The Lusophone

I hope we get the absolutely funniest timeline which is a great Ferrari car this season and an absolute dog in 2025.

47 minutes ago, Michelle Branch said:

Lewis will be 40 at the start of next season. Is there any word on the length of the contract?

Apparently multi-year.

Aston Villa have signed Lino Sousa from Arsenal and immediately loaned him to Plymouth Argyle - at this rate we're going to sign the entire England youth setup.

No team that appeared in the quarter finals at the last AFCON have reached the quarter finals of this AFCON.

4 hours ago, Lineker said:

Sounds like Adam Wharton is off to Palace. Another Blackburn youngster taking the next step up.

Season over for Blackburn tbh.

1 hour ago, Szumi said:

Aston Villa are signing winger Rogers from Boro. He only joined from City in the summer.

 

And he's not been all that good tbh. Still, at least they're not after our Morgan! Speaking of, we've told Lazio to bugger off after they submitted a bid for Morgan Whittaker.

1 hour ago, Colly said:

 

JDT might not be in a job by then if their horrible form continues.

"We have mutally decided that I would resign before I was fired."

Congratulations Liverpool fans - because Steven Gerrard was unwilling to wait just two more seasons at Rangers, you're spared the spectre of a mass media campaign to get him the Liverpool job.

With the Falcons not going with Belichick, what jobs are there that are open to him now?

Signed by Spurs, loaned to Argyle. The new elite player pathway.

This looks more like Arena being in chaos behind the scenes due to Manoj Bhargava being an idiot and Authentic getting fed up with their non-payment. SI will probably relaunch as at the very least an online outlet under a new operator and quite possibly still as a magazine too.

Blanc took one look at the state of the club and went "I ain't getting blamed for not fixing this. Find someone else."

12 hours ago, Hobo said:

I don't think Al Etiffaq have PIF money but I'd not be surprised to see more players give up on Saudi Arabia sooner rather than later.

They don't but like most clubs they're 'owned' by the Saudi Ministry of Sports and probably got more focus than others due to its location in the east of the country. It hasn't helped attendence much but they've built one of the better known cadres of foreign talent in the league - Moussa Dembele (Fulham one), Demarai Gray, Gini Wijnaldum, Robin Quaison and Jack Hendry (ok they can't all be great), and of course Gerrard as manager.

Which makes it quite funny that they're 8th in the table out of 18 and behind teams like Al Fateh, Al Taawoun and Damac, who can call on the likes of Djaniny, Musa Barrow and Spurs legend Georges-Kévin Nkoudou respectively.

I wonder what position he'll end up playing.

Very much feels like he'll be doing the Sol Campbell circuit in a few years, complaining about no one giving him a job.

Also feels like his coaching record won't be anywhere near as accomplished as Campbell.

Troy Deeney is proving he's very much cut-out for this management lark.

That is a tasty Group E.

Reading fans have stormed the pitch and don't look like they're leaving any time soon.

Generational talent that.

Any change to the schedule - not just for the FA Cup but in general - that potentially deprives smaller clubs from big match day revenues like a replay at a 'big' club should only come if accompanied by a binding agreement to significantly increase funding down the pyramid prior to being agreed.

More money for the pyramid should be the price to even start the conversation, whether it's on scheduling or the 3pm blackout and everything in-between. 

Sometimes, the game gives you a perfect reason for why you're taking over the team you're managing:

And as I'm using the 2024 version of my alternative nationality database, this is the core group of players I'll be using to take me through:

Middlesbrough are signing Finn Azaz from Aston Villa for £2.5 million, which means he's been recalled from Plymouth Argyle, which is a bit annoying. A year to the day that Morgan Whittaker was recalled by Swansea in an attempt to sell him (which failed, unlike here). Middlesbrough are getting the best attacking midfielder in the Championship for a steal.

If he goes down immediately, it's a penalty and I don't think many could complain too loudly. If he stays on his feet he probably scores barring one of the worst misses of the season. Jota made the worst possible decision available to him, it's like his brain lagged.

It's a bit much of Rooney to complain of not getting enough time when the only reason he had the job was because he is who he is, not because he's a good manager.

I'm doing something very bold and experimental...