ALC Fox

This is what I don't understand. I know he's trying to rotate but our rotation options are garbage.

Dyche's appointment will likely suit their squad based on Nuno's work previously. He should slot in and they will survive this season. He will save them from a catastrophic, topsy-turvy season where results and experimentation would have drawn them into real danger. Beyond this season, will he really be as effective as Nuno? He had a very good season with Burnley and did well with them overall but was still relegated once and was sacked late on in another relegation season. And at Everton, where he was in the job for a couple of years, they regressed massively and would have been in a relegation battle with us and Ipswich had it not been for his sacking and Moyes's appointment. If they do survive this season, as I expect they will, I imagine they'll be firmly in a relegation battle next season.

Christ, that's sad. Poor bloke, poor family.

This is definitely a thing. How on earth can we be good one half and atrocious in the other? Game after game after game it's happening.

Utter disgrace. No shame whatsoever. Some things are bigger than having a bit more money to spend. If the club has actually been better at marketing itself, arguably we wouldn't even need this shower. Although it probably wouldn't have stopped them going down this route for an extra few quid anyway.

I'm on board. Marti is saying all the right things and looks like he really wants to be here. If we can convince him that we're going in the right direction, if we haven't lied to him and don't spring any nasty surprises on him a week before the transfer window, this could be a bit of a slow reset. More signings like Jordan James who are bloody good but not too big for their boots. Move on the prima donnas and the overpaid, overhyped guys who haven't pulled up many trees and we'll be laughing. We could do it this season, it could take two or three seasons but - as I'm feeling optimistic - this could be the start of another good period for us.

My Uber driver last night. Pulls out onto several roundabouts without looking. One was a very close call resulting in a very angry fellow road user. Runs several red lights, including that resulted in a very sharp turn as he realised he was about to go straight on and miss the turning. Bearing in mind there was a cyclist approaching the lights at around the same time and we all know they can often run red lights, I'm not sure he checked his mirror and blind spot before he swung around the corner. At the red lights he did stop at he just cut a knackered, disinterested figure. Dropped me off, clearly didn't check his mirrors or blind spot before he pulled away as he almost pulled out straight into a car that was driving past. Another loud honking from a fellow road user. Boggles the mind.

Have to say the way we moved the ball around quickly against Latvia was very impressive. Great performance by Gordon in the first half especially and Kane's finish for his first was wonderfully instinctive. The Senegal performance worries me as it's the only time we've faced anyone of note, really. You could argue Serbia away was a big test as well that we passed with flying colours, and we're now definitely a lot further on under Tuchel than we were in that Senegal game. With the depth we have it's going to be a hell of a job choosing a squad for the tournament. As will keeping the players fresh in those summer temperatures, potentially travelling lots between matches and after another long season.

Regarding Leicester, I was very excited by the signings - at different times - of Darius Vassell, Diomansy Kamara and Danny Cadamarteri. Regarding other clubs, I thought both Ten Hag and Amorim would be the guys to turn Man Utd around at the time of their appointments.

Sort of. It's a channel so has a main broadcast. But yeah usually that's also where they put multiple broadcasts via the red button. If you watch it on the TV you can either watch it without pressing the red button (if it's the main broadcast on Sky Sports+) or you'll have to press the red button. If you're watching through the Sky Go app then you can't get the red button games but you can watch the main TV broadcast on the Sky Sports+ channel, whatever game that may be. If you watch on the Sky Sports app you can get all the red button games. This is if there are multiple broadcasts on the red button. From what I can see, it looks like City vs Portsmouth is the only game on Sky Sports+ at that time so you should be able to watch it through any method.

A site I check regularly says it's on Sky Sports+ https://www.live-footballontv.com/#2025Oct18

Middlesbrough have always had poor attendances, even when they were relatively safe in the Prem. Probably a demographic/affordability thing. Finances are really tight and something has to give. As gate receipts become less of a portion of clubs' incomes, more should be done to actually fill stadiums, create atmospheres and produce a better 'product' to use the corporation jargon.

This could be delicious. Imagine them sacking the manager that had them flirting with Champions League football because he doesn't get on with your sporting director, having to pay him compensation, hiring a guy who's methods are the complete opposite of the previous manager's, giving the new guy no transfer window and only a few games to instill a new way of playing, potentially sacking him and having to pay him off as well, then potentially hiring Sean Dyche, a man who looked like he was putting Everton into a relegation battle with three almost historically bad teams in the Premier League era last season.

I think James coming in with such a positive attitude has also been a big difference. I feel it gives players just an extra 1% or maybe a little more. As soon as he walked through the door he said that he and his dad used to say a club like Leicester would suit him and he genuinely seemed really happy to be here from day one. That kind of an attitude will see him through not just matches but the day-to-day training, travel, recovery, briefings, interviews, everything. I think if you're happy in life, your work will benefit and I do believe this transfer has not just a huge difference to our squad but also to him as a player and person. After a difficult season in France, it's great to see him thriving personally and benefitting the team as a result. I know it's early days but right now I think we should just get him permanently in Jan while the good vibes are strong, then risk the free loan space on another area we need to strengthen.

Having the option to sign this guy is honestly a great bit of business. By the end of this season he'll be much better than the player Rennes bought and he was pretty good then. A superb loan so far, and potentially an even better permanent signing. Not following through on it could be on par with not signing Lookman in terms of the difference both players could give/could have given the squad.

Bouncing back to win after being pegged back is a great step in the right direction. They're a good side those Swans as well. A valuable away win.

Death, taxes and...

How is our xG going down each time I look at the BBC stats?

Don't mind it after the first half against Wrexham with this team. Getting Ramsey in the team and up to speed could make a difference too. Silko on the bench is encouraging too. I'm not sure he's going to catch fire here but if we could do a McAteer with him, we'll be absolutely laughing. Would like to see Nelson, Aluko, Gray and Page in future squads, especially once we can move players on in January again. Could be a really, really important window for us, in terms of incoming players too.

Spend the money now

Monga had no right to emerge from that challenge against two of their players with the ball. Top player.

Nice corner routine that

Terrible pass by Hamza but Wout again weak in the challenge. Just gave him a nudge and didn't bother jumping, letting their guy just nod it on and put Hamza under pressure

Anyone managed to get this on the Sky Go app?

Early days and that second half was pretty poor for everyone. As I mentioned in the post-match thread, I think that link between defence and attack was removed when James went off and so when Carranza came on he was just starved of the ball. And then when he did finally get his chance he skied it. We rely too much on Fatawu as our creative outlet for me. While he's a wonderful player, West Brom did a great job of doubling up on Fatawu and Mavididi. Fatawu did break through on occasion and between them both they produced a few really dangerous balls in the box but I don't think there were enough for Carranza to really attack in the second half. When Ramsey is back - and Cifuentes isn't hooking James at half-time for some reason - maybe we'll be a bit more dangerous through the middle as well, which may hopefully give defenders more to think about and also let the wide players have a bit more freedom and just the one defender to run at.