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Ricky Van Wolfswinkel made his competitive comeback last week, grabbing a goal in the process! Few would have expected to hear that I'm sure! Good luck to him.

We should all be kind to one another (me included) because the world is very strange at the moment. Let’s be honest... it is only football and we can’t actually watch it properly until 2021/22 at the earliest. Come on Lakey, let’s hug it out big fella. You can be the Farke ying to my Ken Brown yang. Stay happy and healthy everyone!

Dave Stringer for me - Walker benefitted hugely from what he inherited, IMO the best footballing side we had.

I absolutely cannot believe that Villa - a side towards the bottom - are not only competing against, but also beating, one of the better teams in this league, with no home crowd to cheer them on? How is it possible? How do they do it? Or more importantly, why is not having a home crowd a valid reason to excuse our own rubbish performances?

Naah, I'm sure Citeh will get at least 1 !!

Reece James is a CHELSEA player. He was on loan at Wigan last season and has made a number of appearances for Chelsea this season!

Gelhardt looks a bit small to me 😁

I wish we hadn’t been found out after 2 months.

Do you know any Villa fans? I'm sure them not being there couldn't be a negative...

Come on Arsenal!

I get why people who feel, often with justification, they have been forgotten by the supposed elites and so vote for populists who claim to have their interests at heart. But perhaps for not much longer, given that on both sides of the Atlantic this naivety has produced joke leaders for whom the word charlatan is much too kind. They are both hollow men, lacking any of the necessary qualities. Neither has the brains, the vision or the common humanity.

The Blunstone one is the sort of thing I would listen to after my third glass of red and after lighting an incense stick 😁

Articles like this make be very grateful for our current ownership and club structure / strategy. The grass is not always greener and for every Leicester, Wolves there are thrice as many bad examples!

Not even worth arguing... people can’t genuinely think a 26 year old who has only played 58 games above conference level, 49 of which were in league one and two, is anywhere near prem standard. There’s no evidence he’s even championship standard, with mixed reviews about his performances in league one. The prem probably was a step too far for Klose this year, especially off the back of his injuries, but definitely still miles better than average league 1 (at best) standard.

Yes, you're right of course. I've only been one for 40 years - no idea what it is. That's me told.

So the long awaited Russia report says no direct evidence of involvement of Russia in Brexit campaign. And no evidence of any influence of Russia over Aaron Banks Just the lies of the Remain campaign, the Project Fear that so many suckers were eager to believe Of course, the majority of the people were never fooled and thank goodness we still have them. The Scottish SNP not so clean however. Russian influence reported in trying to split up the UK and plenty of fools believing the Russian propaganda whereas the majority have always been for the Union Much egg-on-faces for Remoaners. Get spinning boys.

BETHNAL EXCLUSIVE: CITY SIGN THE NEW KANTÉ

Welcome, Lungi! Also, interestingly, it appears Sean Raggett 'believes' his contract with Norwich has expired, but he 'doesn't really know what's going on': https://www.portsmouth.co.uk/sport/football/portsmouth-fc/sean-raggett-reveals-norwich-departure-and-open-portsmouth-return-2918653. I doubt we'll be seeing him again, so I've removed him from the list. Carlton Morris is likely to go out on loan to MK Dons this week, and with him being in the last year of his contract I wouldn't be surprised to see that move made permanent in January if Russ can get a tune out of him. Another interesting thing I've just remembered is that of the current first-team squad, the following players have NOT signed new contracts since we won promotion last summer: Heise, Hanley, Lewis, Thompson, Leitner. Heise and Leitner will probably be on their way, and Thompson's future is up in the air, but it does raise a question mark about Hanley and Lewis. As regular first teamers, is it simply the case that as they never had PL contracts in the first place, their wages will just revert to a similar level to the rest of the squad? Or is it that the contracts they signed in autumn 2018 were 'bumper' compared to the rest of the squad at the time, as we saw them as key squad members? I'm going to be busy with this in the next few weeks, I feel... GOALKEEPERS H 1 Tim Krul (born 3.4.88, age 32): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) 33 Michael McGovern (born 12.7.84, age 36): signed until 2021 (contract signed in April 2019) H 38 Aston Oxborough (born 9.5.98, age 22): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in March 2020) DEFENDERS H Sam McCallum (born 2.9.00, age 19): signed until 2024 (contract signed in January 2020) H 2 Max Aarons (born 4.1.00, age 20): signed until 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 3 Sam Byram (born 16.9.93, age 26): signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 6 Christoph Zimmermann (born 12.1.93, age 27): signed until 2023 with club option to 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 4 Ben Godfrey (born 15.1.98, age 22): signed until 2023 (contract signed in June 2019) 15 Timm Klose (born 9.5.88, age 32): signed until 2022 (contract signed in May 2019) 16 Philip Heise (born 20.6.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in January 2019) H 5 Grant Hanley (born 20.11.91, age 28): signed until 2023 (contract signed in November 2018) H 12 Jamal Lewis (born 25.1.98, age 22): signed until 2023 (contract signed in October 2018) MIDFIELDERS 27 Alex Tettey (born 4.4.86, age 34): signed until 2021 (contract signed in February 2020) 7 Lukas Rupp (born 8.1.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in January 2020) 8 Mario Vrancic (born 23.5.89, age 31): signed until 2021 (contract signed in July 2019) 19 Tom Trybull (born 9.3.93, age 27): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 17 Emi Buendia (born 25.12.96, age 23): signed until 2024 (contract signed in July 2019) H 14 Todd Cantwell (born 27.2.98, age 22): signed until 2022 (contract signed in July 2019) 23 Kenny McLean (born 8.1.92, age 28): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) 11 Onel Hernandez (born 1.2.93, age 27): signed until 2023 (contract signed in June 2019) 18 Marco Stiepermann (born 9.2.91, age 29): signed until 2022 (contract signed in May 2019) H 34 Louis Thompson (born 19.12.94, age 25): signed until 2022 with club option to 2023 (contract signed in October 2018) 10 Moritz Leitner (born 8.12.92, age 27): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2018) Melvin Sitti (born 14.2.00, age 20) signed until 2024 (contract signed in January 2020) Danel Sinani (born 5.4.97, age 23) signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2020) Jacob Lungi Sørensen (born 3.3.98, age 22) signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2020) FORWARDS 35 Adam Idah (born 11.2.01, age 19): signed until 2023 (contract signed in July 2019) 22 Teemu Pukki (born 29.3.90, age 30): signed until 2022 (contract signed in July 2019) 20 Josip Drmic (born 8.8.92, age 27): signed until 2022 (contract signed in June 2019) H Carlton Morris (born 16.12.95, age 24): signed until 2021 (contract signed in May 2019) Finally, here are all the squad members listed by year of contract expiry, with (+1) indicating we have the option of an extra year: 2021 McGovern, Vrancic, Morris, Tettey 2022 Krul, Klose, Heise, Trybull (+1), Cantwell, McLean, Stiepermann, Thompson (+1), Leitner, Pukki, Drmic, Rupp, Oxborough (+1) 2023 Byram, Zimmermann (+1), Godfrey, Hanley, Lewis, Hernandez, Idah, Sinani, Sørensen 2024 Aarons, Buendia, McCallum, Sitti

He might be alright. He might not. I'll wait until I see him play a few times. The last few years have taught me nothing if not that trying to anticipate how good unknown foreign signings might turn out to be is a fool's errand...

I agree Belly, even though people have diametrically opposed views to you there is no reason to personally attack them #bekind

I think Sheff Utd have disproportionately suffered just like the bottom teams from the lack of a home crowd.

Not so well. Got kicked out of sixth form for setting fire to some cyclohexane. Dropped out of University. Been sacked from every job I've ever had. And yet here we both are! Funny how things turn out, isn't it?

I did question recently whether he was finished or just unfit, or both. Still don't know the answer. But lots of people seem to have decided that its definitely the former and want to see him bombed out. I wouldn't be so quick to write him off, he probably isn't the player he was but we're seeing a player who has had a huge injury lay off come straight back into the side in the best league in the world, probably sooner than his manager and medical staff would have liked and into a side which is void of any confidence. I just remember that we were writing Tettey off every summer and yet every season he'd come in and have at least one spell of good form which impressed people, and has just shown up players much younger than him in the best league in the world. I'm not going to say we have a "young squad" as that seems to be a complete myth, but we do have a young defence and our squad probably will look younger next season. You need leaders and people with experience in that mix. With a bit more match sharpness I think Klose could be an asset next season in the Championship as a squad player, even if its largely in the dressing room, Rhodes and Hanley mostly sat on the bench last season (well, second half for Rhodes anyway) yet Farke and Webber both considered them really important to the squad. Granted his salary probably doesn't reflect the status of Championship squad player, and he's far too injury prone, he's probably on more money than he's now worth, but I'm not convinced he'll look out of the depth in that league if he can stay fit! At least willing to wait and see and give him a chance, he's not a player who has ever been blessed with loads of pace so how much could that injury really impact him unless it reoccurs? Seems more likely that his problems are psychological / confidence related?

This could have huge ramifications on 'who we wish we are' next season...

Aye, and they don't need to influence the majority but enough people to swing the vote in the direction they want. That is why Vote Leave sent out the dodgy ads at the beginning.

Just when you think this season can’t get any worse 😡

Probably because you made an idiot of yourself (again)

Nepotism. Thank you for the lecture in ethics. I’d like to see the club owned by the fans, but traditionally football clubs have been owned by wealthy families. More recently this has evolved more towards global companies (often with strong family connections). Assume those who glibly refer to Nepotism are not passing on anything to their family or friends and have never accepted a gift from extended family or networks in their lives. Nobility Tom.

😁

Absolutely 👍

Yes you are correct but i put a lot of his success down to stringer so i based it on that

I’d rather think about Carla’s to be honest

There is an element of 'hit and hope' with our current development set up. However that happens elsewhere with £10m plus players as well. The club now seems to have not only an excellent scouting system that has identified 'unknowns' to develop - but an excellent coaching system to then develop as much as possible So it is a case of making your own 'luck' ie as above, it hasn't just happened. We set out to do this and so far it is working....extremely well

Apart from Trybull they were all signed from 2. Bundesliga or Bundesliga clubs. They are established players in Germany with a lot of appearances for clubs there. While they were maybe unknown to many in England, that isn’t the case in Germany. I don’t imagine there will be a huge issue in finding clubs for them should the club wish to make them available. All players that signed a new contract last summer has a 50% wage reduction on relegation inserted. So although most are on more now than they were when the first joined, they aren’t on wages that prohibit them leaving.

If the club don't exercise their option to extend his contract then he's free to sign with another club. Certainly his agent would know all of this and the player would have had everything in writing. I'm not sure the club is to blame. Agents are paid their money to manage these things and to communicate with the player and club on contractual matters. Surely it is the player's agent who is responsible for making certain that the player knows where he stands?

Poor Jools, another epic fail. verb verb: investigate; carry out a systematic or formal inquiry to discover and examine the facts of (an incident, allegation, etc.) so as to establish the truth.

https://www.independent.co.uk/news/uk/home-news/russia-report-uk-national-security-brexit-terror-islam-a9630126.html "The Cardiff University research said Russian accounts attempted to boost their reach by mentioning Tommy Robinson and Nigel Farage to access supporter bases “already ideologically ‘primed’ for such messages to resonate”.

Absolutely, brilliant scoring record. We should be able to compete in a bidding war with other Chumps clubs and the PL won't be interested. However, Peterborough have a reputation for being tough negotiators and never sell under their own valuation.. BUT,they are a selling club to survive.

Just how can this report, intentionally withheld for over a year, be considered good news? Either by the right or the left? How is it not shocking whatever one's political views?

True but I think Trybull leaving seems the most likely after Leitner.

I have signed up for the trials. I will let you all know if I hear something.

Can I be the first to say... Binner!

I keep saying, Sheffield United are the latest iteration of 'The Championship side with a new system no one can quite work out yet'. Like Swansea and Stoke before them, it takes a little time for the top level sides to solve the problems they pose and then the rest copy and paste.

i think i might given him a chance and played Raggett up front instead of Drmic ? ( joke )

The point is Tettey said he would retire after the 2 years (now one year) and return home. Given the fact he's been at the club nearly 10 years and still gets in the first team whenever fit, I just find the probability that Trybull, who is clearly out of favour and has only been here a few years is leaving to be far more logical than Tettey cutting his contract short.

Defensive midfielder, I can live with that as it's been a big part of the problem this season.

Someone needs to write a bot programme to identify these posts and then immediately reply “signings are not made in order of priority”.

Nice to see Stoke getting VFM