Bordersfox

I think I'd probably start Skipp for Choudhury and Ayew for Mavs based on what we've seen. I do worry about Riccy's fitness in this system and I'd rather save Hamza for rotating with him, think he's done okay. Same with Mavs, rotate with Abdul and Monga rather than run either into the ground. LB is an issue, haven't been that impressed with anyone there so far in preseason. If Bilal stays, which I think he might, then he starts. His pressing has been excellent apart from his skill set. I think Marti will fight to keep him. We need a new LB, 8 and striker I think. Realistically we can only get that by selling Mads, VK and Ndidi. I cannot see us shifting more than 3 based on Rudkins horrible track record and the wages some of our players are on. Hope he proves me wrong...

Was just using the two managerial styles as a comparison, appreciate Enzo didn't manage Skipp. Whilst Marti has a plan he also seems to have more of a hands on approach with the players. I probably should have used Ruud as my example who didn't strike me as particularly good on that side of things either.

Yep, thought the same. He showed a bit of bite think there were two or three good tackles. Winks was a passenger, and that was sad to see. There were glimpses last season where he used his energy to break the press and burst forward and we saw one excellent example of that yesterday. I think his confidence has been shot to pieces, Marti seems much warmer than Enzo, repeatedly stating he wants to get to know the man behind the player. I am hoping this might help rebuild the confidence of some players.

There is always a witch hunt going on somewhere in this forum. We all know the club is in a mess and has made some huge mistakes, I've been vocal about it. But there is an element of reactionary poster who seems to actual enjoy being angry about anything and everything. Skipp might be a symptom of our issues but he definitely isn't the cause. As far as we know he's a decent professional and he deserves a chances to show what he can do under (hopefully) a good manager.

Apart from the penalty brain fart Skipp looked okay yesterday, Winks on the other hand looked like he couldn't give two fvcks. £25m for 'okay' is terrible business but that's not on Skipp. He's had one season under two shocking managers and his confidence looked shot. We saw a glimpse of what he can be yesterday when he turned, broke the Koln front press and made an excellent pass to page which then presented a very good opportunity. He also broke up a couple of Koln attacks. There was some level of commitment to the cause. Forget any fantasy about us selling him and who would pay his wages on a loan? The best we can hope for is he rebuilds his career under a competent manager and gets another shot to show himself in a better light if we get promoted. He's still young so there is still a chance of redemption. People need to separate the price tag from the player. Horrible business and yes he's been sh1t but I am going to hope he comes good and certainly won't be revelling in his failure.

I'd say his decision making is superb for a player his age. His cut back to Page led to Kasey's goal and he definitely looks to make the right passes at the right time pretty often. He's also strong and very difficult to knock off the ball. Do I think people are getting carried away? Yes, but it's not like we've had much to get carried away about recently. I was sceptical as young players do get over hyped but this lad looks the real deal. You can see already he's way more than tricks. Which in any event are entertaining and which is part of what football should be about.

He really is a decent finisher.

Skipp did something!

Ayew looks fine really. Yes it was a shit transfer we never should have made but I think he's looked okay. He can definitely hold it up and bring others in to play which suits this manager. Agree on the rest!

The result is meaningless. More important is that Cifuentes understands who wants to be here and who fits his system. The others he needs to get nasty with. Freeze them out and try and force moves. I want Rudkin under extreme pressure to move unwanted players on from now until the end of the window.

Monga on one side Fatawu on the other. That will rip the championship a new one.

I hope the takeaway from this is we never ever see a Coady, Vestergaard pairing again.

You almost called it! Shame as he should have been cashing in here.

Broadly agree with this, although we should not use p1ss poor pay increases across the public sector to justify this. Whilst residents hourly rate is no higher than a plumber they do have great earning potential as you stated. It feels like a misstep by GMC, the optics are poor after the bumper pay rise and public support for a further strike is very low. It also puts Labour in a tricky situation, strikes will shaft them on hitting waiting list targets but caving in sets a bad precedent. Overall GMC and its members should accept they are better off even under this austerity/Tory light Labour government and can the proposed strikes. Strikes are an important and fundamental right of workers in this country but it is a tool that should be used wisely and sparingly. This is not that.

So true. I prefer: Dear [ ] I hope this email finds you gravely ill.

Or preferably to another forum altogether.

This is a great read, very well written. It is easy to forget now how central to both the national psyche and our island history the navy once was. And also how we were pretty much a third rate weakling on the seas for most of that time!

Ah old Zjelko Teflon Kalac. That really was an absolutely abysmal performance.

Yeah that's what we use, but there is always a bit of noise produced as it sucks the room air in. As I say doesn't bother us.

Yeah I think it depends on what you need it for. I'd definitely consider a full install if our house got very warm but as it's only the bedrooms doesn't seem worth it. Obviously you have to accept they make a bit of noise, but I find it is almost like white noise after a while and if anything I sleep better with it going weirdly than I do in winter. Go figure!

For a counter view we spent £350 on a portable unit a couple of years ago. It is only the upstairs in our house that gets incredibly warm and we leave the unit on overnight in our bedroom on very hot days. It makes some noise but nothing that bothers us. We don't notice much difference in energy costs but then we have solar panels so it's probably offset over the summer. Works perfectly for us and is a very cheap option overall as we don't need multiple rooms cooling. We have a Midea unit (Chinese of course). No reliability issues so far.

Interesting watching that friendly after seeing @StriderHiryu youtube video about Cifuentes preferred style. In terms of risk there was more than one occasion where there were huge spaces behind Hamza as he pushed forward. I wonder if he'll prefer at least one very mobile CB (Okoli, who I thought pressed well yesterday) so we can cover that off a bit. Even if that player is not so comfortable on the ball. We haven't seen much of Coulibaly but again, he's very mobile. Is he injured or something (sorry if this has been covered elsewhere) as I am surprised he didn't get any minutes yesterday.

Seen him a few times. Looked crap every time if I am honest, against league 1 defenders. But obviously scored a good few.

Fvck that line-up. Fvck the manager. And fvck this club. Sorry, I've been missing the match thread. Carry on.

If we get an offer of £10m or more you are cordially invited to my house for a slap up meal and champagne to celebrate.