robin_unreliant

5 minutes ago, Malago said:

What’s with the horrible blue trim?

And why is the page not centred? Seems to be missing the left margin on my Android phone.

Just now, pillred said:

I wouldn't mind if he did.

As long as that doesn't mean we get rid of him.

1 minute ago, pillred said:

That point against Preston is beginning to look a very good one, we are the only team to have taken any points of them this season.

Ipswich also proving how shit Mark Ashton is.

1 hour ago, Lew-T said:

I’ll be following closely from Rhodes…

 

As will I from Zante 

Y

1 hour ago, Red-Robbo said:

That's a bit of a downer. If I go up by bus, me and the back-of-beyond posse like to hit a few pubs then walk up along the waterfront and only cut inland at or just before the Great Britain, so we can use Vauxhall Bridge to get into Southville/Bem. 

Crossing at Gaol Ferry Bridge leaves you with a long, dull, polluted and noisy trek up Coronation Rd. 

At least Gaol Ferry is open now - finally.

No doubt, if this is true, some bs about mutually agreed will come out. One day, probably after he's found a buyer, we might get to hear the truth about how the club has been run. Not expecting any honest feedback any time soon though.

50 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Unless someone is taken ill or gets injured in the warm up I can’t see it being anything else.

Saw a few random comments on social media about “giving Roberts a go” or picking Naismith In midfield instead of Williams (!) & wonder what these people are on.

Pring was excellent at Swansea, Williams rivalled Sykes for MoM.

Maybe they noticed the same players being underwhelming in our first two home games and think a change of approach at AG may be needed?

What a load of garbage these greenwashing schemes are. Not long since we built a massive new stand with god knows how many tons of concrete. How that can win any kind of a green award is mind boggling.

By rights the rabble across town should be ahead of us in this regard as their inability to build anything means they have had far less impact on the planet than City have.

Perhaps SL has planted a billion trees on Guernsey to offset it. The whole green virtue signalling industry out there is just taking everyone for idiots.

Not sure what happened there 

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

 

Pretty sure the Rolling Stones sang about this... 

I think you'll find it was Coldplay.

'When you try your best, but you don't succeed.

When you get what you want, but not what you need'

1 hour ago, Kid in the Riot said:

 

Pretty sure the Rolling Stones sang about this... 

I think you'll find it was Coldplay.

'When you try your best, but you don't succeed.

When you get what you want, but not what you need'

I'm not sure which describes Southgate best. A giant handbrake or a heavy anchor.

That's my considered opinion on the debate, which I admit lacks in depth analysis but is how I feel about him.

Not disputing the main point but I don't agree that we were the better side against Preston. Thought we were lucky to get the draw tbh.

I found it hard to follow the play from her commentary on RB. My pet hate - she didn't tell us which way teams were kicking. Maybe in a minority here but I like to picture it in my head.

Also found she went quiet quite often and I had no idea what was happening. Not great imo.

9 minutes ago, Davefevs said:

Give us some examples to go on, e.g. lack of goals, don’t create much, etc.

Its hard to discuss when it’s not given any reasoning.

Let's take the first two home league games. Preston I was virtually asleep at HT.

Brum, I don't believe we had a shot on taget did we?

I want NP to succeed but I'm struggling to see any real evidence that we have a team that will excite or entertain at AG this season.

If you are gonna pay £35-40 a game then at least give us some exciting football to watch. It has been pretty underwhelming so far - cup game against a lower league team excluded. You can only put so much blame on the opposition. 

4 hours ago, Harry said:

He was the start of the 2018 season I think. 
But he’s not an out and out striker. 
In my post earlier I was referring to Bell basically playing as the lone central striker. It’s that position which I’m referencing. 
Weimann is more of the wide forward type, same as Bell really. Whilst his scoring record has been decent I don’t class him as an out and out striker. 

As above, I’m talking specifically about the central striker. The old number 9 as it were. 
Bell is not one of those. Yes, we had Semenyo and now Conway to compete in that role but in the last 5, now 6th seasons, we’ve recruited Martin, Wells and Cornick. Not good enough in my opinion. 

Martin was a lazy lump at the end of his career. 
Wells, whilst I do actually like him, he’s not really been very good for us, in the main. 
Cornick. Well, jury is out at the moment but it ain’t looking great is it. And again, he’s someone I actually quite like, so that nothing personal against him. 
 

Overall, in the last 5/6 years, we’ve really struggled to recruit in this most important of areas. 

I don't think there is any great mystery about why this is. NP has said repeatedly that goal scorers cost a lot of money. I think I've heard Tinnion saying that this is also the reason we are hoping Conway and Bell will become our strikeforce.

Basically, it seems the club has decided we can't afford what it costs to buy a top striker. So we're shopping on the cheap, with predictable results. Part of this I guess is our FFP problem but also we're back to SL again I suspect.

Gotta be a pen surely

1 minute ago, Open End Numb Legs said:

When your RB makes a run like that someone else needs to drop and cover behind.

It was a Luke Ayling special that run.

Didn't go today but this exactly sums up my feelings after the Preston game. We are just so slow, predictable and unexciting to watch.

I know you can talk about the difference in budget but I watched Brighton on MOTD tonight and just wondered where we've gone wrong.

I remember being at their ground watching the Cotts team with Kodja terrorising their defence. We didn't win but god I enjoyed the way we played.

Brighton have jumped to the next level and their fans must look forward to every game. Meanwhile I'm snoring my way through games with hardly a shot on goal. Sad isn't it. I'm afraid the difference is at the very top of the two clubs. 

6 minutes ago, Andy082005 said:

Naismith on agreed 

take off Mehmeti and push Bell out wide and bring on Wells 

Why he has tried Bell in the middle again - and against a team as physical as this is ludicrous 

Nige says Bell's pace is why he plays him down the middle. Would make sense if we played good through passes on the deck for a speedy forward to run onto.

Can't remember us doing this at home for years. Mostly high punts or balls down the wings. Doesn't seem to add up.

2 minutes ago, slartibartfast said:

Rather trust NP than you .

I'm not seeing what NP obviously is in Cornick. I'm gonna trust he knows better than me on that one too, for a while longer at least.

1 hour ago, RedHienz said:

Mark Ashton?

Just hypothetically, what becomes the excuse if Ipswich go up this season? I guess we will revert to it all being down to LJ being a crap coach.

13 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

 

Haha thanks, there's no real simple answer but, and @Davefevs also.

The simplest is that IMO we are now fine for cycles ending 2023-24, 2024-25 and 2025-26. We can breathe easy and perhaps be choosy about who we sell and for how much etc. That isnt to say we shouldn't or wouldn't sell anyone at all for 3 years but that combined with much hard work has put us on a stable footing. £20-25m in the bank, certainly.

It then may depend on how far we wish to push the boat out. For example if income remaimed stable over this, next and the following season we could probably add an average of £6.67-£8.33m to the cost base per year. (That assumes a £20m base fee or a £25m base fee for Scott) and wouldn't be inclusive of any further sales.

Whether we wish to go that far is a different debate, maybe we don't and the big caveat is that if we did this and didn't go up by 2025-26...we would be in a hole again probably. A big hole! 8 figures.

Debt wise, it could certainly help- presumably it comes in instalments but it could help, SL will however steadily convert to equity anyway. For as long as he is happy to.

Say 4 signings at £3m apiece wage wise 3 year deal, average wage £15k per week. That is about £7.12m per year onto the cost base.

Would keep us compliant up to 2025-26 assuming revenue reasonably similar but well..thereafter hmm!!

On the other hand, it may mean we spend very little for a couple of years, stay well within FFP, and SL can drastically reduce the amount he has to put in to subsidise the club. Seems the more likely situation to me. Meanwhile he looks for a buyer for the club.

Can I be the first to say that Scott boy who plays for Bournemouth is totally over-rated. Can't believe they paid that much for him. Someone stitched them right up.

Personally I don't rate Williams and King is really there for cover nowadays. I happen to feel our midfield is a bit weak even with our A team (Scott excluded due to injury). 

8 minutes ago, RedEd73 said:

Yes we've gone strong given the injuries. Couple of options on the bench. Nice to see Naismith 

Not sure I would describe the midfield as 'strong'. We will see.