Dr Balls

The other issue with the Colston Statue is that it was political at the time it was erected in 1895. It wasn’t erected shortly after he died but nearly 200 years later. It was in part done to promote “The Empire” and to celebrate a certain class of Bristolian, and not the masses that’s for sure. A plaque had been completed in 2019 to go onto the plinth to explain more about Colston, his time, and the legacies both good and bad, but thanks to dithering by Mayor Marvin it never got put up, before the statue itself was pulled down in 2020. I don’t have a problem with the Colston statue being in the M Shed. It’s probably the best place for it. I have been and seen it as well and the explainers are reasonable. But Colston needs to be seen as of his time as well. In the same 17th Century, Barbary Pirates from North Africa were raiding the South West coast and stealing women to take back home as slaves and concubines. Coastal villages in Devon and Cornwall lived in fear of being raided. Slavery and piracy were part of a fairly unpleasant time. The issue for us in this country now is that much of the wealth we see around us did come from the exploitation of others, and that slavery didn’t end just because it was banned by the U.K. Parliament 200 years ago. The Americans had a civil war over the issue and before it was stopped in the South. So much of the wealth of places like Manchester was made from slave labour picking the cotton up until 1865. Not that those working in the dark satanic mills had it a lot better either by current standards with child labour and awful working conditions, pay etc. The important thing now is that we appreciate how exploitation and slavery still exist in large parts of the globe, whether it’s people trafficking into this country, and how we treat them, or it’s sweat shops in Asia with minimal pay and potentially child labour producing cheap clothes for those of us in the West, thanks to the “benefits” of globalisation. If asking potential awkward and uncomfortable questions about our past raises people’s awareness of the injustices happening now, then that’s a good thing. If all it leads to is people shouting at each other as part of some conflated “culture wars” then that’s no use to anyone except the politicians who benefit from a “divide and rule” approach. As for the ships on the badges of the Manchester clubs, I would leave that for those involved with clubs to decide what they want to do. Clubs often change their crests and emblems as we well know. And on a historical note for those getting wound up about it, the City of Bristol coat of arms with a ship sailing out from the castle predates the involvement of some from the city in the slave trade by around 2-3 centuries, so there is no need to apologise or replace it in my view.

@Davefevs I don’t disagree with playing out from the back some of the time, probably more times than not, but the really important part is knowing when it’s definitely not appropriate to do it. We were lucky it was only Rotherham today - a better team would have punished some of our dithering at the back. Max clearly wants to play as a sweeper keeper and be passed the ball when it goes moved around at the back. He seems pretty good knowing when to come out and pretty good with his feet, but the risk is that he gets lulled into taking too many risks. As for his distribution, he’s reasonable and looks to get us to break quickly, although his long kicks out to the wing don’t seem any more accurate than when Frankie Fielding regularly used to hit it a foot too high for Joe Bryan to get his head onto as it sailed over the sideline!

The distribution is reasonably good. However there are times when he just needs to take a goal kick long or clear it long . What’s with Naismith taking goal kicks backwards towards O’Leary in front of the goal? The faffing around between the two of them at the back is an opposition goal waiting to happen.

Certainly stands in contrast to other South London clubs. The Crystal Palace starting 11 recently has had 9 black outfield players, which is interesting in itself. Can’t imagine that happening 20 years ago, let alone 40 years ago. Back in the late 70s, it was big news when Ron Atkinson had “The Three Degrees” (Batson, Cunningham and Regis) at West Brom.

Well one of those must be Andy Carroll. The other? Lucas Joao? They will have paid big money at the time to take him from Sheffield Wednesday, as he had been their main man. Hendrick & Meite are the only others I can imagine might be on that much. No wonder the FA gave them a 6-point deduction! As for Ince, I don’t think he’s a particularly good manager. There are certainly better in this division, even amongst those who have already been sacked this season.

Always very straightforward on the radio. Also seems very humble and down to earth - none of the “Big I am” as a former pro on local radio. The fact that so many of us can so easily look past his Gas past is a measure of the man in itself. Also good knowledge of the local non-league and grassroots game around Bristol that will be very hard to replace. I am sure you’re right. Regional programmes only on “local” BBC stations after 6pm might spell the end for all those early evening sports shows.

If I was NP, I would make all of the players watch that game back and critique themselves honestly. There was a good performance (Conway), some solid 6s, but a lot of players who played well below what they are capable of. We actually got what we deserved from this game, because we were so wasteful. The attack is so poor at the moment - the final ball either just doesn’t happen or it’s too far ahead of or behind the intended player, or the wrong option is taken. That happened so often, it was like bashing your head against a brick wall just watching it. Clearly we are not clinical enough in front of goal, and we can’t cope with having the majority of possession. Given the form that Stoke are in, and the hex that Alex Neil teams seem to have over us, I expect us to lose up there on Friday, especially as our away form is currently non-existent anyway.

I know we have injuries and the squad is tissue paper thin, but it does seem that Nige has decided we are safe from relegation so it’s time to experiment with personnel, especially some of the youngsters, if not the formation and set up. Who would have anticipated a midfield pairing of Andy King and OTC even 3 weeks ago? There are clearly gaps that will either be filled by those returning from injury or that we need to buy in the summer, which includes defence, midfield and up front. But the wage bill has been reduced, we only had to sell Semenyo in January and we will probably only sell Scott in the summer. There is some room for optimism even if that seems hard to find after another loss on the other side of the bridge.

And the other thing to bear in mind, if what Haaling is doing is so obvious and easy, how come no one else is scoring as many as him? I may have got this wrong but I thought I read that he had 8 shots against Leipzig earlier this week and all 8 were on target, 5 of them being goals. That is some stat and if correct evidence that he is quite exceptional.

Also both relieved and disappointed that we didn’t see him at Ashton Gate. Probably makes the difference between losing 3-0 and losing 6-0!

Thanks @spudski I guess the difference is that Napoli kit is made by Armani not just their “formalwear”. Providing classics like their Valentine’s Day shirt last month:

@spudski Primitivo = Zinfandel So you might like Californian reds too. As for Bikkembergs, who wears their kit? Antwerp? Napoli playing in Armani is quite the one-up on other teams. Of course, the Scousers could always follow the example of their fans and consider having knock-off Armani shellsuits!

I’m not the money man like you but to me that looks like a nominal £13.3m profit which I am sure would be helping Watford for FFP, especially if they don’t get promoted and the parachute payments are cut for next season. Imagine if we could have sold Semenyo to a club also owned by the Lansdowns elsewhere in Europe and he never moved because he was straightaway loaned back to us. Not only does it help the finances of the club at a particular point without being counted as direct investment, it also benefits the football team at the same time. I thought parachute payments were bad enough but at least those are above board. This is just underhand.

I know there are other groups which own more than one club and will loan players between them, but it’s the selling of players between clubs that is just a way of transferring funds surreptitiously between jurisdictions. How can the valuations be at a true market level when they are basically buying and selling from themselves? They can inflate or deflate the price however it suits them. That can’t possibly be ethical.

It’s clearly a ruse. Basically using a club in one country to bale out the financial issues of a club in another country owned by the same people. The fact that he has then be loaned back to Watford makes it even more ridiculous. I would like to think that the EFL, FA & UEFA would throw the book at them, but we all know that won’t happen.

What are the odds on Parker at Watford before the end of next season? Can’t be much. If you look carefully I think he’s the one in the blue cardigan: (and yes I know I pasted this clip earlier in this thread but it’s just seems so appropriate!)

And then be sacked with 2 games of the season to go? And then they still miss the playoffs? We can only hope!!

Whenever anyone mentions Watford managers, this tune just pops into my head for some reason.

Seems appropriate:

Is it my imagination watching this and the 2 results against Man City in the cup games that is there quite a gulf between the WSL and the Championship? If they get promoted what are the chances of staying up? Would it require a lot of recruitment? Do we know if SL is willing to back them appropriately? Not meaning to sound too negative, just trying to understand the context. The same issues would apply to the current men’s team if they got promoted from the Championship to the Premier League - only a few players would make it at that level, so we would be dependent on recruiting a significant number of new players.

We aren’t scoring from open play and they aren’t scoring much at all either. It has all the markings of a 0-0 bore fest with plenty of Colin’s usual non-football tactics to infuriate the travelling away fans. And good luck to them - Huddersfield on a very cold and possibly snowy Tuesday night is one for the real die-hards!

This lack of goals recently has also affected Wells. Remember before the 2 penalties he hadn’t scored a goal for 8 matches. With the exception of our recent run playing 4-3-3, our better runs up front since Nige has been in charge have been with 2 upfront and Weimann, playing in behind, whether the 2 were Martin and Semenyo or Wells and Conway. Just playing one through the middle upfront can be hard for that player, especially if the team doesn’t play to the player’s strengths. Some play better with their back to goal providing hold up play for others to run through e.g. Martin, while others benefit from through balls past the defender to chase e.g. Wells. Ask each to do the opposite and you won’t get the best from them. Whatever way that role is played, it needs some upper body strength and that’s where Sam Bell is currently lacking. As for wide players in a front 3, they also need to act as an additional player in the middle when the ball is coming in from the other wing. That’s exactly what happened for Sykes against Birmingham. Plus I have some sympathy for Mehmeti. He could easily already have 2 goals for us. He was unlucky not to score at Sunderland with the shot that the keeper pushed into the post, and again yesterday against Cardiff.

Bell looks better out wide and Sykes looks better further forward. But now with Mehmeti as well that’s 3 players for 2 positions. I can understand why Pearson thought pushing Scott back and playing Weimann off the front player as per WSM last season but that doesn’t seem to work so well for Weimann with a 4-2-3-1 formation. The worry is that the goals from open play have dried up. None in the past 4 games and only Atkinson’s header against Wigan in the game before that. Something isn’t working up front and playing Bell as a starter over Wells makes little sense to me unless Nige is using the rest of this season to see how this combination works ahead of deciding what is needed for next season.

Only because the title of the book relates to their owner.. I also understand that Blacks have got another sale on, so I’m looking forward to them announcing their new “covered” section of the ground next week!

So about average for Cardiff pubs then!