RevidgeBlue

De Neve and Dolan dont even play in the same position or the same side of the pitch. Until we sign a replacement the question is 'Will we be weaker without Dolan?"

Im not convinced Brittain and at least one of Travis or Tronstad will still be here by the end of the window so a lot depends on who leaves. If no-one of any import leaves then we're 14 goals down on a squad that wasn't exactly prolific last season. Against that we may have added a bit more athleticism in the midfield areas and Tyjon is the unknown variable who could be a sensation. Defensively I doubt Mclaughlin will be as good as Batth was last season but I really rate Wharton and if he stays fit his return is a huge boost imo. As things stand today I dont think there's a massive amount to choose playing wise between this season and last. It'll basically depend upon how well VI shapes up against Eustace.

Don't follow the Lionesses as it were but looking in from the outside it does seem as though this group of players peaked when they won the Euro's 4 years ago and are past their best. Still, they're in the Final so if it were the men Im sure everyone would be saying "Who cares how we played, it's the result that counts".

I remember one of the old time referees (might have been Jack Taylor) saying many years ago that you couldn't penalise every foul in the penalty area or you'd be giving 12-13 penalties a match. My reaction back then was (and still is) why not? If they clamped down hard it'd soon stop. In recent years it seems to have got way worse again. Defenders aren't even watching the ball before it comes over and their only remit seems to be to block the attacker off and they frequently have hold of the attacker with two arms and go unpunished. They were meant to be cracking down on it a few seasons back but that initiative quickly fizzled out and it's gone worse.

Because he tried to get the Club to tie down those very same players here? He's being nothing if not consistent.

We could always let them wear their home strip as well to make them feel even more at home, whilst we wear one of our alternate strips in the hope of flogging a few more of those.

It's really sad that the greats of a certain era are all retiring or dying/ have died off. As a classic/ heavy rock fan I tend to take the opposite view to K Hod and would opine that music stopped round about 1990 with one or two notable exceptions.

Ugh. I know it's slightly more of a squad game than it was in the past but can we not get too Americanised and refer to starters or finishers please? I've not seen anyone seriously suggesting we should sell Gueye, we're at least one striker short as it is imo.

That's one point of view, the other is that you're not a genuine fan if you blindly accept everything that happens at the Club good or bad. As Matty and Ira have alluded to in more detail. Each to their own though.

Sad news about Ozzie, saw him interviewed many years ago - he was hilarious could have been a stand up comedian. Sabbath were a great band - just heard a clip of an interview with him and he said they recorded their debut album Black Sabbath in a little back street studio in 12 hours flat. I find the title track also called Black Sabbath genuinely creepy and unsettling, especially if you listen to it on your own in the dark etc. RIP

Nailed it. Edit: With a bit of luck from their point of view, might get 3-4 years out of a complete reset and a new Mowbray type "journey" before everyone cottons on it hasn't worked.

Apologies. Initialism?

Of course. Lol. Must brush up on my acronyms.

Not sure what an S and C Coach is but it sounds a bit Oooo.....Matron.

And in this scenario the mate has actually done everything he possibly can to try and dissuade your wife from leaving you but she's said "No, I dont love him anymore, Im leaving him whether we end up together or not".

Does that mean we've sold 969 more? 🙂

I think you're completely wrong on this. 100% of the blame attaches to Venky's and our management. 0% to Eustace and Derby or any other Club. That's even before taking into account that Eustace tried to get assurances on these players contract situations in January or February. If Eustace had got his way then, at the very least, even if he'd left, Clubs would be having to pay a small fortune to land these players now.

Seems likely Brittain is going to one or the other. We have a valuation on him seemingly and dont appear to be making any particular effort to persuade him to stay. Was always on the cards when that other RB rocked up.

This sort of thing used to happen in the early to mid 70's when Ken Furphy took Tony Field and Terry Garbutt with him to Sheffield United and Gordon Lee took Sir Roger Jones and Graham Oates with him to Newcastle. But back then we genuinely didn't have a pot to piss in, and the players concerned were moving up to the top flight from a division (or two) below. We didn't have billionaire owners and the players weren't being forced to make a sideways move to Clubs in the same division for more money. Fuck off Venky's, Pasha and Gestede.

Trying to change the subject, I really liked the comment attributed to VI that he didnt like bringing in loans from PL Clubs. I suspect he may be sorely disappointed when his only option is to pad out the squad with a few random loanees right at the end of the window though.

Seen a couple of " AI predicts the Championship" things yesterday. One bizarrely had us finishing 4th ( must have been programmed by chaddy) whereas one done by the Lancashire Evening Post had us finishing 17th and PNE 23rd. 17th coincides with where the bookies expect us to finish. Somewhat of a discrepancy there!

Yes I thought he looked better at CB as well.

https://footballleagueworld.co.uk/the-12-richest-owners-in-the-202526-efl-championship-ranked/ FLW world have ranked the 12 richest EFL owners. I'd say they've substantially underestimated Venky's worth but even at that it makes it so frustrating that we're living hand to mouth.

I've no real interest in the Lionesses but Sarina Wiegman wouldn't really be doing her job properly if this girl didn't deserve her place on footballing merit but was retained solely because she had been racially abused. The only thing she'll have to factor in is whether the others might down tools in protest if she drops Carter. You would hope the rest of the team would be mature enough to accept her being dropped on the basis of taking her out of the firing line for a bit.

Knew someone wouldn't be able to wait to make that connection! Im content that my opinion of Tronstad seems to be shared by every other Club in the top 2 divisions. With him "snuffing out the danger" and without Travis we also conceded the second most number of goals the season before last and only stayed up on the final day. It's also a game of opinions. We have people who dont rate Dolan but dont seem to have a problem with Hedges, people who thought Gallagher was OK, people who didn't rate Raya and now seemingly someone who thought Deryck Williams was better than Beck. Compared to that I think my assessment of Tronstad as very ordinary pales into insignificance. But if it amuses people to bring it up every time I make a comment on a totally unrelated matter - so be it!