Ghoat

100% agree. Not motm, but I think Patterson made the case he belongs to be first choice at rb.

Almost hard to separate them, IMO, so much of what made BCS great, was you knew where it was going, and when BB characters were introduced to BCS, it was so cool because we knew their future. BCS was such a slow burn. If we didn't know the BB world, the first season with the brother and the electricity stuff would have been a pretty laborious watch. But since we knew what "Jimmy" became, it made for an engrossing long slow car wreck. 
I think the true genius of BCS, that I never would have expected, was the last 3-4 or so episodes that were no longer pre-BB, but Gene/post BB all shot in black and white, as Gene had always been. They literally changed the show from Jimmy's transformation with snippets of Gene, to skipping the "end" of BCS, past BB and put the final wraps on both series in one fell swoop. That reason alone was enough to make BCS better.
So yeah, sorry, you're right!

I don't think he cared either way 🙃

I know it's not unheard of across the pond, but when a 20 year old kid walks in speaking 5 languages fluently, that indicates to me that adaptability is likely something he already has a pretty good grasp on. Speed and physicality of the EPL will take an adjustment, but big picture, I'm thinking he settles in pretty quickly. He carries himself in interviews (non-native language for good measure) liked a seasoned veteran - far beyond his actual age.

Then fingers crossed this guy is a recovering drunk?

*spoilers to anyone who hasn't seen the end of Ozark*
 
I didn't like the end because it's not the end I wanted. However, it kinda makes sense. I think most people were pulling for Marty and Ruth to make it out ok as the most likeable and often times sympathetic figures (in no small party because Wendy became so awful). But Marty was the original idiot, had to uproot his family to save his ass, and though he tried to avoid it, his whole family became embroiled in self-preservation. The unintended consequences of that led to the Snell and Langmore families being wiped off the face of the Earth, major damage to KC mob family, major hits to Wendy's family, major consequences and losses for the cartel itself, significant disruption to the local community and economy - all for the sake of Marty and his family. Kinda like Breaking Bad, you wind up hoping good things happen to bad people, and there was no way for there to remotely be a happy ending.
Fantastic series. 

*spoilers to anyone who hasn't seen the end of Ozark*
 
I didn't like the end because it's not the end I wanted. However, it kinda makes sense. I think most people were pulling for Marty and Ruth to make it out ok as the most likeable and often times sympathetic figures (in no small party because Wendy became so awful). But Marty was the original idiot, had to uproot his family to save his ass, and though he tried to avoid it, his whole family became embroiled in self-preservation. The unintended consequences of that led to the Snell and Langmore families being wiped off the face of the Earth, major damage to KC mob family, major hits to Wendy's family, major consequences and losses for the cartel itself, significant disruption to the local community and economy - all for the sake of Marty and his family. Kinda like Breaking Bad, you wind up hoping good things happen to bad people, and there was no way for there to remotely be a happy ending.
Fantastic series. 

Some players in there that need a big big game here.
I don’t like the line up one bit though. We need a 3 man midfield and Coleman’s crossing is so so poor plus his legs are gone.

Gordon is the only one, again, who looked like he was playing for his job. Can't fault Richy's effort and work rate tho

Personally I have not been in the "Rafa Out" camp, because I think the turmoil of another manager change was the greater evil. That changed today, I am firmly in the "Rafa Out Now" camp.
 
I am not sure if you Brits use this expression, or it's a Yank thing only, but Rafa can eat a bag of dicks.

Personally I have not been in the "Rafa Out" camp, because I think the turmoil of another manager change was the greater evil. That changed today, I am firmly in the "Rafa Out Now" camp.
 
I am not sure if you Brits use this expression, or it's a Yank thing only, but Rafa can eat a bag of dicks.

Personally I have not been in the "Rafa Out" camp, because I think the turmoil of another manager change was the greater evil. That changed today, I am firmly in the "Rafa Out Now" camp.
 
I am not sure if you Brits use this expression, or it's a Yank thing only, but Rafa can eat a bag of dicks.

Personally I have not been in the "Rafa Out" camp, because I think the turmoil of another manager change was the greater evil. That changed today, I am firmly in the "Rafa Out Now" camp.
 
I am not sure if you Brits use this expression, or it's a Yank thing only, but Rafa can eat a bag of dicks.

Never going to get that sort of money for him, you are looking for pre COVID fees, many clubs (even the giants) across euro are skint - so realistically you are looking at the domestic market. I would be snatching Villa's hand off.  I think up and down the pitch back play is best suited to younger energetic players. Our right back has needed replacing since he turned 30-31. based on the last 12 months. Not saying 30-31 are past it, but will be very much on the decline. 
Given how Digne performances and quality has dropped off over the past 12 months - I can't say I would now want the club to gamble £25M on him (plus his very high wages) for the next 4years. Hs fees will open up a lot of transfer opportunities. 
Digne has scored 1 goal since his 2018/19 debut season (this year against QPR in LC) and has had 2 assists in the whole of 2021 calendar year (almost 40games) is not a great deal of assists for a £25M LB, to me this is a massive indicator that he may already be on the decline. Just looking a simple aspect of his game this past 12 months -  his corners and any free kicks have been poor to average at best. 
He might have a burst of energy the second half of the season in a new team and with the WC around the corner, but I think for the rest of his multi million pound contract I think the villa fans might end up feeling a little let down overall.
£25M fee, maybe four years on +£120k - So around about a £50M package. If the boot was on the other foot, would anybody in their right mine think we should investing that sort of money in an out of form LB who is coming up to his 29 birthday? In 4 years time he will have no residual transfer fee.
We now have Mykolenko and Patterson over that four years at less than this £50M. In for years time they will be 26 and 24 respectively.
There are a lot of rose tinted glasses looking at Digne - 1, due to his past performances and 2. because him falling out with Benitez is very continent ammunition for those who don't like Benitez. 
Truth is he hasn't performed at his best level for a whole 12months, it is at the right age to sell and will bring in a good fee.
 
 

I totally get where you're coming from. I doubt there's an Everton supporter out there who is happy with the way we've been performing lately.
The big thing I keep harping on about is that I just can't stand us doing another 6-8 month manager stint and firing him and bringing in someone new, expecting them to do any better.
I do not think we will get drawn into a serious relegation scrap, and I want to see Rafa get at least 18 months to see what he can do. If we haven't seen any real, tangible progress after that, then by all means get rid. I didn't want him in the first place, but I am backing him because we have to change the way we run this club, in regards to managers.

The only thing I disagree with is that I think it's entirely possible we get drawn into a relegation scrap at this point. I don't think we will get relegated because there are clubs with far less talent than we have at the bottom. But with the way we've been playing, something's gotta give soon for us to avoid the possibility entirely.
I do agree that we can't just have a manager carousel. The Rafa appointment was just so wrong from the start. So long as we avoid that relegation scrap, I'm willing to give him that 18-24 months so we can find the real next manager of this club and get it right for once.

Got em right where we want them, up after 1 min, and overconfident. Rafa is playing chess while everyone else is playing checkers. 

My biggest disappointment, although I was expecting it, is Rondon starting and not Simms or Dobbin. This would be a great opportunity for them since Rondon, realistically, has no future at the club.

I was a supporter at the start regarding appointment… but my patience is wearing thin.

Entered the lottery for tickets to the Feb 2nd WCQ here in Minneapolis against Honduras, and received notice last night that I got the tickets 😍😍

Simms has to be fitter than Rondon!!! 
That easy street in China has ruined him!! 

Starting 4-4-2 out of posession with Iwobi up top as right ST

CONCACAF is such a grind in WCQ. It's not that teams are good - it's the fact they AREN'T good that makes it so rough. They play physical as fuck to level the skill gap. When you get an aggressive skilled attacker, they are going to kick the shit out of him to slow him down. Similar to what James experienced in the EPL, but with much less protection. The officiating in CONCACAF is woeful to start with, and when playing on the road, and the crowds are all over the ref from the opening whistle due to the the theatrics, crowding the ref after damn near every call....they just simply don't protect the players from the away team. It's a little better when we play stateside, at least we play on a quality pitch and the center ref isn't as intimidated by the crowd.
 
Last night we played on a dry patchy pitch with a track around it. In El Salvador there were police with riot shields in the corners, and when we took corners, they used the shield to protect the player taking the corner from the shit thrown at them - over the 8' chain fence that separates the stands from the pitch.
 
So yeah, if I am a Chelsea, and I have a $50M asset in his early 20's, the last thing I want is for him to be a star player for the US, going into that road environment on a regular basis. It would be like every UEFA away match being played in Albania or Belgrade or such.

I know it was, but that was just more an opening to rant about how much I fucking hate our federation. Have I mentioned that?  I mean riot shield for fuck's sake!

"Happy Fucking Birthday!" - Ricardo Pepi
 
3 goals and 2 assists by subs in the second half, good stuff! 
 
After Pepi scored his first goal, my 20 year old daughter said "I just updated his Wikipedia page". I ❤️that kid 🤣