Just noticed that I posted the old rules, but the new ones, seem to have the same value in the table (page 13)

Does make you wonder if the GBE expert is wrong on this looking at that table. His X post this morning seemed to suggest that you get 10 points automatically for playing in a band two league, and then 5 points because it would be a senior debut, not just a debut for the club.

According to the rules Youth player = born on or after 01/01/2002 Mafoumbi was born in 2005, so he gets points for his debut, but unless Im reading things wrong, he gets 5 points for his debut (Championship is band 2), and any more points are based on how many games/minutes he plays

I don't think the article is wrong. I think the big difference is that Mafoumbi here would be a senior debut as he had only ever played youth football before signing. Crnac had already played 80 odd senior games in the Croatian and Polish leagues before signing for Norwich.

In which case, Wilsden is correct, and the article from the Norwich end that I referred to is wrong But it does make you wonder why haven't they done so, if they could, with 9 subs, it would have been very easy to get done in the early weeks of last season

You'd think the club should know this. I fear they haven't a clue, and have no idea on it.

Well we know they had more influence here than was even legally allowed within football and imo it never went away it just got buried from view. Going nowhere in the Championship is handy for that. If i had to stake my last quid on it just my personal opinion i'd say they stitched it up with an impossible to break legal bind right at the beginning OR possibly tipped up a stake towards the purchase, maybe both. All agreed offshore obviously so in effect someone could be a hidden significant stakeholder, that word we often hear here. Come to think of it remember Keans contract drawn up by himself and JA where had written in extra bonus payments for seemingly nothing, almost like a dividend payment or something ? If every manager/player or whatever has that kind of thing written into their contracts to various degrees by the clubs representative then that's how you get your money out without too much questing because it never shows up it's just on the overall wage bill. Not millions just ten grand here, five grand there. So many players seeing out their contracts now, someone is advising them and it is to some benefit to do so, it must be. Loyalty bonuses written in is my guess, by who though.

Saw this on X this morning. That would tell me that Mafoumbi only needs to make one appearance, as his debut gets him 5pts because he's under 21 and it would be his senior debut for any club, and the league is band 2 so automatically gets 10 points. 15 being what you need to convert. Unless I'm reading it wrong of course!

Aren't they all.... Until they get sniff of a better deal elsewhere. Like brittain he had a good purple patch last season but for most of his time here he's mostly been mediocre ability wise and has a habbit of disappearing in games when things aren't going well That said. He will be missed massively in other ways

Apparently Norwich signed someone in January whilst they had no ESC slots left, he just couldn't (and didn't) play or train for them until February (Wilsden has said something similar to this in the past) However, it seems that 12 months is not the threshold, as Norwich converted at least 1 player after 6 months via differing methods. The player Crnac who they refer to below was an U21 player (so the same as Mafoumbi in that respect), it sounds like he had to play in over 50% of minutes to convert, not just a single appearance. Although the below gives me added hope that Toth & possibly Henriksson can be converted come January (February in Henrikssons case, once 1 full transfer window has passed) The below is from this article As per the rules, a player can be converted to full GBE status after one transfer window (if signed in the summer, then post-January), providing they are either able to qualify naturally through increased international minutes or have played a certain percentage of minutes for the club over the period of time that they have played for the club - for U21 players, that is 50pc of minutes. Once this happens, those currently in the ESC slot move to gain a GBE, thus freeing up a slot for another player to take. Crnac has now played 1,742 minutes in the Championship this season, which is over the 1,170 threshold eligible to convert his ESC into a GBE. But that window is only twice every year - in September and in February. Once that process is complete, Jurasek can take over the vacant slot. Cordoba could also qualify for a GBE through Panama's improved Fifa ranking. It’s understood that Schwartau and Forson could also qualify for GBEs come the February window, but it is thought to still be tight.

Think making judgements on Trav and Tronstad on performance on Sat is a bit misleading. Not necessarily arguing with the fact that they are (good at this level) water carriers, I think non-footballing issues are affecting them. Trav is likely to go, clearly knows he is not wanted, so why go the extra 10%? Tronstad sees the mayhem around him, got a year left on a contract, and was clearly under par.

That’s mental. Surely if that was known by the management team he just gets thrown on in injury time in a game. I’m sure nobody our end even knew it was the case or considered we’d need the space now.

This is exactly why my suspicions are that agents could well be de facto owners.

Some people haven’t read them yet, but for those who have, I think they would have to fully agree with your comments.

Again the suspicion of agent(s) representing the club is something iv'e banged on about for years. If you have a third party who has some sort of agreement to be involved in ALL incomings and goings at this club since 2010 then even at a tiny % just imagine how much money that has earned in the last 15 years. It's something i believe has happened here but that's just my opinion but there are pointers and we know the same lot seem to recruit the managers/head coaches/CEO's etc. I also believe this has been tried to be navigated around at certain times by certain different regimes in the club and it's what leads to infighting, power struggles and very odd transfer breakdowns.

I noticed both of Trav and Tron turn an opposing marker and then not even have enough pace to get in front of the marker on Saturday. It happened on more than one occasion. It was like they were running in quicksand. The marker got back in front and nicked the ball on each occasion. Much too pedestrian. Given what we’ve got up front, or more to the point what we haven’t got, we can’t afford two water carriers in central midfield. Something needs to change. We desperately need a player in there that can either carry the ball or make more penetrating passes.

Let’s hope his performance and the quotes he made, during the last FF meeting, now on record, mean he is finally going to be ousted. He is a poisonous and dangerous man.

You are absolutely correct by the way. 15 mins of champ football this season would convert too. Should be a quick thing I'm sure.

Assuming I’m right about this, we could still give him those 30 seconds now. Whether the conversion paperwork would then happen quick enough for us to re-use his ESC place this window is anyone’s guess.

Amazing that all we had to do was give Mafoumbi 30 seconds of league action last season and we could have converted him to a GBE slot this summer.

Just 5 mins of listening to that man leaves you in no doubt where the problems. lack of vision, plans and ambition have really been this last decade. He knows nothing except cost cutting, penny pinching and arse covering.

Stevie Wonder - Signed,Sealed,Delivered(I’m Yours)

One of few that had his head screwed on the right way good for him resigning and as said not just going through the motions and taking a wage. THATS how you love a club

I can categorically say he’s 100% lying on this occasion, he’s wholeheartedly talking out of Hoop

Travis is one of those vocal, niggly, dark arts characters that every club needs. Ability wise he' s a solid top half championship player but it's the other qualities he has that make him an integral squad member. Can you replace his stats in the pitch? More than likely. That's not the whole picture though. Value wise, given his contract, I'd say £2 - 2.5 mil is a fair deal.