TDarwall

It was also nice to see Bobby Reid was captain for Fulham at the weekend.

It does demonstrate that the development of a player is rarely linear.   Not sure many would have suggested Bobby was a future captain of a Prem team.

I bet Liam is on Steve's watch list.  Very much a Lansdown type of manager.

Fwiw (not a lot!), I didn't think he came across as tetchy. Maybe not the jolliest he's been (low bar) but not the most terse either.

I do think unleas we have a really good season (top 10?) then there will be a conscious decoupling next summer.

Definitely a "big name" signing!

Whilst there may well be some angst between Nige & the club, I genuinely think he is anti the sort of "clubs in a bag" player collecting mentality of previous regimes. At £2M McCrorie is obvs 1st choice right back, Tanner is back up & Zak &/or Sykes could fill in. On that basis a loan does seem to make sense.

Re Ross Mc, we do seem to have repeated the Joe Williams trick of losing our big summer singing before they've really kicked a ball in anger for us. 

I'm totally anti VAR & would love to see it binned. The only possible justification for keeping it is to spot terrible errors. Things like the Maradona hand ball. For me, if VAR needs to spend 5 mins looking at it from 47 different angles, & different speeds then it's not a foul/offside etc.

It ruins the flow of the game. Football is a sport that's needs to flow, VAR ruins this.

Even allowing for the fact we'd surely get more penalties with VAR I hope it never comes to the Championship.

I'd thought that with McCrorie out & Tanner not having a great start, Sykes at right back is a possibility.

Was surprised to see Cornick go off (unless injured) as thought he had a decent 1st half.  Generally I'm not a fan of h/t substitutions unless someone is having the mother of mares or a big tactical change is needed.

Cam doesn't really seem to have going this season, can't really any rampaging runs. I think Roberts will get a start sooner than later. He did over hit some balls today but I think for now we may be better forfeiting Cams raw pace for Roberts technical ability.  I know it was only v Oxford, but he linked up really well with Mehmeti & so far this season that's the only real success we've seen from a full back/winger combo.

Inflation is hitting the cost of repairs very hard I'd imagine.

Firms can no longer offer better new business prices then they can at renewal, but its still worth shopping around.  There is a phenomenon called "brand stacking" - LV for instance have more than 1 brand on the price comparison websites & as they are set up as separate entities some have better prices than others.

8 minutes ago, Silvio Dante said:

Well, under 11.6 there is a need to stress borrowers, which will be nothing new for a city defender…

Stress test or stress ??   

I'm sure there is something in MCOBs about prohibiting two footed lunges.

*apologies, niche material for nerds!

Being tight at the back makes a huge difference. Only conceding twice in the 1st 3 games is a brilliant achievement & gives the defence a lot of confidence.  Depth on the bench is so much better than 12 months ago too.

The question is, what constitutes a "big" club? Is it fan base, ground, history or is it where they are in the pyramid?

In many ways we're bigger than Bournemouth & smaller than Derby  however the former nicked our best player & we nicked one of the latter's best players.

From a players perspective their motives are going to be a combo of a) the most dosh & b) playing at the highest level.  Unless they have offers which are comparable in those regards I don't think whether it's a "big" club or not comes into it.

Away to Oxford in the cup is 1 of my all time fave games. Can't recall if it was late 80's/early 90's. 

Packed away end, Andy Leaning inspired on his debut & a wordlie from Ralph Milne in a 4-2 win.

I'd like to think we would see more of Memehti before spending a wedge on a player like Chair.  Equally I suspect Chair would have better options than us.

13 minutes ago, SuperRed said:

Preston had clearly done their homework and nullified Pring going forward through Browne and Potts. They were happy for Tanner to be free knowing that he offers little going forward. Hopefully McCrorie at right back will give us another attacking dimension.

Tanner was poor going forward on Sat, but in the past he's been very effective. For whatever reason neither  Tanner/Cornick nor Cam/Bell worked as partnerships on Sat. 

The good news is that we have competition I'm most positions so if things don't improve we have other options.

22 minutes ago, Bristol Oil Services said:

Liking Pep's two tone beard, he might get the Cov job one day looking like that

Not for a while yet, he's much too young.

I thought Zak was MOM. Thought Cam was very poor in possession but in truth all over the pitch, our passing was off. However you have to give some credit to PNE, strong, resolute & organised & they were not easy to play against.

The depth for the front 3 is amazing & surpasses anything we've had for quite some time. The fact you could swap the entire front 3 with no discernible drop in quality is amazing.

7 minutes ago, Bcfcshags said:

Not in the squad tomorrow. Out injured  

Hope it's not serious.

Even if they were, I don't think it changes anything. If you're on the cusp of getting £20m +, why take the risk that the player injures himself?

If we were about to play someone who were on thr verge of signing Scott, common sense says we don't play him  but delay the deal a day or so, so he can't play for them either.

I'd be amazed if he's starting tomorrow, but if he does, I think it's a sign nothing is imminent. I could be wrong mind!

34 minutes ago, marmite said:

Appreciate that but just supposing, hypothetically, that it was Preston who were bidding? Would we keep him out against them?

I'm pretty sure they aren't! 

9 minutes ago, marmite said:

Alex is our player until he's sold and as such, if fit, he should be in our team. 

Suppose we leave him out and the transfer falls through, it means we've left him out for no reason. 

I think it depends what stage negotiations are at. If its looking likely, then he can't play; the risk of him getting severely crocked so we can neither sell him nor play him is too great.

On 08/07/2023 at 10:37, JoeAman08 said:

 

I'm really relaxed about this (possibly as I've been convinced he'll go all summer). On balance, I think better to go before the season starts; imagine how we'd feel if he's MOM 1st 3 games & then he goes.

For all the stuff Nige has said in the media I suspect he's relaxed too, as he knows it's inevitable.

One thing about LJ is that he was able to adapt.  Most people remember him as being the link man, lots of short 5 yard passes.  However he only became that once were in the Championship.

The season before in League 1, Bristol Boy used to write match reports on here. One of his most frequent complaints was that LJ was always looking for the Hollywood, killer pass & it often meant we lost possession.

Whatever you think of him, it's to his credit that he learned he could get away with that at Lg1 but not the Championship & he severely reigned in his passing style.

A good lad, all the best to him.