Dan

Matchbook Betting exchange. I came across it once, they preview 4 PL games and then the people on there just throw out a few random other tips. I've long been a fan of Mark O'Haire - this was his pick. Just a very good spot.

OMGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGGG

We'll be going down again. We're just bad. Disgusting decline at this club.

Done deal. Two year deal. Slightly better. These long contracts to older players have been one of our big undoings. I hope we end up liking him as much as you did. The fact it's getting such a slating actually quite endears me to him in a fucked up way like I'd like to see him prove me and others wrong.

Aberdeen are in very good form anyway and I think Kilmarnock if they had it their own way would sack this game off given they're in the midst of their tie against Copenhagen. Fortaleza is very much something that's been flagged up on a podcast I listen to - they're well overpriced if you look at their home form, 30 points from 12 games, against Corinthians away form of 6 points in the same period. I think you've got to take that really. Under 4.5 each for a couple of boosted odds, as neither are likely to be high scorers IMO.

Definitely taking Aberdeen at 1.72 at home to Kilmarnock.

The irony of course being when I saw Schlupp was potentially available on a free, I'd have said yes. We've signed Decordova-Reid on a free, I was OK with that. I just think for a club likely to be hit by a points deduction based on our miscalculation that this is such a bad route to go down. We've done exactly what I feared we were going to. We've constantly on the back foot in the transfer window. We get desperate, we overpay, we don't get what we were originally after. My annoyance is very little directed at the player himself. You've gone quite a way to be honest to convincing me he will have a use in our team. I just think it's such an abysmal move from an economical perspective - as was giving Reid three years, as was giving Vestergaard three years, as was Conor Coady. The other night we held the team who came 5th last season and two of our best players on the night were two foreign punts from a year ago who had a combined 0 minutes of PL experience between them, who'd both had very good seasons for us in the Championship. Two players who I think could go on to bring in big money for us in the next couple of years. I think until our house is in proper order we need to be making more of those types of signings. We need to be thinking economically - particularly when our points deduction breeds uncertainty. What if we're on the cusp of 17th and then get hit with 8 points? Suddenly we become very likely to go down again, with the likes of Ayew, Reid etc... into their mid thirties and on top tier wages. It's just a really dumb transfer policy. That's if you can even call it that. I think we very much wing it. Ayew gets my full support, I actually think for a lot of the anger directed at Rudkin / Cooper for this that he won't be quite the hate figure people think. But I really do despair at us at times. I want to get on board with this tirade against the Premier League and PSR but how can I when we do things like this.

I do think my reservations are a lot more about the fees than the player themselves, but this is the cost of our idiot director of football which is something we're just stuck with regardless by the looks of it. I mean we're about to cough up £8mil for Jordan Ayew as well.

whenever you make a cynical prediction about us we'll go one better. It's actually eight million. Medical booked in. Totally ridiculous again from us to pay this sort of money for a player of this age. We're the only club outside of probably Saudi Arabia or Turkey who would cough up £8mil for Jordan Ayew in 2024. Rudkin classic. He costs us absolutely millions year in, year out. Failure to properly prepare and end up panic buying late in the window. He's absolutely terrible at his job and the owner just cannot see it.

I was fully expecting 0-1 - bust both of us while Leicester lose. My record on this game man. How is it even possible to be this bad?

Truly vile second week. @RandoEFC retains his lead at the top by only being £1.10 down while @Smiley Culture is somehow stung on a 1.25 shot. @CaaC (John) was the most ambitious but in truth got nowhere near. Me, @Stan and @...Dan all utilised £20 singles and showed exactly how not to do it. Dan bust early in the week although came fairly close in the end despite Twente's early 2 goal deficit. Me and Stan both heavily backed against our own team and to be fair, I think for almost an hour you could be forgiven for seeing why that happened, but I think we're both quite happy to lose this time around. Pleasantly surprised with a strong fightback. It's an absolute shocker on the whole though. In-fact, as a result of £20 stakes being a thing, I make this the worst week in the games history in terms of overall. Decided to now include a 'score' box too for anybody who may be interested.

I think that in itself though is why people are quite happy with it. I don't think you've really seen 'maximum effort' from us for literally years, even last season we were quite a functional side. The second half is the type of football we really do respond to. Felt like a throwback to our better years. There is no doubt though without additions we are going down. It's just nice to see some semblance of team effort. I really was expecting a battering last night.

Tell you what that response second half is far, far more like it. First time in absolutely ages watching us I felt we were playing well above ourselves. First half was basically everything I'd manifested from preseason coming to life. That goal seemed to just turn everything though and we could've even won it. It's hard to not have a bit more hope after that.

This has actually gone up to 2.75 so I'll be taking that. Milking all I can from this

I really do find it a baffling use of what little money we have, a bit like Okoli but even more extreme really. If they were to spend on a bit of quality in attacking areas as well as this then it would be a bit more reassuring but in truth I think we've just panicked because we're failing to get deals over the line. I was told the other day that the Lens game did spook the club somewhat which just reeks of the same sort of complacency that got us relegated two years ago. It really shouldn't have taken that to wake them up. The manager has been correctly pointing out we needed bodies. I'll forgive overpaying for Skipp if we've fleeced someone for Soumare but lets be honest, we haven't. Will be very interested to see what we actually do in the next fortnight. If we've seriously spent a large chunk of our budget on a player who is a marginal improvement rather than a substantial one, well, I've been through what I think of those making the decisions enough times. I stress I'm not entirely anti him as a player. My quite limited knowledge of him is he's a steady eddie type with a bit of tenacity. I'm fine with players like this but not for this kind of bloody premium. Worried that Cooper's supposed Premier League experience fetish is going to be quite costly.

Pretty much a done deal. Got to be honest I'm completely unimpressed again. I think he's OK, I think he makes a slight improvement, but are we seriously in a position to be throwing that sort of figure at him when we have such a dire need for goals and creativity? It just feels like another massive misallocation of money to me. Hopefully Storts can talk me into it but I think it's driven by Cooper's seeming obsession for PL experience and panic after yet another abysmal summer. I'm not saying he doesn't improve us but I think we could use that money a lot more efficiently.

Kind of game I'd expect of 8th vs 14th.

I've never felt as low as this going into the first game. Downgraded manager. Downgraded our team. The same people responsible remain under no threat. Our XI is going to be laughable. Tottenham will win this by 2 goals absolute minimum.

I fear this'll be a theme this season, however, my first £20 stake is in and I can't leave these odds. They won 8 of their first 10 last season. They're well set. We're a complete shambles - as ill prepared as I've ever seen us for a season (although the last two weren't great either). I nearly went even heaver than -1 but lets play it safeish. I'd not advise against anybody backing -2 or even -3 to be honest. For me Spurs should be about 1.4 to win here and they're 1.6.

What will it honestly take for our fans to wake up to this? I feel like I operate in an echo chamber of a very small minority. It's fucking ridiculous.

I had a bit of intel on this that the Lens game really spooked them. The manager has been telling you this (if you're ignoring him already, why appoint him?) and that we need bodies urgently. There's just never any urgency here. It's so laid back, so much assumption it will just click into gear without having to actually do anything. Winging it if you like. But that's a culture that has been bred from allowing people to get away with underperformance. It happens at so many levels, directors, players, it's just way too easy a ride. Did I expect us to go and get those three players in for the Spurs game? No I didn't. But it's looking like one of them maximum. This is again a knock-on effect from winging it all summer. I'm just completely out of benefit of the doubt now where these are concerned. I'd not normally be this annoyed before a ball has even been kicked but I've seen this script too many times. I don't give a clean slate every season. We were massively up against it anyway because of this likely points deduction, which by the way, their defence is as good as "we didn't factor in that we'd have consequence for our underperformance" so I expect that to be laughed out of the room. But for fuck sake at least give us 'some' chance. Our XI on Monday is going to be a complete embarrassment. That's before I even get to how badly Cooper is managing things already. Unless the entire preseason has been about making a point to the board I am seriously concerned by what he's serving up. Nobody looks happy, nobody looks comfortable, we create nothing. That Lens game was laughable. We should've issued some sort of apology for wasting their time.

Following the Lens debacle we had some quite interesting links with Ioannidis, a very highly rated striker, Zaha, and Hlozek coming on loan. But as is standard with Leicester these days. Ioannidis gone quiet, Zaha falls through, even Hlozek seems to be taking its time (though I expect this to probably still happen). So our summer reads at signing Atalanta's 6th choice centre back (for about £10-15mil as well!), a Chelsea youngster for the future, a Brighton youngster on loan and a winger we had an obligation to sign upon promotion anyway. While losing our manager, appointing a bloke with under a point a game record in this league, losing our player of the season (who hasn't been replaced). The season starts on Monday for fuck sake. There is no worse club in the league at getting things done. This summer has been nothing short of an utter disgrace. Heads should roll for what is the latest embarrassment but this is just us now. This is our operation. These are the same people who oversaw a relegation with the 7th biggest wage bill in the country and were allowed to mark their own abysmal homework. Fill your boots on a Spurs win Monday. They'll batter us. I cannot tell you a single thing there is to be positive about with us. Literally not a single one. I'm sick to death of being gaslit that things can't be better than this. It's utter codswallop.

I think simple fundamentals are being overlooked a bit too much in these days in the chase for a level that clubs with far greater resources are aiming for. So what I mean is goalkeepers shot stopping, defenders ability to defend, strikers ability to shoot etc... these are basics that I think seem to be getting overlooked. I have no interest in a centre back who is good on the ball if they can't defend. See also a goalkeeper and shot stopping. If you're only bothered about distribution, then play a midfielder in goal.

I'm off the bottom!!!! 3-3 in the end.