I watched the second half through earlier. On the ground you tend not to notice Hyam much, but he was first to head away a lot of balls played into the box in that half. Yes they were at him and were poor deliveries, but being in right position when they come in is half the battle.

When we kept winning 1-0 at Newcastle with handball goals in the noughties. Half of the penalties Simon Garner won. Martin Olson hating Burnley. And, possibly, Shearer’s VE Day goal.

No it was definitely at the ref, and then he turned around and did it again at either the linesman, bench or fourth official.

I’d make it £15 a ticket and split the Darwen End.

Agreed. On all previous visits they’ve been loud and clearly well up for it, but the atmosphere in the home ends was abysmal yesterday. Even after the goal it just muted down quickly.

More than good. Outstanding. MOTM. It looked another Clarkson loan at first on paper, but if that’s his level of performance then he could be a great player both for us and in the future.

When Big Mak made the booking gesture I winced and thought "youll be lucky to get away with that". He may have done, but then he stupidly turns around and does it to the linesman as well (or the 4th official). I think if he hadnt done it twice, including to officials off the pitch, he might have got away with it. Ultimately it was so blatantly obvious and clear I think it gave the ref no option. He was still right though and the guy should clearly had been booked (which he wasnt)

A couple of points. Good call to choose to kick to our own fans first half. I felt far more comfortable us defending the goal directly infront of us with the 10 men than I would have done had they been attacking the Jimmy Mcilroy stand. Secondly,and we say it every time, how shit is that away end. Forgetting the cramped concourse and toilets, you can't even see the goalline with the way the goalline is so close to the stand. Once people are stood up, the view of the goal is almost blocked if you are out wide. I saw Weimanns shot go over Trafford and had no visibility of it going in. Just the crowd going mad.

I remember under Kompany they were loud. Today, even when a goal up, you hardly heard a peep.

It's part of the coach escort 😄 (Seriously)

That video is to announce Fleck.

Compared to where I thought we would be. I expected a Telalovic signing, an aging keeper and a few Morton / Chrisene style loans. The budget is a joke, but if Cantwell does come in then we spend so much time criticising people at Ewood I think it's only fair to say the recruitment team "on paper" look to have done a good job with a hugely limited budget.

No-one is saying gamble. Just for Venky's to put the money in that they used to provide to run the club, and then use the money brought in from transfers to actually buy players in for fees. But they don't. Because they never refuse to sign a cheque, unless it has a matched personal bond associated with it. Wankers Fair play to this recruitment team. Obviously the proof will be in the pudding later in the season, but if Cantwell comes off this is far better than was expected.

It's not the club agreeing terms with the player that worries me. It's Venky's then agreeing to sanction it. Having been unsure on Cantwell, I've now bought into the idea.

Fair play to Cantwell. He's only been in Scotland a season or so and has got under this guys skin so much that he needs to sign up on here and create 2 threads on him.

I dont recall but you are probably right. The only thing I remember is our one foray and shot in the second half was the result of our one and only long ball out of defence. Scott Wharton on the bench. Adam Wharton not even in the squad.

I know. Even Gary Glitter clears all evidence off his PC of ever visiting that site.

No cos he wore 14 all his Norwich career. However I heard this afternoon he is a bit of a cleanliness freak and insists on only wearing a new shirt every match. He’s done it all his career. Apparently we haven’t enough stock of adult shirts for that to happen until October, so the deal is on hold unless we can get a few more sent over.

Bit of Dingle hyperbole from UTC here;-

Seating is available under £100 at other venues. If it was Etihad and seats under a ton I’d have been interested but not standing at Heaton Park at that price.

That last time we played at turf Moor, starting Mola is well documented. But we also had a midfield of Travis, Morton and Garrett. Add in a centre back pairing of Hyam and Ayala and then remember we tried to play tika-taka out of defence all game. Then look at their starting line up. Is it any wonder we didn’t get in their half? When we went a goal down we threw Vale on as first sub.

Current Premier League Number 6's 10 Centre Backs 7 Midfielders 1 Right Back. 2 Not Used. Read it and weep all you modern-day Football Manager aficionados. To be fair since Ryan Nelson we do seem to have switched to having midfielders at 6, although it's not what we used to do and I'm sure it's not how most clubs do it. This is interesting from Transfermarkt.

Come off It people. A 6 is a centre half. Always has been. Always will be. Pep. Total football. Number 6 - Ake.

They've still got the old Italy flag from the Amoruso days. They are just turning it on its side to save money.

He hasn't featured in any Rangers game (friendly or otherwise) since May. Not sure if he's had any reserve games. So at the best he'd be on the bench I suspect.