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phantom

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  1. The County Cricket Thread

    in General Chat

    Posted

    14 hours ago, Tomarse said:

    Think Somerset probably had enough before the light went. Trego with his 6th 50 in a row and sadly Hildy deprived of a ton.  Simply must beat Surrey next - let's have a more fruitful wicket at Taunton please..

    Looking forward to a few days of cider - cricket - sunshine

  4. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    1 hour ago, exAtyeoMax said:

    Any reaction from Leeds fans?

    Hope Clarke takes the job. If he's got what it takes to succeed here, he will. A young, up and coming manager who plays attractive football is exactly what MC said he wanted and suits me down to the ground. Old guys doing the rounds having been sacked elsewhere are to be avoided. Our last decent appt was Larry who we identified and recruited whilst in work, doing a good job. Clarke would be a similar appt. 

    It's a risk, any appt would be but unlike all but Larry, Clarke isn't damaged goods and if fans can't back an up and coming young manager who can you back. 

    Here's hoping.

    ---------------------------------------------

    I have to admire your positivity. I have defended Cellino on many occasions as regards his handling of the financial catastrophe inherited from Bates. But from a football & managerial perspective his actions in the past weeks have shown him to be out of his depth. Case 1 - the club launches a fantastic season ticket initiative and then he wines on about being lonely and not looking forward to the season - w.....r! Case 2. Is we know the season ended 2 weeks ago. It's like a starting pistol for appointments of DoF, coaching staff, manager etc then recruitment of players. Has anything happened not a thing. 

    His treatment of Evans is appalling - cellino justified his appointment in October and he has achieved. Fine sack him if David Moyes is arriving .... But he just seems to be trawling round for cheap inexperienced young pups .... Clarke will immediately be operating at a level; with players of a standard he has never experienced. This is not a Martin one'll or JFH serving his time at a lower level, he is a lamb to the slaughter who might just turn us down given he is working for a seriously wealthy owner already. 

    I sincerely hope your right and I'm wrong but if I am ... It will be more a case of luck than good management me thinks.

    -----------------------------------------------------

     

    • Like 2

  10. The County Cricket Thread

    in General Chat

    Posted

    Interesting from Colin Graves:

    England will host a day-night Test, according to England and Wales Cricket Board chairman Colin Graves.

    Australia held the first day-night Test against New Zealand in November in the hope of attracting larger crowds and a peak-time TV audience.

    "You can't turn your back on it, it will happen," Graves told BBC Sport.

    "We just have to decide when it is going to happen. We're doing a lot of work on it and we'd love to see day-night cricket."

    In a wide-ranging interview to be broadcast during Test Match Special's coverage of the first day of the first Test between England and Sri Lanka at Headingley on Thursday, Graves also said:

    • Live Test cricket will never again appear on terrestrial television
    • Two or three counties were prevented from going bust in the past year
    • A revamped T20 competition will not be themed on franchises but could have city-based teams
    • Test cricket is safe so long as governing bodies move to protect it
    • Counties should look to hold day-night first-class matches

    'Make Test cricket meaningful'

    England have announced plans for this summer's contests against Sri Lanka and Pakistan to be multi-format 'Super Series', with points on offer for Test, one-day international and Twenty20 matches.

    Currently, the world Test rankings are the only global form of competition for the five-day game, with plans to hold a World Test Championship in 2013 scrapped in 2011.

    "We have to make Test cricket meaningful and we have to put some 'oomph' behind it," Graves said.

    "Test cricket is safe if we do something about it, but I don't think it is safe if we do nothing. That is not an option. The International Cricket Council are looking at it and the other countries are looking at it."

    'Live Test cricket will never return to terrestrial TV'

    Live Test match cricket was last seen on terrestrial television in the UK in 2005, with all of England's matches since then being shown by Sky.

    Some nine years after the move, in 2014, the ECB's own participation figures showed that the number of people playing recreationally had dropped.

    "We'd like to see some live cricket on terrestrial television, but Test cricket will not be on terrestrial television," Graves said.

    "The younger generation do not watch terrestrial television, they use social media. We have to take that into account. It will be a mix-and-match situation for us to come out with the right formula."

    Who mentioned franchises?

    The domestic Twenty20 competition in England has often been a target for criticism, with some favouring the franchise model used by the Indian Premier League and the Big Bash in Australia.

    The current model of 18 counties split into two divisions of nine and looking to reach the quarter-finals will remain in place until 2019, when the existing broadcast deal expires.

    Graves said there could be "four or five" options for a new-look competition, potentially including city-based teams, but with a franchise model not under consideration.

    "I have never mentioned the word franchise once, but it's all people talk about," Graves said. "I don't believe it is the right model for English cricket.

    "We want to keep all 18 counties involved. I'm sure cities could be one option, but we have no preconceived idea of what we want. We don't have a preferred option. We will put them all on the table then decide the right way to go."

    'I want 18 counties'

    From 2017, the domestic first-class structure will be altered to a top flight of eight teams and a second tier of 10 from the current system of two nine-team divisions.

    With debate ongoing over how much cricket should be played and how the counties can sustain themselves financially, Graves said he favours an 18-county structure and could even imagine a scenario where that is expanded.

    However, he also revealed debt within the game totalling £120m and that "two or three counties" have been saved from going bust in the past year.

    "I've always said I want 18 counties," he said. "It annoys me that people say we will not sustain 18 counties - we've never said that. We could have even let two or three go bust during the past year. We haven't done that. If we haven't done that in the last year, why would we change?

    "I could give you a case where the domestic game could sustain more than 18 counties, but we do have £120m debt in the game and we have to manage that. We have to get the competitions right. It's about how we use the money."

  15. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Robin101 said:

    This is quite an entertaining thread, but I don't understand why city fans can't just admit we have a rivalry with rovers and yes, quite evidently, we care about them. Nothing wrong with it.

    Can you really have a rivalry with someone you never play against?

    There is a whole generation of supporter that have never seen the two sides in the same league !

    • Like 2

  17. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    10 minutes ago, Philgas said:

    Very brutal indeed , best bet is for us to see what happens. Luckily we have good team spirit and see where it takes us , sorry you feel the way you do, a lot of city fans are actually happy for us 

    Many Rovers fans I know believe this "team spirit" was a major factor in the current promotion - ability will be found out over 46 games

    • Like 1

  19. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    9 hours ago, Philgas said:

    This team we have are capable of holding their own definitely and if you offered me mid table then yep I'd take it 

    Funny because someone I know who goes home and away every week (poor bastard) reckons only 5/6 players at best would be good enough in League 1

    He's convinced Taylor will be off, and as QPR found out (they play in the big leagues in case you don't know them) lose your best asset and you really struggle

    If you finish one place above the relegation zone a year from now it will be a genuinely massive achievement, sometimes rising up the leagues too fast can actually be worse in the longer run... just look at your mighty rivals Yeovil for an example of that

    • Like 1

  21. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    15 minutes ago, ChippenhamRed said:

    There is one thing I'm happy to admit I'm jealous of Rovers fans about. Twice now in two seasons, they've achieved something with effectively one kick of a football - their penalty in the play-off final last year, and their last-ditch goal yesterday. That must feel special. For all our superiority, I don't ever recall one single kick of a ball having quite such an impact for us during my lifetime (I'm 32). As a football fan you live for moments like that.

    Happy to be corrected though!

    Luckily we're good enough to have the business done way in advance. 

    I guess the closest we got was Christian Roberts vs Hartlepool 

    • Like 1

  24. Bristol R*vers dustbin thread

    in Football Chat

    Posted

    8 minutes ago, Miahdennehy said:

    I hope the new owner doesn't force 'big 'signings on our manager, Clarke has done a very good job without the need for that so far. Equally, I also hope our manager doesn't start splashing the cash 'just because he can'.

    Depending on how this all unwraps will give an indication of whether he is actually going to invest in the playing side of the club and not just in it to make money from other ways.

    I was surprised if he never sanctioned any loan signings that could have pushed you guys over the line

    • Like 1
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