Season 34 Week 8 processing...

Subs on at Plymouth - can they make a difference...

Schalke 4 Bremen 0 Kimmich on 73 minutes.
Atletico 5 Celta 0 Barella.
Bragantino 1 Santos 4 Gabigol.
Spurs 0 Charlton 4 Jota.
Real 3 Zaragoza 2 Campos.

Sevilla 1 Valencia 1 Diego Costa on 77 minutes.

Sevilla 1 Valencia 2 Pavon on 78 minutes.
Real 4 Zaragoza 2 Ronaldo header.
Barcelona 8 ( eight ) Santander 0 Pedri.

Watford 5 Wednesday 0 Abraham on 80 minutes.
Arsenal 3 Plymouth 3 Haaland.
Cologne 2 Leverkusen 2 Milinkovic-Savic.
Jena 0 Hannover 2 Sucic header.
Villa 3 Chelsea 3 Pulisic.

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Watford 5 Wednesday 0 Abraham on 80 minutes.
Arsenal 3 Plymouth 3 Haaland.
Cologne 2 Leverkusen 2 Milinkovic-Savic.
Jena 0 Hannover 2 Sucic header.
Villa 3 Chelsea 3 Pulisic.

Come on Plymouth!

Nantes 9 ( nine ) Toulouse 5 Aouar on 83 minutes.
Cherry 1 Dundalk 0 Ireland.
Real 4 Zaragoza 3 Gaitan.

Bragantino 2 Santos 4 Cipriano on 85 minutes.
Smena 1 Bate 1 Sherefa.

Bragantino 2 Santos 5 Chera on 86 minutes.
Cologne 2 Leverkusen 3 Gravenberch.
Valerenga 2 Molde 1 Finne.

Valerenga 3 Molde 1 Fridjonsson freekick on 88 minutes.
Braga 5 Estoril 1 Andrey.
Sevilla 1 Valencia 3 Oscar.

Spurs 0 Charlton 5 Bellingham on 90 minutes just as the ref blows for fulltime...

Well - pending the cup results - delighted with the week. Plymouth showing signs, if the manager can actually decide on a fixed tactic – that things can come together. Time to stop messing around as some of the new players keep embedding and building those partnerships needed!

Premiership

Charlton 16 +7
Watford 15 +9
Man City 15 +4 Champions
Arsenal 14 +5
Villa 14 +3
Chelsea 14 +2

...

Bundesliga

Wolfsburg 18 +17 Champions
Schalke 17 +13
Bayern 17 +8

Spain

Barcelona 24 +26 Champions
Atletico 21 +19
Real 21 +14

Champions Cup results - Match day Four

Real 3 Charlton 3
Man City 1 ACMilan 2

Barcelona 3 Plymouth 4
Benfica 0 InterMilan 2

Bayern 0 Chelsea 1
Porto 1 Ajax 2

Schalke 3 Watford 3
Anderlecht 0 Paris 1

Paul Hemmings wrote:

Champions Cup results - Match day Four

Real 3 Charlton 3
Man City 1 ACMilan 2

Barcelona 3 Plymouth 4
Benfica 0 InterMilan 2

Bayern 0 Chelsea 1
Porto 1 Ajax 2

Schalke 3 Watford 3
Anderlecht 0 Paris 1

Food for thought here on the midfield makeup at Plymouth - that's for sure... Need to see the tale of the tape though

Copa Libertadores

Danubio 1 Santos 3
Amexica 1 River Plate 2

Sao Paulo 1 Fluminense 5
Estudiantes 1 Argentinos 1

Vasco 1 Botafogo 3
Cruzeiro 4 Corinthiqans 1

Flamengo 0 Independente 2
Penarol 4 Boca 2

I'm out for awhile but will do transfers etc when I get back...

I’ll take 3-3 at Villa after being 3 down at half time, good win for Braga but not so good draw for Bate

Well, talk about ying and yang this week!   

Brilliant performances from Charlton and Wolfsburg, both sit atop of their league table for now....

Nantes score 9 but somehow manage to make it hard work in the process!!

Fluminense. Oh Fluminense.  Watershed moment for this team I think.  The formation we play has finally caught up with me I fear.  Desperate to play the freestyle football of the others but also trying to shoehorn Coutinho (a TM) in at the same time always felt a little too attacking but we seem to have got away with it for a while now.  This week it seems not.  Away at one of the best sides and we probably got what we deserved playing far too open and too many attacking players.  The time for change may be upon us....Well played Phil, tail well and truly between my legs....

A worrying blank first half for Schalke in the league, but came through in the end.
And a point against Watford in the CL could be the point that gets us through the group...

Transfer Roundup

 
William Saliba - Tough task to replace Rudiger, But Saliba is proberly one of few young CB’s capable of doing do without a drop in performances.
Eddie Nketiah - Unfair to keep a player in the squad if wasn’t going to play and the cash was to tempting to resist and Ferguson hitting form IRL, gives the club the chance to bring the Irishman into the first 18 fold.
Edouard Mendy - Not many 6* Goalkeepers freely available on the Market, so manager had to invest, hopefully pays off with performances and points.
Illian Meslier - Similar issue to Nketiah, however bringing in another GK in made Meslier’s route to first XI football even more difficult.
Pau Torres - Got to give to receive, and while Torres has been impressive since joining Genk. Arthur Theate is more then capable  of stepping up to first XI.
Jeremy Doku - The “Belgium Flash” signed by City to replace Mahrez, could Genk be doing the same thing?
Brian Brobbey - Departs the club after the arrival of Victor Boniface, been a dependable deputy for Lukaku but to many players for the same position and the chance to strengthen a weak area of the Genk side was to good of an opportunity to miss out on.
Bart Verbruggen - Young Dutch goalkeeper, a full international to give strong competition for Bernd Leno. Surely will be challenging for the First XI place.
Ryan Gravenberch - A player who has been around Genk/Leverkusen for many seasons now, but a 2 for 1 deal to tempting to resist and given the replacement was a seasoned international. Might just help the side be a bit more resilient.
Joao Palhinha - International, check. AM, check. A solid choice for a Anchorman, if Bayern want you can’t be to shabby.
Hidemasa Morita - Current backup options for the club were lacking and the club were looking to exploit the Asian market for shirt sales and increasing supporters.
Arthur Cabral - Showed plenty of promise and fitted in with the clubs philosophy but just didn’t quite contribute as much as used to from a CF. 37games 12goals. Hulk has 138games and 100goals which is more in-line with what is expected from a CF.
Mateus Tete  - With Lucas Paqueta coming into the side, pushed Tete from LW to DY in the side and Veiga joined the side which made Tete question his place in the side with contract renewal due, was time to wish Tete all the best.
Goncalo Ramos - If you are competing with one of the worlds greatest  for a position in the national side and have 6goals in 8 games. Surely got some pedigree about you.

The LESSER Transfer roundup

Nketiah to Anderlecht for £85million from Watford.
Meslier to Nantes for £75million from Watford.
Mendy to Watford from Chicago for £65millions.
Vrousai to Inverness for £50millions from Velez.
Dzoni to ACMilan for £50millions from Anderlecht.
Spike Brits to Man City for £35millions from Wimbledon.
Vlachodimos to Inverness for £30millions from Bari.
Boadu to Alkmaar from Schalke for £20millions.
Ramos to Botafogo from Benfica for £20millions.
Tete and Cabral to Benfica for £20millions from Botafogo.
Gravenberch to Wolfsburg for £20millions from Leverkusen.
Pau Torres to Villa in exchange for Saliba to Genk.
Leverkusen signed Morita for £15million.
Palhinha joins Leverkusen from Wolfsburg for £10millions.
Doku joins Genk from Wolfsburg for £10millions.
Verbruggen joins Genk from Anderlecht in a swap deal for Brobbey.

Loads of youngsters signed by many clubs this week including
Alexsander to Fluminense.
Marc Bernal to Barcelona.
Carlos Baleba to Watford.

Coaching, wages, morale and Finances now...

All done now will try and find time later tonite to send out the email turns...