Cornish Steve

Key words: "training match". Who cares about the score? Did we get from it what we'd hoped?

Fine print. No congratulations will be offered to England should any of the following conditions prevail. Victory is undeserved. Victory is achieved as a result of bias. Victory is achieved as a result of unsportsmanlike behavior. Victory is achieved via a player who should have earlier been dismissed. Victory is achieved because added time exceeded its declared duration. Victory is achieved because of bad weather. Victory is achieved because of inadequate floodlights. One or more England fans chant slogans that violate FIFA guidelines. One or more England fans are seen to be inebriated within the stadium. One or more England fans frequent a pub that's clearly supportive of Scotland. The English media publish demeaning comments about Celts or Celtish nations. English TT members publish inflammatory or provocative remarks.

Good luck to England today. Of course, I shall be supporting the Celts of Scotland but will congratulate whichever team wins. Let's hope it's an evenly matched and exciting game. The atmosphere should be intense.

Very good! Are you using a translator function?

I thought at first that Pogba had been suspended for a doping offence, but the BBC headline appears to think the opposite. Did he wrongfully stop others from taking banned drugs? What's an anti-doping offence? https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66780283

The first half of the season is likely to be consolidation, and I agree with averaging a point a game. The second half of the season should be progression, gaining 1-1/2 points per game or more. That would give us a target of 18+27 = 45 points for the season. After two very dark years, I'd be OK with that.

The ability to snatch defeat from the jaws of victory.

Yes, it does. So much more exciting when a series is evenly matched and not lopsided.

Amm dhe'm gwenn, Sowsnek!

It's the actual translation. (Note, as in Welsh, some letters mutate: hence 'benn' and not 'penn'.) https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/#nebes https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/#nes https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/#dha https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/#penn https://www.cornishdictionary.org.uk/#blogh

Come a little nearer and I'll scalp your head bald.

I happened upon the commentary at the BBC site: Maguire is playing for England? Haha. With all the talent available, the manager picked Maguire?

I simply uttered "a teffes dhymm nebes nes, my a bylsa dha benn blogh." It didn't warrant the sin bin.

Wow. I wasn't expecting such a lopsided ODI. After maybe ten overs of the NZ innings, it looked like it would be a close game - but England took no more wickets.

In the past, it seems they were wooed with transfer funds, which was our downfall. In Dyche's case, he wants to prove his worth as a PL manager. He's solid rather than glamorous, which is fine with me. He's also used to operating with a shoestring budget.

As a player? I really don't see that.

As assistant manager? I don't get it.

The bottom line is that, no matter who is the manager, we can't win games without scoring goals, and this is by far the single biggest reason we're in our current predicament. Now we have Beto, and DC-L will be back in action soon, and we have Chermiti, Danjuma, and Harrison, and McNeil will also be back soon, I'm optimistic we're about to turn a corner.

The last thing we need to continue is a manager merry-go-round. Dyche needs time, and I see nothing that worries me unduly right now. Judge him at the end of the year.

We've brought in Ashley Young, Jack Harrison, Arnaut Danjuma, Beto, and Youssef Chermiti - and "the squad is on its bare bones"? I can't agree. We might miss Iwobi, but we won't miss Gray or Maupay or Davies or Holgate. This is a stronger squad than before the transfer window.

Goodison Glory had a point but lost it by forgetting to predict.

Everton 1-1 Arsenal Beto

No 10-pointers in Round 4, but Boston Toffee wins again - this time tied with London Blue on 3 points. Another stat worth pointing out: Despite making four predictions, Romey remains on a big fat zero.

Twice you changed your prediction, and twice you came off worse.

10-pointers used to be rare, but we've seen one in each of the first three rounds - and Boston Toffee snagged his second. As a result, he's streaks ahead and easily won the month of August.