Eco

1 hour ago, Coach said:

It's been ridiculous. With none of them doing badly at all. Serve Smith right if they all cleared off to better clubs.

 

Yaneltz was good yesterday, the charged down kick notwithstanding.

2 hours ago, phantom said:

Lots of huff and puff but never looked like scoring 

We looked stronger with Furness on the pitch, but once her and Morgan were subbed off our chances were all but done 

I'm at a loss why it took until the 93rd minute to bring on Harrison for defender 

That was the best I've seen them this season at home, possession-wise it felt pretty equal. Thestrup had a great chance blasted straight at the keeper, she also should have been put through by Rodgers (think) 1st half but the pass was overhit. A few goalmouth scrambles and Evans had a decent effort. All in all a decent team performance, especially first half where Furness was a big influence. Kudos to Jasmine Bull, she done well as they say. Personally I like the drummers.

4 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Some key points from the press conference:
- Abi Harrison back in contention for the squad this weekend
- Carrie Jones will be in the squad this weekend but Lauren Smith doesn't know yet if she'll play or not
- Smith still doesn't think there's any major reason why the team hasn't won at home
- A journalist in attendance said "Good luck for Sunday" not realising the game is on Saturday

 

Could this be our first W? Liverpool have nothing to play for, well, 4th maybe.

8 hours ago, phantom said:

The Championship is looking really interesting to see who will be taking our place 

This Sunday (21/04) is:

Lewes (11th) Vs Crystal Palace (1st)

Sunderland (2nd) Vs Charlton (3rd) 

Sunday 28/04 is:

Charlton (3rd) Vs Southampton (4th)

Crystal Palace (1st) Vs Sunderland (2nd)

I hope Lewes stay up, they have a unique stadium and sound a proper club.

1 hour ago, shahanshahan said:

https://www.90min.com/posts/what-are-ffp-rules-womens-football

Article from June 2023; but hopefully still relevant

How does FFP function in the women's game?
There is a lot less financial regulation in the women's game in the United Kingdom and Europe right now and that has led to calls for changes to be made.

In the Women's Super League, there is a salary cap which allows top flight sides to spend 40% of their turnover on wages. The issue with that is that those totals can be merged with the men's team within the same club, so the likes of Manchester United Women can spend 40% of a much larger pot of cash as the overall club of Man Utd generates so much money.

Man Utd's head of group planning and finance that has been recently calling for more financial regulation in the UK women's game so that a small set of teams do not kill the competitiveness of the division.

Speaking at the European Club Association's first women's football summit, Francesca Whitfield said: "Currently in the WSL we have a salary cap system which is 40% of revenue, but that includes parent club income, meaning the larger clubs naturally benefit from shirt deals on the men's side.

"That's creating a gap that is affecting the product and this can't be something that we just address domestically, this has to be something we address on a European level to make sure the European tournaments are the best and we're at the forefront of that."

In the Premier League right now, the rules allow for total losses over a three-year period of £105m. There are penalties in place for clubs that exceed that figure. Whitfield is aware that it is not as simple as copying the rules in the men's game as it is a different financial landscape.

"We can't simply emulate or replicate what we did on the men's side, the game is in a different space and we need to ensure that we can invest but equally attract investment," said Whitfield. "Smaller clubs are not able to invest at that level, so how do we encourage them to do so if it's not a fair playing field and they can't possibly ever be competitive with how things currently are?"

https://www.thetimes.co.uk/article/womens-football-needs-ffp-rules-says-manchester-united-chief-j632d2sdf

Another article from June 2023, which I can't read because of a paywall.
But it's title & heading are
Women’s football needs FFP rules, says Manchester United chief
Present rules allow men’s clubs to transfer wealth to their women’s team, which it is feared will harm competitiveness

Aren't Man Utd one of those clubs?! They appeared to have more support staff, coaches etc, than players in their huddle following the win over Chelsea.

44 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

In true NTTDS style, here are most of my away day photos!
Meadow Park in Borehamwood is a nice little ground. Not sure how long Arsenal will play there as they continue to have more games at the Emirates.
I'm definitely in no rush to go again but at least I can say I have now been!
 

 

Great stuff. Good to see a large contingent of Reds made the trip. 

18 minutes ago, Spoons said:

Layzell comes on and sets up Arsenal for the 5th goal with a shocking pass

We've had hundreds of shocking passes this season tbh

3 minutes ago, phantom said:

Is it these (after 70 minutes) 

Nope it was our record in previous seasons v Arsenal plus the fact we'd lost xxx number of games after trailing at half time. Thanks for posting these though, scary enough.

2 minutes ago, Lanterne Rouge said:

six

Not yet!

0-4

The stats the commentator on FA Player is reeling off are not a good listen.

0-2

I do like the crowd singing. 

2 hours ago, redkev said:

Could be a nasty watch tonight against Arsenal

Let's hope not, always believe!

1 minute ago, shahanshahan said:

Napier returns from suspension. Stratigakis starts. Struck drops to bench. Layzell, Jones & Furness back in squad but make bench. Harrison missing from squad

KO 6.45pm. Live on Sky Sports. I'll try post updates while I'm here at Meadow Park

Not bad, I live in hope that Evans will do something. Good to see a stronger bench, hopefully Layzell, Jones & Furness all 100% fit. 

13 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

That is true! Although I think Shania Hayles contract is up this summer (she didn't sign a new one last summer), and Rachel Furness has a one year contract which ends this season

There are others who signed new one year deals last summer e.g. Jazz Bull, Jesse Woolley, but have an option for another year...

Layzell, Thestrup, Connolly? Can't see them wanting to play at a lower level, hope they don't leave obviously. 

2 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Some key points from today's press conference:
- Shania Hayles out of arm sling but not yet match ready
- Rachel Furness in squad contention after playing 45 mins with U21s last week
- Naomi Layzell & Carrie Jones back in training
- In-house 11v11 game took place, Lauren Smith was the ref

 

Lauren also said that long term contracts have been signed (including herself) so even if we go down we could retain a lot of the squad - in theory I suppose.

8 minutes ago, HunstantonRed said:

Blackburn beat Sunderland 5-1 and drew 0-0 with Southampton. Before today only conceded 4 goals in 6 games. John Eustace only 1 win in 12 since taking over.

How did they beat Sunderland 5-1? It beggars belief after watching them tonight.

19 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

According to this article from the England v Sweden programme, Brooke Aspin in what was a 7-3 win over Brighton earlier this month...

If only

On 05/04/2024 at 18:14, phantom said:

More likely they're showing the top two with the chance one of them wins the league that day 

Another TV fixture where I fear for our defence 

Hopefully not as bad a result as 20/21 season!

27 minutes ago, shahanshahan said:

City U21 beat Blackburn U21 yesterday 5-0. Probably the most exciting fact was that one of the goalscorers was Rachel Furness! Hopefully this means she'll be match fit for Arsenal next Sunday

(Kudos to a fan page on Instagram who were able to confirm the scorers because the club didn't)

 

I replied to City's tweet asking why there's not a lot of info re. the U21 women on the website etc as it sounds like they're pretty good. Heard nothing back of course. Glad Rachel got a sneaky U21 game!

West Ham v Brighton today, if the Hammers win it's definitely game over for us isn't it?

49 minutes ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

I am generally in favour of refs letting the game flow but he didn't want to make the big calls in the box, particularly for us. Not biased, just too passive. As said, would do well with VAR to make those calls for him. Think he will be a bit embarrassed when he sees the coverage, of course, a ref is only as good as their assistants, if they don't step up.....

Just NO!

12 hours ago, shahanshahan said:

Hopefully Furney could be back for the next game against Arsenal on April 14th. Maybe score another wonder goal against them?
 

 

A welcome boost. 

2 hours ago, Midlands Robin said:

On Saturday we went to watch Man City Women v Man Utd women which my lad wanted as part of his Christmas present. 

There were 40 thousand fans in the Ethiad for that game. 

The match day experience was pretty good as well. 

We're throwing away something that's now well established and is worth investment. By not putting any effort behind our ladies we're losing a massive opportunity.

If this was the men's team Lauren Smith would have been shown the door months ago. 

I posted when relegation became inevitable last time we went down (and in similar circumstances with whimper) that we were chucking away a real opportunity to grow the name of Bristol City at a time when the women's game was only going to get bigger and this was before the Lionesses winning the Euros. 

I think Fevs put it perfectly above but I'd like to quote a line from Lotus cars founder Colin Chapman, "If you're not winning, you're not trying"

Lansdown out 

 

 

Not sure if you can put it on Lauren, I think any manager would struggle with the lack of WSL-type quality in the squad, especially midfield, plus long term injuries to Furness, Bentley & others.