warlock

Of course, no argument. And if that happens I expect there'll be much wailing from the media. But Sterling to play or not is one of the biggest stories in English football right now, so an indication from within the England camp that Sterling is not going to play is big news. Southgate undoubtedly wanted to manage that story and spin it in as positive a light as possible; that's his job. A journalist breaking that story ahead of the official announcement is just doing his/her job.

Sorry to buck the trend, but journalism is a business, the same as any other. What's new is news; revealing the teamsheet ahead of the announcement is news. Which is why it's getting so much attention. Whoever took that picture did his job. Everything else is just p***ing in the wind. Or to put it another way, news is what someone doesn't want printed; everything else is just advertising.

Cheers! I'll be really disappointed if we can't at least secure a good playoff performance! And keep up the good work with Blackpool - you're a brave man; the background there would give me pause for thought.

Having been distracted by the SAF Challenge for a while (a dismal failure on my part!) I'm back to the best part of FM18 with a new Championship save. I tried a couple of attempts with long-term prospect Brentford but just couldn't get anything going - largely because of injuries; in my last save I had every goalkeeper out for the opening month of the season! Having an urge to get away from wingers, I spent a while looking for a suitable squad and have eventually settled on Derby who only have Anya as an out-and-out wide player. So far I've only completed pre-season but the 4132 is performing well there - 22 goals for, none conceded - and I'm foolishly optimistic for the start of competitive play. Anya is currently listed but no offers have been forthcoming, and one permanent signing and two loan signings have been made; on the whole, I'm very happy with the squad. Between the World Cup and two social engagements this weekend I'm not sure how much time I'll have to play but I'm hoping to get some free time and a better report will follow as soon as I do. Happy to see this thread is still moving along, and hope we can give it a shot in the arm despite the WC distractions.

Yes, you did. And very good it was, too. I still re-read it every few weeks to remind myself what I'm missing

To quote FM, Modric's performance has earned that goal.

Sampaoli obviously doesn't know you don't use all three subs with 20 minutes to go.

Sampaoli looks like the manager of Russia's worst nightclub.

Yeah, they should just stop all this football nonsense and go straight to the penalty shoot-outs. 96 teams to the finals, done and dusted in a week.

That the one in Ackter's avatar?

He probably is, but if you don't close him down what happens? He can play a ball over the top to an advancing winger/midfielder at the back of the box, or play it out to an advancing midfielder at the edge of the box, or - as nearly always happens in FM - the forward will get wrong-side of the defender. In the immortal words of Alan Hansen (MotD circa 2010) if you give him time and space he'll punish you.

Oh, I agree with that. But sometimes you have a player that is critical to the way you play and replacements are hard to find. Then they only get to leave on my terms. Yes, they kick off, and yes you get the toy-pram scenario but generally they come around after a couple of weeks because the buying club moves on and they're left looking a bit silly chasing a transfer that isn't going to happen. There's a lot of discussion on the forums that basically assumes all of the power is with the players; as if there will always be a dressing room meltdown if you say no to a player, but you can often work your way around the problem.

I'm also constantly amazed by the number of human managers who seemingly never consider the option of not selling their best players at a bargain price. Just say no!

Oh yes, me too. Especially as it's a setup that's working so far. Unlike some previous England managers we could mention...