Fat Cigar

Before his injury Sykes would have been in my top 5. Looked off colour last night.

Anyway:

1. Dickie - rarely put a foot wrong. There's me thinking how good is a defender from a really bad QPR team going to impress?

2. O'Leary - he's improving all the time. Still think we need a good enough back up.

3. Knight - faded in the last few weeks, but coming back into form in the deeper role.

4. Vyner - not been as solid as last season but still mostly consistent and reliable.

5. Tanner - much improved. Not brilliant, but does the basics well. A traditional, no nonsense, blast from the past right back. 

May seem harsh not including Williams. Maybe he pushes Tanner for that final spot. 

The fact that there are no attacking players here is clearly very revealing. 

3 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

A club that creates memories. That can be trophy wins or amazing nights like the Man United game. I don’t really care how it comes.  And to play attractive football.  No burning desire to get to the premier league. And to always have an eye on youth, which we are currently doing.  

This can't be underestimated. There have been few and far between since we got promoted in 2014/15. The first half of 2017/18 was great, the Man U win was an evening we'll never forget. But, there haven't been many in almost 10 years, which is damning. No play off campaign, no fight to get into the play offs in the last few weeks of a season. It's all been very samey and quite turgid. I'm very often bored when watching us, which isn't great.  

1 hour ago, Wanderingred said:

Friday night, winter, live on sky, Any genuine loyal Leeds fan should have been able to get a ticket. If you’re having to sit in home ends all the time, that doesn’t say much about your loyalty to the club.  You feel the need to come on here and tell us you’re sat in our end; not to be respectful and open dialogue about the game but to try and boast about how massive you are. I can see right through it. I hope you have a throughly miserable evening. COYR!!!!

Flippin' eck. Give the guy a break. Do you know hard it is to get an away ticket for Leeds fans? I regularly bump into a bloke on my work commute who lives and works in Bristol but is a Leeds home and away season ticket holder. The latter are really hard to get. 

Anyway, hope we stuff them tonight!

1 hour ago, Southport Red said:

I would like Joe Williams to stay, but it doesn’t look likely. 

I think he will stay. Not sure we can afford to lose him, James and King. Not that we'll miss King (on the pitch). Assuming Twine doesn't sign in the summer (and no way will we stump up £5m), leaves us very light in midfield. Williams has put in some excellent performances this season. He just needs to stay fit. Another injury between now and the summer however and the club will probably let him go. 

14 minutes ago, OneTeamInBristol said:

He's got to be on the pitch for that.

Our set pieces have been woeful for years.

If it's a cross it doesn't beat the first man.

If it's a shot it troubles the crowd more than the keeper.

Yep. Even when he's fit, his set pieces are nowt to be excited about. It's a real problem though. We're not blessed with creative type midfielders who can unlock defences. Set Pieces should offer a decent alternative, but we waste ours. We're also quite a short team which doesn't help. 

9 minutes ago, Bo Andersons dietician said:

Awesome. I can be excited about free kicks for the first time since Micky Bell!

My god do we need someone who can take set pieces. Naismith was supposed to be that guy. 

West Ham have been allocated 3,414 tickets. And great to see their STHs only being charged £10. Assume because ours were too. Very good to see. Date provisionally set for Tues 16th Jan, 7.45pm, but could change once TV selects its ties. 

4 minutes ago, DOZZYBCFC said:

I didnt ask for my tickets to be posted. Can I therefore not collect tomorrow? I’ve collected away tickets on the day when getting the coach but I’m thinking with the number of coaches it will be very busy!

Sorry. Ignore me. I'll delete my comment above. I just assume everyone asks to get theirs posted out. My mistake. I was referring to people who've not yet received them by post. 

3 minutes ago, DOZZYBCFC said:

Thank you

See my post below. That info's out of date. 

1 minute ago, View from the Dolman said:

Saturday, January 6th 2024: 10am to 4pm from the Ticket Office
https://www.bcfc.co.uk/news/west-ham-ticket-collections/

That info's out of date. That's from 29th Dec. Before tickets were even posted out.

For fans who've not received their tickets, call the club and arrange to collect tickets from West Ham's ground on Sunday. 

Hi all,

I tweeted Jerry (our Supporters' Liaison Officer) earlier to ask about what happens for those fans whose West Ham tickets haven't arrived by Sunday.

I was also asking why oh why are physical tickets still being issued? Especially when the post has become so unreliable. Why aren't all tickets, home and away, now emailed? 

Anyway, his response:

"The tickets sent to us by West Ham were physical tickets and not digital so we couldn’t email. West Ham will do reprints for supporters whose tickets haven’t arrived. We can trace undelivered postal tickets as they were all sent recorded delivery. Should yours not arrive today please email supporterservices@bristol-sport.co.uk to request a reprint.

So many further questions (which I've also asked!):

- Doesn't someone need to be in to sign for a recorded delivery?

- I assume reprints would be ready for collection at the ground?

- I assume/hope supporters' services check their emails on a Saturday?!

Who wants to play 'how awful will the view be from my seat on Sunday?' Clearly, not too bad if lower tier. I'm upper, block 224. Let's hope we score all our goals where we can see(ish) them...

https://aviewfrommyseat.co.uk/venue/London+Stadium/seating-chart/soccer/

All tickets for all matches, home and away, should be on your phone. And for those who want hard copies or aren't confident using the tech/don't have a smartphone, you're able to select this option when booking. It's ludicrous tickets are still sent out in the post. And it costs the clubs more and post has become really unreliable. 

Map of the Elizabeth Line: https://content.tfl.gov.uk/elizabeth-line-map.pdf

Reduced service not on the bit from Stratford to Paddington that I can see. 

11 minutes ago, Hartleysbeard said:

That said. Only one train per hour on the Elizabeth line so for those travelling back to Paddington, suspect the central line trains, which depart frequently from Stratford, will be a better option. 

Are you sure about the one train an hour thing? This is from the TFL site:

ELIZABETH LINE: Sunday 7 January, a reduced service operates between Paddington and Maidenhead / Heathrow. Heathrow Terminal 4, West Drayton, Langley, Slough, Burnham and Maidenhead will be served by two trains an hour. West Ealing will be served by four trains an hour. Ealing Broadway, Southall and Hayes & Harlington will be served by six trains per hour.

They never seem to travel in big numbers. 

Tourists will pay it. Guaranteed to produce a crap atmosphere. Not that you ever get a good one at Fulham. Nice ground though, very enjoyable aggro free away day.

Whenever he starts babbling, I just count down the mins to kick off. He really does my head in. It's so hard to be able to chat to people next to you with him banging on about something or other. He's too loud and most of what he says is just inane. Never liked him as our PA announcer from day 1 and still don't. I'm sure he's a lovely bloke but I find him an irritation. Sorry. I'm 44 and all I want to hear before ko is the odd good tune and the sound of the fans finding their voice. Not a commercial radio DJ. 

I think the issue is more to do with formation than lack of personnel. Wells or Bell playing alone down the middle leaves them isolated and so easy to mark. Slightly different when you're playing Conway there as he's already shown he's more than capable. Cornick and Mehmeti haven't (yet) shown they're anywhere near good enough to play as the other front two. They were so poor last night. Their game seems to suit our style more away from home. If I'm being kind. 

I'd much prefer to see us play two of Bell/Wells/Weimann up top with Knight behind. And then a midfield three of James-Williams-Naismith. I realise that makes us lack width but at present the two advanced forwards offer very little. You also bring out the best in Weimann playing up front alongside someone else. If he's ever fit...

When Conway's back, things look a lot better, but that's still about 2 months away.  

58 minutes ago, johnbytheriver said:

Surely we can accomodate both in the same team? Yes i know,don,t call me Shirley.

My thoughts too. Roberts is one of many versatile players we now have (e.g. Skyes, Naismith, McCrorie). Could he fit in in a midfield 3? Keeping Pring at LB. Could see them combining very well together. Really was a terrific debut. 

2 hours ago, Leveller said:

This “getting used to the Championship” argument keeps coming up, and each time we are reminded that he has played a season in the Championship already for Wycombe. He’s not a newbie.

Good point. Forgot about that. 

5 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

The big deal about Anis last season was he did frequently overplay, he did run down blind alleys. This is why it was fantastic we got him in January not June - in effect, he’s had a free hit for a few months for him and the coaching staff to see what it is he needs to do differently- as the gap from L1 to our level is huge.

It’s been mentioned that he is now doing less stepovers etc - and that’s good. If as a defender you know someone is going to do a trick every time you play for that and it becomes easier to defend against. Far better to pull the tricks out every now and again but be part of a cohesive unit as opposed to being “bums off seats” but a playground footballer.

The attitude is clearly spot on (Nige mentioned yesterday the same point the article does re fitness). The attributes are clearly there. If he can learn how to play the game better as part of an eleven, he’ll be fantastic - even if he gets you out of your seat less.

Exactly. It's one thing to have the skill and ability to beat your man or two. But, to be a really good player, it's the what next part. He didn't really cross much when we saw him and no evidence of finishing well. The biggest thing he needs to do is know when to stop, look up and pass. He was great in his first few games, but then went off the ball a bit. The jump up from League 1 to Championship is huge so at least he's had some experience. I'd love to see him go past a defender and then cut in and shoot. 

We need a new GK. Despite what Pearson says, I'm still unconvinced by Max. Bentley was a far better keeper. So, some of this Scott money needs to go towards a couple of new midfielders and a better keeper. 

I think we'll accept £20m (plus the usual add ons, probably taking it to a potential £25m) from whoever. And that seems fair to me. Scott is a terrific Championship player, but the lack of goals and assists may not make him as attractive to a Prem club as a Champ striker who's just scored 25-30 goals. 

I really don't want this to drag on. It's not in our interests to start the season with this still bubbling away. We want to reinvest this money as soon as we can. We could splash out (£5m or so) on another two high quality midfielders. 

I'd always thought Palace or Brighton would have been ideal, but I'm not too fussed who he signs for.

I feel pretty confident however no one's going to shell out £25m up front. 

30 minutes ago, bengalcub said:

Naismith at cb is a liability good squad option due to versatility but nowhere as good as he thinks is he … set pieces also awful

He was definitely a lot better as a defensive mid, before his 2nd injury. His set pieces have been a real let down. Thought he was meant to be a dead ball specialist. We desperately need someone who deliver a corner and threaten from a free kick.