14 Feb 2026 10:21:33
We lost Rio Ngumoha to red scouse but gained Jesse Derry from Cyrstal Palace as a replacement, both play in the same position and both look to have exciting futures ahead of them. Be interesting to see who proves to be the better player.
14 Feb 2026 22:12:39
I was gutted about Rio, Greenaway, if only because the group of coaches at the team my son trained with knew him and his family, and were part of his development. Khalil Mitchell's the next one I'm hoping gets somewhere (hopefully with us) – used to watch him play futsal with kids five or six years older than him and absolutely boss it. The chances of making it as a top-level pro are so insanely small – easy to forget that when we're all commenting on players and how good or bad they are.
Any kind of decent career in the game is really an achievement; talent, work and not a small amount of luck. (Whilst I write that, thinking of Marco van Ginkel, who I saw had just retired at thirty-four the other day. )
15 Feb 2026 09:28:33
EdW, I could agree more about how good a professional footballer has to be to make a living. The amount of hard work they have generally had to put into making a successful career isn't recognised by some and even when the work has been put in it doesn't guarantee success. Of course similar things happen in other walks of life.