Silvio Dante

I think this is quite relevant. The catalyst for their improvement appears to have been Elliott Anderson from Newcastle. There is no way he’s going on loan to L1 next year, and if they do it’s more likely to be one of the big boys at that level such as a Weds or (yes) Ipswich. The loanee from Stoke (Connor Taylor) has been again getting great reviews. Can easily see Stoke trying to ease him into their squad next year. I also think they’ve got at least one more. But replacing two key players is not going to be easy.

Just bumping this. He was excellent again today for me and my MoM, narrowly ahead of Atkinson and Martin. If the finances work, it seems to be a no-brainer to offer a year with a trigger clause for a second if x games played

Ah..that was the lesser spotted Ian Gay/Bristol Boy/Man who’s frustrated football didn’t recognise his obvious talents What his opinion is worth you could write on the back of a postage stamp.

I’m guessing the lack of Pring and Vyner on the bench is he knows what they can do, in a good way (Pring) and in a bad way (Vyner). He’s got a decision to make on Idehen so it makes sense if we need him to give him minutes.

I think the other thing about this is an understanding of where the market was at the time. Not just us, but other teams were spending £1m + on “punts”. Even now, someone like Atkinson is £1.6m and isn’t a guaranteed starter. The theory is/was that if you buy 5 “punts” and one comes off you make a profit, while also having bodies in the squad. The problem is that if none come off it’s a hell of a lot more noticeable if the punts are £1m and not £100k There is no doubt we haven’t got Vfm on a lot of the list, and I do think we were dealing in an inflated market where we were probably taken advantage of by our CEOs love for a deal. However I do understand the strategy and Moore ticked a lot of boxes that made the punt, at the price in that market, a tenable one.

Unlike some signings at the time (eg Engvall) I think I “got”, and indeed we all “got” Moore. England age group international, room to improve, decent attitude. Ultimately he’s not kicked on for whatever reason so it’s time to let go, but I’d take the gamble again

It’s a very valid question that deserves more than some of the responses so far. Its often quoted that England don’t do as well as they could at tournaments due to the strain of our season. With Qatar mid season then that strain hits club teams in the second half and not the National sides. We should be ok. Based on current squad it’s only (potentially) Semenyo going to the tournament, so there’s opportunity to go hard in the first half of the season, then rest up, then go hard in the second half. The uniqueness of the season means that “lesser” squads with few internationals will have an opportunity as the “better” squads tire

That ain’t bad.

Nobody is saying you’re a clown for suggesting Pearson should do better. It’s a valid viewpoint. What you’re getting stuck for is the reliance on figures from a site which is clearly (and proven) guessing wages. There is no reason to suggest we’d have signed a 34 year old free agent right back who needed a trial as a top earner. You’re then getting stick for saying that he let Fam go, when it was totally clear he had no intent of staying. You might have a point with should he have let Wells go to Cardiff, but the overall point is lost in your vitriolic logic being based around the Simpson assumption. My suggestion would be to start a new thread, with criticism of Pearson not based around something clearly erroneous. Again, it’s a valid viewpoint but the hinge for this particular argument is too broken.

There is always a way to disprove things. The easy way here is Weimann. As seen above, for 2022 per that site he is on £18k p/w. We know as fact we renegotiated his contract in summer 2021 as the option was at a higher level, and we did a three year deal on lower money. So logic confirms he was on more than £18k per week in 2020 etc. Helpfully, Salarysport also gives the figures they’ve used for prior years. For Andi… https://salarysport.com/football/player/andreas-weimann/ Yes, their salary for him in 2020 is the same as in 2022. Leading to the indisputable conclusion, they are totally guessing and have no idea who is paid what.

Here it is… I can only say, if conceding goals is down to being over emotional we must have the most sensitive group of footballers in the league

Yeah did see that. I think he’s the biggest name involved - Gillespie, Beardsmore, Lee Martin as opposed to Beckham, Neville and Scholes. Still worth a watch though

Only came for the bluebells..,

I’m fairly sure he has connections to the area. A few years ago he was having a few drinks at the Squire in Sodbury and posing for photos with regulars. I arrived too late! As for Wellers music, I think the thing for me is that he releases so much that there are invariably peaks and troughs in quality, particularly as he does experiment (within reason). I find there aren’t great albums currently but are great tracks (example - Shades of Blue from Fat Pop!). Seeing him live is a great experience though, done it three times (Westonbirt, Downs, Colston) and fantastic shows. At heart, I don’t think he’s bettered the Jam (I don’t think there’s a better “story” song than Tube Station), but I can certainly listen to the 40 years since they split up and there aren’t many musicians who can go for that long without turning completely dire or just becoming a nostalgia act.

Yeah, Yate have had some awful results recently - 3-0 defeat at home to Swindon Supermarine sticks out, and the current fixtures haven’t been kind as postponements are made up - Hayes and Yeading (top) away on Saturday was a 4-0 defeat after being 1 down with 5 minutes left (and several players missing), and 2nd placed Taunton tonight. Unlikely they’ll make it but still a great season. Garnished by a fantastic own goal against Walton Casuals last Tuesday… (Skip to 1:19)

I think the reason we’re viewed as a “strange club” is that inherently there is a heck of a lot of potential which just doesn’t seem to be realised, so people look for an underlying reason. The catchment area for City is huge. There aren’t competitors in the south west of any comparable size. So, you’re outside looking in - you say why are this team, which is significantly bigger than anyone else around them and has clear potential to be in the premier league, not kicking that door down? Previously you could have said Stadium - now you can’t Previously you could have said fan base - now you can’t Previously you could have said financial backing - now you can’t Previously you could have said lack of appeal to players - now you can’t So, outside looking in - everything is geared to the top level. Pre our FFP hiccup, you had a well funded squad playing in a new stadium with capacity in line with small prem, an owner who’d write off debt and 20k turning up each week. The only reason, outside looking in, that people think we aren’t kicking on is - why don’t they want it enough? And that means we are “strange”…

And…both of those things could be true. If Kalas has been playing with an injury that has not been given time to get better for two years, logic says it’s maintaining at best but more than likely deteriorating. He went from the side when safety was almost assured, but we clearly felt we could not do without him until that point. Now, if he’s got a long term problem and it isn’t resolved, then should we wish to sell him in the summer we run the risk of a medical failure, or the buying club offering less as he has a “less serious but unresolved problem” Kalas having the operation doesn’t mean he’s not off. It means we thought we could get safe without him and we’re either ensuring his fitness for a new season with us or “protecting our asset” in the event of a sale.

After seeing the prices, it’s a miracle I’m Still Standing.

Never any problem with a polite disagreement I think your nuance is probably correct - it’s not that we’ll lose a disproportionate amount through “performance”, but there is the aspect of replacing the “life stagers” who move on, and that’s less easy to do with a struggling side. If you like, we’re in a position that was debated when we looked in danger of going up to the prem. Is it better to be challenging at the top of a division consistently, or to be struggling at the wrong end of the division above. I’d never say you “take” a relegation (look at Sunderland, Ipswich etc), but if you go down and come straight back up, that promotion campaign gives an ongoing shot in the arm to ticket sales for a few years.

I think that, although there are certainly a few for whom the “entertainment” is a factor in not renewing, they tend to be the minority group in non-renewal. Football is unlike any other “entertainment” industry where the loyalty to the club is hard wired, it’s part of peoples identity (yes, as the PR said, it’s a way of life). For most people, if you have a bad meal at a restaurant you don’t go there and there is an alternate you’ll enjoy as much. For football fans - it’s not that much of an option (I enjoy going to Yate Town but I don’t get the same feeling at Lodge Road as I do at City). So, despite at times lack of entertainment we keep coming back. The biggest factors around non renewals are, and always will be, cost or stage of life. With the first, I have no doubt with the COL crisis that many people will have to forego season tickets (and I hope that the club do some inventive POD pricing to allow them to attend at least some games). With the second, I remember my spell of no S/T - it was for c4 years (Millen and McInnes era), and I’d just had my first kid. For me, at that time, I couldn’t justify the time away from the family and leaving the OH on her own every Saturday. There will be others who forego for similar reasons each year. What I’m saying is the club know and expect a certain number of non renewers. And this year, they’ll expect that to be higher due to the economy. The renewal number being down will not be seen as being down to dissatisfaction with the “product” - and that’s probably correct.

To lighten some of the doom from yesterday, mate of mine has sent me the Ipswich season ticket renewal letter. Good to see Suffolk resident “Bobboblue” has had his complaints over the Tannoy heard.

Although I agree with a lot of the above Dave, it’s pushing it to call Weimanns increased availability a plus for Rennie. Bloke had a very good availability record, snapped his cruciate which made him unavailable for 2/3 of a season and now has a very good availability record again.

Agree with a lot of what’s been said - and I think, bottom line for me is I’m not sure what he’s “for” in there. I don’t see a player who makes loads of tackles, who breaks the game up or plays through the lines to move us forward. He’s just “there” - not doing anything badly but not really doing anything. Pearson said yesterday about passive players - I think James is absolutely passive and lets the game pass him by. Last week at Bournemouth he had a good last 20 when he had to be steady to balance Massengo but yesterday we didn’t even see that. So, for me the question is that if at this stage of his career he’s a player who is 6/10 at a lot of things when playing well, but is seeming to dip below that, and not 7/10 or 8/10 at any point, is he any more than now a backup player?

Can I just point something out… @Akira stated “Ralph Milne springs to mind” as someone who he thought had used multiple usernames/accounts. He didn’t reference you, under your username, at all. So, that being the case, and working on the basis you’re not Ralph Milne (clearly not literally, the blokes dead), why the intensely passionate defence/denial?

He didn’t. The one I know for certain is that prior to signing Nagy, we were about to resign Skuse. LJ was “given” Nagy and told he couldn’t have Skuse. If that happened on that deal, you can bet it happened on others