GrahamC

It was tough before Kalas & Williams got injured. The levels of delusion from those who thought a squad of about 15 were going to go on a run that saw us overtake 7 or 8 sides was off the scale. We are relying on a very small number of players & those of them that are fit are having to play 3 games a week. I know you know this but this thread is evidence of those who obviously do not.

Some absolutely embarrassing nonsense posted in it, no idea why anyone thought it was even a 1% chance.

Yep, Wickham made a back by not jumping & he went over him. Not sure what he’s supposed to do there, fail to challenge? Hope for his sake & ours he’s back soon.

Other than that he’s been ok, but it is funny that he thinks Max is running down the wing. I reckon someone told him he was doing this late in the first half.

Posted this before but it will be 30 years at the end of this season since they were last in the second tier. They have absolutely no idea about anything at Championship level now therefore, the quality of the players, impact of parachute payments & how you build a club to be successful to sustain yourself there. A year after they got relegated we built the Atyeo stand, now by some distance the poorest part of our ground, yet a structure that they can only dream of. As you so rightly point out, we don’t have “daytrippers” we have built a good sized support, largely because in a modern Premier League standard ground, the experience is a good one. Also our fan base is pretty young, getting more diverse by the year & has also managed to incorporate a percentage of fans from the gentrified areas around the ground, though admittedly not in the same numbers as the rugby team has. They’re bitter, small time & an increasing irrelevance, no matter what their friends in the media try to pretend.

Drew 1-1, another decent point.

Out of interest did you want Weimann to start last year? Sykes might well need a rest, he was the only one of the front six to play the full 90 v both Hull & Man City. Expect Cornick to start after being cup tied midweek.

Think his heart is set on a return to France no matter now.

Yes they could & we would get compensation because of his age. I was saying it is not impossible that his impact might see more of a bidding war than previously expected & to secure the deal they could negotiate with us to avoid a tribunal. Unlikely scenario, I admit.

Move has worked out well for him & for us. They have given themselves a fighting chance of avoiding relegation when they looked dead & buried when he arrived. He’s put himself in the shop window for a contract either with Auxerre or another Ligue 1 club & we have guaranteed some compensation when he moves on. Probably too much to hope that someone in France wants him so much that they offer us an upfront fee to secure him but this loan could have gone a lot worse for all parties.

Think that’s a pretty flawless summing up of the situation.

He seems to have done one of these for numerous clubs. A very weird man.

Just a couple of things on this; Firstly of course everyone is entitled to an opinion, I could say that when I was younger I was a better footballer than Thierry Henry, so it’s definitely an opinion, but like your post, it’s just not based on any reality. Several people have pointed out why your theory that we can overtake all of these teams, but apparently not by needing to win at least 9 games is totally flawed, but like certain other posts of yours, you keep digging with absolutely no logic or facts in your reply. You did “retort” by the way, I’m now replying to it. Feel free to bookmark this conversation & come back to it at any point, we aren’t making the playoffs. I’m more than happy to bet you whatever amount you would like on that. This doesn’t make me a pessimist, unlike a few on here I’ve been a consistent supporter of Nigel Pearson throughout, it makes me a realist, based on the form of the sides around us, that we are currently running on a squad of about 16 players & that we face 4 of our next 5 away, have the likes of Burnley, Sheff U, Luton, Boro all to play.

They certainly could, Boston Red posted a link to it on this forum. Do journalists actually credit their source these days? I suppose if the article says “as he told Geoff Twentyman prior to Tuesday’s game” then it does at least explain where it came from.

Interested to know how you think we’ll make up at least 10 points on sides in the top six without us winning a lot of games… Like so much you post, this makes absolutely no sense. The form of those in 4th, 5th, 6th & 7th is actually broadly similar to ours, certainly not different enough to suggest any possibility of us closing a 10 point gap over 13 games. You’ll probably reply by saying anyone can beat anyone, I already know that, but someone still gets 3 points as a result, don’t they? We have virtually no chance of making the playoffs.

It’s basically verbatim what he said to Geoff Twentyman on radio Bristol prior to the Man City game.

Fair play to them for knowing the name of a book, though. Perhaps not the biggest surprise that it’s one to look at pictures in rather than actually read.

Think it has to involve a replacement for Jay, Cam Pring has done excellently but we don’t have another LB & there has to be a reason we went for the Wimbledon lad in January. Should Kalas sign a new contract we wouldn’t need 2 CBs with Naismith, Vyner & him.

As someone who for reasons that are far too boring to go into ended up watching it on TV last night, the only thing that could have gone better for me was if Marriner had been a bit less one eyes & awarded the penalty for the clear push on Sykes. Even if we’d scored it then it would only have been 1-1 at the time, but it would have been a lift psychologically both for the players & the crowd. As for Scott, if anyone was harbouring any delusion that he’d be here next season, this game ended that. Planning how to replace him is the next step & Tinnion’s comment about needed 4 players if one is sold suggests we already know this.

Left back (to replace Dasilva) & a midfielder (to replace HNM), are certs. Seeing as we were after the Palace lad who is playing in Belgium you would assume the CB is the third, with a fourth being Scott’s replacement if (when?) he leaves. We certainly have a decision to make with the goalkeeper position, Haikin only has a contract until the summer & Wiles-Richards & Buse are out of contract, too. Can Bajic make the step up to back up keeper? Is Haikin worth a longer deal? Not seen enough of either to know but that’s the decision there.

I used to think this but last August I stopped in Manchester for a night on the way to Scotland & saw absolutely no one in City garb in Manchester but loads In United merch. Neither side were playing (Prem season hadn’t even started) so that didn’t skew it.

Good luck to him, lovely lad. The comment about being “better than Vyner” is interesting. Zak is in contention for player of the season in The Championship, Ryley has barely played at that standard & found it very difficult when he did, so that’s some leap of faith to say this.

Williams gave him a sly kick off the ball and he reacted by pushing him in the chest. De Bruyne got involved to try & get Williams sent off & there was some verbals flying about as a result. He’s not suspended for Cardiff (I’m sure you knew this) as has been explained countless times 2 yellows in the cup is a one match ban in that competition only & doesn’t count towards league bookings.

Down to 15th after last night’s games, think their “playoff push” is a local media fantasy. Not sure those “we’re swapping divisions” posts from a few on here have aged too well, either.

Remember all those posts about how “overpriced” he was? At the time when we got £20m for Webster. Absolute clowns. When fit he’s an absolute outstanding defender & what he showed tonight was the form he was in when the Czechs made the Euro quarter finals. Outstanding tonight, if he plays like that for the rest of the season then he’ll get an offer we can’t match.