Lympsham Red

It really does take something else to concede 3 goals to a side with ten men. I know Coventry have been very good this season and we are playing away from home but being unable to see out a game like that and put up a fight really does speak to the professionalism and cohesion of our squad.

I blame Mark Ashton.

Yeah you’re right, the late goal is clearly just stinging in my mind after another one tonight ?

I can’t believe people are saying that because we lost to FGR in the Mickey Mouse Cup we’re going to get relegated and Pearson has failed. Yes it’s a shit performance and Saturday was shit too, but there’s 45 matches to go and no one was expecting immediate success and promotion were they? If anyone can convert this lot into challengers it’s Pearson, he’s done it before. Unlike Johnson, Cotterill, SOD, McInness..

Surely that'll get him a good three game ban plus for violent conduct. No excuse for a former Wales captain.

My question is - if the play-off final is 30th July, will the 2020-21 season still start a week later as normal? Will the three month hiatus for coronavirus be treated as the “pre-season”?

Matt has said in a previous thread that City don't list the teamsheet in formation order to avoid giving the opposition even the smallest insight into our tactics for the match. Makes perfect sense really, football is a game of the smallest margins and so surrendering even the minutest advantage isn't worth it imo.

Cheers! I had nothing better to do on Bank Holiday Monday

And people dare to say that Football Manager isn't realistic!

I love Football Manager and thought this could be a really interesting experiment, so I did it myself! Obviously this is just for fun and not 100% accurate, but FM is known for its accurate statistics and simulations in part and so could be a good indicator like you suggest. First off, I set up a number of transfers, mimicking the rumoured movements as suggested on here: Next, I set Lee Johnson to be "Assistant Manager". Due to the way the game works, to put in place the changes required to simulate the scenario, I have to put myself into the game as manager. However, as I'll be simulating the entire season, and not playing it, Lee Johnson will be automatically placed in charge of first-team affairs, increasing the accuracy of the simulation. After that, I set up the squad and tactics. I chose a basic, LJ-esque 4-4-2 formation and set up the squad to be made up of six development players and five first-teamers that are likely to be around for the 2018-19 season. The four other substitutes were Tyreeq Bakinson, Liam Walsh, Jamie Paterson and Freddie Hinds, and the other players in the squad were Jake Andrews, George Dowling and Jonny Smith. So then I began the simulation - firstly, until the 2nd of January. As you can see I've set it so the current squad and tactic will be retained where possible, even though I won't be in control directly. So, this was the situation on the 2nd January. City were 12th in the Championship, on 38 points, 4 points outside the playoffs. Josh Brownhill had the highest average rating of any player in the league. The two following screenshots show the results so far. A few that stand out include a 5-2 win against Leeds at home, with Milan Djuric bagging a brace, and a 4-0 thrashing of Cardiff at a sold out Ashton Gate (Fammy scoring a hat-trick and Shawn McCoulsky grabbing a goal too). Sadly though, City can't make it past the Second Round of the League Cup, losing 1-0 to Brentford away. So then I went to have a look at how the squad as a whole were doing. Overall, not bad at all. Fammy is top goalscorer, with 13 goals and 6 assists from 23 appearances. Shawn McCoulsky was behind him, with a fantastic 12 goals and 4 assists from 28 appearances; great stuff for a first half-season in the Championship. Josh Brownhill bagged himself 8 goals and 11 assists from 28 appearances too. In terms of defence, the statistics looked promising as well. Lloyd Kelly with a 7.01 average rating, the best out of all of the back four. Zak Vyner's performance were somewhat sub-par though, with only a 6.67 average rating. Max O'Leary had 7 clean sheets to his name, and Frank Fielding 9. All in all, though, not bad at all for a team made up of 6 development players. Let's see how things ended. As we can see, it was a lower-end finish for City. 17th, and 4 points above the relegation zone. A fair drop from where the team were at Christmas, 4 points outside the playoffs. Now let's have a look at the final squad stats... So Fammy finishes the season as top scorer, with 24 goals and 8 assists from 42 games. Shawn McCoulsky has a fantastic first season in the Championship, with 17 goals and 7 assists from 49 appearances. Josh Brownhill bags himself 10 goals, 15 assists, and 41 chances created from 47 games. In terms of the average ratings of the development lads, Shawn McCoulsky has the highest with 6.99, then Taylor Moore with 6.87, followed by Max O'Leary with 6.83, Lloyd Kelly on 6.82, Joe Morrell on 6.72, and finally Zak Vyner on a disappointing 6.59. City also managed to reach the Fifth Round of the FA Cup, beating Reading 3-1 in the Third Round, followed by Middlesbrough 1-0 in the Fourth Round, before losing to Norwich 3-0 in the Fifth Round. These were the full results from 2nd January to the end of the season: Not the best form...in fact, turns out to be 2 wins in 25 games. Sound familiar? In terms of the two loanees, Gustav Engvall and Hörður Magnússon, these were their respective performances while out on loan: All-in-all, though, the crystal ball of Football Manager Touch 2018 tells us that, should LJ choose to field a team of six development players next season, as well as selling Nathan Baker, Joe Bryan, Bobby Reid, Marlon Pack and Aden Flint, with Gustav Engvall and Hörður Magnússon going on loan, then we can expect a 17th place finish, 4 points above the relegation zone... P.S. - sorry about the earlier post, I hit enter before finishing it, hence why it was "deleted!"

deleted

This!!! Can you imagine how Maggers must feel, knowing that LJ would rather play a centre-mid at right-back rather than him at centre-back, his natural position???

From what I've seen (from the GIF at 2-1 from the Hull match) and heard there are a selection of "conservative" GIFs which are utilised in those kinds of situations.

This one's gone. Draw a line under it. Stick out the under-23s against Watford - 11 changes, tell them to shock the world, nothing to lose. Rest all of our starting players. That'll give 'em eight days until the Man City game. Go from there, recharge, reboot, and knock the shit out of Norwich, Derby. These things happen. It's only two losses in a row. Give 'em all a rest and let's go again, maybe even build a run. A boy can dream, at least.

Bollocks bollocks bloody bloody bollocks

Just been announced on our own OS that Max has been recalled early. https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/steele-replaces-suspended-fielding/

Interesting that, since Solihull are playing today and their site says he's with them until the 6th...recalled early or given special dispensation I suppose?

According to the Solihull Moors OS, Max is with them until the 6th of January. http://www.solihullmoorsfc.co.uk/news/details.php?news_id=12951

Can't be Max, he's on loan to Solihull Moors. Also can't be Jojo Wollacott, as he's on loan to Woking. Ivan Lucic is injured, I believed, didn't he break his leg? Either way he was out partying at 1am last night according to his Instagram story so I highly doubt he's playing even if I'm wrong about that. As far as I am aware that leaves Alhaji Sesay, the under-23 keeper who scored that last-minute equaliser for Paulton Rovers a few months back - although there was talk of that loan spell being extended and I can't find any information as to where he is as of now. Other than that, there's James Carey and Denis Begovic, two of the stoppers in the under-18s. Safe to say it'll be interesting to see who it is!

Paterson and Reid up top again, Bryan and Brownhill the wingers?

I don't see this as a ' dumping it long' formation if that's what you're implying. Control it in the middle, pass it out wide, have Pisano and Bryan overlapping (both are fantastic at that) and either float it in for Reid or one of the midfielders to get a touch on or cut back inside for a bit of a penalty box scramble. Either works for me if it gets us goals!

Liking this team and according to RB, seen as a tactical change of formation to combat Fulham's dominance in the middle of the park. Bench looking strong once again, if things are looking nasty I'd chuck on Djuric and Leko and try and get the big man to head another in. Hopefully though that won't be necessary, O'Dowda in good form and the rest very solid players. COYR!!

LJ said something about Pisano not really being fit to play more than 45 minutes on Tuesday so I expect he's just being cautious. Last thing we need is for his injury to be further aggravated. Good man to have on the bench for sure; in fact, that entire bench looks nice and strong.

How come LJ doesn't do pressers much anymore? Jamie McAllister doing the interview on Radio Bristol..

Can someone tell Richard Hoskin that it's Callum O'Dowda, not Josh O'Dowda! Second time he's got his name wrong!