Scrumpty

After securing a lucrative contract extension, agent Martin has finally gone about his assignment. Gain the Gashead’s trust, then take responsibility for passing his experience onto his fellow strikers. Seems to be going okay atm

I doubt you're looking for serious answers, but I know exactly what that is. Its the ice bucket that housed the champagne for the 'staying up party' hastily arranged after the Gas won at Wycombe some time ago. For some reason, it didn't get used as intended and has been repurposed as the sh1tter for the executive lounge.

Keg has a point, but so does Fevs. Summer will be interesting. BC - Here’s £2.5m, we know he’s not happy BU - We need him now, so it’s still £5m BC - We get it, but you’ve p1ssed him off and he wants out, so £2.5m it is. Twine has a big influence on how this plays out. Burnley will need him, but do they want an unhappy player? So, how much does Twine influence this play? If he still indicates that he wants out, it’ll undermine Burnley’s stance, no matter how long his contract is. Will be interesting to see the outcome. I suspect compromise will be key.

Manning was questioned about this in his presser (how to encourage competition, then manage it). He confessed that its tricky. If Haydon continues to do well, then perhaps it'll be Pring that has to fight for his place. Its a nice problem to have - certainly better than not having competition. In a way, I hope that Pring doesn't get back in, as that's likely to mean that Haydon is doing very well and the team is winning. That said, it would be harsh on Pring who's probably been player of the season so far.

As a manager, you don't want anyone who's not first pick to be happy about it. The key though is how they channel their frustrations. In ideal world, they fight for their place, putting 100% into every training session, even if they know they won't be picked. Then, when their chance comes along, they grasp it, as Haydon has done. But he's potentially got a bigger (mental) challenge ahead - I suspect that, when fit, Pring starts. How will Haydon react to that? Hopefully, it will be 'positive frustration'. What you don't want as a manager is someone who's not happy and bangs on about it all the time, without doing what they can to resolve it, whilst undermining the team. Then looking for the easy way out. For reference, I'm not saying this is Haydon.

I answered your question in my original post - there's absolutely nothing wrong with having confidence in one's ability and wanting to play. In fact, its commendable. I don't have a conspiracy theory, other than its apparent that something wasn't quite right back in October when he was pulled off after 38 minutes for 'tactical' reasons - Pearson confirmed, at the time, that he wasn't injured. I imagine that he wasn't happy with that decision - and I don't blame him. The issue I have is with him wanting away in January. I accept that he wants to play games, but he's been here less than 6 months, so it feels premature to me, hence my doubts. I'd rather he stay and fight for his place which, to be fair, he has done.

"I hope it is okay to post this, and I did reach out to Davefevs last night to see if he knew anyone, as he always came across as a really decent gut to me, but he didn't really know anyone." I know he's let himself go, but this seems a little harsh to me

I’m not sold on his attitude. He’s not been here long, but wants out. Ambition? Maybe. But as others have suggested, he played, was very poor, got pulled, then mysteriously injured. For me, there’s something not quite right. But then, he was excellent on Tuesday. I’m giving him the benefit of the doubt - he’s confident in his ability and felt he was good enough to play. There’s absolutely nothing wrong with that. But…

Agree, Manningball is more mindset than patterns or formations.

In an ideal world, we go two up early doors, then bring on James second half to control the game. May be getting a little ahead of myself here!

I agree, QPR will sit tight, we’ll need guile to break through. Twine’s more likely to provide that. However, Williams is on top of his game offensively, as well as defensively.

You are indeed. Hopefully, I’m not fooling myself!

Perception, again. Negative perception = repetitive, samey Positive perception = consistent, focused I’m seeing ‘positive reinforcement’, establishing repeatable behaviour patterns.

Perhaps he had a plan. Set out my behavioural principles so start with, move on once they’re understood. This guy is smart.

Sorry, have to disagree. I thought he was confident and articulate from day one. Perhaps the biggest change is perception.