ExiledAjax

I get that, I understand that for some people going to the football is their escape from the rules that govern them at school, home, work, and in society in general. Many of us seek that escape. Some find it on holiday, some on a hike in the remote contryside, some at the bottom of a bottle. Some find it at the football. No pyro/no party and sneaking an extra mate in past the stewards is part of that understandable rebellious vibe. It's natural, but it's not always useful. To then be told that you actually are bound by rules, and to be told that when you believe yourself to be acting virtuously in pursuit of "atmosphere", that will be hard. But there are rules, there are always rules, it's how society, and in particular crowds comprised of disparate parts of that society, are governed and kept safe. So my message to the "movers" is to be virtuous, build atmosphere, but abide by the few rules that keep you and your fellow fans safe.

I mean that...seems fair? "Do it in accordance with the rules."

This friction between the manner in which two demographics want to behave when they attend a football match is why I spent so much time earlier in the thread imploring those that move to do it in accordance with the Club's terms and conditions. I didn't mention it at the time, but of course that implicitly includes behaving in accordance with the normal behaviour of block E34. So sitting, not standing (unless at the very back row I guess), obviously not taking a seat that is already paid for by an ST holder or single match ticket holder - and politely moving if you do so in error. However, it's clear that the manner in which the "movers" wanted to behave was largely incompatible with the normal behaviour expected by the usual occupants of E34 and of the Club. The boat has been rocked, waves have been created, and someone is going to have to steady the ship. What course the ship lands on after that process will determine how E34 looks going forward. I suspect that realistically nothing will change this season. Perhaps the off-season, under the new CEO, will be the time to revisit this.

Cheers. I Googled it and this picture came up as well. Nice to be reminded. Thanks @Ashton Hero

I can't remember what happened last time we were in league 1. Anyone? Anyone help me out?

Update on this one. Stevenage FC have been in the news recently due to their FA Cup heroics, but there's been some big changes off the pitch as well. A new CEO and changes in board make up, but more interestingly they've granted a "Golden Share" to their Supporters Association. Veto rights include: stadium move; name change; changes to badge or crest; and colours. there are good provisions around still allowing the club to make "bona fide" changes to these things so long as they follow and fulfil certain criteria. Articles 25 - 33 in the latest articles of association available here set out the legal detial https://find-and-update.company-information.service.gov.uk/company/02901467/filing-history. These were written by the same lawyer that wrote Brentford's articles. He's a good guy who I have spoken to and shared a little knowledge with. Press release here. https://www.stevenagefc.com/news/2023/january/golden-share-supporters-association-stevenage-fc-football-club-sky-bet-league-two-efl-english-football-league/ Chairman Phil Wallace said, “I have owned the Club for 24 years this summer. It has taken a long time, but I am satisfied that we now have an infrastructure in place that will last for generations to come. The move towards fans having more of a say in future on the big identity decisions is gathering pace and will continue to grow. What we have done is positioned ourselves in front of that movement and provided a Golden Share veto on specific subjects that would be considered important to a Club. We changed our name to Stevenage Football Club when we achieved promotion to the EFL over twelve years ago to clearly represent the town of Stevenage and we modernized and simplified the badge a few years ago. If these are to be changed in future, along with any change to the accepted home colours and stadium location, the Supporters’ Association will have to agree to any change. We are delighted with our progress on the pitch this season and hope that we can continue to provide pride, enjoyment and entertainment to our fans. This veto is a small step forwards in ensuring our fans have a say in the big decisions in future”.

His merit in terms of managing the contracts and finances speaks for itself so I'll just share my personal experiences of his tenure. I've had the pleasure of speaking to him regularly over the last year. He's listened and done what he can to improve accessibility for our colourblind fans and to prime the club for the dawn of independent regulator. I emailed him/the club out of the blue after Birmingham wore green at AG last season and it was a nightmare for us colourblind folk. He could have ignored that email but he didn't. We discussed what the club could do and he listened. Then when the Fan-Led Review came out in Nov 2021 the conversation naturally moved on to that and I, the SC&T, and Fair Game have worked with him to consider it's recommendations and how they might impact our club. That work continues to this day, and Gould is facilitating a handover to Alexander later this week. Gould didn't have to listen to me, Ashton certainly never did, and in fact often during our chats Gould has on occasion exercised that right. But he did make time for us, for the fans. The greatest tribute is that I know I'm far from the only person with a story like this. What a change from his predecessor. Yes I'll miss him. Phil Alexander has a tough act to follow.

Why couldn't it be this Lloris that went to Qatar?

Andy Rolls.

Just watching the EFL highlights show. Apparently Holden has repeated his little "trip to the pub" visit in south-east London. Fair play to the guy for getting a win yesterday, three in a row in the league for him apparently and I think he left Old Trafford with his head held high. Always wish him well, but he was never going to succeed here.

Would you expect anything less from the god of the sea?

I use it for our away games as well when I drive. It's never let me down.

Lads. Get Just Park and you'll pay far less (rarely more than a tenner) than that to park on someone's driveway. Pick exactly where you want to park, how long you want to pay for, pre pay on the app, and don't queue in and out of a busy car park.

Can you imagine that graph! Considering on average per game we allowed 4.3 on target in 20/21 under Holden, and scored 0.96. The numbers @Olé shows are based on an average of 2.87 shots on target by us against 1.37 goals conceded. So the opposite graph would be dramatic.

So I should probably caveat my post - I'm not saying that we are off on a run of 10 wins and all our woes are over. Rather that I think we might get up to 1.3 PPG and a slight rise up the table. If you want false dawn's yesterday then look no further than Rotherham.

I don't blame him for much. Some of the decisions around injuries and things like that yes, but I don't think he had much choice regarding general tactics and how we played. Him being given the job was like asking a plumber to fix your pipes and giving him a toothbrush and a stuffed squirrel as the tools to do it with.

And it's relevant today because yesterday's win wasn't like that. Yesterday we won fair and square and deserved it. That's why I don't think yesterday was a false dawn like the Huddersfield game two years ago(ish) was.

The writing was on the wall in the Forest game. 4th game of the season. Then the wheels started to wobble around about 12 games in. They properly started coming off at about game 17, and he was sacked after the 30th league game of that season. That 13 game spell from Rotherham away through to the Reading game that was his last was the worst football I have seen us play in all the 14 or so years that I've been paying attention. That Huddersfield home game is the textbook example that demonstrates that "the score is the only stat that matters" is utterly shortsighted bollocks. Yes it's key to determining who takes 3 points, but if you're talking about long term success the score in one game is useless. But ultimately all of that would have pretty much happened regardless imo. Holden simply sat on the throne whilst the sun set on the Ashton and Johnson era. Events played out as they would do because they'd been set in motion years earlier. As Canute couldn't hold back the tide* so Holden couldn't hold back the march of inevitable decline. *to the historical pedants - I know this myth is probably apocryphal but it helps to illustrate the point.

Was more like 10th iirc.

Completely agree with all this. I'd also add that the injury crisis was in part of our own making. Not just the medical team, but also the desire of the coaches to get players back playing asap. That sort of stuff does, in part, lie at Holden's feet. As you say the strong start to that season was lucky rather than deserved. We'd have regressed regardless of injuries, and it was right to get rid of the vestiges of the Johnson era (including Simpson and Downing) and start a fresh rebuild under a completely new team. Win % be damned.

It's quite long. The most relevant section is as follows: Holden is sacked as Bristol City manager after six straight defeats. He’s been at the club since 2016. They are 13th in the Championship. He’d got the job having taken over as caretaker from Lee Johnson. With Holden as caretaker, Bristol City finished the season well. “We started the next season strongly. I was nominated for two manager of the month awards and we were second at Christmas. Then the injuries hit – 17 of them. We dropped right off, as expected. I learned a lot in all my time at Bristol, a great working environment. I learned especially how to handle people and also the harsh realities of what can happen in football management. “I had a video call with the owner a year after he sacked me, a really good chat. He actually said to me ‘I didn’t realise how good your win ratio was (at Bristol City), 45%.’ But losing that job burned me, I felt injustice and that sat with me for a long time. I’d manage in a different way now.” Basically blames the injury crisis for derailing a good start to the season. Doesn't change my opinion of how things were going at that time.

15 points in the first half of this season. So they need 22 - 25 in the second half in order to get to the 37 - 40 points normally needed for safety (they stayed up with 39 last season). It's a big ask, a big upturn in results needed. Newcastle managed it in the season they were bought, but that was with investment and signings. Are Everton going to be signing the type of players needed to do this? I can't see much sign of it happening. Maybe a new manager could be what they need, but again, it's a big ask to go, overnight, from 0.79 points per game to 1.2. They're next games are West Ham away, Arsenal at home, and then the Merseyside derby. Anything less than 4 points from those three games and they are in real trouble.

Easier to understand Mina speaking in his second language than the Scouse lad presumably speaking his first ?

Yeh. We had some very good chances close to goal. Our average xG per shot was 0.28 whic is huge. But, well just look at the one Birmingham missed to see that those "easy" chances are not always as easy as they look. I guess the main point is that creating those very good chances is the hard part. Today I saw a lot of cut backs/crosses from the edge of box, and a lot of direct forward passes in midfield that pierced a defensive line. I've not seen either much this season and that's the danger we're creating. xG of 2.8, compared to an average from the other 26 games of just 1.2. Only one other game has seen us register more than 2.0. It was a real step forward.

Lovely. As I knew, chugging along at just shy of 1.2ppg, a little down from the seasonal high of 1.5ppg after game 12 (Cov at home) but in very little danger of relegation. A stable foundation which will allow us to sort the contracts out in the summer and finally stabilise the finances for a push forward over the next couple of seasons.