That seems a remarkable assessment at this stage. Brittain looks good enough, Hyam hasn't done anything wrong and comes well-rated. Szmodics is a question mark for sure and a slightly odd signing. The others we don't own, but can buy 2 of the 3 later. Morton has looked average but is young. Mola we haven't seen yet and Hirst we've seen just over a half. So far I don't think it's the quality that has been poor but the quantity. But time will tell with all of them.

I know it is. Obviously it's the team you would pick, because your post was...the team you would pick. I am simply disagreeing with your choices.

No way Szmodics should walk straight back in ahead of Dack. Morton hasn't earned his spot more than Wharton either.

Definitely mismanaged him, I was baffled we didn't see a lot more of him.

Has there been any confirmation of whether the midweek games will go ahead? Or what will happen when next weekend's games clash with the funeral?

I don't think it's sad, nor fair to call it sad. It's not about it being 'more important', it won't stop her having passed. My lunch tomorrow isn't more important, but I'm still going to eat it. The match is unrelated and two full days after (I'd have understood if tonight's games were cancelled, although they were a bit too close to kickoff by the time the news was out really). If it means a lot to you, that's fine, but you need to understand it means close to nothing to some people. That isn't sad, it's different priorities and perspectives. To some people, 'what happened today' is that a seemingly nice old lady passed away. That happens every single day, and more than one old lady too. Some people (quite a lot actually) don't think that demise should count more than all the others (combined) and that's their prerogative. Some people, also a lot, are personally hurt by the news and might not want to do certain things as they feel sad...and that's their prerogative. I don't see why the second lot should impose their will on the first, and add to fixture congestion. (and FWIW I'm somewhere in the middle on the issue, but I don't think this weekend's fixtures should be off, even though it would benefit me personally as I have a lot to do...I think the matches on the actual funeral day should probably be moved a day though, to allow people to watch the coverage)

You just lack wisdom.

I'm not sad if JRC departs in the summer or sooner, in fact I'd welcome it. I do think he would have become a better player than he has if it weren't for the injuries (including those before he broke into the team) and spending so much time wedged out of position at RB. But at this point it's academic because it looks very clear he'll never be up to this level now.

The value of the club isn't really affected. Unless Venkys refuse to cancel the debt when they sell, it will just be a case of a buyer paying a total of what they think the club is worth, regardless of individual share price.

Diluting what, the share price? Can't see how it matters. They own 99.9% of the shares, we aren't publicly listed and they've already been diluted a ton. And it is necessary in the sense that we still need to strengthen the side.

I don't find that acceptable. If they never fail to sign a cheque and have the ambition for us that is claimed, they should put the maximum allowed amount in. 5 million less is 5 million we can't spend strengthening the squad.

Venkys increase share allotment by 2 million. This seems like a lot less than usual, the last one in March was for 7 million. Is this just because of the time of year for accounting purposes, a change in the league's financial rules, or are they just funding us less than usual? https://www.lancashiretelegraph.co.uk/sport/20994924.venkys-london-limited-share-allotment-rises-2m/

Different for everybody, isn't it? And in the current economic climate with costs soaring, with most of our fanbase living in a working class town, I really don't think anybody should be belittling anybody else for making a choice to go or not (I'm not saying that's what you're doing).

Probably caught Tony off guard that he was playing at LWB. He will have set up his game plan to deal with Giles coming in off the right and shooting ineffectually.

We don't have a single player who is consistent EVERY week. In fact, there isn't such a player in world football. I don't expect there ever has been. Even Ronaldo and Messi have the odd off game.

Absolute bollocks, and you were proven wrong within hours.

So you didn't watch the Mowbray days then.

That makes sense now. I didn't remotely think it had crossed the line but I was very far away. I was fuming at the time and shouted some serious expletives...but if what you say is true then fair enough

Sorry I'm as confused by this response as I was by the whistle.

Can't see any comments about it, so gonna ask. Did nobody else hear a whistle before their third goal was struck? Everyone I was with, and people around me in the BBE did. Doesn't seem to be any mention of it but the whistle stops the game. Bristol fans didn't fully celebrate either at first so I assumed they heard it. Was it from the stands or something?

I certainly wasn't calling Pears a good keeper after his clean sheets. He was rarely troubled because the defence were on point, and the only exceptional save he made in that period was only necessary because of his poor positioning. He did alright for a few games, no more, no less. He couldn't have done much better, but there wasn't much to do. Then he reverted to type and put in the worst keeping performance I've seen since Fettis. Contrary to some who like to claim he is only a professional because of his dad, I do think there is a decent keeper in there if he can work out the mental side of the game. But for now he is a poor keeper at this level and the thought of relying on him for say, 8 games, fills me with dread.

Who is Colak? This is the first I'm hearing about him and I've been reading this thread all summer.

The player and their agent will know he is out of form. In a way it's a good time to tie them down, easier to complete negotiations. The trick is being right in your assumption they'll come good again though...

Definitely good to see a 5 yr contract for an asset (as long as Buckley isn't going backwards, but I suspect it's just a blip). Sets the tone. I don't remember the last time we gave a 5 yr deal (apart from BBD's 4 yr with a 1 yr option). Would love to see us tie up lots of our young talent to long term deals. I always feel it makes sense if we rate them as they tend to be cheaper deals while they're at that stage, as well as the security factor. Looks like Gregg agrees. Hopefully we won't see a repeat in future under this regime of the contract rebels scenario we had this summer.

Oh, I didn't honestly see that as any sort of priority. We already had 3 years left to run with him, I'd have expected to sort it at the end of this season. Nonetheless, it's interesting and positive to see the club looking to the longer term and not wanting to repeat the mistakes we have seen with contracts recently, leaking millions away. Just hope there isn't too much of a pay rise involved in this case, as tbh his place in the first team looks less than guaranteed right now. Early in the season though.