Atko's Engine

This made me laugh....

So him & Maguire can stick pins in a Waggott voodoo doll together. Brierley will be joining them soon before 11pm tomorrow.

Like I said earlier, get the signing completed & THEN do the media!!

But Szmods wore No.8?!?!

Sod the media stuff, get the deals confirmed then do the media!! I'm clearly too old for modern football ways...

Is that a tease or wishful thinking??

Re Cantwell's style of play, it's similar to Adam Wharton from what I recall. If he wants to, he can pick the ball up on the half turn, run with the ball, shield it, draw fouls, pick out killer passes. He also has a decent dead ball delivery. I referred to him as Todd Cant(playvery)well the other day, which was harsh. Clearly he's had problems but perhaps he can benefit from the "big fish in small pond" concept to keep him grounded, and from the oft-quoted team spirit there is at Ewood & Brockall for which JE also has a reputation of fostering.

A couple of dabs of tippex will do the job, if the budget will stretch that far.

That may be true, but the lad's barely had chance to settle in, he's only v young. Not aiming this at you but some folk seem to think that if a player hasn't "stood out" within 3-4 games of arriving then they're a dud. I think it's a modern trend in life generally, emanating from the accessibility & immediacy of most forms of media nowadays. But folk have lost the ability to be patient & instead react to things in a knee jerk fashion. See Szmodics, Pedersen, Tronstad even for good examples of slow burners...

Disappointing performance & result of course, but yet again there's some major overreaction by many on here imo. Sell JRC? Sell Buckley? Sell Hyam?? Madness, we're already threadbare as it is!! And blaming Pears for tonight (and indeed for Oxford's goal) is just mental. Clearly the players were below par tonight; that happens sometimes, especially with a much bigger game on the horizon. Clearly also Eustace will regret making the changes he did, but remember that up to now this season his changes have been excellent; he's not gonna get it right all the time, especially when the squad is light. Everyone needs to calm down & not get carried away with wins or distraught re defeats. ALL the issues we have lie above the players & above Eustace.

Owen Beck could be promising based off a quick google. Not sure I'm that enamoured about Todd Cant(playvery)well though. Hope I'm wrong if he pitches up.

I'm no petrolhead, but Mazdas are far superior to Toyotas imo. There's much more pizzazz about Mazdas; Toyotas are boring. I loved my 323, and the MX5 & RX8 are generational classics. So in that context, I'd rather stick with Pears. Anyway, tranfers...

I'm a lawyer here in England, trust me it is not beneficial to us for claims to drag on in my line if work, as not only are we only paid if the litigation succeeds, but also we are by definition only paid at its conclusion, which can be many years from initial instruction. Very rarely will courts makes interim orders for costs. Can't speak for India, mind...

Didn't see the game, have only seen highlights, but reading this thread during the match & immediately after reads like the last rights!! Norwich finished in playoffs last season, we've taken a point off them at home. By all objective accounts I've read, a draw was a fair result on the balance of play. Some of the criticism Brittain has had is ridiculous. He's not perfect & of course got caught out yesterday, but he's in the championship. His overall contributions are more positive than negative & he really offers some dynamism imo. Really happy with the new boys, look like proper players that give options. As for Yuki: Oh Yuki you're so fine, you're so fine you blow my mind hey Yuki, hey Yuki (to the tune of Hey Mickey - ribbed off Facebook, tbf) Oh and by the way, the whipping boys of this season (according to many on here after last Friday) beat Middlesbrough yesterday...

What?! Disagree!! Their biggest mistake was jettisoning Big Sam after 5 minutes in charge & replacing him with K**n, keeping him as long as they did, then following that with Berg then Appleton in the space of 3 months!! Anyway, I digress....

Or a sensational return for MGP!!

Fallen for a Galway Girl, perhaps??

Talking of which...

See above re Ohashi, I thought he looked decent. Bucko & Markanday didn't get on, JE only made the 2 subs at HT (Ohashi & Siggy for Gueye & Hedges).

It wasn't vintage but I saw enough to consider that Gueye & Ohashi will not look out of place. Gueye is a unit, and plays like it. Held the ball up well, brought others into play, could turn his man & shows good drive to get into the box. Maybe should've done better with a couple of shots, but on another day would likely have scored 2 or 3. Ohashi a completely different type of player, but no less effective. Has a good physique, looks reasonably strong, loves to press, looks alert & lively to turning his man. Had less clear cut chances than Gueye, the shots he did have were blocked at source. Nothing much else to report really. Defence was solid, & Brittain got forward well to support JRC. Pears only had one save to make (and did so well). JRC looked lively, Hedges too. Travis was his usual busy, pesky self w/o doing anything spectacular, nice to see him back though. Dolan missed a sitter and failed to get a shot away a couple of times, but put the penalty away nicely. Tronstad pulled up right at the end, wincing, but hopefully not serious. All in all, a comfortable win. 3-0 wouldn't have flattered us. Interesting that they had Dwight Gayle as one of their 4 trialists, didn't get much of a look-in though.

From my Bristol City supporting mate re Weimann: "He runs all day. Great player, with a lot of goals in hin and still solid technically. He got kicked out as he was on too much money. So let his contract run down and I get sense he wanted to move North. He still gets in the Austrian squad. He is a great person too. I was gutted he went. Arguably one of the best players ever at the gate. Pure gentleman who has some bite on the pitch." Surprised money was an issue given our stinginess in that dept nowadays... but ko suggestion that his legs had gone, which is positive.

What a difference 2 days makes! If Eustace & Park et al only have peanuts to spend, I'm not sure they could be doing more than what they've done this week by bringing in a mix of youth, experience, leadership & a generous helping of exotic surprise packages. Gueye has the potential to be an upgrade on Gallagher in the scoring & hold-up stakes (not hard i know); if he has Gally's workrate & isn't made of glass, it's a yes from me. Ohashi looks like he has speed & workrate. If he can cope with the physicality of English football (which many of his compatriots have elsewhere), then he could be a solid buy at a v low risk price wise. McFadz turned out to be exactly what we needed last season, albeit most of us were underwhelmed initially to say the least. He brought experience & leadership when our young, thin squad looked totally rudderless & was solid in our best shutouts in the last few games. Happy to have him back & don't expect him to play more than 30 games. Batth is solid too, having played at the top end of this division most of his career. There is a pace risk if we ever have him, McFadz & Hyam in a 3 (hopefully not, if Carter stays), but I imagine we will play in that formation in the horribly-named low block so there won't be much space for pacey opponents to exploit. Weimann could be massive. Again, brings huge experience & leadership at this level, scores goals from all positions, can take a decent set piece i think too. Mafoumbi could do a Dolan, and prove himself worthy of being part of the first team squad early doors. Definitely one for the future, and appears to have strong potential if his scoring stats are anything to go by. So far so good imo; we need more of course, keeper, LB / LWB, RW & CM. But I'm quite pleased with how things have suddenly progressed. As for Gally leaving, it makes sense for all concerned. I think I was one of his bigger fans on here, but he never quite hit the heights he ought to have & goes with my good wishes.

To be fair Den, 30 years ago Sherwood/Atkins or Sherwood/Batty were hardly the sort you'd call creative, but they did the ugly stuff well, knew how to distribute the ball simply, got it out to the wingers, who took their men on & crossed well for strikers to score. If Eustace wants to revert to that style of play, can get the personnel, and can get results from it, that's fine by me. Big ifs, I appreciate that, but a laudable aim imo.

Done