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For me the last 3 years have been akin to the period after GJ left. A gradual dropping down the division, with a bit of a miracle escape in 2011/12 (Chris Wood was great loan signing for us). Followed by the inevitable relegation the following season. 1999/00, and 2012/13 were poor seasons. But at least we had some hope; and could see the commitment of the players. The last year or so, has been generally very poor. If last season consisted of only 30 games stretching from Jan to May, we would have been bottom by at least 10 points. My only hope for this season is that there are 3 worse teams than us. At present Peterborough, Barnsley, and Derby (thank god for the -21 points ) are doing sterling work in that regard. But we can't rely on that carrying on. At some stage, one of them will pick up. We need the equivalent points of 8-9 wins to be safe i reckon. A bit of a tall order at present. But the Jan window is only a month away, and let's see what it brings. I'm not expecting miracles from the board (FFP is, what it is). But maybe, just maybe the introduction of 2-3 loans (with NP having to take back his view on loans) will get us over the line. In the meantime, it feels like we are scrapping in a tough division without the requisite squad. Looking at @Davefevs squad contract list. It's obviously the end of the 22/23 season when we are in the best position to make changes. The players OOC in the summer will only give us minor scope to improve the squad. It's tough this, isn't it?

I'm guessing that FFP only applies to seasons that the club has in the Championship? Can't imagine the EFL can impose conditions stemming from when you weren't in the competition? So if Ipswich came up (unlikely given their season so far), they would have 3 years before the proverbial hits the fan.

Yep, and they're all really chuffed to have "volunteered" to do it for the benefit of the club?

To be honest, isn't that just a ploy to slow down the play/disrupt the game. He doesn't need to towel off the ball every throw. There was one time yesterday that Kalas towelled the ball, threw it in; and it got knocked straight out. Cue the 2 minute towel run all over again.?? We have so little possession in games now that we are getting masters of the "dark arts". Some real time wasting from the start of the second half yesterday onwards. I don't care though, it's all part of game management; and been done to us for years.

They are unpaid college students from the foundation.

https://www.bcfc.co.uk/robins-foundation/education/post-16-courses/ It is for real Reg. Thomas bought home the prospectus. Every kid has to stay in some form of education until they are 18 (apprenticeships, b-techs, college courses, A levels etc). If you fail your GCSE Maths or English you have to keep on retaking them until you pass (in theory). In the meantime loads of colleges/Academics have sprung up. Willing to take on the govt £4k per child pupil preminum teaching courses that are somewhat "interesting". Learning E-Sports at Game by the gallery for 2 years?

College kids are 16,17 & 18. You just have the older ones serving the alcohol.

That was my thoughts as well. But if they don't "volunteer". If apparently reflects badly in their term report. They also have to "volunteer" in the club shop, Sports bar, and at events at AG, and Failand. It's like an army of free labour, whilst also getting the pupil preminum of nearly £4k pa fron the govt for teaching them. It's a real money maker for sure..

Really surpised the Kalas one wasn't given, as it was so blatant. He was slow to react and Chester was in for a free header before that push. The HNM one could go down as the proverbial six of one, half a dozen of the other. Although it didn't look good on Quest highlights.

Not helped by the City Academy unpaid "Volunteers". Being asked to work for free as part of their education. They do look as though they've mainly been bought against their will to work there. When they recently gave a presentation at my son's school, they skipped through rather quickly the bit about; what rhe expectation is for the students to give up their time outside of school for the benefit of the club. Choosing to focus on "You can study E sports at Game, or Sports coaching etc"

Now i understand NP's phrase "They're not on the bus".?

The thing that i've enjoyed most about Bennarous is his imputance. He loves winding up opposition players, and drawing the fouls. The second yellow card for Allen being a case in point. Whilst putting himself around, and not allowing other to boss him. I really believed that Scott and Benerous would blow up Pring style in the second half due to their two games in 4 days; and the amount of work that were having to do. However in some ways they grew stronger in the last 15-20 mins. Really impressive. It says alot about the squad though that it takes an 18 & 19 year old to lead by example over determination, and shear will power. A big shout out to Scott as well. When he was subbed after 30 mins, and dropped from the squad. He could have moaned, and gone backwards. He seems to have done the opposite though, and come back stronger and more determined to make the right impression. It says alot about the imbalance in the squad at the moment. That alongside COD he is being asked to do defensive duties that aren't second nature to him.

It was an easy change to make, i just don't know why we've taken nearly a year to do it. Old habits die hard i suppose.

The body can only deal with pain in one place at a time. So you might not be aware that you are more seriously injured, if your brain hasn't registered the injury. Dealt with many RTCs back in the day, with people complaining about their arm or back; completely unaware that they have serious leg injuries.

So i promised @GrahamC that i might have to put something out again about this; apologies When we came out we set up as normal to attack the atyeo first half, and then we changed, just like the Blackburn game. I can only think that's the plan now moving forward. For a team defending a lead with 35% possession, i think it must help to have your fans behind you. Pushing you through those final 9 (cough 8.5 mins) of extra time.

No real surprises with what the NP position seems to be around Dasilva. As we said before the match on the forums prior to Saturday's game, he hasn't been that good either defensively or offensively for a long time now. We needed to be better defensively as a team, and although there is no way COD is a LB, or in my eyes Vyner a Championship RB; we did as a team play better on Saturday without JD in it. Probably that was helped by the reintroduction of Williams into the mix. NP obviously called out JD earlier on this season. He hasn't seen the required response; so as he puts it; JD is not "On the Bus". I don't think it's an attitude thing from Jay, it's just if you are an ex- England Under 21 international, I don't think it's unrealistic for the coaches to expect a higher level of performance. It's different in the case of Atkinson & Tanner, who are still learning; and very new to this level. If that's not obtainable, then we need to move on, and get someone in who can.

That's what NP did with Palmer for a number of matches though as well. Made him train with the 18, on the pitch as well; even though he wasn't named in the matchday squad.

Thanks @GrahamCand @Davefevs I mentioned it in my posts last week before the game. When you have been struggling to defend it the last 10 minutes of a game, then you have to change some dynamic. For me, it was an easy change, and Graham could probably tell a story about the look on my face when we swapped it around. Not giving the away team the advantage of playing towards their fans, i think did play a part. At 1-1 with 20 mins to go, who knows, it may have turned into another Blackpool/Luton/Forest show. In fact, we actually improved after their goal; and arguably had the stronger last 10-15 mins, that I can remember in a long time. Whether it was our or Blackburn's decision to change the attacking ends, I believe it paid dividends. Let's see what Stoke brings tomorrow night.

Thanks, standing by for being suitably depressed again tomorrow afternoon when the teams are announced.

Hopefully the photo comes through ok. @Davefevs this was about a month ago.

I think Wells has some quality to him, but at the moment he looks a bit of a square peg in a round hole. I can't remember seeing a worse protagonist of the forward pressing the defender. From my place in the Dolman, I see him run to within two or three yards of each defender; and then give him, allowing them the opportunity to bring the ball forward unopposed. You can see Martin, and Weimann thinking "why should i bother on this 3 man press, when Wells just isn't applying himself". It's the same when he is asked to play right midfield. He doesn't track his player, and puts in the minimum amount of effort. It's not always his fault of course, sometimes when he gets the ball, his options are so limited that he either loses the ball, or is unable to make an impact. The above paragraph just really documents that the way he is being asked to play, just isn't his game. He comes alive in the six yard box; and thrives on players getting to the goal line and passing the ball to him. At QPR he had an embarassment of riches in that respect with Eze, Chair & Oseyi-Samuel. We simply don't have those players with the skill, and pace to make that happen. Strangely my eldest son played up at Failand recently, and was allowed into the gym afterwards. He photgraphed the leadership board for the total distance running, High Intensity distance, Sprint distance, max speed, CMJ Height, Peak Power, Nordbord?, and MTP? @Davefevs you might be interested in the results. The winner in the max speed "Nakki Wells at 10.3" surprisingly. The next three were all defenders. Tells you everything about our pace up top.

I've still not recovered from seeing him at WBA. Tanner gets subbed after 30 mins for a poor first half punctuated by a poor back pass that we got away with. At 2-0 Simpson tried a back pass, that in my memory is perhaps the worst attempted back pass I have ever seen. After Grant scored, the whole City team walked back to the centre spot, and watched the highlight of his absolute shocker. Their collective body language told me everything about the team's attitude at that time. Tanner can be excused, he is young; just up from L2, and will make mistakes. Simpson is a PL winner, experienced pro, with a dozen plus years in the PL. Why we signed him on a year's contract (with an option of a second), when he hardly set the world alight last season when on his shirt term deal, is beyond me.? We had a chance to sort out the RB position in the Summer, and once again made a frankly awful decision.

Since his wonderful loan spell with us, he just hasn't hit those heights again unfortunately. A combination of injuries, and lack of form I reckon. When he was at his best, he would maraud up and down the wing, and look to break through the front line (like Weimann's first goal against Barnsley). He would often have the pace, and natural ball skills to get himself back into position. A decent crosser of the ball, who linked up well with the left winger/midfielder. For me at the moment, not only have has his pace gone; but also his defensive capabilities. He very rarely gets close enough to a player to cut out a cross, or indeed breaks over the half way line anymore. Whether this is a physical or mental thing i don't know. But i remember NP talking about the need for him to improve earlier on this season. He is also a liability on defending crossed coming in from the other side at the back post. To such a degree, that NP has even put Baker in there to defend it better; and there's no way Nathan Baker is a LB (I know he played there when he started). I don't think he trusts Pring either to be fair; and is probably annoyed by his lack of fitness. Problems at both full back positions have haunted us for years now, whilst the centre backs generally haven't been too bad. Vyner's poor performances against Brum, and Coventry have probably sealed his fate i would imagine. Much like good old Taylor Moore.

Agreed, he does lose out in a physical challenge from time to time, but he is of course on a steep learning curve. He has some pace, not bad in the air, and a better passer of the ball than Baker. He's not a Webster, and he looks raw at times; but I've seen enough of Atkinson to like his potential at least. He is willing to learn, and brave (a number of times he could have gone off injured, but stayed on). It's a huge leap from NL to Champ in 2 years (via L1). I'll need to see how he is next season, after a full season at this level to make any form of judgement on whether he is up to the job or not; the same goes for Tanner. It says a lot about us as a club that we've had to go into the lower divisions to buy players. Previously we were feeding at the table of PL sides like Chelsea and Villa (Quoting Kalas, Palmer, JD and Baker there). Nowadays we're buying from Oxford, and Carlisle; whilst the other three new permanent signings this summer had all been released by their clubs, or in Simpson's case was on a shirt term deal here. Gone are the days for the time being of us being in ready made replacements at this level. We just don't have the scope to do that at present. I got the feeling from NP's interviews yesterday, that he has gone back to the board and almost insisted on new arrivals in Jan. A further indication that he has lost faith in the current group of players for me.

thanks @Davefevs When you put that team on paper, it does look weak doesn't it. I understand NP wanting to work with a smaller squad. But when a large number of that aforementioned small squad are either injured, out of form or as he puts it "Not on the bus"; then there is very little to work with. Hence the flogging of Martin, Weimann and James (until his injury). Benarous reminded me a lot of when Semenyeo first came into the team, when he played against Barnsley. Completely out of pace/Understanding of the team. It was a bizarre decision that @GrahamCand I were dumfounded by. Scott's early season promise has given way to being ponderous, and lacking confidence. It's always difficult of course being 18, and playing in a struggling side. But that leaves Palmer as the only attacking Midfielder. Hence why we've scored so little goals at home of course. What does he do, put the kids in? (Conway, Bell, Jannah, Bakinson again...?). NP talks about having experienced players. We have experienced players that are just not performing to anywhere near the required standard. Getting further experienced players in the Jan window is going to be very very difficult. You only really then get young players, or experienced players with an attitude problem/issue that have fallen out with their current team; and aren't playing. For every Tomlin that you get in of this ilk(from his loan spell, before he turned into one of those for us on a permanent), there are countless others that have had virtually no real impact.