Not sure if you know this but they changed the ref apparently. As I predicted to two friends on whatsapp though, we still got a shit one. Dunno about biased (Bournemouth could have had a penalty) but definitely shit.

The most ludicrous booking for a 'dive' I've seen in a very long time. Even if you don't think it was a foul there was definitely enough contact for him to hit the ground.

Anyone get a good look at whether that was offside?

Incredibly soft yellow given to Wharton there.

It's frustrating to wonder where the urgency and commitment we are showing so far has been for the last few months.

Yep! Agree, although in fairness he almost certainly didn't think he was going to be in charge for 5 years. Especially given out managerial turnover before him. He probably thought he was getting a quick 6-18 month gig at best.

Well that result makes this match almost a dead rubber for us. Which ironically might give us a better chance tomorrow than if QPR won...

And you've clearly made up your mind that none of them have, so it's pointless trying to convince you otherwise.

Ahh, like the one here at 30 seconds that got disallowed anyway:

Sorry, but no, you can only speak for yourself and for what other English referees told you. They'd have to be idiots to tell anyone they took a bribe. And that's only in regard to direct approaches from match-fixers, innate bias is a much harder thing to quantify, sometimes even for the person who is biased.

It really isn't. I don't know why people are talking like the integrity of referees is beyond question. There are corrupt people in all walks of life. ALL. Refereeing isn't so hallowed it's immune. I'm certain some of the referees in the era where Manure dominated took some bribes from them. The decisions they used to get were 'beyond credibility'. Have a look at this and tell me again how it's beyond credibility for match officials to be crooked: https://en.m.wikipedia.org/wiki/Calciopoli And those are just some that got caught. There's usually a lot more criminality going on than actually gets proven.

I've even seen a few goals that are beyond doubt get disallowed. Hell we had one the other week. But yeh it helps!

Please, tell us more about what we can discuss.

Half a squad and no money to replace them is not 'a fairly healthy position'.

It's not baseless. You just don't agree with it. His demeanour at the side of the pitch and in press conferences has been extremely poor on numerous occasions and has made him look like he doesn't give a shit. You think that doesn't prove he has poor application and commitment, but it's certainly fair to question it on that basis.

God knows why we have got people defending Keith Stroud's integrity.

Surely that's not allowed, you would think. Ok he supports a different team, but being from the town means he could be biased either way. He will know and have grown up with a lot of Bournemouth fans, which is likely to bias him for or against them depending what kind of person he is. Professional refs should be banned from reffing who they support, as well as within 20 or so km of their hometown, as well as maybe 10km or so of anywhere they've lived for more than say, 5 years.

Jack O'Connell wasn't released, he was sold. I seem to remember it was reported to be something in the 300-500k region, and included a small sell-on which would have been triggered when he was sold on to Sheffield United.

Cool ideology, see you in League One 2023/24. Rather recruit some proper players, myself. Who presumably would want to be here, because we had only just recruited them.

With Van Hecke leaving and Lenihan probably leaving, we are likely to need Carter to come good at this level next season, so that's good news. Hopefully next year's Scott Wharton as you say. I dunno about him playing RB for us, so far he has had mixed performances there at Rovers. But as a potential backup option there, it's good to know he is getting the experience in that role as well as his main one.

Fair enough when you break it down to numbers like that, but they're still not so young it should be a problem. For one thing youthfulness also brings better legs to the table - pace and energy, enthusiasm. But really the majority of the squad has enough experience that they should be able to cope, and being old doesn't make you better overall (see Johnson, who apart from his physical limits also does really stupid things at times at 33/34). Lots of experienced players lack the fitness, pace or motivation, and they cost wage amounts we can't really afford anyway. We did have an experienced head at CB in Lenihan, arguably another in Wharton who may be young but has 3 promotions. Even Ayala when he is fit. The CBs have been excellent for most of the season so that's a non-issue for me. The nous we have been missing isn't experience on the pitch, it's managerial acumen and guidance.

Sorry but that's bizarre logic unless you think we are going to have a nice kitty to spend in the summer to replace them. You know we won't though, as you say. Not good enough for promotion they may well prove themselves to be. But with the sheer loss of personnel and lack of funds to fix up the squad, the question isn't going to be promotion, it's going to be relegation. And those departing players definitely have proven themselves good enough to avoid that. The potential Brereton money we may receive will likely be used to service debt again, maybe with a mill or two left. Any sales on top of that from the contract rebels probably could have seen a portion to reinvest, even if only in better wages or cheap lower league punts. And if any weren't sold that would be one less signing needed. I dread to think what our summer replacement work is going to look like as it stands. Think we may end up mostly hoping we get a bumper crop from the u23s who until recently looked like getting relegated from PL2.

Even Ayala probably forgets sometimes.

No, I'm concerned about a young player with no first team experience in a league of any note, and who we haven't seen in our first team at all, replacing a first team regular we've seen for the last few years. I thought that was obvious enough. I'd also try Brown...or more specifically, I'd have already tried Brown so we could have seen well ahead of the summer whether he might have what it takes. Since we haven't and probably won't, we 100% need a new RB and then Brown can try to come up as the deputy, along with I guess the pretty poor and perennially injured JRC. Pike isn't pulling up trees at Conference North level, as I posted the other day. We need a new RB this summer. We are losing two, but I realise we won't have the resources to replace both, and one has only been here for a few months with limited contribution.

The youngest in there is Van Hecke, who plays like a man and appears to have no fear. One of the joint-third youngest was so needed by Chile, who are full of experience, that they were absolutely desperate to get him back ahead of time. At 23-24 onwards, which all but two of those are, players should be moving into their best years and should certainly know their way around the highs and lows of football and understand pressure. 24 year old Wharton has had what, 3 promotions? It's not that young. And older players aren't necessarily better to have at all. Johnson is useless now.