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Sterling’s England career has mainly played under Hodgson, which is possibly the worst England manager ever in major tournaments. No one played well under him — look at Kane now, who was on corners and 0 goals in 2016! Rashford has played well for England when called upon, but that miss versus...

I suppose Southgate needed to see what other players brought to the table. Rashford, Dier, Rose and Cahill in particular were all close calls for the original Starting 11. I thought Cahill and Rose did themselves justice. Dier on the other hand, he is half the ‘pivot’ or ‘quarterback’ Henderson...

Last night was a reminder of why we play 5-3-2 too. Fellaini and Dembele controlled the game better than Dier-Cheek-Delph. We played the 5-3-2 because we know we don’t have the caliber of midfielders capable of controlled games v ‘the good teams’. My biggest gripe with last night was the break...

Harries was right to leave, as I genuinely think Robins would’ve preferred an experienced L2 CB starting — similar to Stevenson’s diminished role. George Thomas, however, has wasted a year of his career and momentum from his final half season with us is gone. At best, he goes to a Championship...

In FM14 and 15 our owners are ‘looking to leave’ — if only! — and I managed to get taken by an Indian, then Brazilian tycoon, took us European and Premiership glory. Given £13m to spend in L1 buyback FFP meant I couldn’t sign anyone bar a needed CB. Though my first save for Cov in FM14 was...

I’m not too concerned actually. We created the best chance of the game and Rashford should be kicking himself for that 1v1 miss. Tonight underlined the importance of Henderson and Lingard (someone I wasn’t sold on if I’m honest) to the system. Dier doesn’t have the range of passing Hendo...

They need standardised VAR rules accross all major leagues so it’s not a case of different referees accustomed to different protocols and so on. I appreciate rugby union can be far more centralised because there’s far less teams, but football needs lay out the VAR system better in future...

Chelsea play with wingbacks, the role of our fullbacks are akin to wingbacks — Grimmer certainly plays very high up the pitch when we attack. Any description of Sterling I’ve read about him has him as a RB who can play anywhere on the right. Junior Brown, a player I remember on football manager...

Was quite disappointed Senegal failed to get at least a draw as they were generally the better side. Yet another example of the importance of set-pieces in the World Cup — thankfully Southgate has placed a large emphasis on this for England. I’m surprised we’ve made so many changes v Belgium...

For me, a penny less than £1m is a robbery and we should be holding out for £1.5-2m. That’s his worth to us. I’d be surprised if any championship side paid that because at 25, he’s not exactly a young talent, but he’s got his peak ahead of him. I’m hoping we’ll keep him this window.

People expect the VAR system to be perfect from the offset. Any system that requires interpretation is going to be imperfect. Even rugby’s TMO system gets it wrong occasionally, despite getting it right +90% of the time. They need better protocols for referrals and decision making imo. In...

There's an element of that, for sure... But not all corners over 46 games were that bad that only Grimmer scored in game 2 or 46.

Exactly. To put that game into context, our defenders scored double their tally in that one game than the whole season. If we could improve one thing from last season into this season, it would be set pieces 100%.

Judging by our grand total of 1 goal from about 8 defenders in 46 games, we need goals from set-pieces. More importantly, we’re in a better league so could do with increasing the quality all over the pitch in all honesty. If Davies is so good, why did Pompey let him go so easily? McDonald’s form...

We don’t have a right footed winger. If you cast your memory to just last season, Vincenti and Devon Kelly-Evans had to start on the right because Jones was injured and Bayliss hadn’t found form on the right yet. A player like Redman would offer an alternative style and balance to the way we...

I agree on the Bayliss-mania point. Selling him is justified if it meant getting some top quality replacements through the door. He’s under contract until 2020 so we don’t really need to make a decision about that until Jan 2019 at the earliest. If we can get off to a good start this season, we...

I’m pretty sure someone has said that about every signing we’ve made so far. Bayliss is a player with a lot of talent and potential. But, I don’t think he’s ready for the Championship physically yet. Also, a lot of us Cov fans need to calm down about his ability, the same people calling L2 a...

Yep. Same guy who is yet to actually play for them. My point is that first team football in a lower league has aided in these young players careers, even if they have to go down a league.

Thinking about it, a back three of Willis, Davies and Hyam is well balanced. In that system, I’d probably have Shipley and Bayliss flanking Ogogo, with McNulty and JCH/Biamou up top. However, if we play 3 at the back, 3-4-3 would probably suit us better because I feel like it accommodates...

A lot of it depends on preseason. Jones, Brown, Ogogo and Andreu are all coming back from pretty significant knee injuries so their rehab and fitness depends on their roles. There’s a performance aspect too, personally, I see Allassani starting as an impact sub, he’s come from non-league too...