Thought we were totally outclassed in the first half, but things changed once they got their 2nd goal. We had a great spell of about 20 mins after that.

Why? Harrison Reid. He completely changed the game for me ( and the 4 villa fans I was watching the game with) 

Was he injured? Or is he not starting for some other reason? We were a completely different side after he came on....

https://twitter.com/dieciochoaniss/status/1091290166050910209?s=12

This has got nothing to do with the club. It's a Premier League directive to safeguard the billions in revenue that the broadcasters pay for highlights packages.

You may view it as 1 guy, but if people do this from every club, in increasing numbers with increased popularity, it puts the revenue at risk - which puts the clubs at risk.

It's clearly harder for the PL to stop the live streams from sophisticated operations that mask their IPs and are ultimately based in countries with zero appetite to shut them down, but it's a constant battle for the PL to try and stay on top of this.  The individual fans at clubs with large viewerships can easily be stopped, so they will have part of their team dedicated to that.

Agree with the point about contacting him between games though. They could have handled it better...

I watched the game in the West Brom end with a couple of West Brom mates. 

Here’s their perspective: 

They expected Mowbray to be tactically better than their manager and it turned out that way too. He knows their team very well, so the Dack up front was for a reason and it very nearly paid off with that blatant penalty we should have had. We made a good side in WBA look pretty average today. 

When Raya was down, Mowbray was rallying all of our players barking instructions, whilst their manager said nothing. 

My 2 pennies worth:

The togetherness and positive culture of our team is something to be really proud about. They never stop working for each other. 

Reed was different class today. Somebody else mentioned a david batty comparison which was spot on today. 

Despite having 2 players on him for much of the game, Dack looks threatening and pulls opposition players out of position for fun. 

Would like to see the Raya foul again- I was right in front of it and my first reaction was that he’d left his boot trailing on purpose. My 2 baggies mates maintain he’s not that type of player..

Looks like they are doing pretty well in the core business. Enormous gains over the last 12 months....

1 hour ago, islander200 said:

This deal must have been going on well before deadline day because I can't believe Mowbray would have left it go until the last day of the window and then keeping on upping bids reportedly now to the tune of 8 million l.

I know Mowbray called bullshit it on it but honestly what Nixon said about Mowbray not receiving extra backing till later in the window does seem plausible. If we had/Have the sums being talked about since venky trip then I don't see why we couldn't have got out buisness done earlier.We will be four games in minimum before any new signing is involved 

That's not the way the window works in the vast majority of times. The selling club will hold out for as long as possible, to drum up as much interest and try to create a bidding war. Incredibly hard to get deals done early in the window.

When looking at potential properties to sponsor, brands have to consider a huge number of variables. Does the club mirror the brands own values, does it have an active user base that is predisposed  to purchasing the product, is the club active in its local community with strong ties etc etc . With the way the club has been run since the Venkys purchased the club, do you honestly expect us to be attracting multi-national top tier brands ?

Before we can hope to attract the calibre of company you'd like to see, we have to first fix the running of the club. 

I'd start by doing more deals like the ainsworths one and use those companies to help foster a closer relationship between club and local community.  There may be 1 or 2 companies who have a local presence but are global in nature and have a playbook for investing in the local communities of which they are a part of - e.g. McDonald's. Not sure if they still do anything with the club, but McD's used to provide kits for the local football in the community schemes, sponsored prizes for homework clubs, provided sports kit for local schools etc

great signing.

https://www.manchestereveningnews.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/man-city-fixtures-youth-davenport-13897893

I used to listen to him on talk sport and thought he was the best of the 'football' pundits. 

But his personal life seems to be a slow motion car crash. Very sad that he's clearly been battling with mental health issues for many years.

enjoyed that Kamy thanks.

and nice to see a story like that for a change phillip. 

RIP. always an Insightful and well liked member of this community

He'd be bloody cheap and we cannot afford to be be choosy and he is just the type that Hughes could turn into a top player. I rem the Clough / Taylor partnership doing much the same with many misfits and bad boys at Forest (Stan Bowles being the notable exception) and he won them the European Cup! Bellamy I must say that I wouldn't have minded us signing him when he was playing well. Mokoena / Reid have not replaced the Flitcroft role nor anywhere near and we need to. BUT for one reason or another his form has suffered since his 'troubles'.

...... btw anybody see the film Clockwork Orange?

can't afford to be choosy? Are you kidding?

The 'man' is a complete sorry excuse for a human being. He's a coward, who has bought misery on many people he's decided to attack.

All this talk of 'hughes will sort him out' is absolute nonsense. He's a member of this country's underclass who has zero respect for anyone else or anything.

I would not want him anywhere near our football club.

Hughes- Newcastle or blackburn, newcastle the bigger clun

Neill- Wet spam or LIVERPOOL, a major european club, i think if he had any sense hed of gone there but money is the ONLY reason he went to west ham!!!

he probably also thought he wasn't good enough to command a regular first team place at liverpool

I decided to take a look back Simon at some of Brownie's previous posts at the time. (Not having a pop at Brownie, I'm having a pop at Lucas for being "economical with the truth" in my view.)

When he signed for West Ham on Monday, January 22nd, 2007, Lucas Neill said: "I know it's the right move to make." Quite a change in attitude to his stance less than a fortnight earlier isn't it when he apparently said "No way mate" to the prospect of joining West Ham.

So what exactly changed for Lucas during the ten days before he appeared at an Upton Park press conference, sitting smugly alongside Alan Curbishley with a West Ham shirt, like the cat that got the cream?

Dare I suggest that during those ten days before joining the Hammers, Lucas found out about the very lucrative terms that West Ham were offering and he was suitably impressed enough to go from thinking: "No way mate" to "Yes please mate, I'll have some of that dosh."

Is West Ham really the big club that "suits his high ambitions" ? The club has not won a top flight league title in it's history.

The Hammers might get bigger crowds than us, but they haven't won anything since the FA Cup in 1980. In their history they have won three FA Cups and a European Cup Winners Cup, which is not as impressive as the history of Blackburn Rovers - 3 top flight league titles, 6 FA Cups and a League Cup.

Lucas justified his move to West Ham by saying: "I'm just delighted to be at a very big club with a big tradition. The likes of Geoff Hurst, Bobby Moore, Alan Devonshire and Trevor Brooking - they're great players and characters."

Ah, so it's all down to the likes of Trevor Brooking and Alan Devonshire then ? Even though Lucas was apparently a Liverpool fan as a kid with posters of Liverpool players like Dalglish and Souness on his wall, it seems that he was actually swayed by the prospect of playing for the same club as Alan Devonshire.

When Lucas Neill signed for the Hammers last January, if he had said: "I'm moving to West Ham because of the very lucrative terms on offer," people would have said: "Greedy bugger but at least he's being honest."

But by continually denying that money was a factor in his move to West Ham, I'm inclined to think: "Greedy bugger and he's dishonest."

there in lies your problem. if you took off your blue and white tinted glasses - you'd see lucas moved to a club which has genuine chances of breaking into the top 4. they are owned by a billionaire, who likes to splash the cash on players... sure - money isn't enough to guarantee things, but over the next 4 years - they will probably end up higher than us unfortunately.

Money talks. hughes is doing an amazing job with very little resources and i pray it can last a little longer!

"he is now not content with his breathtaking £55,000-a-week salary. Although he is approaching 30 years old and has been far from being the club's outstanding performer this season, Neill believes he is owed at least parity with the former Arsenal midfielder Freddie Ljungberg's £70,000 a week and has asked for a contract extension. His request was understandably dismissed."

I always had a strong dislike for him when he was with us, there was something about his general demeanour that I couldn't stand...not to mention that he seemed to like bad-mouthing us every time he went on international duty. What an arrogant arsehole he must be to believe he deserves a £15,000 pay rise on top of what is already a ludicrous wage for an average footballer, especially given that Ashton is still on £20,000 a week.

It's one of life's injustices that he was born with footballing talent, because he plainly doesn't deserve it. You get the feeling he wouldn't give a toss how many medals he gets in his career, he'd be far happier with an extra figure on his pay cheque. I can't think of many players I'd say this about (only Barton springs to mind), but I'd be quite happy if he was on the end of a rather nasty challenge.

yawn.

it's his job. what's the worst that can happen when you ask for a rise - you get told 'no' !

you can't escape the fact that Lucas Neil put in 100% effort for every game he played for the club. So what if he didn't have brazilian skills. We paid next to nothing for him and got many great seasons from him.

Get over it! Life's too short to get so twisted about it!

I was losing faith before, mainly based on league performances, the cup game yesterday added to it, just like the cup run last season somewhat saved it.

If you think the football we have played over the past 10-12 games is good enough then that's fine. If you don't see any very serious problems in the current side then that is also fine. When I look at our team right now I see problems that have nothing to do with how much money we have to spend or even the quality of the players we have, but something that is going on in that team and the way it is being run. I do still believe that Hughes can solve that, but as I watch him make some very strange changes and decisions I am starting to think that maybe he can't.

eddie - i agree there are problems right now, but every team goes through blips during the season. fact is - we're still in with a close shout of the euro places and we're not playing well. When things start to click again, we'll start shooting up the table

keep the faith people!

I don't want to see Hughes go but I do feel he has lost his way in recent weeks.

I can't agree with the decision to sell Savage when the alternatives are a 37 year old and a guy who clearly isn't good enough.

I can't agree with the decision to sell Roberts when it seems plain that McCarthy's heart just isn't in it.

I can't agree with the retention of various fringe players who plainly aren't good enough and will never add anything to the first team.

Testing times ahead I fear.

The Board and Trustees may well soon get the results their continued lack of backing for the manager over the last few seasons deserves.

savage wants to go. if his cash allows hughes to buy sidwell - will you 'agree' with his decision?

roberts is not good enough for a club challenging europe as first choice striker. he's clearly not happy at being 3rd option & we're not competting in enough games to keep 4 strikers happy. but i guess you would rather see roberts running around like an idiot but never scoring.

Benni plays a totally different game, but he gets goals - FACT.

retention of fringe players? it's called a football squad and with our lack of money, hughes does not have a choice.

hughes seems very wary off blooding any youngsters,how pedersen plays week in week out is beyond me,how derbyshire never gets a game is beyond me,most youngsters realise they have too leave ewood to get a game,sad but true

have any of our youngsters left ewood and gone onto better things, thus proving Hughes wrong?

i agree, what the hell has Roberts done to deserve the treatment he is receiving, i don't blame the guy for putting in a transfer request

you don't blame the guy??

He's been out injured for months, we pay his wages, nurse him back to full fitness, then sparky decides that he has to wait a little longer to play him than he would have liked. So he spits his dummy out like a big girls blowse and hands ina transfer request.

As far as I'm concerned - players like that are the absolute worst, as they have no interest whatsoever in the TEAM. We've seen other players who have knuckled down and got on with their job and bided their time - but not for roberts.

I find it staggering that you and many others on here are defending Roberts and slating Benni.

If Benni's game was like roberts in terms of running + but he also possesed benni's skills - he wouldn't be playing for us - he'd be starring for man u, chelsea or liverpool.

Simple fact is - he's never been that type of player, but he is the playerwho can and does score. Give me this kind of striker anyday of the week.

A team is all about having players that compliment each other. If we have a side of grafters - we'll only ever be good enough for mid table medicrity.

All this nonsense about McCarthy not trying - is just nonsense. Sometimes it just go for you as a striker. The things you try don't come off. I imaghine you'll all be singing his name the next time he scores though!

Obviously they aren't.

has anyone here seen tracey play?

I wonder if he's just not developed enough yet for the demands of the premier league?

hughes obviosuly sees him day in day out on the training field, so I wonder if he's just not strong enough yet!

It's mainly made up of two types. People who are hugely jealous because Dunny is a local boy made good, which shows up the worthlessness of their own lives (or their girlfriends have left them to try to get off with Dunny), or the "he's left me and I'll never get over it" (about Souness) types. The latter hate Dunn because he had the temerity to argue with their beloved.

They're sad, I agree.

don't think that's the reason at all jan. the dunn detractors see a player who had it all in terms of future, raw ability and skill< yet didnt seem to want to take advantage of the skills he'd been blessed with.

remember when souness said he'd rather have dunnie in his team than joe cole? both skillfull players available to do something different, but the actual main difference is ATTITUDE. cole had the right attitude, listened to his managers and knuckled down to learn his trade better. The end result - englands best player at the world cup and before injury, a major part of chelsea's success.

the reason why people are frustrated with dunn is more down to knowing that he has the potential, but will probably never realise it.

of course, the game is littered with people like that, but it's especially a shame when you have a blackburn lad that seemingly prefers to go out on the town than put his football first in this shortish career.

Of course - i'm referring to the dunn under souness. David, hopefully, will have grown up a lot at bigclub & in mark hughes, now has a manager that every single one of the players respect. let's hope he knuckles down and becomes a huge success!

?

I for one, am very excited to see him back. I think he must have learned from his mistakes in the past & he probably wants to prove a few people wrong.

come on dunnie lad - do the business today!

I'm firmly with the camp that says he gave us 110% service foir 4 years, so I don't have a problem with him going.

On a related note, the hammers have just bid 18 million for darren bent!!!

time will tell, but lucas might well have good reason to be looking forward to the summer spending spree at west ham!

Lauren has just signed a 2 half year deal at pompey

now that is an awesome signing.

my memory may be failing me here, but I'm sure i've read comments from lucas that says he's been here for 4 years and that it's a good time to try something new.?

so its got nothing to do with the smokescreen of 'the board not being fair' That's absoluite rubbish.

he had a good world cup & wanted to try and better himself. he knew he could run down his contract and guarantee himself a fat signing on fee with massive wages.

I don't believe for a second that rovers haven't tried to keep him. It's totally irrelevant how many 'contracts' have been offered to him. The club knows he doesn't want to stay and they have a wage structure in place.

pathetic thread full of cheap shots.

nobody on here knows his career history or his background in marketing so why all the negativity? At least do some homework and find out his previous jobs and track record before you have a needless moan.

the range and quality of marketing programmes that are being spearheaded by the club at the moment are fantastic. There isn't another club in the league that is doing as much to try and win back the crowds.