The Journalist

We did - and they were! Bearing in mind we had a really good team at that time (by far our best season under Danny Wilson, even though we reached the play-off final the following year), I remember that game feeling like a cup tie and we were playing a side from a division or two above. Must be one of the best third-tier sides I've seen.

What an amazing achievement. I've covered women's football off and on for a number of years and the physical, technical and tactical improvement has been quite staggering. The top league going fully professional has made a huge difference. I love that this team also seem so relatable - a mix of younger players interspersed with older players who, once upon a time, even had to hold down part-time jobs just to sustain their football career. Personally, I do find this desire to benchmark everything against the men's game - including the media's insistence to trot out the "first since 66" line - only serves to create an even bigger divide and greater resistance. Just a personal view, but I think the women's team winning their first major trophy is FAR more significant than it being a first major trophy for either gender since 1966. It's a feat worthy of standing on its own as a sign of progress and a moment to inspire a new generation of football fans.

Nigel Pearson has often said we probably need to grind out a few more draws and these stats certainly back that up.

When you're in a development phase (which we very much still are, IMO) I don't think it's as simple as judging on league position, either. If we're being hypothetical about it, with no Semenyo and a relatively new-look defence (Naismith and Wilson in, Cundy out, Kalas injured) the first couple of months could be tough. But then, post-World Cup, we could end up building some momentum, really tighten up at the back, see one or two more academy graduates come through and still end up finishing 14th - but feel like we've laid a platform for a genuine promotion push in 2023-24. It's just never as black and white as people think/want it to be!

The game he missed that sitter? When we were in the all-black away kit? Can't say it sprung immediately to mind.

No idea where you've got that from. Sounds like nonsense to me.

Just a bit of fun.

To be fair, I think we’ve already had confirmation the shirt is white because we’ve all seen it.

They sure did. As they did in the division above under Gary Johnson. You're missing his point mate.

We scored fewer goals than any other team in the top 10 during Wilson's final season in charge. I didn't find that particularly entertaining. (I absolutely realise putting Alan right on this constantly is like pissing in the wind, but equally I can't tolerate his constant fingers-in-ears Trump/Johnsonesque rewriting of history. It's how people like Alan end up in positions of authority - if you keep lying often enough and loud enough people eventually assume it must be true).

To be fair, I think the majority (or I hope so) would prefer Lansdown to stay... but for him to just make better footballing decisions/trust the right people to make those footballing decisions. That is where his record is iffy.

What a spot this is.

It didn't seem to bother Sheffield Wednesday too much when they played the runaway League One champions in the opening game of 2015-16...

Couldn't possibly comment.

Got a feeling it'll be Hull away first up.

It represents our kit launches - like sitting at temporary traffic lights with no actual ******* road works going on and then, when it turns green, still having to wait another turn to get through.

Agree with this. Some fans are a bit too black and white about the loan stuff. I think ultimately with a loan signing it’s assessing why you’re doing it. What was the point in bringing loan players in last season when we were a mid-lower-half-of-the-table team? A good one may mean you finish 15th instead of 17th?! Our League One promotion year is probably a good example of how to use them - we didn’t go looking for loans in the summer but, with points on the board and injuries up front, Matt Smith was brought in to help keep the momentum. In the January, James Tavernier and George Saville came in to offer a bit more depth for the final push. Essentially, you could justify the extra short-term outlay because it was to help achieve a long-term objective. I’ve no doubt if we were in that sort of position under Nigel Pearson he’d be just as pragmatic.

Was expecting him to be literally dribbling during an interview when I clicked on it. (I think you meant drivel).

The funny thing is the truth is it'll be the exact opposite of this - it'll be someone pretty senior who put that in for 'a laugh' as a placeholder and forgot to change it.

Don't disagree with your point, Alan, but not sure you've actually looked at what's happened here. Shock. Burnley took four points in seven games before Sean Dyche was sacked and have taken 11 points from seven games since. They've already won as many games under Mike Jackson as they had in the five months previous under Dyche. They were going down without the change. And Frank Lampard, who has undoubtedly overseen an upturn in Everton's results, was only appointed four weeks before Jesse Marsch at Leeds. Still, don't let facts get in the way.

Gutted about this. I think he’s often gone under the radar a bit because of how good Alex Scott has been, but I think the pair of them are streets ahead of the other young players.

What’s genuinely interesting is the vote at the bottom - more than 10,000 people, a decent sample size, and an absolute overwhelming majority think it should be introduced.

Really? I thought part of City's problem in the last 10 minutes was they suddenly started pumping the ball long and went against everything they stand for. They couldn't have looked less threatening during the second half of extra time. Their heads went completely and collectively - from manager through to players.

I think there's a real player in Pring (and I think Nigel does too) but he simply has to get fitter and more durable IMO. The season definitely caught up with him and the more tired you are the worse your decision making gets. We absolutely saw this with him at times. Career-defining summer coming up for him.