Dr Gloom

it's a fairly obvious thing to suggest given how woldemade plays. i just don't think eddie fancies losing the third midfielder so doubt it will happen. if he persists with 4-3-3 he has to find a way to get the players higher up the pitch and in and around big nick. i hope that the return of the two first choice full backs will help with that. alternatively wissa comes in for nick and we return to how we played when we had isak, with wissa hopefully playing on the defender's shoulder instead of dropping deep and pressing from the front. edit - long term, if eddie is wedded to 4-3-3, he needs to work on the training ground so that big nick and the other players can make the system work better with him as the focal point than it is currently

4-2-3-1 might fix this: Tonali and Bruno as a two with Woldemade at 10 and Wissa ahead of him. But Eddie hasn’t shown any signs of wanting to change from 4-3-3 other then a few experiments with three at the back. There’s also a danger Bruno’s lack of mobility means that midfield two would get overrun in some games

Wish we’d gone for semenyo instead of Elanga. Class player

I play football twice a week and lift weights 3-4 times a week. It has flared up as a result of too much exercise in the past but being stronger has definitely helped. I genuinely thought I had it licked as hadn’t had a bad one before this for ages. The good news is I’m off the drugs and feel loads better. Still stiff and uncomfortable but my flexibility is coming back. No more than moderate exercise on my horizon for another week or two at least however

I’ve been off work all week with a crippled back, which is finally improving. The plus side is I watched loads of old classics. Casino, Once upon a time in America, Annie Hall - still awesome. Though Once Upon a time in America is uncomfortably misogynist at times. New stuff: Companion and Heretic are both good. The Roses was a pretty average reboot - preferred the original

It’s good that England now play with controlled aggression and have ditched the brainless, dick swinging arrogance. Several things stand in England’s way. They’ve had nowhere near enough prep time to get used to Aussie pitches. The top order, aside from Duckett, aren’t good enough. We don’t have a proper spinner in the squad. There are questions around a few of their players too but even a depleted Australia are good enough to beat us 4-0 or 3-1 in their own back yard.

I confidently predict I will wake up early on day one of the first test to find England about 70/8 at lunch

Update: feeling much looser today with much improved mobility m so on the road to recovery. Went for a little walk to take high street earlier which was slow but not as agonising as I feared. Still high as a kite on the Valium and codeine. Going to start tapering them off tomorrow

is it dan burn at left back?

Fine, thanks for asking My cause is helped by being a civilised sitter. Pissing is okay for now too but I was struggling to empty my bladder on Saturday night whike my back was contracting. Never known anything like it tbh. My whole body was convulsing in agony for a few hours

ah, looks like i misread KD's post. yeah - fuck surgery unless it's absolutely essential.

shit, you had surgery? it’s the one thing I always try to avoid tbh. My physio said a steroid injection might help fix me long term

Update: contractions eased yesterday but back is still in spasm, my tummy muscles are almost at a right angle and I’m walking like a cripple. Can’t get comfortable sitting or waking. Lying down on the floor provides some relief but then I seize up when I get back up again. Feels like one that’ll take weeks rather than days to clear up. Grim

That was shit. Bad day in the office for Howe again away from home. He left burn out to dry persisting with him at left back when he was on a yellow and getting skinned every time by his winger. The red card was so predictable.

you can say that again

when it was first assessed a few years back the doctor said I didn’t need an MRI as it was certainly a herniated disc and could be treated with painkillers and physio, which is what I did. That worked for long periods. I was able to manage it aside from the occasional minor flare up. Nothing as severe as what happened this weekend though. I probably should have been offered an MRI in the first place to properly assess the issue but that’s the NHS for you. Money is so right they don’t want to spend it if they can avoid it

quite enjoyable if honest 😂

Had an erm interesting 48 hours. I’ve been plagued with lower back problems due to a suspected herniated disc for decades but had a flare up this weekend which was next level. A session of physio yesterday put my back in constant agonising involuntary contractions and left me screaming like a baby, freaking out the wife and kids. leaving hospital now with a prescription of Valium, codeine and anal suppositories. Next steps are an MRI scan to get to the bottom of it and assess whether I need any intervention such as a steroid injection or surgery. How’s your Sunday going?

Valiant effort, Sunderland

i know the market is inflated but £55m feels like a lot of cash for a pace merchant. hope he proves me wrong.

they would do well to take lessons from mamdani's win instead of pretending they've never heard of him

I've spent in time in Egypt, Jordan and Israel - loved all three places. They are all fascinating and beautiful places to visit but can be challenging holiday destinations for various reasons

if he'd taken that simple chance against villa in the first game of the season things could look quite different for him

no, he made the bench in a couple of games early in the season, i think, but no sign of him around the first team squad since then