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39 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

I reckon the poster on dcfcfans called Leveller is @Leveller on here!

@Fordy62 where do I sign up to become Chief Inspector?

Christ @Davefevs i need you on my unit.

It's has gone a bit mental again unfortunately.

The partnership he had with Webster was probably the best CB partnership I've seen us have since Merrick and Collier.

The last few years have not been great form wise as his own game before the injuries was affected by the chaos around him. Leading to the emotional outburst after the Barnsley game, and of course the giving up of the captaincy.

He is still a top defender at this level though, and hopefully will be able to put these injuries and move forward with his career again.

I would love to see him in a City shirt again, but the reality is, it has to be on our terms and on on a wage in line with our new budgets.

If he is able to accept those for whatever reason, I'm sure he will be welcomed back into the squad for next season. If not, we move on. It's simple really, as a club we are moving forward, and as NP has stated over the years, people now need to "be on the bus".

20 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Only my opinion, but far too much emphasis that the only way he can play / justify PL is if he can score goals.  So much more to his game than that, and in the right team his technique would allow him to slot into several teams in a 6 or 8 role.

We talk about his shooting being poor…(“can’t kick the ball properly )

But 39.1% shots on target is in the top 25% for CM in the Champ (see percentile rank chart below).  Goal conversion, just below average (Orange clicks below)

 

he got 5 assists last season, that’s in the top 20% of CM in the champ.

If we take some of his other data, we start to see the technical ability on the ball of Alex Scott and why PL clubs aren’t looking too closely at the goals column (1 Lg 1 cup).

Those are pretty stellar on the ball stats across the board.

 

Thanks for the stats @Davefevs

This to me points out the areas of his game in which Scott excels. The point I was making around his shooting and set piece delivery was areas where he needs to improve as @Kid in the Riot states.

When shooting he needs to develop hitting through the ball ( a good example Haydon Robert's goal for Derby from outside the box). 

I think Weimann's goal against Blackpool was our only goal from outside the box this season (I stand to be corrected if not).

Is Scott an excellent young player, absolutely. Is he the most outstanding  young prospect we've had for a long while, without a doubt.

But he is still on an upward trajectory(hopefully) and needs to improve in certain areas to continue his journey into the PL, he is of course still only 19.

The run he made for the goal against West Brom in the cup was excellent. But we didn't see enough of those this season.  For me he was trying so hard at times to get us on the front foot moving forward that it affected his game.

Without Naismith in the middle he was having to come deep to get the ball and get us moving forward. I'm sure if he is still here in August, then that's something NP will address.

He certainly wasn't at his best after he came back from injury in the last 2 months of the season. Whether the speculation had had an effect, who can say. But Burnley in particular did a job on him in the last game, leading to his uncharacteristic error. 

The Scott saga has got all the makings of a late transfer for me unfortunately. It would be wonderful to get it done early, but like Bryan's one (that last game against Forest when we knew he was off), I think it'll be late in the window.

As an aside, have we ever actually turned down a bid for him? I remember saying Wolves had a £15m 9ne turned do2n unofficially, but unlike Forest's one with Semenyo I don't remember any club officially testing the water with us do far?

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Seems a fans question led piece of speculation.

If you did the same with our fans we’d be saying we need at least 7/8.

Re FFP it depends how much they were allowed to offset for covid, but they must be very close to the £39m limit, which based on their normal(ish) loss levels sounds like “trade to buy” imho.  I very much suspect the Harry Souttar sale was not about creating a summer “war-chest” but some (all?) of it used to comply with the £39m limit.

They’ve cleared some if the decks this summer:

but it hardly feels like they’ve got funds to mad, big or both!!

Neil is quite a shrewd operator in the transfer market, so expect clever signings rather than marquee-type signings.

Went big on the loan market last year didn't they @Davefevs@Mr Popodopolous

A lesson that it doesn't always bring you the success that the fanbase thinks it will do. Some of those released players (Clucas, Powell in particular) would probably have commanded decent transfer fees. Just like us in 21/22 season, a lot of money walking out of the club on a free.

Other players like Dwight Gayle aren't going to be exactly cheap either. I'm amazed it a way that the EFL has never really questioned their Covid write offs. Unlike the Derbys and Weds of this world that got hammered, Stoke seem to have breezed through the period of accounts scrutiny. 

3 hours ago, Kid in the Riot said:

Agree with that. However, I also think his output could and probably should be better than it is. It's not like he just sits in front of the back four, he's a box-to-box midfielder. 

To be blunt, his shooting ability/technique is just not very good. He doesn't even seem able to put his foot through the ball. It's an area I hope he and the coaches really work on this summer. 

If he adds that missing ingredient to his game then he really will have the potential to become a top, top player. 

I think you've hit the nail on the head perfectly @Kid in the Riot.

He reminds me a bit of kids that haven't really been trained in Academies when they were younger on how to kick a ball properly.

For all his ability, his shooting can be poor, and you would expect more from his set piece delivery as well.

He certainly has all of the raw ingredients to get to the top, but anyone buying him would probably view him as huge potential, but until he's worked on those areas that he needs to, not really a starter in a PL team.

The price tag is high, as his profile will never be higher than what it is now, but if I was a lower end PL team I would also be looking at Cam Pring, who's trajectory performance wise reminds me of when Jim Brennan's career took off back in the day.

3 hours ago, Porto Red said:

COD player of the year at Cardiff, yet so poor for us 

Didn't he start off well there, before getting injured and then having a poor showing at the end of the season.

All a bit Groundhog day with City for me there.

14 minutes ago, IAmNick said:

Jay has a lot of excellent attributes - among the best in our squad in some cases I think. He also has some weaknesses, and areas of his game that can be improved. That's why he's a Championship player!

You can't question his attitude though. If he combine that with finding a team who will take advantage of his qualities then he'll do very well - and I hope he does as I like him a lot. That's not the direction we're heading in as a team, and I'm glad we're letting go good players who don't fit our ethos/strategy now, rather than holding on to them "just in case".

People saying he's "terrible" at some things - give it a rest. As I said, he's a Championship player with strengths and weaknesses and has done consistently pretty well for us as a club on the pitch. Good luck to him, I think Coventry will be a decent fit, and if it is they've got themselves a good and tidy player who I reckon could do easily a job in the top half of the table.

Never the same player after those shin injuries for me.

Seemed to lose a yard if pace, and attacking endeavour. Technically very very good and you could see why he got into England Under 21s. The injuries also changed the way that he tackled/got involved physically for me. He seemed to be hesitant for a while, demonstrating a lack of confidence that NP picked up on at times.

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Alex Scott, Joe Williams…before that, Jay Dasilva (), Dan Bentley, Tomas Kalas, Kasey Palmer, Han-Noah Massengo

Good points well made @Davefevs

I think other than the Alex Scott one, the other 4 years handed out have come back to bit us somewhat.

I think we're probably a bit more circumspect nowadays.  

3 minutes ago, Riaz said:

Nah, I'm sure we could have matched or offered more that Coventry - The point is, Coventry rate him more than we do.

He clearly isnt a player who will help us get promoted. He's bang average. Coventry will find that out.

Good luck to Jay tho.

When was the last time we gave a 4 year contract to any player. Normally 3 years + option at a push.

Just like Weimann's last contract solution, those extra years make a difference, rather than wages.

1 hour ago, Jerseybean said:

Championship odds 2023/24

Outright winner

• Leicester City - 5/1
• Leeds United - 11/2
• Middlesbrough - 10/1
• Southampton - 10/1
• Ipswich Town - 14/1
• Norwich City - 14/1
• Watford - 14/1
• West Brom - 14/1
• Stoke City - 20/1
• Sunderland - 20/1
• Blackburn Rovers - 25/1
• Coventry City - 25/1
• Millwall - 25/1
• Sheffield Wednesday - 25/1
• Swansea City - 25/1
• Hull City - 28/1
• Birmingham City - 33/1
• Cardiff City - 33/1
• Bristol City - 40/1
• Plymouth Argyle - 40/1
• Preston North End - 40/1
• QPR - 40/1
• Huddersfield Town - 50/1
• Rotherham United - 80/1

Same odds as Plymouth? 

Hmm.... they really don't rate us do they?

5 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It’s funny when you look at things like that isn’t it?  Just goes to show how a squad can be relatively blessed in some positions but not in others.  Pring with Dasilva as cover is quite a strong LB position.  Tanner (as much as I like him) and Wilson is nowhere near as good for example.

It's funny reading Robin's quotes. "Fast, pacey, attack minded" are not adjectives that spring to mind with Dasilva.

Technically very good, and excellent close control would be my ones.

Can't quite remember a time last season when Jay actually got to the goal line to get a cross in. He would normally look to stop a good 10 yards beforehand before producing another wonderful overhit cross.

10 minutes ago, TheReds said:

I think it will be just as entertaining when/if it is up, as it will be generally cheap and pretty poor to anyone outside of their bubble. The concourse will be quality to see, as I get the impression they are expecting to see a proper concourse (since quite a few go to Ashton Gate for the Rugby, Concerts and been down for their Vaccines) I cannot wait for their reports, I just have a niggling feeling they be just a little bit disappointed. 

Bring it on.

Yep, It'll be interesting to see what their definition is of a "Concourse".

Given their excellent disabled sections, I'm guessing it'll be a hole under the seats of the stand with 1 or 2 portacabins selling food/drink. Hardly a concourse as such.

Also what about the toilets in this stand? That would take time to build/get the plumbing done (probably by asking for volunteers again). I'm guessing the portaloos will be making a reappearance on the hurry up, but how many are they going to need for a stand that supposedly carries around 3-4k? Plus by law, they would have to have disabled facilities as well.

Still just over 2 months until the start of the season, no rush Rovers, in your own time, absolutely clueless. 

As it stands how many balls are they going to lose into the back of people's gardens there? Probably put up a large net to protect it all. This is going to look absolutely awful come August.

2 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Yep, as good as our academy is doing, it would not surprise me if minutes are down considerably next season.  That doesn’t mean it’s gone downhill, just might be more that squad depth isn’t being covered my the young’uns.

To have 8-10 academy players in a match day squad is incredible.

To have 6 starting is phenomenal, it was regularly 4 too, which is pretty amazing too.

God knows where we would have been without the Academy over the past couple of years, L1 probably.

However, unless the current bunch move on/god forbid pick up longer term injuries, it is difficult to see where the next batch will get the same amount of minutes.

The difficulty for the Academy, Tinnion and of course NP to a certain extent is how to continue to integrate the under 21s, and even younger ones in some way; whilst adding experience and championship quality that will allow us to push on into the top half of the division.

There are going to have to be some hard calls (of the Towler ilk i think) along the way. We are guilty of our own success to a certain degree. But the Championship is such a hard division that having young players playing in the first team in order to give them experience is generally not an option unfortunately, they have to be better than what we already have at our disposal.

Who'd be a coach? 

I had hoped after Gould's hard work that the whole saga of FFP and Parachute payments would have led to the Championship being a fairer place for a majority of the teams.

Is it still the case that nothing has been decided, or even in fact gone to a vote of any kind?

It just seems to me around 8 teams (the ones that have revolving promotion/relegation doors) seem to dictate the financial policies for the whole division, knowing that they will be backed by the PL in their endeavours. A real shame that at least 2 out of 3 promoted will continue to be from this group.

1 hour ago, Ska Junkie said:

Just had a read of their forum, the highest wage bill ever to be relegated anywhere, £78.8 Million.

'Manchester United – £222,984,000

PL2. Chelsea – £169,720,000

PL3. Manchester City – £163,060,000

PL4. Liverpool – £141,782,000

PL5. Tottenham – £101,344,000

PL6. Arsenal – £85,490,000

PL7. Leicester City – £78,780,000

PL8. Aston Villa – £75,232,000

PL9. West Ham – £70,160,000

PL10. Newcastle United – £62,610,000

PL11. Crystal Palace – £59,180,000

PL12. Everton – £43,120,000

PL13. Wolves – £38,310,000

PL14. Fulham – £37,610,000

PL15. Southampton – £35,380,000

PL16. Bournemouth – £32,044,000

PL17. Nottingham Forest – £28,590,000

PL18. Brighton – £28,340,000

PL19. Leeds United – £17,300,000

PL20. Brentford – £15,240,000

We’ve the highest wage bill of any team ever relegated from the league.'

Wow!

Are we sure about those figures for Leeds and Brentford?

Our wage bill is £26m in last accounts. I can't see that Brentford and Leeds are £10-12m less than ours?

Forest bought in 22 players, and are paying Lingard a reported £200k per week.

A lot of those figures seem somewhat low in my opinion.

https://www.teamtalk.com/news/ranking-every-premier-league-club-by-their-annual-wage-bill-man-utd-above-liverpool-and-arsenal

This seems a lot more likely list.

1 hour ago, Ska Junkie said:

Just had a read of their forum, the highest wage bill ever to be relegated anywhere, £78.8 Million.

'Manchester United – £222,984,000

PL2. Chelsea – £169,720,000

PL3. Manchester City – £163,060,000

PL4. Liverpool – £141,782,000

PL5. Tottenham – £101,344,000

PL6. Arsenal – £85,490,000

PL7. Leicester City – £78,780,000

PL8. Aston Villa – £75,232,000

PL9. West Ham – £70,160,000

PL10. Newcastle United – £62,610,000

PL11. Crystal Palace – £59,180,000

PL12. Everton – £43,120,000

PL13. Wolves – £38,310,000

PL14. Fulham – £37,610,000

PL15. Southampton – £35,380,000

PL16. Bournemouth – £32,044,000

PL17. Nottingham Forest – £28,590,000

PL18. Brighton – £28,340,000

PL19. Leeds United – £17,300,000

PL20. Brentford – £15,240,000

We’ve the highest wage bill of any team ever relegated from the league.'

Wow!

Are we sure about those figures for Leeds and Brentford?

Our wage bill is £26m in last accounts. I can't see that Brentford and Leeds are £10-12m less than ours?

Forest bought in 22 players, and are paying Lingard a reported £200k per week.

A lot of those figures seem somewhat low in my opinion.

27 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

It’s going to be a long summer…

Wait until the school holidays start, and Roy DeAlien comes back.....

Maybe when the new stand is built, they can move this deluxe main disabled section over from by their East Terrace. 

Someone has made a fortune selling those white garden chairs to them.

13 hours ago, Northern Red said:

They've got Norton-Cuffy to come in once Coventry are done in the playoffs, think he played RB in the U19 tournament last year.

Is Chukwuemeka from Chelsea going to be a part of the squad when he is finished with Chelsea?

Certainly made a difference in their Euro campaign/

I'm sure City have actually used Rob's image in promotional literature and online in the past.

Demonstrates the passion he had for the club 

2 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Definitely, you can add Jimmy Mann (what a player), Mark Aizlewood, Lee Matthews, Terry Connor & Ronnie Sinclair to that list, too.

Only Shutt & Ayling joined them from us, vast majority made the reverse journey.

Always be grateful for those Super Bob times....

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

Sadly can’t see that happening, whilst Piercy is a superior journalist, print media is dying on its arse & so the temptation to run outlandish stories is high.

Barton gives them what they want, quotable nonsense about hating the opposition, having no respect for their achievements & his moaning about the officials after virtually every defeat.

The “story” about the cancelled pre season friendly with them is a case in point. I genuinely believe that he made it up, for a start we are sorting out the pitch post the Arctic Monkeys gig, so it would have been at the HPC, which makes the claim “fans would love it” irrelevant as no one could actually attend.
His ridiculous & obnoxious claims attract far more attention than those of a more sober reflective manager.

Frost moved on, as has Forrester because it’s poorly paid & not secure employment these days, he was a total disgrace though, basically North Korean in his reporting.

New Gas reporter due anytime then

43 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

No rumour just me putting names in boxes.

As in Aaron Collins, and in midfield?

56 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

You've certainly nailed that...................you may be right that the City reporters are reflecting that mindset, it's almost inevitable to be fair, BUT ever since Mike Norton got into the Editor's Office there has also been clear bias towards the Few in many instances. Not that it matters though because with a local media that fawns all over them and sneers at us they still can't get close. How embarrassing is that?

Interesting that Sam Frost has been moved on from his almost complete obedience to the cult of Barton.

Hopefully James Piercey will be able to challenge Barton more on his style of management. It's felt like journalists were previously scared to call him out on his decision making, and behaviour.

6 hours ago, Davefevs said:

Funny you say that…I watched a full 90 of him a week or so ago playing CB, and the recent Rangers game at RB.  I thought he was v.good at CB, had all the things you look for - positioning, communication, anticipation of danger etc.

Like the Joe Bryan thread, my mantra is that it’s a squad game, so trying to name where a player fits in to a “best eleven” isn’t really my thing!  We’ve seen this season, we rarely get to put out Nige’s best eleven, let alone the OTIB variants we might come up with.

So, I think he would feature wherever we need him.  Initially with Rob Atkinson out (Kalas unknown), it might be CB.  The game I watched, he played left of the two.

He’s a “rangy” player so if it midfield I’d expect him to be more than just a “sitter” if he played in the same team as James.

Don’t think I really answered your Q though!

A ggod example of this @Davefevs is of course Naismith. Started off the season at CB ( a bit ropery at times), then in the Swansea cup game moved into CM where alongside the change in formation, the team flourished. Then when he came back from injury slotted back into CB. A great utility acquisition by the club.