pongo88

Back to square one is an old footy phrase you don’t hear very much these days. The phrase originates from the days when football was listened to a lot on the radio. To help the listener picture the scene, the pitch was divided up into a grid of imaginary squares, square one being around the goalmouth. Thus, whenever the ball went out of play for a goal kick, or someone made a boring pass-back (of the type no longer allowed), the commentator would groan: "Back to square one".

Not a lot of people know that 

As a percentage of the overall Man Utd budget this gesture is so small it can’t be measured. I’m sure he’s trying to send a message but he could have done something more meaningful 

The trouble with Manning is he sounds so boring I usually fall asleep when he’s talking. I’ll give it a miss and just read the summary on OTIB from those who managed to stay awake 

No real surprises though I thought James could get another year, if he would sign a one year contract. He’s probably better off leaving as he might get a 2 year contract at another club, probably in League 1

1 minute ago, chinapig said:

So long my first post was written on papyrus.

Papyrus, you call that old? Mine was carved in stone with a chisel when I lived in a cave 

Was there such a thing as life before OTIB? 

As Einstein's said:

“Time is relative; its only worth depends upon what we do as it is passing.”

These sort of jobs always refer to data. Without wishing to be rude to people who like this sort of thing, data analysis is easy. What is difficult is converting it into information. 

53 minutes ago, cidercity1987 said:

Most clubs seem to provide a list of

In contract players

Out of contract and released

Out of contract and in negotiations

 

Not quite like the past where we lost the play off final one day and the next day announced our top goalscorer was out on his ass (Byfield)

 

The fact that Byfield was our top gol scorer was one of the reasons we didn’t go up automatically. Promotion teams need goals 

2 hours ago, Selred said:

Not surprised. Some big players there and not to make play offs must of been disappointing.

Wouldnt mind him down the gate in the future!

I wouldn’t want him back. He left in less than harmonious circumstances. Later a City manager (forget who it was) arranged for him to come to Ashton Gate to discuss re-signing and he just didn’t bother to turn up, but joked about it 

11 hours ago, Swede said:

You could say that about every club from the top six down in the Championship! Next season it will arguably be harder with Pompey, Derby & possibly Bolton coming up and Sheff Utd, Burnley & Luton/Forest coming down plus a big club like Leeds or Southampton missing out and staying down. The league is extremely competitive and probably one of the hardest to have success in with FFP and PP disparity.

By the way Man City COULD find themselves in the Championship and even lower if they are penalised for alledged financial irregularities. Not as inconceivable as you think. Should we be worried about that as well?

Thanks - you’ve really cheered me up with that accurate summary 

Deep joy

I don’t regard Mebude as being a footballer. He’s in the same class as Ali Dia 

23 minutes ago, Slippin cider said:

Birmingham relegated as it stands 

I live in hope, but it’s the hope that kills you 

4 minutes ago, Kingston_Red said:

On the beach. 

Severn Beach standard 

26 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

It was £5m in January, I’m not convinced there’s as much wiggle-room as people hope.

The big question is, how much do you have to pay if you want a good attacking midfielder and you want promotion? I haven’t a clue what the figure is, but if City are serious it can’t just be signings from Leagues 1&2

Rotherham have only won 4 games all season,  none away with a goal difference of -53. This can only mean one thing……….

When City signed Evander Sno I thought it was an amazing coup as he had been superb for Ajax against City in a friendly a couple of months before. He was better than the others mentioned in this thread but was a big disappointment. A bit like JET - on his day a world beater, on other days a panel beater 

When he started playing regularly for the City first team he looked as though he had a great career ahead of him. Then it went pear shaped. It can’t be ability as he demonstrated he had it. As with a lot of jobs you need more than natural ability to be successful 

Don’t forget Keith Weller’s white tights!

1 hour ago, GrahamC said:

Yep, story I have been told since was they spent the majority of the time between the Portsmouth & Notts County games in the Baccy Jar in Whitchurch..

They were in there most days throughout the season fuelled on courage director’s bitter. Maybe it’s the time to include it in the present teams training program at the HPC

10 hours ago, slartibartfast said:

What , and a piss poor non-league club with a smaller ground and fan base than the gash  would ?

Yes, because with Cotts in charge it will be a great promotion season with exciting football 

Fantastic, as ever, @Jerseybean but you’ve missed one famous fact about Norwich - i.e Kemps jig. Will Kemp was a contemporary of William Shakespeare and along with Shakespeare, a shareholder in The Lord Chamberlain’s Men, the troupe of actors who built the original Globe Theatre. He was a comic who was famous, at the time, for his comic improvisation. As Shakespeare became more famous he wanted to be regarded as a serious playwright and fell out with Kemp who felt that as he was a star he shouldn’t be restricted to a scrip. Kemp decided to prove his celebrity status by Morris dancing from London to Norwich in nine days, becoming the first nine days wonder. 

4 hours ago, Johnny Musicworks said:

Renewed my tickets today after much deliberation. I have decided that I would miss the social aspect of match days too much, the football itself much less so. I was hoping Manning would be gone as my enthusiasm and expectation are very low but at 70 I may not get many more seasons. It will probably be another wasted season but as a City fan what else is there ?

That’s the same for me. If the people I go with decided to go to - eg  Forest Green - I’d be happy to go with them. The Ashton Gate experience nowadays doesn’t inspire me at all 

I think you can’t beat Rotherham’s New York Stadium. It’s small so has a good atmosphere and shows what a small ish club can do if the money is spent wisely 

2 hours ago, Davefevs said:

@Three Lions only after your opinion,

Q.1. do you think this is a natural position?  If you think it is, that’s fine by me.

Q.2. Do you think the defenders method to block the ball was risky, in terms of potential for ball striking hand / arm, and ref giving a penalty?

FWIW, seen them given, seen them not.

Q.3. Can the referee see what the ball hit from that position? IMO the answer is  no. She is in a good position to see Pring and the defender, but what the ball hit, and how it hit it, is probably blocked by the defender’s back. I think you can only give a penalty from that position based on an assumption, which is the wrong thing to do