The Fish

5yr deal, reduce the fee by sending a player the other way, and by including stipulations that only come into effect in later seasons and thus only appear on future accounts?

Kimmich? Yes please.

We don't play again until the 27th, a break will do all of the team good.

What's the difference?

No, tried that once and found it not to my liking, too much micromanagement, too many lifers as well.

Their total Market Value on Transfermarkt? €81.25m. Which is less than Bruno (€85m).

Pretty much, Kane and Rice counted as pure profit as there is no fee to amortise. In FFP terms they cost nothing. So say we had two bids of €50m, one for Bruno, one for Barnes. The Bruno deal would be better in FFP terms than the Harvey Barnes one.

Surely it's simply that you're successful? Nobody gives a shit about Reading's dodgy owners because who gives a fuck about Reading? People care about our sponsorship deals because we're a threat. The top 6 don't want another force to deal with, the chasing pack don't want another valuable European spot sewn up, and the rest don't want another pair of fixtures written off before a ball is kicked.

Compared to my normal day? No, positively hectic. Compared to a normal person? Yes, glacially slow.

Dat boi is thicc

Yeah, I was just expanding on it.

Our best starting 11 would be €413m. Our starting 11 for the Man City game was €350m

1 means available, 0 means injured/suspended. dark green means started, light green means played from the bench, yellow means on the bench but not used, red means available but not in squad. I've taken market value from Transfermarkt. Our total squad value (inc used U21s) is €641.8m. In 9 out of 21 PL games we've been been over 30% down on the squad in terms of market value.

The hope is that Bruno can keep his cool for the next game. We'll need him for Villa. For the games he misses, I'd shift to a back 5 if Willock isn't back in time. Unless of course we can sign a defensive midfielder.

He's done. Over Ruined Finished

It's not just about the prize money though. Being in European competitions regularly makes us way, way more attractive to commercial sponsors. So while we might bomb out in the 1/4s and pull in £10m, we could sign commercial deals that eclipse that.

I wonder which clubs would vote to change it to a more meritocratic version? I can't see Liverpool, Man Utd, Arsenal or Spurs being in favour of opening up the valve any more than it is. I honestly think the PSR rules should take into account 2 things; 1 prevent megarich clubs from simply spending what they like, and (more importantly) ensuring bad owners aren't mortgaging the club's future on a whim. Debt should be taken into account, as should revenue obviously, but the capital available from the owner should be considered too. Us, yourselves and others could comfortably afford to make losses greater than £100m over a 3yr period without risking the future of the club, by virtue of having owners who can cover that loss by checking the back of the sofa. The rule as it stands is basically, you can get better, but only by a little bit every season. Of course that means the established elite can keep accelerating at faster pace. No club, regardless of their revenue stream should have £1bn owed in debt.

Like a bidet

I blame Batty and... Keegan.

Same has been true for so much of the season. Our starting 11 has been good enough to win most games, but as time wears on, our bench has proven too weak to manage the game.

If I remember right, our forward lines were in attack and they caught us in transition, then they played a pass through the lines into that pocket of space vacated by Bruno who had joined the attack. A true DM would not be so keen to leave his position and would likely be staying pretty close to De Bruyne. With a 6 you'd have a pressing trap further up the pitch, but the 6 only committing himself if the trap is sprung, or if the trap is evaded.

That's the problem though, we were getting away with it when Pope was fit. Get a proper DM and the gap you highlight above doesn't exist.

DM is priority, for me. Not only lessens the pressure on the defence, but frees up Bruno and/or Miley to play further forward. A sweeper keeper is great, but if everyone in front of him is so exhausted/tentative that we're camped around our own box anyway, what's the point?