Offside

The Dolman is where I used to sit with my dad when he started taking me to games. We always sat right near the back, originally in B block until there were away fans there one game (I think it was v Torquay), so we moved to F block and that’s where we stayed until I started going in the EE when I was about 15. My dad stayed in the Dolman until the Atyeo was built, and then he moved there. Looking back now, that brick wall at the front of the Dolman looked quite odd. Wasn’t the design something to do with incorporating the bowling underneath? I also recall at one point talk of putting executive boxes at the back of the Dolman.

I rate Palmer. He is one of the few players in our team (I haven’t seen King or James so can’t comment on them) who can unlock defences. I’d really like to see him given a run of games. I don’t think the chopping and changing that characterised the LJ and DH eras helped him. Like @Davefevshas said, he looked good when was played regularly. He’s the sort of player who needs game time to get up to speed. A problem for a while was that our squad was too big. LJ liked his “clubs in the bag”, but with so many players to choose from, the temptation to tinker was too much. A smaller squad, where players aren’t in fear of being dropped randomly, and where the manager has to get the best out of what he’s got, has to be a good thing. Look at Cauley Woodrow - a peripheral player here cos we had so many other options, but who, according to Wiki, has scored 38 goals in 103 games for Barnsley, which is a good record. So back to Palmer - we spent a lot of money on him. He’s now fit. Play him. Encourage him to do his stuff. Get him in areas of the pitch where he can cause damage to the opposition. That’s the only way we’ll see if he’s good enough. I think he is.

Interesting points. Each time there’s a new manager it’s refreshing at first. I liked SOD’s interviews initially, but after a while they started to annoy me. Especially the stuff he said after the victory against the fewers, when he showed no understanding of the passions evoked by a local derby. Also things like not looking at the league table. Cotts always wore his heart on his sleeve and I liked that. I also really liked LJ’s interviews for a while, until the David Brent-isms got annoying. Holden was more straight-talking, which was a welcome change at first, but then his interviews became littered with meaningless comments like “we go again” and “we’ll work hard in training”. And now we have NP, who is very considered in the way he speaks and seems to have contempt for the interview process (and I can see how this is all grating). But as has been said elsewhere on this thread, this appears to be the professional persona he has developed, a bit like the way Warnock’s pantomime villain character evolved. If the team is winning and/or playing well, any annoying characteristics of the manager are easier to overlook.

Best wishes to you, Mick.

Bought from Darlington for something like £18,000. Bargain of the century.

My copy of the David Woods book is still at my parents’ house. I used to love that book as a kid. The Peter Godsiff one is also there, but my copy had a mistake in the printing, so one section was in there twice with another one missing altogether.

I absolutely hate it when stadiums are named like that. Clubs like Leicester, Wigan, Bournemouth……I have no idea what their grounds are called.

Yep, me too, I find that really difficult on Word! I remember being given those colour blindness tests as a kid (the ones with different colour dots and a number) and I thought it was a conspiracy cos all I saw was dots.

And until reading this thread I always thought the Dairy Milk wrapper was dark blue. You live and learn!

I’m colour blind and, like others have said, I don’t really notice it most of the time. In football, though, if City are playing a team in a dark kit I often rely on our white shorts to be able to distinguish between the teams, particularly in evening games. So I’ve always hated it when City wear all red at home. Similarly, when I play FIFA in City’s all black away kit against a team in all red I find it quite difficult to tell the difference. I’m glad I’m not the only one!

Exactly how I’ve been feeling. With home advantage and being a goal up at half time on Sunday, there was no better opportunity to win something. Qatar will be a completely different and probably more difficult challenge.

Keep. I see no reason to get rid. He’s got us to a semi final and final and overall he’s done well. Much better than some of his “big name” predecessors (e.g. Sven and Capello) who had players feted as being world class but couldn’t get them playing as a team. We were very close to winning yesterday. Much to learn from last night, though. I have no idea why Southgate didn’t make changes earlier once Italy stated to completely dominate. In contrast, Mancini used subs to wrestle back control of the game.

Pickford did really well last night in the penalties. Saving two should have been enough.

Gutted. I thought we played well first half and caused them plenty of problems. In the second half they changed things and over-ran us. We completely lost our way for most of that second half. When Grealish came on we played too many long balls instead of playing it to his feet. I thought we brought our subs on far too late. Why not freshen things up earlier? I don’t like the idea of bringing players on with seconds left just to take pens. Overall we did well and finally got to a final, but it felt like a missed opportunity tonight after that brilliant start.

Same here. I’m feeling sick with nerves.

Fascinating. The players seem to have more time on the ball than now and overall there is less intensity. Nobby Styles threw the ball down in anger when a decision went against him and the ref gave him a talking to. The pitch looks quite cut up. Some brilliant tackles from J Charlton and Moore. Players not scared to tackle for fear of getting booked or giving away a free kick. Bobby Moore very classy on the ball There’s a box drawn on the grass for the photographers etc to sit in behind the goal line. And I love those old Wembley goalnets.

I’m looking forward to seeing Massengo progress further. He was one of the only bright sparks as we went into freefall last season. Palmer has that ability to unlock defences with a killer pass, I’ve always rated him. Other than that, I just want to see us play as a team with a pattern and some grit and determination. That has been lacking for so long.

Sad news. I don’t remember seeing him play, but he featured prominently in one of the Shoot annuals I had as a kid, so a name I was always familiar with. RIP Paul.

Maybe having to cut our cloth is a good thing. There was so much wasted money in the Ashton/LJ era, quantity over quality, with players in and out of the side and on the periphery of the team.

Mine has vinegar on her pizza!

Really hard to call. I’d say Italy are slight favourites - they are used to competing in finals whereas for our players it is a completely new experience. But we have a good squad of disciplined players with flair and home advantage. I really hope we do it.

Always gave 100% on the pitch and weighed in with goals. But one of those weird signings from the LJ era who we spent money on (was it about 1 million?) but was never deemed good enough to be a regular starter.

The likes of Norman Hunter and Joe Royle were before my time. When we signed Joe Jordan I was aware of him but didn’t know much about him (I was only in my early teens) - although I do remember the mighty Roger Malone being (rightfully) gushing about him in the HTV highlights of Joe’s debut (5-0 win v Doncaster from what I recall). Jackie, as a Polish international, felt like a very glitzy signing at the time. Overall for me it would have to be David James, although I was very underwhelmed we’d signed him and he was quite poor for us IMO.

God, that was tense tonight. Overall I thought England played well. We started brightly, then Denmark imposed themselves on the game and when they scored I feared the worst, especially after Sterling’s close range shot was saved. But we got the equaliser quickly and as the game went on we got stronger. Awful penalty by Kane, but thankfully the rebound landed perfectly for him. Now more tension to come on Sunday. I don’t know if my nerves can stand it!!!!

Very pleased to have signed him. Sounds like a very promising player, and a good age too.