ClaphamFox

Dyche has literally just been sacked because there was a good chance he was taking Everton down - the same Everton that are now 13 points above the relegation zone. He’s awful.

Everton were shit under Dyche. I think you’d struggle to make a case for them being shit under Moyes.

It’s incredible, isn’t it? Everton were utterly turgid under Dyche and have improved beyond measure since he was sacked. The same group of players are suddenly playing vastly better football and getting results week after week. This in itself should tell us everything we need to know about Dyche, but some people apparently still want him at our club

This is going to be this season’s equivalent of West Ham in April 2015: the catalyst for the run that keeps us up. Let’s go! (I accidentally poured more syrup into my porridge than intended this morning).

The only way he’ll even make it onto the bench this season is if both Daka and Vardy are injured. And even then he’ll probably be behind Jake Evans.

Ooh we're doing this again, are we? 0-7.

"We have meetings with the club and we tell them our views. They ignore them, give us a sandwich, pat us on the head and then see us out. That's how it works."

I refuse to believe that he will play Faes and Vestergaard together again. I can’t do it. My brain won’t go there…

I'm not sure.

A facebook friend of mine (and a fairly well-known figure among travelling fans) has been informed that he's been banned until the end of the season (which some may regard as a mercy, but he doesn't - supporting Leicester is his life). He hasn't specified what the ban is for, but he is adamant he didn't do what he was accused of and clearly feels he wasn't given the chance to defend himself. He's in a terrible state about it.

If he picks a central defensive pairing of Faes and Vestergaard again after Okoli's showing at Old Trafford, my Ruud-o-meter will stop hovering precariously around 'Still not sure' and swing decisively towards 'Sack him now!'

Realistically, how much money can they make from it? Surely they'll only ever get a maximum of a few hundred returned season tickets, and even if it's Cat A fixture, the price of the of the ticket will only likely give the club a small profit once they've paid back the season ticket holder?

The Assisted Dying Bill is evolving into something even more sinister and dangerous than I originally feared. Here, Kim Leadbetter admits that people will be able to choose to be killed simply because they fear they are a financial burden. The Bill Committee has also refused amendments to exclude people with impaired judgement, the depressed and suicidal, prisoners and homeless people and those 'unduly influenced' by others. This is a absolutely vile piece of legislation and it will be a very dark day for this country if it is passed. https://x.com/danny__kruger/status/1889746288767361451

That’s exactly it. It won’t affect the sponsorship and it’s certainly not going to turn Top into a Ronnie Biggs-type fugitive from the law. It’s just the Gambling Commission flexing its muscles a bit.

There is no chance of prison. This scarcely changes anything. BC Game will be our sponsor for one more season after this and then we’ll have to find a new (hopefully more appropriate) one.

Arsenal are 1/4.

To lose one football club might be regarded as a misfortune; to lose two looks like carelessness.

Ruud’s results have also almost certainly been skewed to the downside by the absence of Hermansen and Ndidi for most of the time he’s been with us. I’m still not convinced by RvN, but he gives the impression of having a much clearer vision of what he wants, and of demanding higher standards, than Cooper ever did. As such I think he’s at least as good a manager as Cooper and has the potential to be a much better one. The problem is that we don’t have the luxury of allowing him time to fulfill that potential - it needs to happen now.

No.

Presumably we'll buy at least one striker in the summer, if not two.

I think he'll go with Faes and Okoli, with Ndidi and Soumare as the two DCMs. It will be interesting to see whether he trusts Justin against Trossard or finally gives Coulibaly his first start.

Ruud's suitability for the job is definitely a matter for debate, but I'm less convinced that the decision to sack Cooper is. The football was terrible, he'd lost the dressing room and the performances and results were getting worse. He was the wrong pick from the start and once you realise that, it's better to act sooner rather than later.

Yet unusually positioned, with a space on either side. What does that tell you?!

Belgium and Italy were in the same group in the most recent Nations League. Italy finished second on 13 points, Belgium finished third on six points.

This is a blow for us