Lt. Aldo Raine

I don't think it was that controversial a point, was it?

Exactly this.

He likely wouldn't have signed one even if they'd have offered.

Aye, I doubt it was in either party's interest for him to have been under contract.

I can accept that Lennon might have wrongly thought he wasn't good enough. I can accept that he thought a scholarship in the US might have been a better option for him than signing a new contract with us (because there's a very good argument that it is). I can't accept that he left because he thought young players don't get opportunities, especially considering Holding also had Wheater, Derik and Dervite ahead of him yet still forced his way through to eventually win the Player of the Year award that season. Also don't forget, it was Lennon who found a regular starting position for Vela at right-back, and it was Lennon who gave both Clough and Holding their debuts.

I don't dispute the official version of events because it can happen, and I do recognise the scenario you refer to in bold, but the year he left we had three Academy graduates in our starting line-up and his dad ended the season as caretaker manager.

He's actually our player.

Probably because he feels it's in his interests for Brexit to happen and a Corbyn election victory might've opened up the possibility of a second referundum happening.

Is Wilbraham's hair sprayed on?

It's easier to maintain it though if you bring on defensively-minded reinforcements to give yourself a bit of structure. Hill didn't do that. Instead, he went very gung-ho.

If we're mulling over the idea of bringing someone in to work on our defensive organisation, I'd prefer it if we brought in an actual defensive coach rather than a currently still playing 32-year-old centre-back with no coaching experience.

But we might have a better squad with which to do it.

Perhaps not, but it's difficult to think that what his administration is overseeing in the "migrant detention centres" as anything but evil.

He's been "issued with an immediate banning order, pending further investigation by Greater Manchester Police". That reads to me as though it's effectively a suspension whilst the matter is looked into.

Lukas Jutkiewicz

He's not very good full stop, but he's certainly not suited to playing the role Lowe and Murphy do, to protect the defensive line. He plays wide on the left or in a central attacking midfield role. Politic can't play the roles that Lowe and Murphy do either, which is why it made no sense to play him in place of Weir.

He was played out of position, and Politic can't play the role Weir was asked to play either.

Considering how many there were, that's some going!

I agree. If we're to get the best out of him it'll be by playing him through the middle.

I thought Weir was very unsure of himself, which I can't particularly blame him for because I'm also of the opinion he was playing out of position. Similarly with Politic, he struggled to impose himself early in the season and I can understand why he first lost his place in the team. But then he doesn't appear to me to be a winger, so it makes sense.

Draws are no good to us. We need to win at home. I'll go with an optimistic 2-1 to us.

It's not the most important point in this thread, but I don't think Lostick is at the level of Euxton. In fact, I believe it's quite a way short.

The thing is, I think we get the best out of Darcy by playing him at the top of the midfield triangle. And with Clough, it's by playing him just off the centre forward. By playing both of them as part of a front three, we don't get the best out of either. If we did re-sign Clough, I'd be tempted to try him in Verlinden's position, where he and Darcy could link up, but I don't know if we'd be better off trying to find a player better suited to beating a man wide and then getting a cross in instead, as that generally tends to be our gameplan.

I think we're more likely to see Edwards, Brockbank or Senior at centre-back than we are to see Zouma.