Silvio Dante

Bit from A and a bit from B. We haven’t created masses off our own steam but don’t need to - in addition to the two goals the Sykes chance comes from an abysmal header straight to us and Tommys hat trick chance is a back pass. We’re pressing them higher because they’ve got a huge number of mistakes in them and that’s leading to openings. They also look pretty toothless up top. Goals came at a good time as they were getting on top but if you’ve got that level of mistake in you as a team you’ll lose more than you win. Column A - they’ve given us our four best chances Column B - at least two of those, maybe three, don’t happen without the higher press Oh, and can someone please attack the back stick on Twines corners..

It’s a must see. I learnt how to make Halloumi wrapped in Cornflakes the other day and according to Marcus Brigstocke, who wasn’t getting paid to say this, it was “delicious”. Sod the football, get me the ninja.

Whether it’s the weather, end of season nothing to play for vibes or Channel 5 showing “Air Friers: Sunday Dinner Made Simple” it’s far less busy than normal down here.

I think you may be wrong there. I certainly remember in the 80s City being as bad as anyone for the “You Black *******” chants. Thankfully long since gone but when I started going it was definitely there.

I think you’ll find they could afford Tella. £20m Tella/£19m Trafford. Whether he would have wanted to come or not is a different question but you’re talking a lot in absolutes for a man with no discernable links to Burnley…

On the first point I’m not sure there was actually a great deal wrong with the Burnley side that went up - the issue was ripping it apart. They seemed addicted to signing a player a week for social media “clicks” and players who had played for them on loan and were available like Nathan Tella they didn’t sign. You then had things like signing Trafford at a vastly inflated cost and agreeing to a buyback clause to top it off! That their recruitment included Massengo should be a sign of how scattergun it was.

I think they do know, but that’s not the reason for the emails - and @phantom’s point about a new ticket system is a Maguffin. All season ticket holders will be on a mailing list (“A”) There will be a pre scheduled campaign for emails to be sent to ST holders at each stage of the renewal period. This would happen if 100 or 10000 people had renewed (“B”) However, the club only want to send those pre-scheduled mails to those who haven’t renewed (“A” - “B”) So, they know - because they need to know who is in the A-B list. But the mails would come irrespective of how many people were on that list.

We are?

Certainly was better than Stocky, but Piercy is definitely a level above him. Plus, Gregor’s continued use of “wide of the mark” got right on my nerves…!

No chance of a loan next season IMO. He signed for Burnley on a 4 year deal in 2022, so it’s approaching the time where they need to play or sell him as end of next season he’s got one year left and value starts to fall off a cliff. I stand by that we’re now two seasons away from an excellent season at league one and he’s been indifferent since, not helped by injuries. There’s a player in there but jury remains out at this level in respect of a £5m player as was suggested above. He needs a hell of a last five games for it to be considered at that price. Lower price may be worth the risk but either way, needs to be more than peripheral in the run in

I’m not sure that would prevent them, should they so wish, stating how many season tickets had been sold though.

I’m assuming you’re still living in the days of Gregor McGregorface and Andy “one for the road” Stockhousen. James Piercy is an excellent journalist and above the standard you normally get at a local paper such as the Post, particularly after the cutbacks at Reach. I do think he goes a bit too easy at times but he’s knowledgeable, articulate and doesn’t just ask banal questions. He won’t be there for long - he’s too good.

Things are worse than we thought!

How the hell do you make Henry Winter redundant? Possibly the best journo out there as his awards display. Yes, liked Lee Johnson a bit much but on the whole he’s a great read. Is it that the Times aren’t going to cover football any more as who do they genuinely get that’s better?

Performative outrage I believe it’s called. Like Lee Anderson getting in a strop over Oxford Street having lights for Ramadan and stating “I want my country back” because Easter lights (which never get put up) hadn’t been put up.

There is only one game that springs to mind for me when playing Blackburn. First game back in the old Division 2 after the 1990 promotion. Blackburn seemed a tough ask, packed Ashton Gate, 4-2 win with Bob scoring two. All looked so bright and then bloody Hearts came along. (Btw for those of you who didn’t see Dave Smith in action check the fourth goal. Try keeping up with that)

Wouldn’t be Twitter. Targeted ads on there are pretty much non existent (all of mine are of Jeremy Clarkson and Zoe Ball telling me to invest in BitCoin). Targeted ads on Facebook though are another matter - I’m getting loads of City ones on there every time I log in (noting Facebook is pretty much wall to wall ads at the best of times)

Indeed - the change in demeanour was noticeable and I wonder if it was a coincidence that a more relaxed LM used “stock phrases” less - I don’t think we heard “behaviours” or “process” once. It’s only human that when under pressure you revert to stock language and he looked as if some weight had been lifted. The million dollar question now is this - is he relaxed, and as a consequence takes the handbrake off, or does he feels secure, and as a consequence reverts to what has been his preferred way of playing up until Leicester, with a bit less pace and more patience. Hopefully the former. Both agree and disagree. What was noticeable about that presser was the extent he praised the players with, as you say, Max, Tanner and Roberts all coming in for sustained credit. What has happened on prior pressers as a pattern was that the coaching had been praised and the execution criticised (eg “We can get you to the 18 yard box but you have to do the rest” “Pat Mountains been working on that” etc etc). Its probably linked to the point above - he hasn’t been as relaxed in the pressers so the tendency had been to justify himself/his coaches in the first part (and again, that’s human behaviour). I thought - communication wise- last week with Hogg was a start and that was Liams best presser yet. Explaining properly to people about stuff like the dislocation as opposed to just saying “behaviours” goes a long way.

Yep. And let’s get it right, that was our Joey who signed those players. And that was reducing the average age following Glen Whelans retirement. I actually don’t mind Taylor as a manager but he’s taken over a basket case. I can’t see he survives 7 games without a goal, and two of his wins have come over rock bottom Carlisle. It’s not funny. Obvs.

Can’t leave them that way.

Biscuit Men 2 Soggy Biscuit Men 0

Indeed. If nothing else it’s proven that there are a lot of city fans in Yate and surrounding areas, that Yate is a picturesque and wonderful place to live and that the posters from this neck of the woods are articulate, humorous and I’d hazard a guess of extremely attractive. A hugely worthwhile thread and one which displays our South Glos second heartland in a wonderful light. The map I believe was published in support of one of the planning applications relating to the stadium. Definitely know the one you’re on about.

Merge Dave, merge. We need a rota system - you can do the pre Huddersfield one!

Here’s today’s presser. Most relaxed I’ve seen Liam probably since joining. Few notes: - Naismith will be out all season - Can do pre background checks before players come in to avoid injury and when in you need to manage them properly to avoid injuries - Across the game there appear to be injuries across several clubs - No new injury concerns from Saturday. Nobody due back for tomorrow. - Thinks the 4 clean sheets have been helped by time on the grass, coaching principles of how to defend and then the players have executed. Thinks players have defended well, particularly set pieces - Thought showed a different side to the team on Saturday with desire to defend the goal. Referenced 28 shots in open play vs Leicester and Plymouth - After international break considered it a block of 8. Thinks performances and results have been good. Played well against Southampton prior to sticky patch - Need to get to a point where it’s about us but not the opposition and we need to hit our levels. International break was a great opportunity to reset and refocus on us - Thinks Blackburn will be different from December and thinks we’ve progressed and evolved since that game - Saturday there was a disconnect out of possession but thought did a good job second half although looked leggy and conditions didn’t help - Distance between front line and back line was wrong first half on Saturday. System change helped in that in second half. - Thinks Roberts can play in a two but looked more comfortable second half, not just down to him but due to wider team being better. Roberts covers ground well and is good on the ball - Thinks Tanner has been outstanding. It’s a young group and can only improve. - Re transfers - looking at profiles of players to bring in and LMs involvement is now increasing. Wants a blend of profiles in the squad - looking for someone who is explosive with physicality but aware it costs. Abroad from a cost perspective is attractive but will need to look how players will settle and adjust. - Outgoings - discussions will happen after weekend. Didn’t want to discuss in break due to run we’d had and schedule busy since - Under 18s in the last 4 games ? -18s play tomorrow and we have to fulfil the fixtures and several got injured. If we get TGH and Dickie fit we have great competition (Pivoted straight to first team players when answering so looks unlikely)