Nibor

Thought some of you might find this photo of a blue tit getting treated appropriately by a robin amusing.

37 minutes ago, Maesknoll Red said:

Its asking for a credit card, I don't think so.....

I watched the whole thing on it, did have an ad blocker running though.

******* well done AJ.  Very tough fight.

This one seems alright

http://fight-live.com/live/boxe-live-stream-1/channel-1/#

The sound is miles behind though.

Thank **** for the law of averages.

Molina had no business being in that ring, just taking the piss out of the people paying for tickets.

Couldn't make today due to a wedding but great result and a fantastic goal for Freeman.  Well done City!

We made hard work of it in the first half with so many mistimed or miscued passes in the final third, really showed how we missed Tomlin and that Reid isn't accurate enough to be an understudy for him in the no 10 role.

A definite lack of width meant we kept trying to play through the middle and didn't have the quality to do it properly.

Second half we switched to a more direct mode of play and gave Tammy some room by putting Wilbraham up there too.

It allowed us to grind out a win against a mediocre side, so well done to LJ for changing things early enough to turn the game.

Brownhill did well at right back but I was surprised we didn't bring Matthews on to be honest, he's a specialist in that role and if he can't play 45 minutes he shouldn't be on the bench.

Paterson again did well and the interplay with Abraham for the goal was lovely.  

Overall a better result than performance for me, but another 3 points and flying higher than anybody had any right to expect this season.  Well done City.

The referee and linesmen were notably bad, missing blatant fouls and giving several incorrect offsides and Forest were as bad as I've ever seen them.

Good performance, good result.  

Pack (and I've often been a critic of his) was excellent, seems a much more accomplished player when he plays like a combative midfielder and keeps the passing simple.  Fantastic work rate and well created and taken goal.

Tomlin was genius again, if only he'd hit the target with the shot after playing the ball over his own head.

Luke Freeman was effective again and extremely hard working, and I really like the intelligence and touch Patterson shows on the ball.

Well done City, but let's not get carried away just yet - hope rather than expectation please!

Oh, and **** off Leeds and in particular **** off Chris Wood and that talentless streak of piss centre half that got subbed at half time.  Cynical cheating fouling toss pieces, it doesn't seem to matter what era it is Leeds never change.  They deserve their owner.

Great result, well done City

Worst first half I've seen for a while, fantastic final half from the goal onwards although up til that point it was hard to see where it was coming from.

Tammy was excellent leading the line and a goal and assist on his own up there against Villa is something to be proud of. That kid seems to have it all. 

Tomlin ran the game in the second half and Joe Bryan came into it more and more. The confidence from the goal flowed and it got better and better with a special free kick from Tomlin for which Hodor should get an assist for a really smart bit of deception. 

The starting shape lacked width and was weak defensively on the right side early on (Reid covering for Freeman in front of Little isn't a combination I am keen to see in future) but as movement improved and passing began it improved. 

Very enjoyable all in all despite the best efforts of the match officials and I think we'll have a solid season. A special word for Villa, 45 minutes of complacency followed by 45 minutes of spineless surrender make it easy to see how they were relegated and they won't be in the mix this season for me, I think they are in for a long stay here. 

Well done City, credit to the players, manager and all the people at the club involved in a very successful transfer window that has definitely improved our first team immeasurably. 

Can someone tell these six fingered ******** on radio narwich how to pronounce Kodjia?  It's driving me nuts.

That shape looks better to me than the first few games, Tomlin is definitely wasted out on the left.  It's quite ambitious for Norwich away and the right side looks weak defensively.  I'd have probably started Matthews and brought Little on against more tired players if needs be.  We could have played O'Dowda right wing, Bryan left and Golbourne left back to be more solid but I think it's a line up that will cause some problems for Norwich if we can get on the ball enough.

After I saw our second string had beaten Wycombe I found myself scrolling down the league cup scores tonight looking for a quick chuckle at the plight of the blue few, only to find they weren't playing.  Don't tell me they failed to qualify again?

5 minutes ago, mozo said:

'Okay at best'? We shaded it against a top side and went in 2-1. Some of our attacking play was great. I think the bad 2nd half has skewed your memory!

We didn't shade it, we got given a goal (great finish by Reid) that our play didn't warrant and we made mistake after mistake with the ball and without throughout the game.  We were lucky to only get punished once in the first half.  What changed at half time was that we stopped pressing and Derby didn't, nothing else - both sides continued to give the ball away cheaply and defend poorly.  We were at home and Derby were beatable, and a few flashes of nice attacking play limited to about 15 minutes early in the first half doesn't rate better than OK in my book.  The second half was abject shite and it's probably made you remember the first half far too generously.

First half was ok at best, reasonably even and we didn't deserve the gifted lead.  Second half was utter shite and Derby were able to chill out for the final half an hour.  We were lazy and inept and LJ is right to be angry.  

Fantastic - well done City!

Great result and a fightback too, well done City! 

Great result, well done City! 

Great result in an important game, sounded like a strong performance too.  Well done City, and well done LJ.

3 hours ago, havanatopia said:

So you are alluding to a situation where a non metropolis with limited teams are competing against one another for talent, that is understood anywhere, but where the one who achieves higher status first can cream off the best? Rather than there being any particular rule? I suspect the former is true.

However, If you mean there is a rule, and assuming you are right, then that imo would be ridiculous. So ridiculous in fact that I am sure I would have heard about it before.

Or perhaps you mean a third way whereby the rules governing a team attaining, say, cat 2 by definition of the way they are structured makes it doubly hard for another team to attain such status in the near vicinity.

I think whatever rules may be in place for the 'third way' it is probably more difficult simply by definition of there being another team who got their first.

Almost like a race; if all the teams in Birmingham and London started the race at the same time perhaps its easier. The Gas, perhaps still in the starting blocks, will find it hard but not impossible.

Kinda goes back to the net worth of the new owners which, with all the digging, looks to be hard to decipher but suffice to say if they have bought a 4th division team it would likely suggest they have good but fairly limited funds.. a new stadium and a new academy may very well follow but perhaps not with all their money and not in the immediacy.

 

What I am saying is that the academy system is rigged in favour of those already in it by means of the "independent assessments" which are in fact anything but.  The blue few will find it extremely difficult to get a category two status any time soon, and will be pretty much permanently pegged back behind us particularly if we push to category one.  Ipswich as the example pass all the category one criteria but have failed the last two assessments by fractions of a percentage that are not readily explained.  There are other examples too if you do a little research.  

This investment is nothing to worry about on any front really.

21 minutes ago, havanatopia said:

Where are the net worth stats, just out of interest?

I cannot find any evidence that would back that up. You may be right but that would frankly be like cutting off your nose to spite your face as far as English football development is concerned. I would have thought regardless of category the rules would be the same  which bodes the question; why are Arsenal and Spurs both category 1 academies?

London is a big place and those are wealthy Prem clubs. The Elite Performance Programme isn't about developing players it's about pulling up the ladder. Take a look at how the 'Independent Assessment' works, Ipswich are an example after Norwich got category 1 status. 

2 minutes ago, Barrs Court Red said:

so am I right in saying untill they get a cat 2 academy, we can pick up any good prospects for peanuts?

Better still from what I vaguely recall their chances of getting a category 2 academy will be greatly reduced by the fact that there already is one in Bristol. 

This'll be a laugh.  

Great result!