Let's forget about yesterday. Dwelling on that is not the answer.

[Rich]

Exactly. But there are limits.

If you want disciplined cricketers who do what they are told, dont pick Kevin Pieterson. Or Brian Lara, for that matter. They are too good. And they know it. Nothing you ask of them will be more effective than who they are. And discipline isnt a big part of their skill set.

Dennis left Inter because they wanted him to play with his back to goal. He tried to explain that he wasnt Alan Smith. So he moved to a club who wanted him to be Dennis.

You dont tell Dennis how to play football any more than you tell Joe Root how to play spin. Perfection is too rare in life to be tampered with.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying we should have stuck with Eddie Nketiah.....

I'd snap your hand off for Eddie Nketiah right now tbh.

I see Arteta spoke very well at his press conference. This title chase isn't over.

[Peter]

I'd snap your hand off for Eddie Nketiah right now tbh.

I see Arteta spoke very well at his press conference. This title chase isn't over.

No, it definitely isnt over. I mean, Villa are only three points behind City.....

[redgunamo]

Exactly. But there are limits.

If you want disciplined cricketers who do what they are told, dont pick Kevin Pieterson. Or Brian Lara, for that matter. They are too good. And they know it. Nothing you ask of them will be more effective than who they are. And discipline isnt a big part of their skill set.

Dennis left Inter because they wanted him to play with his back to goal. He tried to explain that he wasnt Alan Smith. So he moved to a club who wanted him to be Dennis.

You dont tell Dennis how to play football any more than you tell Joe Root how to play spin. Perfection is too rare in life to be tampered with.

All of this is a long-winded way of saying we should have stuck with Eddie Nketiah.....

I like Eddie but he has been poorly advised. His first mistake is, strikers rarely come through the ranks at big, ambitious clubs as these clubs have too much money and therefore too little patience. The second is moving to a club that already has a bigger stronger centre forward than him. Just like in coursing; a good big 'un always beats a good little 'un.

We all love Gary Neville here, don't we. He was a lunchtime guest on TMS years ago and spoke very well about how playing lower league club cricket in Manchester was crucial to his success as a footballer.

He explained that he was fifteen or sixteen and a real England test prospect. But these old fellows he played with, factory workers, office drones etc. absolutely lived for their cricket at the weekend and simply did not care a fig for the development of a future England star opener. They'd worked all week in their ****ty jobs just for the weekend, they paid their subs and petrol money and bought all their own kit and just wanted to play cricket and, most importantly, win at cricket.

So despite being a child, if he made a mistake, they would beat the **** out of him back in the pavillion (although, in fairness, that almost certainly would have occurred to them whether he dropped any catches or not). Anyway, it taught him that despite never having been the most gifted footballer, he always took the whole thing very seriously and gave everything he could. It made him grow up.