Just wondering what people think the point of the Forum is.

For me, I think it should serve any one of three purposes:

1 To share useful information (e.g. IPO listings)
2 To help each other/ask for help (whether it be player tips or trading techniques, etc)
3 To be entertaining

If a post hits all 3, that's the holy grail.

Several threads have become arguments recently or the same points have been made over and over. Some of it really has me scratching my head trying to work out what the purpose of some of the posts has been. Player tips seem to be a bit thin on the ground and I'm longing for a good pump!

If it's not useful information or funny, I've definitely reached the point that I don't want to read it. Do we think we can strive to get the Forum back to these values or am I missing the point as to what it's for?

And before someone says what purpose did this boring message serve, it's a vague effort to encourage people to look at what they've been posting and to think about what they are positively adding to the Forum. Let's stop deliberately picking fights and start helping each other again. I've gained so much from the Forum in the past and we can all make it be a fantastic place again.

@SDOAFIT completely agree. Regardless of whether you like the changes or not, I do not believe for one minute that these were made to screw over existing users. FI are investing in more advertising to grow, so deliberately annoying the current users would be crazy, as Twitter and the Forum get negative, people get scared off and all the advertising would be for nothing.

If I genuinely believed that they were deliberately screwing me over, I would not post on the Forum or Twitter, spreading more panic. I would sell and get out as quickly as possible.

As I say, not saying the current situation is good or that the transition to OB is going well so far, but I'd rather we come together as a Forum to help each other through this and find new ways to make money, rather than the continual attacks on FI, or worse, on someone else with money tied up too, just because they disagree with you.

You hear on the radio that Thomas Cook shares have plummeted 20% and you think, who does he play for?

@Westy personally I'd prefer the discontent was kept to Twitter. FI far more likely to act based on actions/evidence (people withdrawing, not depositing, not trading, etc) than empty words, but if they respond to any, it will be the likes of Twitter that cause this, because it's fully in the public domain and would be far more damaging.

The Forum should only be for current users and has a relatively small number of users, which is why I suspect FI don't tend to react to anything on here. People are welcome to complain about the product on here if they like, but I think they are misguided if they think FI will be following or responding. As I say, I am sure they look at trading patterns and Twitter to gage sentiment, not the Forum.

Given FI aren't interested in the Forum, my view is we should use it to help each other. That doesn't mean it all has to be positive or that it can't be negative, but I want to read things that will help me (and others). Knowing what offers are being accepted, who is injured, what youngsters are coming through, what announcements I have missed, position changes, transfer spec, etc can all be useful information. Saying the index is crap and was better last year, even if you think it is true, is just not helping anyone. At best, someone might agree with you and at worst, you further damage sentiment and help to make the situation being complained about worse. Doesn't mean people aren't allowed to post it, I just struggle to see how it benefits anyone.

@BringBackTrueIS I see your concerns about the current removal of FI backed IS and I also understand the logic of trying to get FI to reinstate it by telling them as a user base that there is a problem. Clearly more voices here would help.

However, my issue with the current strategy being employed by some trying to achieve the above is that the posts are way too emotional, aggressive and/or factually incorrect. If somebody could put together a properly thought through argument that stacked up, especially in light of current world events, then maybe more would get on board.

I'm really not sure how much more FI could have done to product both themselves and their users during this time and it's unfair/inappropriate to judge the ME when football is only just returning. We'll know far more when the transfer rumours start seriously and it's building up to the new season.

I don't expect you to agree, but just trying to say that if you want people to get behind your bid for change, you probably need to rethink your user name, lose the footer which is an unnecessary dig and don't pick an argument with everyone who disagrees.

@Tom7471 I'm always accused of being negative at work as I challenge new ideas and ways of doing things. But I believe you need to challenge and question, as it's how things improve. If we always pretend everything is great as it is, nothing would ever get better, so I agree with you on that, but there is a way of doing it.

I'd have no problem with "I will be using the upcoming survey to ask for FI backed IS to be returned as a back stop, which will return confidence to the market and boost trading at the lower end". That's constructive and something FI can work with. "FI have screwed us, changed our bet, made it impossible to make money, etc. and I'm selling all my portfolio and everyone else should leave cause it's all over Twitter" is less helpful, probably not factually correct and is always going to spiral into an argument. There are ways of making the same point, that would be my argument. If we want FI backed IS to return, there needs to be widespread demand for it. That's not going to happen if we fight amongst ourselves.

Never thought I'd have to defend someone of Mbappe's ability on a football Forum, but here we go...

• Putting FI marginally to one side for the moment, as a player has already lit up a World Cup final, Golden Boy winner, 3 x in top 10 Balon d'Or, FIFA best young player award, 2 x French player of the year, 2 x Ligue 1 top goal scorer and it goes on. At 21! Messi and Ronaldo have been the best two players in the world for years, but they are now both well into their 30's. Mbappe is an obvious contender to take over that mantle.
• As for FI, Mbappe is likely to be one of the players who will benefit from the upcoming media review due to his international appeal and the removal of the one-name/specific name bias.
• His PB chances are unlikely to be harmed by the annual review of the current matrix, as his game is not naturally matched to some of the current quirks.
• Despite this, his PB average over the past 3 months based on 90 minute performances is 162. The PB beast that is Messi has an average of 151, Neymar stands at 140 and Rashford has an average of 93. If you go back further Messi's numbers are higher, but it is to be expected that Mbappe's figures will continue to improve, as he adds maturity and match awareness to his current physical talents.
• Mbappe's improving PB is, in part, evidenced by one PB win already this season and a current placing of 2nd in the forward TOTM standings.
• Transfer links unlikely to go away any time soon, which is handy for MB too.

Not saying all of the above means he should be the most valuable player on the Index. Not even trying to say he is a good buy. But I do think that having somebody like Mbappe at the top of the pyramid is good for FI, as it would seem logical to new users and others having a browse, as his combined ability and age makes him the most obvious purchase when placing a long-term bet.

Revived this old Kane thread, rather than start a new one.

No obvious stand out games for me today, but will be interesting to see if Spurs carry on where they left off today, having scored 13 in 2 games so far in October, which is hardly typical Mourinho.

Bale likely to take the headlines today, but if he's still got some of that magic left and Spurs can integrate him into their system (both big ifs) then he could really add extra fire power.

This could also be good for Kane, who seems to be enjoying getting involved in more of the all round play this season, which is where he started making his mark before his goal return saw him pushed to be an out and out number 9. I've believed Kane has been one of the safest premium holds for a while, with good dividend returns and a decent candidate for PB and MB, without being a beast for either.

Being England captain with the Euros coming up, transfer links likely if it goes badly at Spurs this season and still being only 27 all give reasons to be optimistic. I always look for multiple reasons to buy and for me, Kane has several strings to his bow at the present time.

Anyway, North London rivalries aside, I'm hoping for something decent from Kane today.

I saw this advert in a window that said: ‘Television for sale, £1, volume stuck on full.’ I thought, ‘I can’t turn that down.'”

I'd imagine FI would be delighted to change the matrix, as would encourage a whole new batch of buying and selling to get those newly PB-matrix friendly holds, possibly with some new minting for them but certainly a load of commission. I suspect the only reason they didn't do this last year was because they know how important stability is to the customer base. If there is a whiff of enthusiasm for change though, I suspect FI will take the opportunity to revise the matrix and they can happily do so knowing they have listened to traders and are giving us what we want!

I do get the argument that people want goal scorers to win, but you would think that would be FI's line to us to justify why they have changed it and we would be saying its unfair as its changing our open bets. By actually campaigning for something that damages existing holds, we're making their PR job very easy for them.

@NewUser49907 agree with most of this.

The debate over averaging has probably half hidden that in the main, most posters here seem to be in loose agreement; regardless of what you have done before, if you think they are at a good current price then buy, but if you think they are still overpriced or there are better options elsewhere, don't.

I still personally would consider selling some on a spike then bidding a bit lower to get back in, rather than just keep topping up. Essentially this is just averaging the price down too, but frees up a bit of cash to play with and prevents the portfolio becoming further out of balanced to just these two.

I'm not in favour of any significant changes to the matrix, but I wouldn't have a huge problem with a small bonus for a hat trick scorer. That said, it will lead to further complaints about FI shaking the money tree, moving the goalposts, changing open bets, etcbut. and I'm not really sure it's worth it as I've not heard a compelling case in favour of a change.

Certainly taking the two recent cases of a hat trick scorer not winning PB, Aubameyang was beaten by Lukaku, who got 2, one of which was the GWG and an assist, so not unreasonable and Isak, who was subbed with a 1/3rd of the game to go, so again, not unreasonable that he didn't win. Therefore, although both stirred debate, when you look at them, I don't think either of them deserved to win PB, so don't think a matrix tweak would necessarily have given a better result there. I'm sure there'll be examples where a PB winner doesn't sit quite right, but I'm yet to be convinced it's worth worrying about really.

@NewUser49907 not trying to patronize, just trying to help the OP. What's gone can't be changed, can only look forward. No matter how highly you rate these two, I personally would not be comfortable having 80% of my portfolio in any two players, so I would not be happy putting any more into either of them. I'd be very comfortable averaging down by trading the spread, but I wouldn't want to increase my overall stake, not because they aren't youngsters with prospects, but because of the already massively out of balance port.

Was just trying to give an option as a strategy, but ultimately they should only do what they are comfortable with. They have more than a couple of different views here, so hopefully they'll find a path that suits them.

@NewUser628679 I don't hold Bruno either, I just think a strong top end benefits everyone and a core of strong dividend returners is helpful when trying to attract new users. Also sets FI apart from other products who don't have anything other than on pitch returns and it can give a pay out when your player misses PB (Aubameyang got a win after hat trick and Kane has won after scoring a winning goal in a non PB cup game). Lastly, I just think FI should avoid any more fundamental changes for a while now.

I suspect I may not talk you round but my logic is actually far more about what I think is good for the platform as a whole, rather than any personal direct gain for me (which I appreciate was your logic too, we just disagree on what is best!)

@Dan-The-Man I listed a few at 46p earlier just to see if anyone is market buying, but no sign of them shifting so don't think anyone is being drawn in yet, but wouldn't surprise me if someone sees the rise and fancies a part of it.

@NewUser628679 on pitch would seem fairer, but it would less profitable for users, so I'm not keen! It would also have a negative impact on the top of the market, which in turn would filter down and again hurt us all. I see your point, but I don't see how it would benefit the market to reduce MB pay outs. We've been through enough change without them doing that.

@Dan-The-Man I know you said about the new valuation table a few days ago, but it pains me that even though my benchmark is set to Buy Now price, the Buy button now gives a different figure to the benchmark where there are less than 900 shares on offer, due to the reference price counting in one but not the other! Alex Remiro is showing as being worth 56p but the Buy button is showing 70p, I think its right based on the criteria for the calculations, but its not at all good for my OCD! Not sure how this is logical, but clearly it makes sense to someone somewhere.

Predictable things are great for us, as easier to make money on. MB may not be fair, it may not have logic, but as it stands, it is probably far easier to predict than PB. Therefore, scrapping MB or watering it down is likely to cost us all money. I would certainly not want to see it removed in favour of extra match day dividends.

I hold Mbappe and would be more inclined to buy Haaland than Kroos, as I believe that they will offer better long term returns. The negative being for Kroos that he is 31.

However, if you are simply looking at dividends between now and the Euros, I'd be amazed if Kroos isn't the highest returner of the three. He's a must in my Squad entry every week right now, as he's a PB machine perfectly suited to the current matrix. Longer term, his age combined with any change to the PB matrix means he comes with higher risk factors, hence I'm leaving him alone, but if you're chasing dividends right now, he'd be one of my first purchases.