King Kante

I would say DMF. For me, he has issues at RB in that he does not want to overlap, he comes in a lot and he isn't all that quick. He may get better at doing those things (except get faster) as he gets more experience but equally I wouldn't be surprised if he ends up as a DMF.

If anyone wants to have a laugh, I just got sent these links from a friend of mine to the Leicester forums. Some serious comedy gold to be had by flicking through here as some of the posts make the Dippers look like a measured and thoughtful bunch: Leicester forum in meltdown. Too many to post. Go have a look yourselves: 2-1 and sending off https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/123013-bournemouth-match-thread/page/40/#comments 3-1 https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/123013-bournemouth-match-thread/page/54/#comments 4-1 https://www.foxestalk.co.uk/topic/123013-bournemouth-match-thread/page/59/#comments

Wow, Leicester absolutely sh*t the bed in the second half. They were in control and looked comfortable and somehow ended up losing it and getting their best defender suspended for the rest of the season. Made our performance against Sheff Utd look reasonable.

Exactly. The young boys should be seen as 'free' squad players with the potential to become first XI players. Not world class first team members. As for James, I think he has done well this season but is out of form. That said, I have never been convinced he is a RB so it could also be a case he is being played out of position.

The problem with the above discussion with SFL is that it is not taking into consideration the context. Yes, SFL has done well to get us to this point with the hand he was dealt, however, once in this position he should've shown more adaptability. For me, there are a couple of red flags that I have with SFL, which are all to do with his stubborness. For me this is the single biggest issue as this seems to effected the following: Selling Luiz because he called him Frank instead of gaffer. Thus losing our ability to play 343 properly. Freezing Giroud out and playing Batsh*t instead. Apparently due to Giroud questioning some of his decisions and his wanting to push through his youth revolution. Not adapting his tactics according to the opposition. Yesterday, we all knew what was coming which is why me and Jason even said 343 might be an idea. At the very least he had to start Giroud and Alonso over James and Tammy so we had someone that could give us the long ball option and another player in the box that can head/not have Dave at LB. He did none of that. He clearly believes that defending set pieces is down to individuals to arrange. This is supported by his comments and our complete lack of composure/structure. This has been going on with his teams since Derby yet he has still to do anything about it. Obviously, where we our atm is above what everyone thought. I personally predicted 6th-7th finish. However, there are clear red flags with SFL that need to be sorted and it will not be sorted through transfers alone. In my opinion, he needs to hire a new defensive coach as I do not see any cohesiveness when we are without the ball and this was also a massive issue for Derby as well.

Our only hope is a City ban or Leicester/Utd completely sh*ting the bed. I see us only getting 4 points in our last three games.

From my perspective it is not about getting a new manager, I would not recommend that whatsoever. However, from watching Derby last year and us this year there is a very clear problem with SFL's teams and defending set pieces and the counter. My recommendation is to hire a defensive coach. The only real issue I have with SFL is his selection's at times. Today for instance required Giroud to start, why Tammy got selected was a mystery, especially as Norwich is next which is a team he is suited to playing and Giroud would not be as effective against.

Problem is Derby suffered from the exact same problems last year as well. For me, the single biggest mistake was letting Luiz go. Every one calls him a clown but if you put him in the middle of the back three, you can at least rely on him to head a ball away and also step out of the back and get the tempo going. Further to this, you can then use Alonso as a LWB as he is more effective going forward than most of the CM's and AM's. Further, today was an absokute sh*t show. SFL sounded like he was surprised and 'would remember'. The only thing I was surprised about was that he was surprised. As soon as I saw that team sheet, I knew what was going to happen straight away.

City have cooked the books according to FFP. However, if FFP does break EU competition law then they have technically not done anything wrong.

Well they came up with a system that all the big boys thought was glorious as it essentially kept them in power forever. PSG and City broke the rules in 2011-14 and UEFA just gave them a fine instead of taking it to court as they got a lovely chunk of money and then could pretend that they punished them. The problem however is some then hacked City to call BS and UEFA had to act. FFP has not been tested legally yet because teams have either paid off UEFA (PSG/City) and/or gone along with it as long term the FFP rules favour them (AC). I am not here saying City getting off is going to be wonderful, it is going to be sh*t. However, there are a lot of people on here who think there ban is a forgone conclusion when it is not. I personally hope I am wrong but I see a lot of holes in both UEFA's case and FFP in general.

I am not sure about those cases. Maybe it will be allowed. However, you still have the problem with FFP almost certainly violating EU competition law.

Two problems Vesper. The smoking gun was a hacked email. Stolen communications are inadmissible in court. Second, FFP very likely breaks the EU competition laws - saying 'well AC got banned' doesn't count as they negotiated a deal with UEFA. City are not. If City get banned, I'll be amazed. AC Milan - https://www.google.com/amp/s/amp.calciomercato.com/news/official-cas-confirms-ac-milan-exclusion-from-europa-league-85166 EU Law and FFP - https://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/the-evolution-of-uefa-s-financial-fair-play-rules-part-1-background-and-eu-law-by-christopher-flanagan#:~:text=The challenge of EU law,in breach of EU law. Stolen emails/inadmissible evidence - https://www.thelawyer.com/illegally-obtained-evidence-lawyers/

As soon as I saw that team I knew we were going to lose. Absolutely pathetic performance, worst of the season bar none.

As soon as I saw the team sheet I knew we were fucked. It is like SFL learnt zero from WHU and hasn't watched Sheff Utd at all.

This performance is on SFL atm. Horrible selection.

Why is Tammy starting? If ever there was a game to start Giroud, this is it.

You call him Batshit, yet are surprised no one wants to buy him?

How FFP is a grey area and how it may be contrary to EU competition laws: https://www.asser.nl/SportsLaw/Blog/post/the-evolution-of-uefa-s-financial-fair-play-rules-part-1-background-and-eu-law-by-christopher-flanagan How illegal evidence may be thrown out*: https://www.thelawyer.com/illegally-obtained-evidence-lawyers/ *there are much better articles than this one but I cannot be bothered to find them. As for other FFP decisions. Those have not been challenged via a legal basis like City are doing. FFP has been approached so far as an agreement and not a legally enforceable law.

It depends on the law, in normal cases if the evidence has been acquired in an illegal manner it is inadmissible and holds no weight. Therefore, if that is the only evidence UEFA has (or it was the key piece of evidence they build their case around) then it should be thrown out. On top of this, I am also very unsure FFP is legally enforceable in the EU. This is due to it breaking anti-competitive laws as it prevents/restricts private investment. I am not a legal expert and there may be exceptions for sporting competitions to be excluded from certain laws. However, if they are not I think City have one very strong arguement (illegal acquiring of evidence) and a reasonable arguement (FFP breaks EU anti-conpetitive laws.) This is what makes me think that they will get away with it. I am not saying they are not guilty of breaking FFP but rather that there are clear legal technicalities that could protect City.

Problem is here is that there are protocol's to acquiring evidence. It is similar to how the Police cannot just kick your door down without a warrant. If they do, and even if they find something that incriminates you, then you still get off as the evidence wasn't acquired in the correct manner. I suspect this is how and why City will get off i.e. they did break the rules but there is a technicality that gets them off. If this doesn't work, I am still unsure that FFP can actually be legally enforce as it is essential a cartel agreement.

SFL want to play in a progressive and fast paced manner. Zouma is the worst CB under pressure and passing. Further, he would still rake in a serious fee. So, I see why he may be the one to go. For me, all three of Rudi, Zouma and AC are currently playing at a CB3/4 level for a team that considers themselve a CL side. I mean as great as Zouma's tackle against Benteke was, only reason he had to do it was because he was out of position. Further, for the first goal he needs to be stepping out and blocking Zaha's shot, so while he can head the ball better he still has serious flaws just like AC and Rudi.

Kepa is so dire we only need to get someone like a Ben Foster on a free to see a big improvement. Personally, I think the way to play the GK situation for 2020/21 is to sign a decent GK between the age 31-36 who can put some pressure on Kepa. If Kepa then doesn't improve go out and look for a serious replacement. Only exception for me after that is if someone at Atleti has been hitting the crack pipe a little too hard and would consider a Oblak for Kepa + fee under £50mil deal. However, that is not going to happen. The real question will be who will the CB be and who will be culled from the first team? My money on the one being sold is Zouma as he would raise a decent fee and it appears AC is rated higher by SFL. Rudi gets a reprieve owing to his age as I suspect any CB brought will be under 26.

I am of the opinion that he can get a one year deal. That for me would be perfect as he is experienced, knows the league and club and we have a lot of surgery to do this off season, so having one less position to worry about would be beneficial. I could accept a two year as well, so long as his wages were similar to what he gets now. However, three years is simply too long, especially for someone of his build and position. If he really can get £250k a week for three years elsewhere, then we will have to let him go.

Let's see. I have always felt that they would get it overturned as; a) the evidence was acquired via a hack - therefore probably can be dismissed, FFP is essentially a cartel system as breaks all sorts of commercial laws.

Word coming out of Manchester is that City are going to get their ban overturned. By now they probably know the decision as it is being announced on Monday at 9:30.