That was last year ;-)

From what I could see, Fleetwood put out their play-off first team and subs for the whole game and were taking it very seriously. Add in the wind, particularly in the first half and that was a game strewn with banana skins especially as we fielded two totally different in the two halves. So a win, let alone a 4-1 romp is an achievement even with all the pre-season caveats. What is encouraging is that probably 19 of the 23 players seriously enhanced their case for inclusion in the first starting XI. What is discouraging is Mowbray will pick the wrong XI, the wrong tactics and the wrong subs...

Any news about Vale and Butterworth?

Did I mishear but I thought today's commentator said Portsmouth.

Eastham and Dolan the pick of the youngsters. Rothwell worryingly poor.

Let's see if our 2nd half line-up can improve on the first half lot. Are Vale and Butterworth both injured?

A fixture list which has bad start written all over it.

Tosin needs a better manager than Mowbray

Stuart was a hero for me. Always a wonderful ball player for whom the term sllky skills was created. Terribly sad to see him gone.

Mowbray still in charge. Zero

I'd fancy PSG to score from the sort of chances Lyon created last night.

Looking forwards to it. Went nowhere, did nothing would be my summary but I am sure it is far more entertaining than that!

Irish football punditry

Just heard Everton on 1st September

I am going to stop my standing order but what a nightmare trying to get through to stop it.

I am all in favour of a 60% reduction in stadium capacity for 20/21. Rovers will have a level playing field....

The BMW proved to be good Championship standard but you could see them failing horribly at a higher level. Fulham will struggle but Brentford would have sunk.

We were certainly had for Gallagher for £5m

Won't get relegated but will never be in contention for the play-offs. About 17th.

Plenty of time during the first 100 minutes of the Play-off Final last night to reflect on what an absolute plank Mowbray is. If he had kept Raya, gone balls out to bring Harrison Reed back for another season on a loan with option to buy and left Walton, Johnson and Gallagher well alone then... 1) we would be financially in a better place 2) Travis and Reed would have been the best central midfield pairing in the division- probably worth at least half a dozen points. 3) Buckley, Rankin-Costello, Vale, Davenport and Chapman would have had more game time and we would have seen a lot more of the promise shown in the fag end of last season and I bet at least one would have kicked on as a challenger for a first team regular slot 4) Raya would have dropped clangers but less than Walton and would have pulled of saves Walton can only dream of- probably worth at least another six points. 5) We would have made the Play-offs even despite Mowbray cock ups gifting away points left right and centre. I am not following the transfer thread this summer. If it is anything like last summer we will be materially worse off at the end of the window than we were at the start. In fact I hope Mowbray has been superglued away from phone, fax and internet and the tea lady told to go get a new keeper.

https://www.nytimes.com/2020/07/30/sports/soccer/fifa-gianni-infantino-investigation.html?campaign_id=2&emc=edit_th_20200731&instance_id=20856&nl=todaysheadlines&regi_id=51793659&segment_id=34861&user_id=ea9bf3fba8ef2ae1ebee7fe2fad99a21 Infantino, Head of FIFA, under criminal investigation.

Incidentally, do watch the highlights of the Forest Stoke game for the grown men crying at the end. Stoke really rode their luck but absolutely slammed them at the end.

But for Mowbray, we'd be playing tonight

I would not give Mowbray any transfer budget beyond £2m or £3m to replace Raya with. The Cat A Academy is producing talent and when fit we have good cover in every position.