ExiledAjax

There's a couple of weeks in November/December going free.

Not off the top of my head. I'd see that as a positive as it demonstrates that we have a benevolent monarchy that respects its modern position within the constitution.

This is the key for me. Wonderfully worded arguments by the way. I've been wanting to write similar but couldn't put it so succinctly. Reform the monarchy and HoL. Yes. Abolish and replace it? Shortsighted in my opinion. Watch the proclamation today and you see that it's a deal. The monarch rules, but they also serve, the privy council support, but they also hold the monarch to account. There is balance.

Many people say misguided things in their youth that they come to regret when older.

DM me.

I believe one reason (happy to be corrected) is that those people there gathered - members of the Privy Council - are those that are assumed to have the power, wealth, land and possibly the motive to organise a rebellion or coup. By getting them in a room early doors to all agree that Charles III is the rightful liege lord - the words used - you legally preclude a civil war for the throne. Likewise none can claim that Charles has not promised to do his duty. He is now answerable to them, and they are answerable to him. The crown is preserved. At this point I think we should acknowledge how well Anne, Edward and Andrew are doing. So far as I can see none of them are marshalling forces to take the throne. We will have no war of the diadochi. Instead a peaceful transition for for modern times and sentiments.

Bank holiday on the funeral day confirmed.

Thanks will look for that. My knowledge of it comes from Law school. It's fascinating that it's evolved over hundreds of years, from the witengamot and tingmeets of the 8th and 9th centuries, down through monarchs and ministers of various quality, through wars both foreign and civil, through Empire and down to the diverse Privy Council and promises and proclamations I'm watching now. Proper grown up government. A unifying answer to the question of why should you and I obey the law? It's not perfect, but it's pretty close imo.

Not this afternoon, but I'd encourage people to switch the TV on now and watch our Constitution in action. Proclamation ceremony on now. Never before televised. Fantastic.

Of course it matters who took the decision. It wasn't government, it wasn't the royal family, it was the Premier League board. They decided it should be postponed. They lobbied their clubs and got approval. The FA and the EFL then fell in step like good little boys. Other sports, who are run by people not so desperate to be seen as relevant, not so inflated by their own self-importance, they've played on. It is only those who run football who are showing themselves to have fallen out of touch and to have misjudged the public mood.

Well done to them for engaging their fanbase early on in this process. Naturally it is easy to engage a fanbase when it consists of a few hundred people, all of whom belong to a single family. But, to those few lost souls the badge is no doubt a potent symbol. It's right and proper that a club, no matter how small, should undertake this process properly.

Pressure came from the Premier League apparently.

I thought the BBC got it spot on last night. They had factual text updates of the games that went ahead, but didn't do the normal light-hearted text chat thing. For my tuppence worth I think it's right to carry on, to keep life going. The Queen ruled a nation not a morgue. I would rather see stadia filled with people singing the national anthem and respectfully holding a period of silence than see these modern churches fall silent and empty. Mourning does not mean stopping everything. Continue with life, but be conscious that some people are grieving, and so you continue with life in a modest and respectful manner. Play up! Play up! And play the game!

Yes of course. I track all of these figures myself using my own tables, and have done since the 2019/20 season after seeing everyone jizz themselves over the 9 game winning run in early 2019 that was pretty much undeserved and mostly down to luck. I well know our clinical tendencies over the past few years. E361 is one of half a dozen stats sites I look at. He's good, especially at the visualisation of data. He's also been doing it for a long time, but his actual numbers, raw data, and xG values are often a little off when compared to the big paid sites such as Opta or wyscout. I would not rely solely on him. We may allow 13 shots against, but in general our opponents require just under 10 shots to score. So if we allow our average of 13 shots in this game, we should bet on conceding just once. I know that xG etc is best used to look at long term trends. I've preached that line many, many times on here. However, in a thread specifically discussing the expectations for a single match, into which you reasonably brought a discussion of xG, I think it's reasonably to apply the averages from 8 games to look at what the exact expectation should reasonably be. For me, looking at the numbers, I'd go for a 2-1 home win if I had to.

14.33 per game for the Hull, Sunderland and Wigan games. 13 per game for the 5 games that followed. Small improvement.

And in our attack they are facing one of the most clinical attacks in the entire 92. Those same graphs, and other numbers, show that we generally need to only take 6 or so shots to score. Personally I take that to mean that should we be able to create chances we are one of the more likely teams to score. It's not prevention of shots that has kept Preston's goals against figure down, the final (ludicrous) graph from E361 shows that they allow an above average number of shots (about 13 per game). we have been taking about 12 shots per game. Taking those numbers together, Preston allowing 13 shots per game, us taking 12 per game, and us needing about 6 or 7 shots to score...well that gives us a predicted goals of about 2. Funnily enough we've been scoring 2 goals per game as well. It's therefore demonstrable, on the famous paper upon which football is not played, that we have the tools and are even 'likely' to unlock this blessed Preston defence.

Who has this expectation? Is it warranted, and if it is genuinely held then is it useful? The "analysis" there in that podcast clip is woeful. "In the games where they've had clean sheets they've looked suspect"...um the three games where we kept clean sheets have also been our three lowest xG against games, and are the three games where we allowed the fewest number of shots, and joint fewest shots on target against - 2 shots on target in each of those three games. They are our three strongest defensive performances of the season, and each clean sheet has been well deserved.

I think Dave just toned down the language so as not to offend my young mind. I have actually seen Gregory's Girl many years ago. Can't say I've heard of Altered Images though. Anyway seems like the plans are going to go through. Honestly I'm not quite sure how I feel about it. I think that it's a good thing for the Club to have the Flyers next door, and for the AG general site to be expanded. But then there's a part of me that kind of likes that the stadium is surrounded by houses and park on three sides, and some light industry on the other. I also do have sympathy with local residents and their fears around parking and generally how busy the area might be. I suspect that's me being sentimental (although I'm far too young to be sentimental as demonstrated by my not knowing who Ms Grogan is).

And yet he calls himself a football manager? Pah! Imagine he'll certainly be offered it.

Joking aside, they've a decent squad that someone could do a bit with. Active, success hungry owners willing to invest with a 5 year exit plan (likely). It's a very different proposition than under Roman. Will be interesting to see who goes there.

No surprise really. Never got a team promoted from the Championship. Not a proper manager.

@Davefevs I must admit it went over my head.

The housing application: https://pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?activeTab=summary&keyVal=QUDIB0DNHQK00 Sporting Quarter application: https://pa.bristol.gov.uk/online-applications/applicationDetails.do?keyVal=QUDIACDNHQI00&activeTab=summary Shockingly both are made by Esteban Investments Limited, because that's the actual company registered at Ashton Gate and part of the Pula Sports group owned by the Lansdowns.

*Esteban Investments Ltd. Esteban Holdings Ltd is owned by some people called Mark Lironi and Clare Grogan.

It's about the toughest group relevant to Ghana's ranking and level. Suspect as and when bookies odds and predictions come out they will be about the longest odds for progression. I guess we'll get an idea this month where he sits in their coach's mind and how much he might be used.