ExiledAjax

He genuinely would. He's on record as supporting local journalism and considers it an important counterweight to in-house club produced PR.

Our midfield 3 is likely to be Scott, Matty James and Joe Williams, with Scott playing further forward than the other two. Kal Naismith was playing as one of the two but is injured so Williams will likely replace him. We'll then likely have Sykes, Wells and Bell as the front 3. The 433 we switched to at the turn of the year has been effective in recent weeks. Fast both in passing speed and in player pace. The weakness is in the accuracy of passing, especially in the final 3rd. Sykes especially is energetic, direct, and fun but doesn't always find the final pass. When it works our strikers, like Pukki, are clinical finishers, but like you it's all about supply. How has Krul been this season?

It's an intriguing one for sure. I always assume Pukki will score against us - he's got 4 goals in 4 games against us, including 2 in the 3-2 loss earlier this season that the Norwich fan mentions. Naismith was in central defence that game, and obviously that will be a little different this time around. If I remember correctly then Omadimbele was decent in that game as well and I think generally they'll be tough. Having said all that there are some differences as well. I presume we will be setting out in our new 433/4231 formation. Of our starting XI in that game we're without Naismith and Conway, and Dasilva and Weimann will probably not start, so we will be quite different from the what we saw a few months ago. Norwich are obviously under new management, and have been playing a pretty orthodox 433 recently. So it will be two teams lining up in similar formations rather than the 4231 v 532 that we saw at Carrow Road. It was an entertaining game in September, and I think it should be tomorrow as well. This line from the Norwich fan excites me. Get a frantic Sykes backed up by Tanner running down our right and put this guy under pressure and we could see some joy. We've scored a lot of goals from low crosses/cut-backs from the channel and byeline so I should think there will be opportunities to do exactly that tomorrow. Ultimately Norwich are dangerous going forward, but also fragile at the back. 34 conceded in the league this season, so there are vulnerabilites that our new direct style could exploit. I wouldn't be surprised if saw another 3-2 to be honest...wouldn't want to bet in who's favour though.

See. Top country.

Rule E3 is basically "a player/manager shall at all times act in the best interests of the game and shall not act in any manner which is improper or brings the game into disrepute or use any one, or a combination of, violent conduct, serious foul play, threatening, abusive, indecent or insulting words or behaviour". If he admits it it's a 1 match ban and fine of £1,000, if he denies it and is found guilty it's a 2 match ban and a fine of £1,500.

Croatia was my initial thought as well. Also, if @Markman was to go to the south and to Dubrovnik then just a bit further south and over the border is Montenegro which is even more laid back, more reasonably priced, and less heavily patronised by tourists and cruise ships than Croatia. I had a great week or so in Montenegro a few years ago. Away from the beach it, like Croatia, has forests, hiking, canoeing, and historical sites both ancient and modern. The Bay of Kotor is stunning but lacks beaches as the mountains come down straight into the bay. I stayed in the town of Herceg Novi on the north side of the bay. Nice little town, quite "local" and down to earth. There's a lido, a marina and a stony beach down on the shore, and a quaint old town with a couple of castles and churches for sightseeing. Alternatively the bigger town of Budva is the main beach area in the country, but as I say you can easily get out to the mountains and Lovcen National Park is directly to the north of Budva. For anywhere in Montenegro you would fly either to Dubrovnik or to Podgorica.

Charlton being spoken about in terms of a new owner as well. 99% of the time that means a change in manager. Holden may be looking to jump rather than be pushed.

An expanded Club World Cup is already coming in 2025 with expansion to 32 clubs (and presumably commensurately more games). https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.skysports.com/amp/football/news/11095/12769221/gianni-infantino-fifa-to-launch-new-32-team-mens-club-world-cup-and-will-rediscuss-2026-world-cup-group-stage-format Honestly, I won't watch it, and my main concerns around it are regarding player welfare, carbon emissions, and a disregard for fans that actually go to games in domestic countries. Anyway, if you think UEFA hate the ESL, just imagine how FIFA would react to a rival Club World Cup/League.

That's worth putting in full on here: ECA notes the latest dispatch from A22's alternative reality. However, in the real world, this rehashed idea has already been proposed, discussed and comprehensively rejected by all stakeholders in 2019. This is just another deliberately distorted and misleading attempt to de-stabilise the constructive work currently taking place between football's real stakeholders to move things forward in the overall best interests of the European club game. As the sole organisation recognised by FIFA and UEFA representing clubs at European and international level, and the only body through which clubs have genuine representation in their decision-making, ECA reiterates its long-standing opposition to the European Super League and any breakaway project. A great amount of progress and positive change has been achieved by ECA in recent years in collaborative partnership with all football stakeholders – UEFA, FIFA and the confederations, national associations, leagues, fans, players and clubs of all sizes – working for the benefit of the entire European football ecosystem. From 2024 more clubs from more countries will participate in European men’s club competitions every season, growing the passion of European football and greatly increasing the amount of revenue being shared. Significant progress can be seen across other aspects of the game from women’s football, youth and academy development, finance and regulation to sustainability and social impact. This is what real change looks like. We have moved on, when will A22? For those that don't know, the ECA is an independent body directly representing football clubs at European level. So it's not part of UEFA, the PL, the FA, FIFA, or anyone else. It is effectively a kind of trade union for European football teams. It's English members are Arsenal, Villa, Chelsea, Everton, Leicester, Liverpool, Man City, Man Utd, Spurs and Newcastle. It also has PSG, Inter Milan, AC Milan, Valencia, Bayern Munich, Dortmund and most other big European teams as members. Notably it does not count Barcelona, Real Madrid or Juventus amongst its membership.

Personally I absolute love Charlton's The Valley. Far from luxurious but it's a great away end and unusual in that you enter half way up.

Pathetic from Reichert. No detail, just nebulous statements about "stablility and predictability” of revenue, "change", and sideswipes hinting at increasing club control. Well which clubs will control it Reichert? Will Bodo/Glimt get the same power as PSG? Are you going to give AEK Athens a veto or should that maybe go to Real Madrid? Where's the substance, where's the structure? Will the ESL be a company where every team holds a share with equal rights or will voting shares be limited to just 15 "Founder" clubs or something shite like that? FFS he doesn't even commit to the number of teams that would be in the competition. A22 is nothing more than a public face for Juventus, Barca, Real Madrid and others that still want to break out from UEFA's jurisdiction. Barcelona even ran a piece on their own website about his appointment as CEO in October 2022. UEFA are far from perfect, but they at least run competitions that require some merit to qualify for and are at least governed independently of the clubs that join those competitions.

But the discussion dismissing the "new manager bounce" isn't saying "don't change manager", it's saying "don't expect every change in manager to result in an immediate short-term boost in results". Changing manager may well sometimes lead to a long term improvement in results. However, that is very different to assuming that a change will inevitably give an immediate short-term (most articles/studies look at a new manager's first five games) boost to results. Our own manager is one who, when he joined us, didn't generate a "bounce". However after two years of tough decisions we've improved immeasurably and results are coming. Thomas Frank is another nice example. Lost his first three matches, plus a further 5 of his next seven. Yet he's then led Brentford to promotion and stability in the Prem. For every "proof" of a short-term bounce there's examples that demonstrate it is bollocks.

Fair enough. Better wording is perhaps: Studies have concluded that due to tendencies to regress to a statistical mean most bounces enjoyed by new managers would likely have occurred without that managerial change.

Pretty much as above.

You can also waive, abrogate or change anything that the contract says. Enter a separate settlement agreement upon termination and you basically set whatever terms you might agree.

There's been a few studies that show the "new manager bounce" is largely a myth and when it does appear to happen it's generally not much to do with the manager.

I'd rather not. Small island of 60,000 people.

Small island of 60,000 people...they're all related. @wybmadwity did Man Utd buy her for £25m?

That figure is from the accounts for 2014/15 which are on Companies House. https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/03230871/filing-history

Small profit of £1.3m on player trading. At the time that was a considerable chunk of our total turnover of £7m. We may have been amongst the biggest spenders/paid high wages for that division, but we paid for it with money that we had. We lived within our means, but as a Championship club playing in League 1, our means were more than most others. Wrexham are different in that they are a National League club paying League 1 wages (to some players), and their ability to do so is entirely down to their new owners and similar sponsorship and commercial deals to those seen at top clubs like Man City and Newcastle. For example getting Aviation gin (Reynolds own brand) to sponsor them, the Disney money, the ESPN money etc. It's not just on the pitch either. Here is a clip showing the development of their gym.

Presumably because of the reshuffle. Donelan moving to Head of IT and Lucy Frazer coming in to head a "slimmed down" DCMS. I imagine Frazer would want to get her feet under the desk before heading up something as big as the Whitepaper. Hopefully it is just that rather than a radical redraft, as the leaked version looked pretty positive.

Press release says he's been elected by his teammates. Now obviously we don't know who was on the ballot paper (as it were), but it's being presented as a team decision rather than Pearson's appointment.

Just needs two more goals to get into the 50 club. Currently on 48 from 177 games in all competitions.

Yeh. Seeing as I only came back to the UK 9 months ago, I don't have that myriad number of schemes set up. I suspect most STholders should just collect the points for attending then enter two or three prize draws at the end of the season.

Ah he means those 4 players on loan at Stoke going back to their parent club doesn't he! I'd first thought he meant players Stoke had out on loan coming back to them.