Clutton Caveman

12 hours ago, Super said:

You can guarantee the reaction to it would be different if it was a foreign player and not the England captain.

I think that Kane has really let himself down here. It's one thing for the Latino's to fake an injury but when the England captain joins in it is so disappointing. I thought he was better than that.

On 01/04/2023 at 19:08, redkev said:

Thought against Swansea I said I thought some players were on the beach but I thought today the effort was deffo there but we were just so wasteful and made some poor decisions whilst on the ball

I think we need to look at our positioning when crosses come in.  It seems we are pretty much always in one line and as such very hard to pick out. I think we would do far better if we had a staggered line and also a player hanging back for when a defender gets a soft touch or part clearance.

On 01/04/2023 at 21:04, OliOTIB said:

QPR lost 8 in their last 9.

Cardiff struggling, however have 1 game in hand.

Rotherham dropping.

Huddersfield won today, 7 points out there last 9 and yet to play Cardiff and Reading.

Reading have 6 point deduction incoming, then 1 point off the drop (could of been level with the drop if it wasnt for our incompetence)

Wigan and Blackpool look down and out now.

Whos everyones money on then? Im going Wigan, B’Pool and Reading

 

Not us thank goodness

On 01/04/2023 at 20:02, Davefevs said:

I thought he might get some today too.  I’d consider him over Dasilva, or move Tanner over and play Wilson RB.

Playing a right footed player at left back normally disrupts distribution down that side

13 hours ago, Portland Bill said:

You make some good points. 
But…. Some of the things you complain aren’t being done… we’re being done… but fans complained about them!.

For instance, kicking the ball away, this was clamped down on, but, fans complained that players were getting booked for “petty” taps of the ball, so referees were told to only book players when the ball is kicked away a distance. 
Foul and abusive language has been allowed to get out of control in the top leagues, referees further down the pyramid ( especially non league referees ) are fuming that the top referees seem to be ignoring it. Because, these non league referees then get the same tirade of abuse thrown at them, but will use the red card. Then you get players and managers complaining that the top leagues players do the same but get away with it !!.  
 

I don’t follow your “obstruction” point. Obstruction is always penalised, but shielding the ball is not an offence in the laws of the game.

Re grappling at corners etc, this seems to have become an acceptable part of the game nowadays, so much is going on that a referee needs ten pairs of eyes. If at the top level a referee does give a penalty for holding, the tv pundits will  then scrutinise every corner and ask why “this, this, and this” wasn’t given as well. 
 

Re the moving the ball forward 10 yards for dissent. This was simply a trial and only happened in the Prem,it lasted 4 years and was scrapped. Some teams took advantage of it and deliberately took a yellow card, this so the referee had to move the ball 10 yards closer to goal, making it harder for some of the free kick experts to get the ball up and down over the wall.

At the end of the day referees cannot win, if they clamp down hard on certain things the fans complain. When they don’t, the same fans complain!. Who would be a referee, no wonder they are quitting in their droves. Some local leagues are struggling to get refs, the abuse and the violence against them just isn’t worth the £25, so they are just walking away. 
It’s funny, because there are so many “experts” out there, but not many who will go out and put their expertise into practise!!. 

The obstruction law said that any player making no attempt to play the ball and blocking an opponent was penalised. When it was in you could not "shepard the ball out"

Over the last few years, referees have been given the power to stamp our bad behaviour.

Years ago they were allowed to advance a free kick 10 yards for decent. They did it for a couple of weeks and then it disappeared.

Recently we see players booked when more than 2 players approach the ref. This also seems to have died out. Seems to me they cannot complain if they don't maximise rule changes that help them. With recent form they certainly seem to need help.

I think that in any other job you do not have to put up with somebody having a foul mouthed rant at you. Why should refs have to put up with this? Foul and abusive language used to be a sending off offence.

Kicking the ball away was a yellow card. Now when any decision such as a throw in or free kick is given against a player he automatically kicks it away. The only way you get a yellow now is to punt it into the stand.

All of these small things in my opinion detract from the quality of the product and the entertainment level.

As I am venting, can anyone understand why the obstruction rule was phased out? In its day this rule prevented the time wasting around the corner flag made defenders play the ball as it approached the goal line. Again increased entertainment

Finally grappling in the box at corners and free kicks. This is only negative in my opinion. For me any holding using the arms on an player in the box should be a free kick or penalty. This is a fairly recent phenomenon as usual creeping in from from the continent. If this simple rule was applied , entertainment would improve.

Really finally. If Sykes can be retrospectively banned for violent conduct, why can't divers or players who fake facial contact suffer the same fate.

End of rant. 

1 hour ago, Sir Geoff said:

I think  a perfect rule change would be to allow the team with the advantage to be allowed to take the free kick as soon as they like. No need for the other team to be ready (even though they should be) or fussy refereeing waiting til everyone is ready so that he can blow his whistle. It's a free kick stop the ball where the offence occurred and carry on. If you take it before a defender has retreated 10 yards and it hits him tough.

Anything to stop the constant kicking the ball away and standing too close to the taker would help entertainment.

21 hours ago, Jeez said:

 

Would love to get hold of a hi-res image of this:

 

 

 

They have a great poster on the wall in the Malago restaurant on North St

21 hours ago, spudski said:

Here are the flats...

 

Wow, Toshack, Rooks, Gordon Parr and Mike Gibson

On 12/03/2023 at 09:27, Johnny Musicworks said:

Looking like 3 teams facing points deductions this season. Huddersfield if they go into Administration this week ready for takeover could lose 12 points. Wigan having missed a wages payment this month will probably get the 3 points that were suspended previously and Reading 6 points. For the first two it will all but confirm relegation. Any more teams I wonder ?

Makes you realise what a great job our management team have done not only to avoid a points deduction but also to be mid table this year.

23 hours ago, spudski said:

Yes I agree. 

Bell and Conway have been fantastic.

Scott and Semenyo star Premiership level stars. Both not here next season.

We are very very unlikely to replace with that star quality. 

Any players like you say, that come from League 1 with the identified profile, won't have any of the vast experience and quality from Prem/ international level of Kalas, Naismith, Weimann, James, King and Wells...who like I've pointed out are all on the downward slide...either injury prone, age related. Basically past their best. 

If we keep some of those experienced players, the chances of them playing to a better standard than this season or even equal too, is very remote. Odd game maybe, but not sustained over a season. 

What we are left with in the majority are academy players and youngsters with no more higher experience than the level they've played at already. 

So aging experienced players on a downslide mixed with players that are academy products, and players that have no more experience than league 1 level or mid Championship level. 

To me...that's a concern. 

On paper...and we know games aren't played on paper...we will look far weaker than this season. A season in which we've struggled. 

For me...we need the equivalent of a Kalas, James and Wells, but younger,  added to the spine of the squad to give that leadership and experience that will be needed. 

 

 

For me we know that our owner tried the big promotion push by throwing money around and unfortunately he chose the wrong people to spend it. This won't happen again. So we have to accept we sell our very best players and recruit players with promise. Year by year the kids that don't get sold get better (like Pring) and we hope that our recruitment brings in young players that also improve like Tanner and an Atkinson. Our best hope is that at a certain point our squad is good enough, well organised and motivated to create a serious push for promotion. Based on our current squad less Scott (who will create a lot of income) and Kalas who will free up some wage space, if we recruit 5 players of the standard of recent signings I would say in 2-3 years we have a chance. Always believe 

On 26/02/2023 at 14:02, ExiledAjax said:

Shot numbers and xG have largely held up to our season averages over the last ten games. Shots and shots on target are a little down but not worryingly so.

The last 2 games have been poor from that perspective but 2 games is a very small sample size from which conclusions shouldn't really be drawn.

We'll get it going again and should get back to scoring 1-2 goals per game.

Its like the beginning of the season, teams work out how to play against you.

15 hours ago, Super said:

After the first goal it went flat. Got going again at start of second half.

Once again when the songs are simple and well known they are loud. The clever little dittys tend to be sung by a few and die out.. If we want to have clever songs why not produce a song sheet sheet and post it free on here

13 hours ago, Fordy62 said:

Let’s see if I can do better in 10 seconds?

 

How much is that Scotty in the window?

**** off, our Scotty’s not for sale. 

How much is that Scotty in the window?

He’s better than Messi and Bale!

 

Why not just keep it simple so that everyone joins in

na na na na, na na na na, ey ey ey, Alex Scott

9 hours ago, Robbored said:

Wigan did a job on us tonight. They were excellent closing City down and they stifled creative play from our midfielders.

They were a little fortunate with the equaliser with some piss poor defending but deserved a point in my view.

Disappointing to drop two point but the unbeaten run now stretched to 10 - on to Sunderland on Saturday.

I thought we hit far too many long balls. They were not particularly slow at the back and in the second half we just kept giving the ball away by hitting it long.

10 hours ago, Dr Balls said:

Compare the Wigan dead ball delivery with ours and it was chalk and cheese. We haven’t got anybody who can take a decent corner or free kick. James - hopeless; Scott - inconsistent; Naismith - woeful. It’s not even the hardest thing to practice. Such a waste of good opportunities because of the poor delivery.

I think that the height of the 2 teams was also chalk and cheese. With so few taller players our delivery has to be just about perfect

7 minutes ago, italian dave said:

Describing it as ‘banter’ suggests otherwise. Banter is defined as “the playful and friendly exchange of teasing remarks”.

Banter is dead because everyone has such a thin skin and no sense of humour. 

11 hours ago, Supersonic Robin said:

 

That's the thing - our fan base is already comfortably big enough to make it to the Prem. And given the size of the City and lack of competition around us, we're probably one of the few clubs with genuine capacity to grow further. Depending on how positive/negative your outlook on life is, that's the promising/depressing (cross out as appropriate) thing about supporting City.

 

If our fan base is big enough for the prem why are we in such a poor financial state and towards the bottom of the Championship.

On 10/01/2023 at 16:00, And Its Smith said:

I think it’s because referees have thought our penalty claims aren’t penalties.  

I think we don't get penalties for 4 reasons

a) you can wrestle to your hearts content in the box and the most a ref will do is blow his whistle before the kick is taken and warn the 2 players involved

b) most pens come from a player beating his man and driving into the box. We have few players who can actually run at and beat a man so we don't often cause that sort of panic.

c) a lot of pens come from handballs caused by deflected shots. We have few players with the confidence to back themselves and have a crack at goal prefering to pass the buck or seek a tap in.

d) at some grounds the ref gets intimidated or influenced by the home fans. That has not happened at the gate for some time.

8 hours ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Of course an elephant in the room is, it's one thing wanting new owners or even to some extent Investors but...and some of these are unknowable until euch time as they have been here for a while.

1) Would they be responsible custodian both in the short and long term?

2) US owners like Leveraged buyouts. Not all by any stretch but there habe been at least two- for a Championship club this can be a highly risky business.

3) In a similar vein, if we are not a yoyo or PL club then a secured loan by MSD or similar, well it could be okay but it could be a significant issue.

4) Would they try to disregard or work round FFP? This could be considered a part of the EFL Owners and Directors Test and the Test itself, has been increasing in criteria in the last 2-3 years.

5) How likely are they to get EFL approval? Sort of follows on from Point 4 but Henry Mauriss and Erik Alonso for example spring to mind as two who would not have, did not. As in how credible are they.

6) The cost question. How much is a Championship club worth especially one with a lack of scope to spend right now? In 12 to 18 months this picture may look much healthier. Feeding into that is how much would they consider a fair prce to pay and how much debt/equity if any would be repayable by dint of the purchase price.

7) Are they happy to work under the kind of restrictions that clubs are bound by? Cost limits, 2 year financial projections, the right for the EFL to impose such restrictions as they deem necessary to uphold the rules, something that prospective new owners especially must agree to?

One thing is for sure, a championship club is worth more than a league 1 club, so I think some action in Jan is likely

10 minutes ago, kit said:

That's correct though and actually should have been deeper into our half. 

The offside is taken at the point that the player becomes offside which is really where he touched the ball which was 20 yards or so from where he was stood in an "offside" position when the ball was played. 

It is a stupid rule but it was correct. 

Yes but you can't be offside in your own half

20 hours ago, And Its Smith said:

Surely, surely, surely it is now time for Pearson to get over the ‘this squad has to play with a back 5’ nonsense and give 4-3-3 a go against Birmingham and a fair few games after that.  
 

We can debate the selection but I don’t think anyone would disagree with majority of this side.  Could argue needing to find a place for Naismith (defence or midfield) or an out of form Weimann for Conway. But assume most of you would (a) agree with formation and (b) agree with at least 9 of this 11

                     O’Leary

Tanner.  Vyner.  Atkinson.   Pring

           Scott. James. Williams.

        Conway.  Wells.  Semenyo 

 

1 win in 12 and 3 wins in 20 playing 5-3-2 (or whatever formation you want to call it).   Surely 4-3-3 cannot return fewer wins than that!!

Based on likely injuries I would play

                 O’Leary

Tanner.  Vyner.  Atkinson.   Pring

          Naismith, James. Williams

                   Scot          

           Wells.  Semenyo.

If Conway is fit Semenyo is on the bench. Earlier in the season Wells and Conway where great together but today they are hardly ever played together.

19 hours ago, 1960maaan said:

Worst of all the bad Prem Refs we've had.
Foul after foul given, but it took until about the 75th minute for him to book one of theirs.
Managed to book one of theirs for something in the their area, but give them a free kick.
Stopped play, I think we may have had the ball,  for a Swansea player with a bad back. Trainer comes on and gives him treatment but for some reason he didn't have to leave the pitch.
I won't mention the Penalty shouts as I've given up. 

******* unless.

Just before the goal, didn't the linesman flag for offside and they took the free kick in our half.