ExiledAjax

I see the arguments for sure. I think you could argue that Chelsea might be better off, and I guess many would say Villa would be worse. But honestly I suspect most of this difference would amount to 2 or 3 places either way. I understand that's sometimes the difference between relegation, Europe, or even a title, but I suspect those times would be rare and that as a whole switching managers (especially multiple times in a season) doesn't yield as big a change as might be hoped for.

I wish we could somehow view the parallel universe where all 20 PL managers stay in thier jobs for the whole season. My hypothesis is that the final league table in that universe and ours would barely be any different.

And this is exactly why we put sell on clauses in. When we sell these very young players we know (maybe even hope) there's a chance that they improve beyond the value we sell them for. Hence the sell on which gives us the benefit of some of that gain. It's anti-embarrassment and allows us to sell the player who isn't good enough right at that moment, build our squad, and then still get some cash later. There's nothing to see here bar the excellent possibility of a healthy sell on and yet another success story for our academy.

He is somewhere in between the two of them. Not quite as calm, measured, and fan-oriented as Gould, but also nowhere near the levels of self-fellatio as Ashton. I think he'll be ok as CEO so long as we've a strong manager and backroom staff who are independent of PA.

@Mr Popodopolous I went for £13m(ish) yes. Rough as you like calculations and a lot of unfounded assumptions, but yeh I think that were headed for £(20)m before player trading, then the balance of trading in January probably gave us approximately a £7m profit. So yep £(13)m is my rough estimate.

Early xG is as I thought - about 3.5 each. Silly football. Leicester preserve their much superior goal difference. Could be the deciding factor for them.

More football should be played without defenders

I honestly think we'd take at least 4 points off of either of these teams next season.

Obvious handball. Obvious save. None of the Leicester fans can understand why Vardy didn't take that penalty.

Jamie Vardy playing the hits. Lovely to witness a goal and one onto the bar straight out of 2016. Wilfred Ndidi is absolutely stealing a living. Everton are up against it and aren't coping well with Leicester going forward. Ps. The King Power is a great modern stadium.

Well I just got offered a last minute ticket to the ersatz play-off final that is Leicester v Everton. Sunny bank holiday evening at the King Power scouting at least one of City's 2023/24 opponents? Yes I think I will.

Can someone PLEASE ask something about the yellow third kit and the badge on it?

Is this likely? Surely his wages are way out of our league?

King will surely be stepping back further next term. Pring will probably get offers yes. There's also a very small chance someone takes a punt on Conway - 12 goals in 2,000 minutes in an injury hit season is a decent CV at his age. Some of his other stats are outstanding as well. He tops the division for shots on target % (52.6%) and has a top five shot/goal ratio of 0.24 goals per shot (Haaland is only slightly more lethal at 0.27 - he just takes loads and loads more shots). No penalties padding those stats either. He's proper good. I think we'd refuse everything bar an astronomical offer - especially if we bank money from Scott - but there's a chance of some top Champ/low PL suitors coming sniffing.

I'm quite ok with a back 5 of O'Leary, Tanner, Vyner, Atkinson and Pring. Atkinson might be out for the start of the season so we need someone who can play, but generally I think any signings for the back 5 need to be about competition and cover so perfectly ok to go cheap and young there in my opinion. Personally I'd try hard to get Kalas to agree terms, but if he won't then he won't. I don't see a need for a like-for-like replacement and would instead spend his wages on two young CBs. Midfield will be about replacing Scott and building for a future without King and James. Williams needs cover as well, and Benarous is a bit unknown. So we definitely need a midfielder or two, preferably someone who can be a 40 game guy, but there's some wiggle room there. Possibly Bryan plus A N Other. Out wide I think we're sorted on the left, especially if Bryan joins as he, Bell, Mehmeti and Pring can cover and provide quite a bit of flexibility there. The right is less sorted so I'd be happy to see a right sided winger/attacking full back signed to provide some option there. Up front I think we're ok. Conway to lead supported by Cornick, Wells and Weimann is fine, and could be great if we sign the right midfielders to supply them better than has been done this season. So for me the priority is first XI ready players at CM and RW, then some cover/competition/development at CB and GK. Anything beyond that feels luxurious tbh. 4 or 5 to come in I think.

I believe it is Robb O'Red.

It's not a season that will live long in the memory or echo though the annals of history. But, we have improved. Perhaps not overall in terms of league position, but in parts we are worlds away. Defensive output has improved massively. Fewer shots against us, fewer shots on target against us, and thus fewer goals against us. Offensively we've flatlined a bit. It's been up and down as the front line has changed quite a bit through the season. So that's an area where we will need to improve next season if we hope to climb the table. Personally I see that improvement coming in midfield - chance creation and feeding Conway and his supporting cast (and I do see Conway as being our No.1 striker next season). The signs are there. We successfully stabilised this season following the previous season of drastic manoeuvres and course correction. Next season is about harnessing that stability, building on it, and climbing as high as we can.

There's no way that Bryan is in it for the money. When he played for Fulham he lived in a nice-but-not-super-top-end 2-bed flat in Fulham and had his mate lodging with him. He seems to now indulge in the odd supercar here and there but that comes across as a genuine hobby rather than doing it for the sake of showing off. A far cry from a flash footballer. He'd probably make the squad stronger, would be a good age, and he'd be happy living back home I'm sure. If the finances fit then I see no reason not to sign him.

That is a game that happened.

I do hope Twentyman asks about that kit

Nice article but don't think it will do anything to his price. I really don't think top clubs are scouting based on Guardian articles about very well known talent. His value will be well discussed amongst those that determine these things. On your other point - the money from sales helps us stay alive. We cannot invest 100% of sales as we need the profit on player sales to cover our astounding overhead costs. That keeps us within FFP limits and stops us getting points deductions. We're heading into our 9th consecutive Championship season, which is our best stint at this level since the 60s and 70s so we've stabilised as a fixture in the second tier. That is progress.

"Well of course we're always exploring what's best for the Club and if the right deal is out there then we'd certainly look at that. Obviously I can't talk about anything specific right now but we are always looking to invest in the Club and in the city and that's always going to be our focus."

I knew he'd listen to me eventually.

We've discussed this before. In my opinion you're being a little biased and are assuming that an improvement in refereeing standards could, should, and would be limited to Bristol City alone. What about decisions that went for us? They're not as memorable but they will have happened. IIRC there was one where Dasilva could have given away a penalty but ref played on. If we allow ourselves some more generous/accurate refereeing then we must allow other teams the same. So would all teams gain points? What does that do to the table? Imo you cannot reasonably isolate us and say "we should have X more points because referees are crap, and therefore we are really a top 8 side". We've played pretty average football all season and are in a pretty average position because of that.

Such a shame isn't it.