Oh, I don't agree with the move, but it seems the most likely explanation. Either Gestede won the power battle and so Park was forced out, or Park realised that he was in a fight that he had no interest in and decided to leave before things got messy.

My guess is that Park has just been cut out and Gestede et al want more power and control. If Gestede has decided this is an area that he wants to focus on then something had to give.

Good result, but another poor performance. We've steadied the ship post-international break, but the performances are concerning. I'll add...really wish we'd signed Maja back when we were linked with him.

Well, hard to see when Toth is going to get to play. Pears has been a bit shakey the last couple of days and the international break would have been the perfect time to swap. We now have to face the inevitable of being stuck with Pears until he makes (another) three or four mistakes to cost us consecutive matches. We can only hope it comes sooner rather than later.

Not sure that's the most accurate representation of history.

Yes, but the way in which you answered the question implied that you at least saw some logic behind the justification. Not overly interested in debating it, but it's insane to care where the England manager comes from based on things that his country did - especially before he was born. It's quite pathetic that most of England's 'greatest' footballing enemies would barely describe our relationships as a rivalry.

Gosh, what a complicated view of the world you would have to have. By that logic, you're absolutely fine with 90% of the world justifying resentment and animosity towards the British? Should we hate the Irish? What about the Japanese? Was it OK that we signed Ohashi? Why did he get a visa? Should we hate all Russians? What about the Austrians? Feels like they get a pass. Is Andreas Weimann a Nazi? In living memory? Will it be OK for Tuchel to take charge of England in 20 years? That should cover the living memory part. It's a good thing my great, great, great, great grandfather died before I was born. Otherwise, I'd have a serious complex about the war of 1812.

It's been stated by the club, by journalists with good connections to the club, and by agents. I also have some additional sources who I trust on that front in relation to a couple of the players. No, the cynical interpretation would be that the big deals were offered to players who were 99% likely to turn them down - regardless of the amount. It was a good PR move to show some willingness to spend. I think there's a chance that this is true, but I also don't think it's true that we've consistently lowballed future free agents. If anything, for the last 2/3 years we've actually handled contract renewals fairly well. It was one of the few bright spots of the Broughton era. I'll reserve judgement as to whether the new regime will maintain that kind of proactive approach to renewals.

We've definitely consistently made a mess of contract negotiations, although it has also been confirmed that we've put some big contract offers in front of players. I think the process is the problem, not the offers themselves. We will have lowballed some players, but, let's be honest, most of our players deserve pay cuts. Dolan probably feels that he can get a significant pay rise by going somewhere on a free. He'll be able to negotiate a nice wage and a nice signing bonus based on the reduced fee (the tribunal fee won't be super high). He might be right, but I doubt it. He certainly isn't turning his heads so far this season. We shouldn't be overpaying him to get him to stay. In the long-term, we need players better than Dolan.

Tuchel was absolutely the best option out there. There were no standout - or even viable - English candidates and he brings a wealth of experience.

There is absolutely zero chance that Dolan is signed by Premier League club.

The thing is, I doubt he wants a 'fair' wage. Why do we assume that it's the club holding out? I'm not a defender of any aspect of our current regime, but you don't find many young footballers making reasonable contractual demands. As the Richard Sharpe article points out, he's probably already made an unwise financial decision by turning down the new contract and missing out on 12 months at a higher pay. He probably won't be able to make up for that lost income with his next contract. Dolan isn't in the Rothwell, BBD, or Szmodics category where you could make a strong case for really pushing the boat out. He's far more likely to find himself being Ryan Nyambe 2.0 and struggling to find a club once he has left here. He's young enough that somebody will take a chance, but we don't want to have to be that club. He delivers what? 1 game in 3? 4? It's not an easy situation to handle because any replacement will likely come with additional fees that might make them more expensive than resigning Dolan - even on an inflated deal. But I'm not excited by the prospect of overpaying to get 3/4 more years of Dolan. I'm not even excited by the idea of underpaying to get him.

Do we want them to not lowball Dolan? We certainly don't want to overpay him. Will there be a big market for him? Probably not. The reality is, he's not good enough.

It is nice to at least have some internationals back in the squad. Even if they're only unused subs, we've had a couple of seasons where a player with a cap has been hard to find.

How was Southgate an FA yes man? If anything, he did more to change the approach, mentality, and management of England than any other manager in the modern era.