TDarwall

13 minutes ago, old_eastender said:

At a much reduced pay rate I hope...

If its that much reduced then I suspect he'll be off.

1 minute ago, Alessandro said:

He did - and also add I feel like I’ve noticed him making good runs into the box off the ball and getting into good positions on a number of occasions, only not to be found by a team mate - he could and should well have added several more goals to his tally if he was picked out more often.

Since he joined, our results when he's played have I think been far better than when he hasn't.  He hasn't always massively impressed me but it may well be he brings things to the team my untrained eye doesn't see. Causation & correlation et al but if nothing else, he gives the oppo something different to think about.

1 hour ago, Davefevs said:

In fairness, parity has been reached, imho

I'm sure we said a few games into LMs reign that we thought he achieve much the same as NP but in a different manner. Its been a roundabout way of getting there, but that's kind of where we have ended up. 

As well as his goal, I'm pretty sure Twine played TC through for the pen & Anis for his 1v1, so he could have ended with a goal & 2 assists.

Notwithstanding the fact Rotherham was unbelievably bad (thought they'd be much more in our faces), in fairness to us we were on it from the start & it was pleasing to see us open teams up so much without having to rely on counters on translation.  

There was a fantastic bit of interplay between TC & James, arguably TC should score but the keepers does pretty well.

On the basis we're not going to get a budget busting fee for TC (back of a decent, not stellar, season & final Yr of contract) I'd be happy to keep him & "get our value on the pitch" (no sniggering at the back!). Depends somewhat on his mindset really as not point keeping a non motivated player.

When (if) all of our centrebacks are fit we're going to have a lot of good options there. A few months back the thought of losing Dickie or Zak was terrifying but Roberts & Tanner have done great. Ironically the problem next season could be keeping them all happy with their game time.

9 minutes ago, LondonBristolian said:

 

I’d have thought Stokes would be very much in the frame to be in and around the squad at a minimum.

This is my view too, out squad isn't large enough to be loaning players like him out.

I think we're in for a disappointing day. Steve Evans is the sort of manager whose style we often struggle against & I expect them to be incredibly obdurate. Aligned to that thr players will be aiming to impress the new boss.

An early goal would change the dynamic entirely but I can see it being pretty drab otherwise as they will see 0-0 as a moral victory.

I can understand a player getting too big for his boots. They come thru academies & have smoke blown up them no end. Then they have their agent telling them they're the next Zidane.  So I get how a young man can believe their own hype & lose focus. The thing I can't get is how they allow this to happen at 3 consecutive clubs & even if they don't have the wherewithal themselves they don't have anyone close to them that can make them see the folly of their ways.

There is clearly talent there with Bakinson & midfielders with an eye for a goal are rightly sought after, but I agree with others that he seems destined to ply his trade below league 2.

VAR is total nonsense. Genuinely I'd rather the odd decision go against us than have a game held up whilst we're checking it a nasal hair strayed offside. Lots of decisions are subjective & VAR hasn't remotely got rid of bad decisions. Tech is great for black & white calls; has the ball crossed the goal line, but for everything else it's a waste of time. VAR should be binned, I hope it never gets brought into our level.

I worry we will lose James & Williams as either they'll get better ££ offers elsewhere or they will want to move back North.  James def has young family, not sure of Joe's position?.

Keeping 1 of them would be ideal for the knowledge etc, on balance I'd keep Joe, mainly cos he's a few yrs younger but think we'll miss his edge if he leaves.

3 hours ago, petehinton said:

 
 

4,500 miles from Delhi still the best curry house in Bristol though as it stands, imo. 

Been there many times, but gut feel is that it's gone down hill a bit in recent times.  Like Urban Tandoor, the chilli fish starter is the best thing.

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

Always liked him, Noggers.

Think Coops genius move to switch Keith Curle to defence did for him in BS3, but he was good.

Was it home v  Newport where Curle ran 3/4's of the pitch to score?

12 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Premier League on the training pitches…..

Best 7 aside player in the world......

17 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Off on a tangent, anyone see the prices at the Masters!

Fair play.  Easy to rip you off, but great prices.

Expensive when you add the flights & accommodation though Dave...

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

Think Flint’s incredible time with us has somewhat obscured his predecessor, who as you say played a huge part in memorable consecutive seasons.

Used to see him a lot around Princess Victoria St In Clifton, though to be fair at 6ft 5 he wasn’t exactly hard to spot.

I 1st genuinely thought we'd get promoted in that league 1 season when we best Bournemouth away. They had a big lump of a forward (Fletcher?) who always bullied our defence. McCombe didn't give him a sniff all game.  A brilliant signing.

35 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Boom Boom Jamie McCombe

That overhead kick v Wolves wow, wouldn't see any of that nonsense these days 

Hull??

Met him on train coming back from London, back when he played for us. I was plastered, he was with his girlfriend so I naturally assumed he'd want a chat.  He was really nice, friendly & didn't once mention the fact I was a drunken nause.

Massive part of our success back then, part of me thinks we beat Hull in the final if he wasn't unwell.

I'm a no at this stage - just not seen enough from him. I often complain that we don't seem as athletic/dynamic as other teams, with only Pring, Knight & Sykes being strong in that area. Twine is another who is neither quick nor powerful.

I do wonder if he is one of those that looks great at the lower leagues where its easier go find space but just doesn't have ebought about him to have a massive impact at this level. 

Happy to not see Zak & Rob for next 3 games & lose all 3, rather than risk exacerbating injuries.  Imagine we'd lost those 2, 7 games ago.

Tanner & Roberts did admirably yesterday but will by far tougher at Carrow Rd.

12 minutes ago, Mad Cyril said:

Given we can't go up and can't go down, makes me scratch my head why Mabude doesn't get any minutes to decide if he is worth signing (unless that decision is already set).

He was unlucky midweek... Pretty sure it would have been safe to bring him on if we were 6 up....

On balance I think there's slightly more chance of me appearing in our 1st match day squad come August.

Yes we thought that odd too. 

Personally I'd be starting Mehmeti as without he we are very predictable & pedestrian.  Unless we are v confident of getting Twine (& i wouldn't be spending big on him on the evidence so far) I'd play AM & not Twine.

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

 

It is striking how bar Sykes all of these players are either defenders or more defensively minded midfielders & clearly shows where we all know we’re badly lacking as a squad.

Hopefully, the 2024 version of Mehmeti is the real him, he can progress from here & go on to become a consistently creative performer. 

1). Rob Dickie

2). Dick Robbie

3). Bob Dickie

4). Richard Robbie

5). The centre half we signed from QPR.

Can't see past the big man. However, I wonder if this time next year my top 2 will be Hayden Roberts & Robert Haydon's - think he's really going to shine in 24/25.

5 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

I was ridiculed for saying "it's in our own hands" people went to great lengths to prove to me it wasn't in our own hands. 

Yea I went last night mate. At about half past 6 my son said he wanted to go so we went. Great result and performance but lots not act like it was a meaningful game and it would have been a big thing to miss it. 

If you don't want to be ridiculed, best advice is to avoid making ridiculous statements. It was pointed out to you at length at the time that it was not "in our own hands".  You just wanted to frame it that way because you knew you could complain when it didn't happen.

You can't knock the current run of results. Blackburn looked like a team that relaxed (or were tired) after a run of high pressure games- but you can only beat whats in front of you.

I've said for a while that Anis has been written off too early & for me he's been out best attacking outlet for a couple of months now - all hail the Albanian Prince! 

3 minutes ago, mozo said:

Well he did actually say that if it wasn't for Max we wouldn't have drawn in the weekend  

You're free to criticise him, but he really doesn't come across as arrogant and is frequently giving the players credit. 

The fact is for some people Manning has a mountain to climb & whatever he says will be picked to death.

A few weeks back folk were bemoaning a more passionate manager like Cotts. However if you looked at this forum after Cotts early games in charge, when things weren't great, there was little praise for his post match interviews & mocking him for sounding deranged!

I very rarely listen to pre/post match pressers but I do find it odd if someone really dislikes someone's communication style why they invest so much time listening to it just to say how rubbish it is.

I come back to the same thing, if Manning gets us promoted next season with about 40 dull as dishwater 1-0 wins, he'll be able to conduct his press activity through the mediums of modern dance & mime & will largely be lauded as a genius.  2 rules of football, 1) results are everything, 2) never forget rule #1.