Yes I saw that, he's on loan from Cheltenham. I also saw that Kings Lynn have a suspended £2k fine or unknowingly breaching covid rules. Dover had their record scratched a £40k fine and 12 point deduction for next year. So you get fined for not being able to play due to not have any money, that doesn't make any logical sense to me unless it was to make them as broke as all the other clubs next year?
World cup qualification tournaments for Europe are truly awful. The most competitive game in England's group is probably going to be Andorra Vs San Marino! Should they be doing something different with qualifiers? In total this tournament there are 55 nations, 10 groups and 13 places up for grabs. Maybe some sort of pre-qualifying for the low ranked teams such as San Marino or ROI and if they make it past Luxembourg then there is a shorter qualifying of groups of 4 where the top 2 go through?
Agree in principle, but why single out Ireland? They were unlucky against Luxembourg, and are way above them in the rankings (not to mention being 168 places above aforementioned San Marino). They also rank above Scotland and NI. I may be a little biased, but this surprised me.
I was just poking a bit of fun at Ireland, nothing more and I would expect it back when England cock up against a lower ranked team
Personally, I'd liken it to the FA cup where tiny clubs get the opportunity to take on the big boys. I like the risk of an upset, the tiny stadiums and odd locations. International football already takes itself too seriously, I wouldn't want to lose the opportunity to see an overweight part-time postman try and outwit Ronaldo now and again. I think the nation's cup is a good opportunity for countries to play others of a similar ability. It doesn't need to be extended to every tournament. That said, international football during a pandemic still feels like a terrible idea.
Norwich's top 5 most expensive strikers (van Wolfswinkel, Oliveira, Hooper, Ashton, Lafferty) cost a combined £29.4m, and scored 64 goals in 252 appearances. Pukki cost nothing and has 66 goals in 121 games.
Yeah nothing against Ashton as a player, although did feel like spent half a season agitating for his West Ham move. If anything just shows we haven't really spent big money on strikers.
More on the L1pswich takeover. Sounds like there will be some cash to spend. They might yet get off this downward spiral. https://www.eadt.co.uk/sport/ipswich-town/funds-behind-itfc-takeover-revealed-7890950
Many others have thrown money at it and failed, but I wish them all the best (mostly for the people in the pension fund!)
Ah yes, the first step of prudent transfer business - tell everyone that you've loads of cash to spend. That won't drive prices up at all...
As I understand it, that quote wasn't referring at all to transfer funds, but to the overall financial backing underpinning the takeover, i.e. more pertinent to the EFL's "fit and proper" test panel than to the club. As the guy went on to say, "No amount of money will save you from bad ideas". Given their success with Phoenix Rising, I'd say these guys mean business. Barnsley Mark 2 maybe?
Expect a new coat of paint on the turnstiles. I went to the last 2 derbies at Portman Road and the place is falling apart inside .