ALC Fox

I do

Exactly. Two wrongs don't make a right and all that. Getting even in the heat of the moment is all very tempting but it's always better to remain calm and if encountering someone who is driving recklessly just let them go. There's no point adding yourself to the number of dangerous drivers on the road. When idiots and reckless drivers go past us, my partner and I tend to mutter to ourselves and put on silly voices and say things like "Ooh look at me in my Audi/BMW/whatever" and "Ooh my journey is so much more important than your journey, I must get there quicker than you". Kind of takes the sting out of the adrenaline and irritation

So what's the answer to the midfield problem with Ndidi actually playing well as a #8 last season and a roving #8 or #10 this season? Rewarding him for playing well but dropping him back to accommodate El Khannouss or Buonanotte doesn't seem right. I don't think we want him in a deep-lying role anymore. But dropping him in favour of the others seems unfair at the moment. With the other two lads actually being specialists in that position, though, this does seem most likely to me, unless: - We switch to a similar system to last season and have Buonanotte or El Khannouss as an 8 alongside Wilf and then drop one of Winks or Skipp. - We moved to a midfield diamond and drop one of the wingers to accommodate a midfield four of Winks, Ndidi, Skipp and Bilal/Facundo. - Give Buonanotte or El Khannouss start nominally as a winger on the understanding that they'll often drift inside. It's quite a quandary. Cooper obviously likes this midfield and I can understand the approach away from home. Also, Ndidi is playing well but I imagine we'll carry much more threat on average over a period of several games with El Khannouss or Buonanotte instead.

Haha yeah remember that!

I was quite positive about Cooper. He did really well at Forest under the circumstances and he appeared to be liked by his players and loved by the fans. We're going to need a different approach at times in order to stay up, but this news has me worried. Were the players not consulted on the type of manager they wanted to work with? Was due diligence not done on this during Cooper's interview? Did we just think that he was going to impose his working methods without rubbing a few players up the wrong way? No manager is going to please every player. If it's just a few of them and we can continue to work as a squad and start picking up results then there's no need to panic. But if he's pissing off most of them and we can clearly play better football than we are doing, and include more of our attacking talent, then this is a reason to worry and we should just go and get Corberan ASAP.

Could've just made it the away kit or the third

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/articles/c0494zkxprpo Fourth kits in football. Noel Gallagher has designed one for Man City. Why? They don't need them. Three is literally the max any team could possibly need. And you could argue that actually teams only need two.

https://www.jeunesfooteux.com/Yusuf-Yazici-ex-LOSC-convoite-par-3-clubs-de-Premier-League-_a72826.html Apparently Leicester, Everton and Bournemouth are interested in Yusuf Yazıcı. Apparently we want a deal to be done quickly. Give Me Sport and Sport Witness also quoting the article above. Tier 4, no doubt

He's already starting games for the U21s and came off the bench for them in a 'senior' fixture. The loans will free up space and allow the likes of Monga, Evans, King, Onanaye, etc. more opportunities at that higher level. Monga and Evans look the biggest talents of that U16s cup-winning side and will hopefully find opportunities to train with the first team and potentially make the bench in a cup game. For me the signs are that the culture is already changing. Small, green shoots at the moment, admittedly, but I can see the academy really beginning to blossom this season and beyond.

Great to see Monga starting an U21 game. I've just done some cursory research on the player's ages, and was unable to find the ages for a few of them. But the below looks a lot healthier for an U21 side now that we've sent a few players out on loan. Giving some of those younger lads games at U21 level should, in theory, give them the kind of experience that will bring their development on. Are we finally, finally, starting to see a strategy with the academy that will produce a regular conveyor belt of talent that we can either blood into the first team or, if not, sell for decent money rather than letting them go at age 22 for nothing? Bausor - 19 Wormleighton - 20 Gray - ? Aluko - 17 Amartey - 18 Cartwright - 19 Evans - 16/17? (Saw a post saying the was 16 four months ago) Monga - 15 Pennant - 20 Page - 15? (Could only find Louis Page who is apparently a defender so strange for him to be listed so far down the starting XI) Onanaye - 16? French - 18 King - 17 Dyke - 17 Khela - ? Otchere - ?

I've previously said I think he'll be our worst signing this window, but I'm becoming more optimistic. Now, of course, this could still be the case even if he is fantastic (just as long as the others are even better ). Looking at the videos of him, we need to be able to find him in the box time after time after time, and therefore we need creativity in the team. When he's on the pitch, Fatawu, Mavididi and Buonanotte/El Khannouss also need to be on the pitch, or he's just not going have a sniff. If we can get the ball to him in the right positions, we may have a renaissance on our hands here.

Well try coming up with rules that are actually fair for all clubs and that don't have a bunch of loopholes in that can be exploited because they were written by idiots.

Imagine Everton fans if we go and wallop them in a few weeks

The Saudi transfer window closed yesterday according to Transfermarkt https://www.transfermarkt.co.uk/transfers/transferfensterdetail/statistik/top/land_id/146/plus/1

It's also worth remembering that Fortuna Dusseldorf are making 4 home games free for all this season, with the eventual aim of making all home games free of charge, offsetting the drop in revenue by acquiring more long-term sponsors.

I'm seriously tempted to just start watching my local non-league side. Standing, able to have a beer while watching the game, and not going to get fleeced for the price of a ticket. A mass drop-off in attendance would make a huge difference as it would affect 'the product' all club owners are so keen to exploit. It's the only way.

Fair enough. I thought we'd signed him from somewhere but must have been thinking about someone else. Probably Grist again despite naming him previously

To be fair, Alves, Braybrooke and Nelson have been hyped for a while and are still here. We signed Popov, Richards and Grist. They all have good reputations and are still here. Nyoni and Noubissie both went but just like everyone else we'll still be trying to keep our best youngsters or getting good money for them. Hopefully Monga stays with us through the age groups. He's already straddling the U18s and U21s so I don't think it's unreasonable to think he could be an U21 regular by the end of the season with an eye on making a first-team squad. His rise has been meteoric so far so let's hope it continues. If it doesn't, let's hope we give him the time to develop at his own pace.

RIP Sol. A real favourite on Filbert Way.

I'm still really reticent about this, even after having a couple of hours or so to think about it. I genuinely think the window hasn't been as bad as a lot of people think, though. Ayew has experience and quality and will offer more than just goalscoring. Skipp firms up our midfield and adds badly needed quality in that area. I personally think he'll be our most important signing of the window. De Cordova-Reid hasn't set the world alight but when he's settled he should be an experienced hand who will be a good rotation option, allowing us to keep Mavididi and Fatawu fresh. Buonanotte is a very talented boy who looks like he could catch fire with more minutes under his belt. El Khannouss is a bit of an unknown quantity but comes with real hype and could unlock defences, something we badly need. Golding has something about him and is definitely one for the future. We're seeing our U21s go out on loan and get valuable experience now, which will be great for them and the club. Yes, Okoli could go either way, but he seems to be rated in Italy so he deserves a chance, and we could've done with Alves going out on loan too as it seems he isn't particularly close to a first-team spot. Maybe he's closer than we think. So I'm largely positive about the window and am not a whinger in the slightest. But I do think Édouard could be the biggest dud of the window. I'm not entirely sure what he brings to the table, if I'm being honest. I really, really hope I'm wrong. I want him to be brilliant and I'll be supporting him no matter what. I'm certainly not going to drone on about it. But I'm the least hopeful with him out of all our signings if I'm being honest.

I was hoping he wouldn't be the one actually. I'm not convinced he's the different kind of option we need. If he arrives I'd love to be proved wrong, though. I just don't think he has enough presence for a striker doesn't actually score that many. But we need the bodies I guess.

The door is still open if we can get someone in. It'll be a disappointment if we can't bring a striker in. On the face of it, we have Vardy and an injured Daka only. But Ayew can play there. Not as a prolific goalscorer but as someone who can facilitate for our younger, more dynamic players and bring Fatawu, Mavididi, Buonanotte or El Khannouss through. And there's Popov too. It doesn't look like he has a loan lined up. This could be a chance for him to become more involved in first-team training and impress the manager. It may look crap if no striker comes through the door. But there are silver linings, solutions to be found and reasons to be optimistic.

Great to see these lads getting out and having the chance to prove themselves. Has to be the way forward if we want them to make into the first team or to receive fees for them in the future.

He has a bit of Phil Jones about him. I think we could have a rich source of material for this thread.

Hard no from me for this one.