Andy

Thanks Glen. SS comes across as an arrogant chap, who quite possibly realises that his gravy train has run its course. It's evident that he is - and has been - the blocker and/or problem at this club for far too long.

This is my feeling on Travis. But I did feel the same way when Lenihan left and we managed fine. In fact, we probably overlooked his flaws more when he was with us; suspect that'll be the case with Travis.

I can't find any legal reason not to release the minutes - only if the content was untrue, could they pursue potential legal action?

VI will have us organised, but a few new cogs still fitting into the machine. A draw would be a good results on the first day, but I'll go with a 1-0 Rovers win. Goal from a set piece halfway into the 2nd half, then backs to the wall defending to see the game out.

I would suggest the best way to describe him - based on the majority of his performances for us - would be 'a giant number 2'.

The problem with offloading Pears and Buckley is that you need a buyer, to be able to sell.

To be fair, James is a really good - and highly qualified coach. I've worked with him briefly and know some of the work he's done at clubs like Accy Stanley. Good appointment, in my opinion.

Only been watching since HT, but Kargbo has been excellent. If he stays fit this season, he could be massive for us. And then Derby next season.

Interestingly, that was also VI's opinion of both them and Birmingham this season (when asked how he thinks they'll fare, at that kit launch thing the other week). And I agree with him; how many times have we seen the likes of Stoke or Hull spend a relative fortune, only to struggle at the wrong end of the table, as the side just hasn't clicked / the signings turned out to be dogshit?

Which is a good 30-35 years and covers all recent history (good and bad). I think it's a pretty good span, to be fair. My team would be mostly similar, but with Nelsen in for Henchoz, Berg in for Neill and probably Ripley replacing Dunn.

The record books only show winners, not methods or performances 🏴󠁧󠁢󠁥󠁮󠁧󠁿

Good job they didn't.

It's hard to compare era to era, due to the quality of the opposition. Better coaching, diets, lack of smoking & drinking, etc. Either way, we certainly haven't seen anyone close to Shearer's levels in my lifetime, in that position. A one-off and we were lucky to have seen the best of him at Ewood.

He's our best player, so being the top earner isn't really any kind of revelation. He's been the first to admit that his output wasn't good enough last season, but he's started this pre-season very well and his qualities are pretty clear to see, if you watch our games. He'll be huge for us this season.

Yeah, at the kit release thing last week, he said that Taveres had rolled his ankle during his first session with us - just one of those things. He was on the grass, expected to play during the Spain games, then likely ready for the 2nd league game of the season, all being well.

Levels above Pears. Just a shame it took so long for us to drop Calamity and give Toth a run of games. But hopefully at least it means we have a decent, competent GK at this level for the first time since TK.

Always injured, yeah - but definitely had talent. That we fucked him off for a combination of Woodrow and Dennis last January is borderline criminal neglect. Even a half fit Arnor contributes more than both did for us.

I'm not sure, to be honest - we were creating a lot of chances under JDT, but the likes of Gallagher were not converting them. A ST the quality of Undav would have made a huge difference and, in my mind, would have got us comfortably into the top 6. And for moving for money (Dolan), we all absolutely would do the same. I'm really happy with where I work now, everything is great - but I was headhunted a few months ago and, quite honestly, the salary on offer turned my head and I had some discussions with the other business. (Ended up staying, actually out of loyalty, so maybe I've negated my actual point on this...).

Yeah, agreed - I was excited for us to sign him at the time, but each time we've played him since, he's really not looked that good. Also Leonard to Accy, if he's going to get regular games, is a good move for me. Needs minutes and goals at this point, the level is less important (within reason).

I think he finished the season pretty well, but generally, I'd agree that he was a very average player overall. I think Tyjon has a much higher ceiling - and will contribute a greater GA output than Dolan, if he plays a similar amount of games. And I actually think that Kargbo will turn out to contribute more for us, pending avoidance of injury.

Without wanting to make this into an anti-drinking thing, 2-3 bottles a day is a lot - and it will be doing a lot of damage, which may not show until later in your life. I've seen alcohol do so much damage, both personally and professionally in my life - I gave it up a long time ago. Everyone has their choices, of course, but it's a huge problem in this country.

It's a real shame what alcohol did to him - and what he let it do to him. Both professionally and personally.

Pretty shoddy to not even receive a holding message response. I have Customer Service teams reporting into me in my day job and the absolute basic requirement for customer contact is to acknowledge the query/request, even if it's a 'I don't know, but I'll find out'. Complete radio silence is very poor.

'Derby has joined the bidding, but Boro remain interested. Rovers hold hope of keeping him'. All agent talk, non-committal. Aye.

His basic positioning is terrible, which isn't as obvious as some of the more prominent errors, but is equally contributory. He benefitted greatly from having a more organised defence for periods of last season, but I don't think there's any doubt that Pears has proven his incompetence regularly, across a prolonged period. And hopefully he's played his last game for us.