Spudulike

Hi lads, Long time no see as it were (long story and now's not the time or place). Just a quick message to say I can imagine what this morning's news means to you all. Anyone with half a brain knows that the events in Russia are not a reflection on the club nor the fans, or the owner. Personally, I'm very sorry you are in this situation - you're a great bunch - and hope it'll soon be resolved. You'll defo get through the situation, even though things seem bad now, so hang in there.

A good start for United, no doubt about it. I won't worry about Lukaku until he becomes consistent, however. If he scores in his next outings, I may revise my view. However, Matic is more of a worry. He's brought a coherence to Utd that they've missed in recent seasons. He wasn't cheap but by God he looks great value for money. An ok start for us. It's hard to gauge how good we are as Newcastle are not the strongest opposition. I feel a bit sorry for Rafa tbh; North East clubs still struggle to attract players.

A good point. I will not take anything for granted however. Playing a side like CFC after (what sadly looks like being a defeat) isn't a welcome proposition.

I don't know. Both us and you haven't made many signings and, for me, a lesson of recent seasons is that new signings are vital to motivate. Don't get me wrong, today is a poor start for CFC (so far) but we haven't played yet and I'm not overflowing with confidence.

I agree with that 100%. Moral issues aside, I can't see how the current model can be sustained. I don't know what happened to FFP. I don't know if it's even a thing these days, in practice.

Where does it stop though? How long til we see a player sold for a quarter of a billion? There must (I hope) be a natural value level?

Some of this window's other prices confirm that. It's long past the level where a single player can be 'worth' more than the entire cost - players, backroom staff, grounds - of entire lower leagues. I still can't see how BT makes money from the EPL while chucking money at clubs.

There was that hype. The whole pre-season coverage was wrong and the media couldn't acknowledge it. Being honest, most punditry is sort of educated guesswork. The media want angles but the clubs are more important than managerial rivalry.

It's an annoying double standard. Pep was so hyped, perhaps the media felt they had to cut him some slack, as an alternative to admitting they were wrong.

That's true. I hope Pep does try to change Walker as City's defence was poor at times last season. Pep was very slow to adapt to the PL and, generally, was given a free pass by the media. An English manager, given such a large club, would have been held more to account.

So Walker's left us for City. No issue with that particularly: his head was turned and the price was good, and a tidy profit. My issue (and I am late to realise this) is that, at the very top clubs, there's little skill in making transfers. Walker is a good player, well established and known to be reliable. City have just, it seems, said 'He's good. Buy him and the manager can fit him into our system and make it work'. It's, superficially, as basic a process as choosing players for playground football. 'He's good - pick him'. I appreciate that a lot more skill goes into identifying talented players in lower leagues, or from abroad, but the top clubs are just buying 'good' players because they seem safe buys. Put another way, did Jose want Lukaku specifically or did he want any forward from a list of recognised, capable, PL forwards? Was Lukaku a case of 'We need a 20+ a season striker; find one'. Was Walker bought because he fitted a very short description of 'good right back'? E. g. 'We need a good right back, get me one'.?

Good Lord no. Players like Tammy Abraham and Demarai Grey. They need experience but they should be where we look for coming tournaments.

Damn. Undeniably :-) That's a good point in a way. Hodgson had a team of naturally fast players and we looked slow and uncertain. What a mess.

True. However, and I am cynical about this, I think England managers have a genius for wasting talent, and choosing wrong formations and tactics. The last Euros were a new low. Particularly following on from the abysmal preceding World Cup. Nearly all of Hodgson's decisions are still incomprehensible and I don't think Southgate will be any different. There's a strong vein of conceit in England managers that makes them - I think - make weird decisions (Kane on throw-ins and corners) in the hope that they'll work and be proved clever. For that reason, I wouldn't put it past a manager to take Rooney to the next WC. I just hope, next time, we're less of an embarrassment than recently.

That's a fair point but surely he can't go to another World Cup? He's done little (in fairness, neither did anyone else) at the last two we attended. He's definitely slower and, with - we hope - younger and fresher players coming through, he must be in the past internationally? Looked at another way, he didn't work wonders, in World Cups, when at his peak (lots of reasons for this of course and few are his fault).

He is a good buy but arguably no more consistent than he was at CFC. He's not a goal a game forward and there'll be a weight of expectation on his shoulders. Still, a statement of intent from Utd.

Re. Rooney to Everton, I think I'd be unhappy if I was an Everton fan. Rooney left at 18 - for understandable reasons - but, if he goes back, he's long, long past his best. He's clung on at Utd for at least three seasons and what can he now offer Everton, on the pitch? If he comes out with the usual stuff about loving Everton, being keen to return to his team, it will ring even more hollow than usual.

I have to agree there. In my mind's eye I imagined CFC players laying on the pitch in devastation but it was some handshakes and cheerio. I don't get that and I don't think it's just a CFC thing. I love the Cup and it didn't fit feel like a special occasion, which is gutting. Being interested in winning deffo helps as, despite what the pundits said, Arsenal didn't play brilliantly. They worked hard and it covered a lot of weaknesses. Mertesacker, Sanchez, and Ospina stood out for ability. The others mainly worked hard.

I'd forgotten about how Hiddink handled Hazard: good point. Player power needs dealing with in some way, in general terms not just at CFC. The relationship between multi - millionaire players and their manager is something I don't understand. I know that a team relies on, for example, Hazard playing well, but there's still a basic employer/employee relationship where you try your best to work well. Payet's, drop in form at West Ham and subsequent move was a classic example of a player saying 'F*** you' but the clubs don't play hard ball, they let it happen. God knows what happened with JM. There are so many rumours but it looks bad and you now see JM investing time in player relationships at Utd perhaps based on what happened at CFC. Even he's had to adapt.

There were issues though. I recall Hazard blanking Mourinho when he was taken off in a match. And the issue of how serious the injury was was a matter of opinion.

Agreed. The one thing I've taken from the Chelsea (under JM) and Leicester stories is that it's essential to buy new players in the closed season to ensure the regular players - even if they make up a very good squad - are challenged for their places. One thing that surprised me a bit yesterday was the CFC players not looking gutted after the match. Was that just me thinking that?

Interesting reply. There are things about our teams that we ignore or skirt over. I can't see Spurs ever abandoning a 'sensible' wages and buys policy - we won't make marquee signings and, tbh, everyone is for sale for the right price. It's a limiting factor on our ambitions. Re. Hazard, his performance in JM's last season epitomised everything wrong with player power in today's game. I'm not a fan of Dele Alli (he has ego issues).

I can't argue with that. Re. the Ref, he did indulge Arsenal as they were - unexpectedly - physical at times and he let some things go. I've read this thread and, at the point where Moses got sent off, the comments made by posters are to the credit of Shedenders. There are many forums where the comments would have been 'eff the Ref' etc. Some posters have written that this loss might help Conte to make decisions about Summer selling and buying. I agree; it might allow Conte to head off some problems. I reckon it should help Wenger make some decisions too because Arsenal's chance to goal ratio is terrible. Whether Wenger does anything is another matter.

A fair point re. Moses. My first thought was that the Ref probably had in mind recent publicity about simulation. Perhaps, anywhere else on the pitch, Moses gets a talking to for trying to get a free kick. But a dive for a penalty, in the current climate, seemed a split second lapse of judgment. It's easily done however.

Just a gut feeling but, with 11 men, CFC win. Arsenal struggled to put chances away, even with a one man advantage. It was clear that CFC were in control, imo, until Moses' dive. Arsenal were sometimes dreadful in front of goal, despite the win.