bluebruce

I don't think that would be the fairest thing to do at all. I don't agree with being paid exorbitant sums for failure and laziness.

It's the latter more than the former IMO. He definitely isn't so bad that he shouldn't even make a bench that has zero strikers in a team that plays 2 at a time, one of whom already isn't a striker (or any good at all). Ismael wants to make a point about training standards, and that's his prerogative tbh.

Depends how long he is out for.

This is a bit of a problem. We need to ditch somebody just to play the lad we already brought in. Obviously we will look to sell Gueye, but we need a new striker. So we need to ditch someone now, and we also need to ditch someone for everybody we bring in, even though some will only be loans. O'Riordan can't go back on loan unless it's back to Donny. I imagine Forshaw will be the one making way for Cashin to be able to play, even though they're not the same position and may give us a depth problem at CM. Either that or Pratt will be sent on loan, which I'm not really keen to see. Of course we have plenty of players we'd like to see the back of, including ones we only signed in the summer, but who wants them?

https://www.rovers.co.uk/news/2026/january/06/cashin-completes-rovers-switch/

Hi, I did sign up and haven't heard anything so far. Do you know roughly when you'll be in touch, so I know when to check things haven't landed in my junk mail etc?

Quite a lot of noise that Arsenal are still looking to sign Tyjon. Also saw a claim that one of the offers we rejected for him in the summer was 2.2 million, which is far higher than I'd seen before, and that he's now available for about 1 mill. If that's the case (as long as the 2.2 wasn't 80% in add ons) you have to question why we would turn that down. Which means we probably didn't, but assuming it's true for a second you'd surely go straight to the player and say 'look is there any way you're signing this deal or not?'. And if the answer is no you flog him. Keeping him, refusing to play him cos he won't sign, and seeing his market value halve 6 months later is just fucking dumb.

It was never a kids programme. It's rated as a 15. Contains swearing, violence, horror and gore. It just has kids in the main roles - well, it did when it started, they're all adults now. Lots of 80s nostalgia. It recalls a lot of films from around then in various ways, and I think that's part of why they chose to have the main cast be kids. Because the writers probably grew up themselves in that era, and saw films like The Goonies, Gremlins etc as well as the adult stuff. For the first three seasons, I thought it was good but not worth the huge level of hype. But the fourth season was truly excellent. The fifth somewhere inbetween.

Ta, so he couldn't be flipped in this January window if a team actually wanted to play him (and if they didn't they may as well let us keep him). Other than to a team in the MLS or something like that, with a weirdly timed season. Sounds like he will almost definitely be here to the summer.

It makes sense, and I've seen those before too, but I could have sworn I'd also seen one or two where the player either simply didn't want to go there or couldn't agree terms. But if what Wilsden is saying is right then perhaps I've imagined it, or it was in the distant past. Did he not play a game early in the season for Yverdon? Would that not prevent him playing for a third club this season? Can't remember if that's a calendar year thing or a season thing (which would seem odd as leagues have different season dates).

Kissing their arses.

I'm not sure these deals are always done with the player's contract already settled and obliged to kick in at the buying club's will. I'm sure I've heard about players in these sorts of arrangements deciding not to go.

I'm not sure any player has ever impressed me so much on their debut. Maybe Duff, who I distinctly remember thinking 'why the fuck has this lad been sat in the ressies?' Wharton was phenomenal that day against Blackpool, especially for an 18 year old. You knew right then he was going to the top.

Given the club's message there (although I can't just rule out us not having checked on the situation) I presume he was left out as a precaution rather than being seriously injured. We will see what the situation is in the next round.

Wide scale adoption has numerous obstacles to overcome in terms of perception, as some of the discussions in this thread have shown. Governments should be doing nothing to disincentivise the transition. Yes they will still be cheaper to run, but it will be harder to persuade certain stubborn and in some cases easily misled parts of the population that it's the case with things like this. Plus frankly I don't want the hassle of it. Any changes to try to compensate for fuel duty dimishing should wait until over 50% of the population are driving EVs. Until then (and frankly, after) the money should come from the super rich. But that's a whole other debate.

In fairness we really can't just not fix the drainage issue. It has been costing us points, embarrassment and may result in fines or point deductions if it keeps happening. The problem, as ever, is the owners who really should be paying for both the pitch improvements and some players to prevent relegation.

I'd hold out for 8 million. It's nothing to a Prem side if they think he might become their first choice RWB in the next couple years. 4 or 5 million is absolutely peanuts to them.

Has that been relaxed then? Because there is this slightly draconian statement in the pinned WDWY thread in ICBINF which might need a bit of editing (unless it's intentionally there as a deterrent but not really how it works): 'Therefore any discussion on any of these points in ICBINF or the main football board are now banned. No ifs, no buts. If you post even hinting on any of these subjects your post will be hidden and - after a short period of goodwill time - your account will be face a warning.' Anyway, I don't want to derail this thread.

I think the issue that makes this unprecedented for us isn't necessarily the number of injuries (although that has been quite high) it's the way they've all happened at the same time, and often in the same or understocked areas. Earlier in the season we actually had barely anyone out for a while. Then it has just compiled. I think part of the issue is not rotating enough, and now we have so many senior players out it's hard to rotate without risking points, which compounds the problem as people are having to play too much.

Thought it had to go in don't say we didn't warn you or whatever it's called.

Although to be clear, this isn't a research concept that 'may' come off. It's ready, they're making them now. It is already the first battery to meet China's new enhanced battery safety regulations. It will just take time to scale up, and of course car makers need time to design cars that use them.

Labour continuing their incompetence by seemingly trying to throw a spanner in there though. I'm sure you heard about the stupid new pay-per-mile road tax they want to implement from April 2028. Not to take this into the realm of politics of course, which we can't discuss in this forum. But it certainly won't be helpful for the efforts to electrify our vehicles. Which is strange because they allegedly want us to electrify. EVs will still be cheaper for overall ownership over the long term though, especially when these newer, cheaper batteries come in.

This did cross my mind at the time too. I can't say he definitely would have, but it's in his wheelhouse. I'm not blaming Pears for that goal to be clear, it's just that Toth is a better keeper and would occasionally get to things that Pears can't.

The new Dolan. A flair player who works hard and puts up reasonable numbers, but cops a lot of flak from a certain portion of the fanbase when things aren't coming off for him.

CATL, the world's biggest battery maker, with nearly 40% global share of the industry, have announced a new sodium battery. It's over 50% cheaper at present, and they expect it to roughly halve in price again in the next few years as they scale up. So that should result in a drop of thousands in EV costs. Crucially, it's also rated for a 3.6 million mile lifespan! And by that they mean they expect it to still have 85% of its original capacity after 3.6 million miles. So it's a battery that will outlast the car itself, probably a few times over, so can probably have a second life in energy storage or swapped to another car with a failed battery (if we really have failing batteries anymore by then). Sodium is also a far more abundant and more environmentally friendly material to extract than the lithium that most batteries are currently made of. Additionally, it's less flammable so it's safer. This battery can charge better at lower temperatures, and at higher temperatures. It can still work at up to minus 40 degrees celsius, and up to 70 degrees celsius. So realistically, anywhere on Earth. And apparently it charges at almost normal speed at around minus 20. The main problem with sodium batteries has always been the low energy density. Because they couldn't store as much per kg they were heavier for the same energy, which of course reduces range. But this battery has a 175 Wh per kg density, which is actually higher than one of BYD's new blade batteries (the short form, at 160 Wh, which is designed for faster charging - the long form has 210 Wh but charges slower) which were only released this year and improved on the prior generation which maxed at 150 Wh per kg. So cars with these batteries would also have more range than the majority of BYD cars on the road these days. Ahh maybe the charging speed sucks? Nope, 0% to 80% in 15 minutes at room temperature. Which is better than most EVs on the road now can do (30 mins is typical), albeit not as fast as some of the latest LFPs which can charge in 5. This seems to be a game changer, and coming from a massive company who don't bullshit about what their batteries can do. It also could have huge implication for renewables in general, as a battery that lasts 5 times longer and costs half as much could help revolutionise storage of renewable energy to reduce the relevance of intermittency.