StarkMallard

Now this is a thread. Thanks for posting this @Alex, despite your slander of German beer! I'm very partial to an English real ale from a local brewery like Magpie, and they generally don't travel. You never quite know what you're going to get, and that's part of the fun. I'm lucky enough to live near a beer supermarket so I can stay stocked up with Sam Smith's Nut Brown Ale and oatmeal stout, and I'm partial to an Old Speckled Hen or nearly anything from St Peter's too. German beer is excellent (but I'd love to know where you're finding this cheap beer! Although it might appear cheap if you went to France and the Netherlands first...). It's generally less full-bodied than English beer so is easier to drink despite being a bit stronger. A Pils or helles is nice in the summer, but if you find that a bit meh you can try a cloudy beer (turn the bottle before pouring), a Landbier, a Bock or a Märzen. Special mention for Schlenkerla smoky Märzen, which you can sometimes find in the UK. If you were in Cologne you probably had Kölsch. That's something for the lager drinkers but is nice enough when fresh and served in small glasses. Kölsch in a pint glass is nope. In my limited experience, beer in France comes in small glasses and is crazy expensive. It's cheaper to drink wine. And the Netherlands is dominated by Belgian beer to the extent that it's difficult to find one of their own. I experienced Hungarian beer this year and much of it was vile. There's a reason they sell Czech beer everywhere.

Off the top of my head, we started last season with four season-long loans. Aljofree and Iorpenda were there pretty much for all pre-season, with Hall and Luker arriving later on. I definitely expect something to happen in the next week or two, maybe an attacking midfielder and a quick centre forward among them. O'Reilly seems to fit in well there. Having four long-term injuries before a ball is kicked is less than ideal. And I hope there's nothing in the Palmer talk above, he's one of our players with L1 experience (he was a regular in a side that won promotion from this level). Him, Jones and Jatta were part of the core of our promotion-winning team, and replacing them all while they're under contract is an unnecessary risk.

You might be right there @Graham, Jones' absence is odd and it's starting to feel like another Jatta situation. We're rumoured to be in for Harry Boyes, who plays in his position. Is he intended to be competition or a replacement? He's blown hot and cold over the last couple of seasons, but we know he can unlock a defence for us. He deserves a stab at League One and I'm in no doubt that he's good enough for it.

They may be in the third division, but Hansa make a fantastic atmosphere even by German standards and this was their big day out. They'd never been to England before, and London is pretty simple to get to - next season, their closest away trip will be over 200 miles away! A few years back they brought 3000 to Mannheim, a 1000-mile, 24-hour round trip. Of course there are some idiots among them, but they're far from being the worst offenders. The t shirts look a bit familiar too!

I kind of realised this was coming when I read Smythe's profile - he sounded like a Jatta replacement rather than someone who would complement him. And so it's turned out. AJ may be a bit raw, he isn't good in the air and his first touch can be a bit suspect. Some of the reported sums clubs were ready to pay for him overvalued him IMO. However, he consistently scored for us, every second game during his time with us. If he can replicate that in Portugal's top flight, he'll really be in the shop window and some very big clubs will notice him. It's a short career, so I hope he does well. The biggest unknown for us now is where the goals will come from. Smythe sounds promising but is unproven, and Ndlovu and Aquaman don't have great scoring records so far. It'll be interesting to see what permanent and loan signings are still in store.

We know he's highly rated when his old club makes a farewell video compilation. Another player making a step up, but also another leader and by the sound of it a Norburn replacement. Sounds promising. Our losses column was too high last season, so hopefully he'll make us harder to beat. But now I want to see some attacking signings as we don't have enough goals in us at present and we shouldn't put all our balls in the Roberts basket. Eggs! I meant eggs. You put eggs in baskets. Putting your balls in a basket will get you arrested.

He was a bit of a super sub for Darmstadt @menzinho. I imagine he joined us hoping for more minutes, but we also found him more effective coming off the bench. He's a strange one. He's got the talent to step up, but he could have done with a run of games and yet he never really justified a starting place for us. He could be an asset to Ingolstadt, but if he only performs in fits and bursts he'll end up warming the bench again

Keanan Bennetts has returned to Germany and has joined FC Ingolstadt in the third division. He's got the talent, but will he hold down a first team spot there?

He's a free agent then? There are a few familiar names on that list, albeit approaching the end of their careers.

This sounds like one of those silly rumours from clickbait social media pages. Even if we were willing to sell him, he would command a significant six-figure fee - there's no way Bromley could afford him. Jones is one of the few players we absolutely must hold on to. I'd be devastated if we sold him to a rival.

Lucky @Fan of Big Tone and @Chris. When I was 14 we hadn't even qualified!

He seems to be more our cup of tea than Flint, hope it comes off. Either way, I'm glad he's kicked on after leaving Blue Peter.

Good to have a friendly against Randers. Maybe we'll get Celdic next season. Do you reckon Reynolds will feature this season? I'm starting to feel quite sorry for him, he only plays for us in pre-season yet he must have some potential.

I don't like the front, the back or the sleeves. The stripes look horrible. The rest of it is fine. I'll spend my money at the Nest. Can we at least have white socks? It reminds me of a Sheffield Wednesday shirt from the 90s with a big white panel on the front.

What a disappointing end to the World Cup for us (the match for third place doesn't count). I found the first half low on quality, but we also managed to starve Messi of any service. After we took the lead we had a meltdown. I can understand the players feeling intimidated and dropping deeper and deeper in the face of the threat that Argentina suddenly posed, but what I found more difficult to understand was Tuchel doubling down on this and packing the team with defenders. We've seen a few teams park the bus at this World Cup, most of them more limited than England. They generally tried to hold possession in midfield and had a couple of quick guys up front for the counterattack. We did neither, and our first non-defensive substitution was in the 97th minute with the game all but lost. Mainoo, Saka and Watkins spent the whole game on the bench. With Kane knackered, we posed zero threat and Argentina could go full Alamo mode without having to fear us on the break. We might not have kept Argentina out anyway, but we didn't give ourselves the best chance. The coach has to shoulder some of the blame, but I think it's a mental thing too - our players seem to have a deep-seated belief that they'll never truly be good enough to go toe to toe with Argentina, France and Spain and repeatedly withdraw when they're there for the taking. Can't wait for the proper football to start!

I'm not too bothered about bids coming in, it's not the first time and it was bound to happen again. Hopefully the fee received for Dennis will reduce the pressure to sell unless we get a sensationally good offer. I think we'd have to have a seriously good replacement lined up if we do end up selling him.

Spain take the lead from the penalty spot. Happy days for Spanish coach Luis de la Fuente (pictured here with his son Indiana Jones).

If you're still not over this, you're near Retford and you fancy watching Matt Tootle kicking him all over the pitch for 90 minutes, you could do worse than to call by at Retford United this evening.

I wouldn't overanalyse their player's failure to pass to Haaland @Chris, he just hesitated too long and made a poor decision, luckily for us. We've seen it countless times. Norway seem to have an excellent team spirit to me and Haaland is a far away from being a primadonna as it's possible to be. It's over now anyway and the silly talk about Argentina has already begun. Who does everyone want to win tonight? I know France are scarily good, but I'd rather face them in the final than chase the ball against Spain again.

Delighted with the win, but Tuchel is right that we rode our luck at times. Norway looked more likely to score again after we fell behind and we can count ourselves very fortunate that they didn't take their chances. Our individual quality won the day in the end, but a lot of our build-up play was slow and ponderous. Re the camera cable controversy: I can't see any indication at all that Nyborg's goal kick hit the cable, and even if it did it didn't directly lead to a goalscoring chance as it landed in our half. The German refereeing expert was of the opinion that the referee was right to let play continue, and awarding a dropped ball to us in our half may have resulted in the goal anyway. Norway are clutching at straws here. Anyway, Argentina look beatable if we bring our A game on Wednesday. I'm expecting it to be close. I agree that France and Spain are the best two sides remaining though.

It's difficult to draw too many conclusions from this given the opposition and the players we were missing. We looked a bit more cohesive than during last year's tour as we had fewer trialists in the squad. I find pre-season friendlies a tough watch a lot of the time, but if MP is happy we should be happy. Looked like a decent mob of Notts fans too, maybe a hundred? It's hard to tell as they were quite spaced out. Re Jatta, he's got a Gambian passport so he's going to have these issues wherever he goes. I don't think it's a surprise, it's probably the reason why he was given more time with his family in Gambia.

If the gossip is true, those two would have set us back 20,000 pounds a week. They were out of reach for most other clubs too. All the same, I expect our budget to be one of the smallest next season, and a chunk of that is being eaten up by Roos and Traore as well.

16 goals in 134 League Two games is... not great. The Dundee fans on social media (I know) are surprised he's landed a move to League 1 as well. Hope the recruitment team has seen something they haven't, but we do tend to produce one really odd signing every year. Hope he proves the doubters wrong though. When we signed Kyle Wootton, his record looked equally poor and Scunny fans were glad to see the back of him. He turned his career around at Notts, hope this new man does too. Also, I really liked Barbie Girl.

Ah, according to Viborg FF it's being shown on their official YouTube channel. Great day of football coming up on Saturday then! I checked the Randers website but couldn't find any mention of a stream. We don't play them until the week after though.

The match on Stuttgart was streamed, but the home club took care of that. So maybe it'll be worth checking the clubs we're visiting to see if they're streaming it?