Recent content by den

A fly on the wall in the clubhouse as Dyche lays out his strategy for the three games next week: “All right, lads. Set up as 4-4-1-1 then step on each others toes for 90 minutes. Do it two more times while I keep wiping my face and shaking my head in disbelief. Right then.” His voice trails...

I love Tarkowski, but I will say that I think a lot of what his reputation is built on with fans is a consequence of being a center back on a team that parks the bus and lets the opposition control possession. In other words, he'd still do his job, but he wouldn't be leading the league in...

Dyche has to go, but given the finances and the fact that no one would take the job at this stage, why not make Thelwell take on the responsibility? His future should be just as much in question, but he can hide from the scrutiny in his role, and it would be unfair to saddle someone like...

I've been on the side of stability, meaning that the club is in no position to hire anyone worth the job, and no one worth the job would be inclined to take it with so much uncertainty and no transfer budget. But it's looking more and more likely that we might be better off with a caretaker...

Everton. I follow a handful of other clubs in leagues around the world, but it's not the same. The closest would be FC St. Pauli, who were actually my first club and led me indirectly to Everton. They're a lot more fun to follow at the moment as they're dominating the 2. Bundesliga and seem...

Haven’t checked, but I’m guessing that’s a joke based on the club’s original response to the deduction.

At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to see the points returned and any impending charges and ongoing investigations across the league to be at least suspended until a new system is agreed upon. Aren't new rules already planned? The initial decision was ludicrous in that the breach was...

What an absolutely stupid question. Constant struggle, no funds, FFP uncertainty with no end in sight, no squad depth, and anyone would entertain a change in manager, the nearest thing to stability we have?

The club admitted a breach but disagreed about the calculation as well as arguing for mitigating factors.

Embargoes are typically used to ensure that the message is consistent and on brand or whatever. Organizations want to control the story and discourage anyone from grabbing the audience or printing early without the full story as they’ve framed it, and if they’re not honored, the party that leaks...

There are two players in the just released 2023-2024 team photo I couldn’t identify at first. Padding out the roster, I think at either end of the middle row we have Ryan Astley (viewer’s right) and possibly Mackenzie Hunt (on the left). Is that right? Does it matter?

I’d sign Reggie Cannon and Tanguy Coulibaly as acceptable last options on the bench. I don’t expect to bring in starters and it’s better to sign players like them than to misplace academy players just to fill a seat.

I’m not going to miss getting frustrated while Gray dribbles himself into awkward angles all day and ends up doing nothing with the ball. He wasn’t suddenly going to learn how to play defense or make an effective pass.

Standard Liege are winless in six and now protesting 777 partners: “125 years of love and loyalty; respect these traditions.” “777: no money; no ambition.” “777: timeshares or shared mediocrity?” “777: your galaxy mustn’t damage our future.” I reckon galaxie here is a metaphor for their...

I'm not trying to fight with you, and I agree that he never uses subs and have been frustrated with him for a while about that, but it doesn't really follow to say, "we don't have any depth, but look at this list of subs who could start for us and what they were able to do for their clubs." Our...