Silvio Dante

Which again, is why I think we go for it. Not by overspending, but retaining and adding sensibly. @Steve Watts will tell you I called Scott’s value months ago. He’s £20m. Easily. It’s chicken feed for some prem clubs for an 18 year old in the international setup with (what he will have) of 40 games and combined double digits assists/goals at Champ. That’s Spurs catnip. And it will be in a year. But if we retain him for a year that value doesn’t drop. And FFP is still not a problem. So we go for it next year, as opposed to selling. It’s totally set up for that.

I think my logic here is twofold - momentum and talent. We’ve “turned the ship around”. The momentum is forward, undoubtedly. You see this in less talented squads - momentum, and teamwork, is key. You only have to look at GJ in 2008 for that. Momentum takes you high. So, talent. I genuinely don’t believe there is a better 3 in midfield at this level than Scott, Massengo and Williams. I think Semenyo has potential to be top level. Kalas is top six. Bentley is better than Max and is top 10. Weimanns goals put him top level this year, before you add the team value. The fact is you don’t need the best 11 players to go up. You need 5/6 well managed and supported. We have that. (and no, I’m not drunk. I’ve seen this coming for a few weeks, but bizarrely a loss to Luton and draw vs Preston tipped me over the edge)

We’re going up next season. I know this was a three year plan, and we’re 1/3 through it. But I think it’s accelerating. Nobody could have believed Alex Scott would come in and be a top class Championship CM after this long. Massengo maybe, but his trajectory is off the chart. Nobody at the start of this season thought Semenyo could be a beast up front. Nobody at the start of this season thought Pring, excepting an error today, could be this good. Nobody saw Benarous coming. We’re currently at 18 months stage when we should be at 9. Check the trajectory. It’s insane. All we need is maturity, and that comes with games, which is happening. A couple of smart additions and we’re there. We’ve just dominated 3 games on the bounce. But more than that, it’s the thinking of where we were in November. Its clicking. it’s coming. Put your tenners on.

Just about to post the same. It appears to originate in the Sun. So you know it’s bollocks.

Alright, calm down Phylis…

If they don’t tweet “The roof is Klosed” they all deserve the sack.

Incidentally, Mark Labett is called the beast not because he’s a big imposing bastard, but due to the French translation of his name. Damn Enlightning this thread!

But, as the answer is Clayton Blackmore, that means your reading is wrong and pedantry wins again!

@Oh Louie louie preparing for an evening out…

One of my small pleasures is each Tuesday in the Guardian reading Squires cartoon based on recent football events. It’s sharp, a bit political, and full of references. The downside of him being a Swindon fan is outweighed by his work. Anyway, guess who’s in this week… https://www.theguardian.com/football/ng-interactive/2022/jan/25/david-squires-on-drones-ghost-ships-and-a-weird-premier-league-weekend?CMP=Share_iOSApp_Other

Ah it’s in the wording though ”Which ex city player” and no qualification means they played for us at one point. Not that the event happened after they played for us. If it was worded as “Which ex city player then went on…” said player would have had to play for us before the event. The lack of the qualification allows for players to play for us after the event. Yes, I’m pedantic…

I’m going for Jacki. It doesn’t say he played for us before scoring said goal. It also doesn’t say top flight is English top flight. Jacki’s club won the Polish cup in 1985 - no idea if he scored but the answer seems to tick a few boxes

To be fair, no huge surprises there. Simpson on the bench makes sense as it’s the only other fit defender we have at the moment, and your only choice becomes whether Williams is fit enough to start, and you move Scott to RWB instead of DaSilva, which would have been harsh on both considering Saturday. COYR.

I’m not sure he slated him to be honest. @Merrick's Marvels gave what I’d consider to be a fairly balanced appraisal based on what we know, and didn’t “kick him in the bollox”. The fact is that Pearson, Holden and three managers at conference level haven’t felt Louis has what it takes to improve them. Does that make him a shit footballer? No, he’s better than anyone who’s posting on this thread by far. What it does say is that for, whatever reason, better qualified judges than you or me don’t think Louis’ undoubted goal scoring instincts outweigh what they consider his negative points. I don’t think you’ll find anyone wishing him ill. He’s assessed as not good enough. It happens. But you’ve made no case as to why we will be proven wrong here.

Remember on page one of the thread when I said teams had to play as long as they had 11, even if no GK? Well…. Afcon 2021: Comoros will play without a recognised goalkeeper for last-16 tie with Cameroon https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/africa/60104273

Don’t Drink Don’t Smoke? What does he do? Subtle Innuendos follow There must be something inside

I didn’t think they were “too nice”, I think we just seem to have developed a streetwise streak. Flint would have known of Semenyo as a youth player. What he wouldn’t have expected now was someone who bullied him in every challenge, beat him up physically and, yeah, left a bit on him (within the rules of the game). Was fantastic to see.

We always have the tunnel camera footage after a win, but I think Joe Williams has taken it to a new level:

I think we probably have to say that Louis has missed the bus in terms of making it at City. He undoubtedly seems to have the knack of scoring goals, but if there was ever a season to break through it was this one - we’re operating with a small squad, a manager who’s giving young players minutes and he was the like for like replacement for someone who desperately needed resting in CM. Add into that I think it’s now three loans at Conference level without pulling up trees, and I think it looks the right decision to part ways. A comment that I haven’t seen referenced much from Niges presser was his statement to the effect of that if you’re not in and around at 19, you rarely will be in and around (yes there are Vardy and Reid type exceptions) and this seems to fall into that category. What I think we have to realise is that now the academy is producing, players that may have made it here or at least been given a crack won’t come through - I’m thinking players like Harper here - and the 19 year olds will have 18/17 year olds snapping at their heels.

Yep, 9 hours well worth spending.

There can be more than one - If the Beatles had stopped at “Love Me Do” would you be happy? Theres no doubt the above is shite but you have to go through your Maxwells Silver Hammers to get to your Come Togethers. But it’s still shite.

I think the thing with Truro is unless they go full time and pay people to move there, they’re always going to struggle to develop. The location isn’t as favourable for employment as here, for example, and teams like WSM and Yate are part time and rely on people having other jobs while playing for them. If those other jobs aren’t there in Truro, they get less players. Add in that a standard away game (even here) is a few hours away adding massive costs and it’s difficult to see how they get much further. They’ve been bankrupt twice to my knowledge and sold their ground. IIRC, Cornish Pirates have turned down promotion before as it’s not financially viable

I’m assuming mine is right - Yate tweeted last night they were into the playoffs and the table is from the Southern League website. I’m guessing Weston updated the games played but didn’t put the result in. Crafty trick to make the playoffs!