ashton_fan

By the time someone gets to interview it means their overall record is better than most of the other candidates (who don't get interviews) so at that stage the person who does the best interview generally gets the job.

LJ has never gained promotion but never been relegated either so may be a good fit for this one. Managed to keep us up when he first came and things were looking a bit dire.

The players here now are in a smaller squad so it stands to reason they'll be happier as they have a greater chance of being selected. In the past when we've had more players there have been some unhappy to sit on the sidelines (understandably) and so those are unlikely to want to renew their deals. I realise this isn't the only factor but it probably counts for quite a lot.

And COVID which really screwed up the accounts

It would be interesting to see a foreign coach here for a different perspective, nearly every other Championship club has, obviously one with a track record at this level. It's interesting how these "keep Nige" threads pop up on OTIB after a win, whereas if we lose the next home game it will be more like "we need a change". I think he's done well in most areas but we've still never come close to finishing in the top half due to mostly poor results at home, I know that there have been financial constraints but would have thought by now we should have developed a style of play giving some better home performances, other coaches at clubs with limited resources have managed to do that. I'd certainly give him this season to prove me wrong but I'm not too optimistic, think we're heading for mid-table at best.

Thap point we got at home to Preston not looking so shabby now!

People saying SL hasn't backed the manager I guarantee at virtually any other club he would have been sacked long ago based on the team's results in the first year of his appointment.

Under Nige our home form has been patchy at best, I think it improved for a while once Scott got going but we're obviously missing him now. Most teams that do better away than at home are lacking a creative player in midfield, away from home it's not so bad as you have more opportunities through catching teams on the break. Having said that the teams we've played at AG this season are ones who we traditionally struggle against, perhaps we'll get our home confidence going when we play some of the weaker sides here.

Bentley used to stay on his line too much, Max controls his area better although Bents was probably better at stopping shots. Overall Max is a decent Championship keeper now, probably the best we've had for a while. He'll make the odd mistake though like any other keeper.

Nige said "people like to moan", he must be spending time on OTIB

I feel a bit sorry for Nige, the club sells our two best players for £35m this year, we invest about £6m in new players and yet we as fans expect the team to do better than last year, it's not really logical is it? Added to the fact it's the last year of his contract, I imagine SL's thinking he'll give him till January (or maybe a bit later) to show we're challenging for top six but if not he'll be gone to give the new guy a chance to assess the squad before the next summer window. He's probably also thinking he needs to keep some cash back to give the new manager funds if that's what happens.

That's 5 wins in the last 6 for Brum at AG, last season being the exception so we've been here before. PNE also have a very good record here so maybe we've just been unlucky to have those as the first two home games. Perhaps we should wait and see how we do against some of the teams that traditionally struggle here before we rush to judgement.

We mustn't panic because we've lost one game. If we'd gone in 0-0 at half time I wouldn't have been too disappointed, we dominated possession for long spells and neither team had much in front of goal. It's always more difficult chasing the game and we lost our composure second half and made some simple errors, the sending off was a kick in the teeth. Let's wait and see where we are after ten games, Nige still isn't sure what his best 11 are yet (like last season).

Wells is on the pitch warming up

They'll probably be fluid and switch around to confuse Brum

Mehmeti and Cornick in

You don't get blinded by the sun

SL must pay plenty of tax it's just the amount we're talking about, and his ex-business HL have contributed loads to the UK economy, they're one of the top companies in the country. Even City's stadium build would have generated a few millions in tax so he has contributed plenty to schools the NHS etc but nobody wants to be fleeced

Is it greed to want to keep your own money, I suppose if it was yours you'd just hand it over to the government?

We definitely shaded that half and have some good options on the bench, expect Naismith to come on at some point

I switched to Opera from Chrome and works!

When does Robin's TV start, I've just got a countdown clock on "watch live"

I think Preston had one of the best away records last season but couldn't win at home so maybe that was one of our more difficult matches.at AG but disappointing nevertheless. After watching the match on TV last night I was looking forward to seeing how we compared to Southampton but we looked more like Wednesday. Without Scott we might struggle to challenge for the top 6.

It would have been better if Naismith had been playing too as he's another who can make time for himself before passing. The team today treated the ball as a hot potato getting rid of it ASAP, Preston's press was quite effective on us