Johnny Musicworks

Reports coming in that members of the heirarchy have opened the roof and are now jumping off it.

My 2 Albanian foster sons are going to be happy indeed !

Indeed it was I. A passing thought that went to a whole different level of speculation.

I can see that working for Martin although would be surprised if he doesn’t move to League One by tomorrow. I’m not sure what the incentive is for Klose as by all accounts he is retiring at the end of the season so he does not need a contract settlement. He may wish to see out the season and collect wages for a few more months unless he wants to just get back to his family earlier.

The reality is that for us to keep any young player with Premier League aspirations at best we would either need a season long loan-back or promotion ourselves which would probably still only get us a year more. The pressure is for us to keep producing quality players from the Academy and investing the proceeds on good players. If we do it consistently enough we may generate enough cash to fund a genuine promotion bid.

Seems to have impressed Walsall fans yesterday judging by the replies to his teeet

If it’s not close or an offer not accepted then I imagine there are other options being explored. We can always try again in the summer. We probably have several irons in the fire at the moment with time so short.

I think Richard Gould would have known last week that a deal was happening and as someone else said this may have been a deadline day for a deal set by us. If so then I would be surprised if a deal for a replacement had not been worked on and likely agreed before todays news on Antoine. I don’t thing an experienced CEO would have waited for the deal to be agreed before having his incoming plans either set up or at least very close.

He has been massively improved this season but today he literally bossed it, not just with his play but with the way he was organising the back line like a captain. The back 4 suits him more as he doesn’t get pulled out so much to cover the wing-back or lack of wing-back which is often the case.

People seem to forget that our previous Chairman (Keith Dawe) was rarely seen or heard of in the press. Because Jon is ‘family’ people seem to expect his role to be more out front which really is not necessary when we have a CEO.

4 at the back then Naismith on the left and Sykes on the right and we could have the new Tinman/Murray combination.

As Guernsey is Steve’s local team I wouldn’t be surprised to hear that he has already given them some backing.

The first team fringe players were probably playing to get some minutes. They certainly didn’t seem to have any great enthusiasm for the game. Mixing them up with the young players may explain why they looked like they had never played together before. Not sure what Nige wanted to get out the game but we got what we deserved at the end of the day.

The problem is that injuries (possibly Conway and Andi) can change the situation rapidly. Losing one or both for a few weeks or more makes selling Antoine a much bigger gamble. Hopefully both will be minor injuries.

Pleased if true that we are not taking the first offer and also interesting that it indicates it’s now a case as to where Antoine goes and not if. Seems likely to be out the door in the coming weeks and may start a busy month of trading for us.

Certainly experienced at working with managerial ‘dinasours’ Bruce, Pardew, Hodgson, Pulis, Holloway, Warnock, Big Sam and Dowie to name but a few. Pearson should be perfect for him.

Vyner and Pring had excellent games but for me King was the man that brought a calmness to the defence and organised that back 3. The back 3 were assured, the middle 3 relentless, Jay had one of his best games and Weimann was a constant outlet wide and covered back when necessary but still found space for that superb header that deserved a goal. The front 2 chased everything. I’m struggling to think of a game this season with so few mistakes and where to a man we fought for everything. Well played boys !

Selling Semenyo in January could be a blessing if we can use the money wisely. As others have said he really doesn’t work as one of a pair of strikers. Back to goal he wins little unless it’s to his feet and can spin the defender. The answer to that of course is you take him out when he spins as Millwall did today. His strength is running on to through balls but Williams and Scott have been totally ineffective in that department as have our defenders distribution other than sideways or backwards. Scott was doing it when alongside James but to me Williams looks a League One player. Scott let the man run past him which led to the penalty, has a woeful set-piece delivery and like Conway seems to have hit the wall that young players do when they struggle. Weimann well is off the pace and lost his spark/confidence, Meanwhile Jay D and Sykes can ruin any attack with their crossing . Basically without James and Naismith we look a complete mess. Today as against Birmingham we predictably got bullied and the better side won.

All the problems have come from our inability to defend set-pieces. Awful delivery from both sides for us and that same tendency to concede possession too easily. 9 shots and 4 on target for them. 4 shots none on target for us. Needs half time changes. Pring and Wells for Conway and Jay

I thought his work rate was excellent in the first half but too often his touch was poor (as were others) and we conceded possession too easily. Often we played it around the back before we seemed to run out of patience and hoof it up the middle towards Semenyo or Conway and little stuck with either. The headers he won mostly went harmlessly back towards the Preston defenders. In the second half we started hitting balls over the top rather than at him so Semenyo could chase and force errors and take people on. That led to the couple of chances that he unfortunately spurned but did largely create himself. With him running from deep rather than jumping with his back to goal it helped us to pressure their defence which had looked much more comfortable in the first half.

There has to be a chance that an offer comes in for Bentley in January (our last opportunity to get a fee for him). It makes sense to at least try out Bajic at Championship-level before then and after Saturdays performance now may be the right time.

Millwall in town next week. Could be a coincidence. There is some history !

King is to blame. King Charles that is ! Only one point so far in his reign which is an awful win percentage. He certainly wouldn’t be the first King Charles to be axed.

The way that the metro bus route has encircled the site and effectively cut most of it off from the Village Green I think makes the case for approval much stronger. I mischievously wonder if SL had any influence in placing it there. It also sounds like the site’s Green belt status is pretty much going to cease with or without this plan anyway.

It’s now time for the Nimby’s and dog walkers to make their cases re the housing sadly so this could be a long one. Hopefully the unanimous decision on the stadium site plan (and those councillors knowing that the housing is needed to enable that) will get this plan through too. What a process it is indeed for anyone wanting to improve South Bristol without first consulting with the bats and badgers etc though.