Well, got spanked 7-2.

Stritch puts us back in it, 1-2 now. We have a stunningly low 18% possession.

I struggle to see it being true, right after being given the captaincy and giving an interview in which he was gushing about being back and how much he loves the club. Of course, you can rule nothing out at this mad club.

A real shame to be pretty much battering all comers of all levels in preseason, then the first league game is going like this. Stats look similarly one sided, but hopefully second half we get back into it. Probably missing Tyjon.

Well we're 2-0 down so it's not going well.

Sorry, correction. Somehow went up in 2nd. Can't say I watched them a lot, but they weren't that impressive against us. And we were far from impressive. Credit to them for their consistency, pluck, etc, and I'm sure they earned a high placing. But if I recall (maybe I misremember), they were remarkably fortunate with injuries for a large stretch of the season. I think they'll be coming straight back down.

Not if he's spent all his development cutting inside and doesn't know how to cross. Giggs and Duff could do both, tbf.

We did, but it could have been worse. They could have done a Finneran. Clubs have far too little power with players at that age.

Probably the best way to do it tbf, when you're an unfancied team who somehow went up through the playoffs and know you're likely to come straight back down. Better chance of yo-yoing back up and keeping that Prem money a while longer whilst you build. And there's always the chance some of these Championship stars shine in the Prem too, and either make you a packet or keep you up.

I think a lack of fight is Jack Vale's exact problem, actually. Granted, perhaps a drab loan in the ass-end of English football may have come as a necessary reality check for him and invoked some fight in him. Like you say, apparently did ok in the SPL (but not as good as the player we just sold for about 200k), and that was a very fine finish against Stockport. I find myself wondering (perhaps against my better judgement) whether it might be worth giving him some cameos and see if he's found the player that once seemed to be lurking inside him. Alternatively, I agree, I'd sell him if we're not planning to use him for depth. I don't think the same loan will build his value or our confidence in him breaking into the team.

You are wrong, yeh. He scored on the opening day of last season. He also scored 2 in the cup.

Their running of the club should be...

A distinction has previously been drawn on here between a bond and a guarantee. I believe it was stated that a guarantee would just mean Venkys promise to pay (to the Indian tax authorities?) the full amount they've sent if things go tits up (to use the proper legal parlance). Whereas a bond would mean they physically need to give an equal amount over to be held (by the Indian tax authorities?) in case of things going tits up. I know it's an Indian case, but are you or your colleagues clear on which one it appears to be saying? If it's the former, it exposes it as a really shitty excuse to not send funds, and we haven't heard of them sending any funds since I think it was November.

If Venkys need to put up a bond equal to what they send in order to send anything, and if they have any confidence in eventually winning their case, you would think they'd still have sent us half of what they usually do, bringing the full commitment to the usual amount and still helping the club whilst the matter gets settled. That they seemingly haven't tells me they either have little confidence they'll win, or are happy for the convenient excuse to not send us money. You could argue that even if they're confident there's still a risk of their money vanishing into the ether, but there is every time they send money to a football club, by the very nature of the business. They've already sent 200 million they're unlikely to ever see again.

https://www.skysports.com/football/news/11095/13152915/transfer-news-summer-transfer-window-2024-championship-ins-and-outs I count 17 players loaned from Premiership clubs so far. Including Jesurun Rak-Sakyi who was in Palace's Prem squad last season and is likely to be quality at this level.

Thanks, yeh that's the plan. Hoping my income situation will have improved by then too. Suspect what I'm about to buy is cheaper than it should be too, so I may be able to get most of my money back on it at that time. Depending on if it keeps well, and what happens to the ICE second hand market. It's not like I don't use my wing mirrors already, I guess it's just a safety blanket thing. And knowing the sensors are there enables me to be a bit more laissez faire, and put my focus elsewhere at times to get a fuller picture. I'm sure I'll get used to it though, and it's such a small number (a full metre shorter than my current car and 30cm saved on the width too) that it should be a doddle to slot in most spaces. I more worry about the lack of auto headlights, after 7 years of driving my car not having to think about switching off the lights when I get out, I feel like it's inevitable I'll come back to a drained battery one day! But I'm going to get a little jumpstarter battery kit off Amazon for about 35 quid and keep that in the car in case of stupidity. The car may well beep at me if I get out with the lights left on though, we'll see. My mate's 2002 Micra I had to borrow for a bit did, so I'll be surprised if this doesn't. But my 2008-built Peugeot 308 didn't.

Waggott? Leadership? 😂😂😂 He was more than happy with Mowbray's old pals act for years, he'll be doing no such thing as putting his foot down. It will be Park and Gestede disputing the targets with Eustace, if the story is true, and down to them to put their feet down.

Maybe they haven't replied because they assume the inquiry is a joke!

So, I found a Peugeot 108 (basically the same car mechanically as the Citroen C1), Allure version, that had only done about 40k miles and was only £2k. Had a Cat N on it though. Did all my research on it for a few days to make sure it was the right decision, was feeling very happy with it, went to call the guy and realised it had been taken off sale within the last half hour before I called! Second time in a week basically that exact same thing had happened. Carried on looking, can't find that car for anything like the same price and mileage. But I've found a Citroen C1 Flair (C1 version of the Allure...basically 1.2 litre instead of the 1 litre entry models and various other add-ons) for the same price...don't like the appearance as much and it's an extra 20k miles, but gonna buy it as I'm sick of scouting and stressing over it, and it's still a good deal. Main concern is it's a Cat S rather than a Cat N, so it's a worse write off bracket and means it's suffered damage to the structural frame or chassis in the past. You can't tell, so it's clearly been fixed...hopefully to a good standard. So yeh I'm gonna be sticking with petrol for a few more years...but the money maths add up. I think I've underestimated the benefit of the better fuel efficiency, having calculated again I think it will save me more like £300-400 a year in fuel (I think I undercalculated the Zoe's too, probably more like 1 to 1.2k savings). Then another £320 on the tax. Probably gonna scrap my Peugeot 308, should be about £300, as I don't want to lie about the problems the car has, and don't see that I'll get much more for it if I'm honest about its problems. So, essentially the C1 will cost me £1,700. Should essentially pay for itself inside 3 years if nothing major goes wrong. They have a very good reliability record too, so hopefully spunk a lot less in maintenance costs. The cam belts are advised to be changed every 60k miles, which it's done, but they only cost £500 when the dealership do them, let alone a garage. In a few years, I'll probably assess the EV situation again. It's slower than my current car, especially in the 50-70mph stretch, but quick enough to do the job, and it's tiny so it's nice and nimble for parking. More modern amenities than mine (I'll miss the automatic headlights though, for some reason it doesn't have them even though its sister model does, and I'll miss the extra storage a bit...also think I'll miss the sensors, it has a camera instead that I'm not used to and think that'll mean I need to watch the sides more as I won't get the beep and can only see the rear in the camera). Picking it up on Thursday from Preston, then hopefully the saga is over for another few years! Looking forward to the cost savings and (fingers crossed) not constantly worrying my car will break!

Because it wouldn't be for less than half the money if we loaned him. And obviously he wouldn't come permanently unless we compensated the wages (which we wouldn't). So he would get just as much money, and get to play for one of his final seasons. Unless he's a right lazy git that should appeal. Where the loan we are allegedly interested in attempting makes no sense whatsoever is from Newcastle's perspective. They signed him to be their backup keeper, why immediately send him out on loan, especially one which they'd have to subsidise? It's odd in the extreme that this is still being discussed here, and even odder if it's still seriously being discussed by ourselves and Newcastle.

Kaminaki...Japanese keeper? I'm in.

It can't have been successful if it didn't get heard.

How could a livestream of the actual courtroom not be fact? Am I missing/misunderstanding something here?

Total piss take. At least I'm learning something - the Indian court system is a joke.

She's just hanging around. She's a spunky lass though.