ALC Fox

Nice finish by McAteer

Sorry, I was thinking Fatawu on the right, Kasey on the left and Mavididi through the middle

Tags is looking magnificent by the way. He's keeping himself in decent nick.

Yeah I agree. I'd like to see Kasey and Fatawu swap over and see how that is. With a bit of time I think the 10/supporting striker role could be pretty good for Mavididi so I don't mind him staying there. It could see him among the goals even more, but clearly wide left is where he's strongest currently.

The vertical movement has been pretty decent as the half has worn on. We're getting it forward nicely and also quite quickly, both on the deck with short, quick passes and with some long ones as well. I think McAteer is coming into the game quite a bit now too.

He really is. Poor pass across the face then gave away a cheap free-kick.

Has Stolarczyk's absence been explained anywhere? Apologies if it's been covered loads already but I genuinely haven't seen a confirmed reason.

Yeah even though I'm not entirely sure about this yet, I do know for absolute certain that it's better than that rank sand effort the other year.

So more like spray paint than flames then. Which is good. But it's not the best. Will have to see them wearing it in a game before I form a proper opinion I think.

Hasn't Soulé already agreed terms should we agree a fee? He might prefer Roma but that doesn't exactly scream "I hate Leicester City" does it.

Yeah that's a fair point. I also think they probably could have benefited from having more capable backups. Akgun never really got going, McAteer never picked up from where he was before his injury and Wanya got very few chances. After bringing De Cordova-Reid in, if we can also sign Soulé and blood Alves that could go some way towards keeping Fatawu and Mavididi fresh and therefore more effective while they're on the pitch.

What we saw from Mavididi last season was incredible footwork and super high confidence. He had dips in form but that's true of most wingers really, and he ended the season well. He also worked his socks off, both offensively and defensively. I think, at times, that may have affected his energy levels during the more indifferent spells during the season. The PL is going to be a different kettle of fish: fewer games, probably being rested for the early rounds of the cups, but fewer chances to take. He's going to need to up his chance conversion rate, I think, and also become a little less selfish than he was early last season. I think he came on leaps and bounds during the campaign, but he'll need to step up again. His footwork and close control give him such an edge, but it's that decision-making afterwards that can be slightly improved - if I'm being hypercritical. But his defensive contribution will be absolutely invaluable. His left-back, whoever it is, will surely be his best mate next season as his off-the-ball work is so good. If he can replicate that next season and slightly improve his efficiency in the final third, Mavididi can really go places in this coming year.

Genuine question, so apologies if it's already been answered somewhere. But, why is the Palermo game being held in Chesterfield?

Kasper has already moved to Celtic

It's a fair point. The money is always going to be attractive. I just feel a bit annoyed by a) Chelsea taking our players and b) Enzo raiding us after only 12 months here. From a pragmatic point of view, I do understand that if Stolarczyk is good enough or we can bring in a decent replacement then it would be a no-brainer to make such a profit on Hermansen after 12 months. It's just that, for me, Hermansen was really emblematic of the shift in approach and in moving on from the GK being a problem position after Kasper left. He just settled things down and was magnificent last season. It would be a shame to lose him but if we did, hopefully our next #1 will have a similar effect.

I feel like we should tell Enzo to fvck right off. He's got all he's going to get out of us now. He got his boost to his CV, which, beforehand contained just a short ill-fated stint in Serie B as the main man, he's taken his staff with him, and he's taken one of our homegrown players who fits his system. Yeah, it's really helped with FFP but he's taking the p!ss now. £45m is a lot of money and one hell of a profit after one season, but I'd be telling him no, that's your lot for this year. We'll speak again in 12 months if you're still there.

If Italian clubs can't keep him fit, best to steer clear really, although last season doesn't look bad on that front. He was the one that was involved in that FFP 'swap' deal with Pjanic wasn't he? He went from Barcelona to Juventus for an absolute song and Pjanic went the other way for a similar amount.

I'm not sure what else Vine could've done other than stop for a stationary bus that could've sat there for ages because it wasn't signalling or doing anything. Yes the position of the bus should have probably made him slow down a bit to see what might happen, but he could have easily just done the same thing again when realising the bus was doing nothing. Passing the bus on the inside wasn't possible because of the buses beyond it and is not exactly preferable safety-wise. Also, he doesn't need to signal to go around the bus. Nobody does. He isn't changing lanes or making a turn. His position on the road signals his intention to go around the bus, just the same as a car would. It's up to drivers to be considerate of more vulnerable road users, e.g. motorbikes, cyclists and pedestrians. Plus the bus driver should be checking his mirror and blind spot and then indicating as a matter of course before pulling away. He did none of those things. The bus driver is definitely in the wrong here in my opinion. And I'm a driver who really hates Vine's radio show. Such smarmy, devil's advocate rubbish.

Preferring Roma over us isn't necessarily the same as not having an interest in coming here.

To be fair, if he's choosing Roma - a club that won't get relegated, that should be challenging for trophies immediately and that is in Italy, which is where he's settled and has been playing his football for a few years and which he has familial connections with - the fact that he would choose them over an extra 5 or 10 bags a week shows he has a good head on his shoulders. He wasn't averse to coming here either, so if we're ever in a position to have another go at getting him, it means we're in a much better place and he's done the business in Rome, is a bit older, wiser and ready for a different challenge. Chances are he'll never play for us but c'est la vie.

I'd love this purely for the bants. The sheer amount of competition means we'll probably not have much of a chance though. It does show we have targets other than Soule though, which is encouraging.

I wouldn't be against Skipp as we should cut our losses with Soumare and I still have reservations about Choudhury at this level. Braybrooke is an exciting prospect and may well force his way into the starting XI by the end of the season, but we'll need alternatives to take the pressure off. While he may be capable of extraordinary games, we can't expect him to play at a consistent level for a whole season, whereas we can expect something of the sort from Winks, Skipp and Ndidi thanks to their ages and experience.

Awesome video. Great signing. Such a positive having him back on the pitch and in the dressing room imo.

There's a bit of hysteria in here so why not add some more baseless speculation as fuel to the fire: What if the signing is already done but Maresca loves him so much we're already negotiating his sale to Chelsea? Or even a different club has shown an interest and we're taking to them?