe me off the road.

Yeah I pop in every now and again, pick up the odd Christmas or birthday present, or something for running. Pretty handy actually. I've never took plunge on a football shirt from there though, despite being tempted by a Belgium or Colombia shirt in the past.

A few weeks ago I saw the 23-24 home and black kits being sold for £52 at the Adidas outlet in Pear Mill, Stockport. I didn't bother. I already have the black one with the blue sash and I didn't like the home kit enough to shell out £52 for a top that'll be two seasons out of date next month.

Northern Monk's Holy Faith is nice. Lucky Saint's lager and hazy IPA are both good as well. Guinness 0.0 is probably the one I drink most often.

Normally I don't mind Macron and I generally quite like the idea of being more out there with an away or third kit but that Stoke effort is about as bad as it gets. Proper poke-yourself-in-the-eyes-so-you-don't-have-to-see-it bad.

I wonder if we'll enter a team into the National League Cup instead

Dyche was involving Everton in a relegation battle with three of the worst Premier League teams in a long time. Says all you need to know about him that Moyes was able to move them away from that scenario with relative ease.

Oddly enough one of my favourite memories of Filbert Street is being taken there every now and again on non-match days by my grandad. Turning the corner and it just being there. This great hulking thing that is so busy on a Saturday but is currently peaceful, waiting for the hordes in blue to descend, anticipating the next big occasion. Then just wandering into the small club shop that seemed big to me at the time and looking at all the kits with awe. So, so good.

Going as infrequently as I do, I remember the first time I went since the border around the pitch has been painted blue. It just feels really off to me. It doesn't feel like football. It's like my senses have been turned down and everything is just slightly less than it was before. Obviously that isn't all down to a simple border around the pitch, but it is emblematic of the general feeling. I feel like I can't smell the pitch anymore. All the players celebrate in the same way. Fan celebrations on selfie mode. Maybe it's just because my childhood is decades behind me now

I was there in the 90s. Saw us get hammered 4-0 by Man Utd in one game I'm sure. Another game my stepdad made us leave early while we were losing by one goal only for us to hear two distinct cheers in the distance as we walked home. I'll never forgive him. But also, yes, I don't really go to games very often anymore. Maybe once or twice a season if I can.

Not the outcome I'd want but we could easily sell Mads for a good amount, Jakub for less but still for 'pure profit' and then get a new number one for the same price as Jakub but amortised over a five-year contract. Then get in an older head as backup with Bausor rotating in if/when required. We could even loan in a number one for a season and kick the problem down the road a bit until we're on a bit more of a sturdier footing.

Valid point

From a casual observer's point of view, it does seem as though there's an unusual amount of genuine quality players in our youth set-up who could go on to do big things in the game, with Alves and Braybrooke at the older end of that generation and Monga at the younger end (plus Nyoni and Noubissie who have been poached already). Then going even younger there is Nazar Mahina who went viral a couple of years back who should be about 13 or so by now. For those with more knowledge on the set-up, how would you rate the current crop who appear to be playing above their age level and do they genuinely have a chance of forming the backbone of a side capable of (a) promotion, (b) staying up and (c) challenging for cups and European qualification in the Premier League in the next few seasons? And, if so, what is the best way of keeping these guys together? Do we risk integrating a sizeable tranche of them early with the chance of a sub-par season where we will probably receive a points deduction? Would this risk a further relegation? Or do we tread water a little, try to get a lot of them out on loan, weakening our youth sides but setting these guys up to challenge for places in the first team when we have a genuine chance of going up again, but also risking some of our better youth players having their heads turned because they have gone out on loan and may think that we aren't showing them a pathway?

So Marinakis supposedly diluted his ownership of Forest to comply with the rules in case Forest and Olympiakos ended up in the same European competition, yet he still has sufficient control to march on to the pitch and confront the manager and medical staff after Awoniyi's injury? We all know he's still the boss. The fact they've written to UEFA makes a mockery of the rules. And I'm well aware we're just as morally repugnant. Palace fans deserve their Europa League campaign. Forest deserve their Conference League season. We should just sack off all multi-club models. Yet another example of how crap modern football is.

Players develop and change positions all the time. As a wide player or an 8 we know he has an eye for goal. He's not exactly blessed with pace but for anyone playing up top without it, it's movement, anticipation and finishing that's key. I reckon he has the mentality and the willingness to learn and develop to succeed as a 9 or 10. It would be remarkable and incredibly enjoyable as a fan if he were able to do it.

1. Current one 2. The one above 3. Running fox I like all of them though. And even growing up in the 90s I like the current one more than the previous iterations of it. I'd like to see away kits incorporate the one above and the running fox tbh (obviously on different kits)

Annoying that the PL's ban on gambling sponsors on the front of shirts from 2026-2027 isn't going to be extended to the EFL. Allowing them to continue as sleeve sponsors and in-stadium advertising in the PL is not great either really but it's a step in the right direction to ban them from the front of shirts. I guess the EFL being sponsored by SkyBet will have influenced the decision not to extend that to Championship, L1 and L2.

I'm hesitant to suggest this with our dodgy financial behaviour, and I'm generally of the opinion that we need to take our medicine and accept that we're not going to be back in the Premier League for a few seasons. However, is there anything stopping us from employing Monga's parents as 'consultants' as a way of circumventing the rule on giving Monga a professional contract? I suspect there is. But if we could actually give them some sort of role in youth player liaison, something that's provable and can survive an external audit, maybe that could help? Plus, is there anything against telling the parents this is what we will pay your son when he turns 17 without actually signing anything?

Bit of a coup that for Roma.