Back of the Dolman

1 minute ago, Sleepy1968 said:

Crikey, we score. Okay, it's an OG and we're 3-0 down, but I didn't see that finish coming.

I can’t say I watch all the ladies matches but they clearly try but the truth is the club have set them up to fail this season.

The club are lucky that so many people are willing to go and pay to watch a no contest.

Even with relegation confirmed and 3-0 down it’s still 5 at the back with no real attempt to get forward.

Change formation and have a go and give the fans something to cheer.

For those of you with greater knowledge, do you see Lauren Smith as being the right coach to lead next seasons campaign?

3 minutes ago, transfer reader said:

Wednesday night, Cribbs vs Bristol Manor Farm in the Southern League Div 1 playoffs.

A couple of miles between the clubs and no love lost either.

When they met at Cribbs in August the hosts came off the victors, but Farm were aggrieved over several decisions in that game including 2 penalty decisions and a red card incident.

A month or so later they met again in the league cup at Manor Farm, this time a draw but Cribbs got the job done on penalties.

They played at Farm again in March. A packed out Creek making lots of noise saw a comfortable win for the home side who have been on a run of 9 wins in 11 games to make the playoffs.

Wednesday night they meet for the 4th time this season, with the highest stakes of the lot. 

If anyone is wanting a bit more football before the season ends and doesn't like the interference of things like VAR I would absolutely recommend going down there for it even as a neutral.

 

Mods- I know we have the non league thread, but would appreciate it if this was kept separate for a couple of days to see if it gets any interest.

 

I fancy this, what’s it like for parking etc and how much is entry ?

5 minutes ago, phantom said:

I'm sure every game I've seen Yanez play this season she's gone down injured with a glute injury

That friggin band are back in the ground again, fortunately the sky mics do not pick them up as much 

I wouldn’t be so sure, I’m sat at home and can hear them monotonously drumming.

Its nothing but attack versus defence in this second half, absolutely no outlet for City to get the ball forward to and relieve some pressure.

40 minutes ago, Dullmoan Tone said:

I think we are guessing a little at his impact on changing the atmosphere, personally he has had maybe a handful of good games and some poor ones (remember the sending off against Cardiff) and yesterday I would have preferred to see TGH - who is our future being given minutes.

I think we need to stop signing players in their twilight years - he’s clearly a model professional and a club supporter but we need to push the wages towards getting better value and demand consistent impactful performances.

I think you’ll find a lot of people here, myself included are not just considering King’s impact on the pitch.

I think it’s guaranteed that he will have had an excellent effect on our younger players as somebody they could look up to and learn from.

1 hour ago, eardun said:

Shall we have a poll?!

Seriously though it was embarrassing 

It didn’t surprise me that the steward was unable to stop him !

Guy was useless, I spent a fair part of the pre match build up directing people to where they were sitting as he didn’t have a clue.

Luckily there were no serious or important issues that he had to deal with as I doubt very much whether he’d of been any use.

The only thing he did achieve was pulling the veil off the wedding dress which has caused the discussion of whether it was a tutu or a wedding dress

40 minutes ago, exAtyeoMax said:

the lady who sits next to me thought you had to purchase a ticket as well, so perhaps it was their comms

Surely we don’t think this is a case of the clubs communication being poor, that would be highly unusual !

Just now, Robbored said:

I’m a SC holder. Tickets for the Wurzels. It was on the OS.

As far as I knew you just came out the ground and then watched the Wurzels, that’s certainly what I did and I saw no checking of tickets going on.

I maybe wrong but I thought the Wurzels was a free event as part of the family day/end of season events 

29 minutes ago, Robbored said:

Looks like a good turn out. I declined to buy a ticket because I saw it as a piss take.

Do you mean buy a ticket for the match ?

I’m confused what you thought was a piss take ?

1 minute ago, Mr Popodopolous said:

Evans reckons our penalty was a dive, make of it what you will.

Certainly softer than some of the good and nailed on shouts we had waved away under NP..high boot to the head of Wells v Watford before the World Cup in late 2022 sticks in the mind.

I thought Evans attire today made him look like he’d just finished a shift at Aldi

9 minutes ago, W-S-M Seagull said:

It's slightly concerning that your obsession stretches as far as keeping tabs on my travel arrangements. 

We missed our mega bus so drove to London. 

Took us ages to find a petrol station open at 6am in the morning. 

Eventually got to London and parked up. Elizabeth line was then suspended so back in the car we got and drove to another station for a different line. 

We then headed to the o2 arena where I had a breakfast followed by some beers. 

Another line then got suspended so we had to uber it to the tax payer funded stadium which once hosted the Olympics. 

We arrived just in time for kick off so had no time for pre match beers. 

We then watched Bristol City play in the former Olympic stadium and had a fantastic time with 9000 other Bristol City fans. 

At half time I had another beer which looking back at my bank account I wasn't charged for. 

After the game we walked around the former Olympic stadium and had beers with the West Ham fans in the home bars outside the stadium. 

After that we then went to the shopping centre which we had to wait ages for the gates to open. Spoke to many West Ham fans whilst waiting too. 

We then went into the shopping centre and we had Popeyes. 

Following that we then went to Wendys for some burger and fries. 

We then got the lizzie line all the way back to where the car was parked and my friend drove home. 

Fantastic day that will live long in the memory which then set up a replay at Ashton Gate which we then won. 

Could you do a comprehensive run down for each fixture you attend next season ?

Maybe add some food ratings ? How were Popeyes and Wendy’s

9 minutes ago, CloudyThatchers said:

I thought it was more of a Ballerina outfit rather than a wedding dress !

Definitely a wedding dress, the steward who somehow let him get over the hoarding pulled off the veil

1 minute ago, Jose said:

BBC says so. Can’t beat being part of a massive support like that.  

Fair play to Blackburn allowing that many in such a big game.

4 minutes ago, Jose said:

Great finish and great scenes amongst that amazing travelling support. 

I’m sure I read a story that they were taking 7,000.

Is that right ?

1 minute ago, Leabrook said:

It’s incredible what winds people up 

Perhaps he likes hands and feels cheated that he can’t see them 

4 minutes ago, GrahamC said:

Interesting that Casa Grande isn’t involved, either..

Expect Dickie & Araoye to be in the squad.

Araoye is in the under 21s

21 minutes ago, Northern Red said:

U21s:

 

You’d think at least Dickie and probably Vyner are back in the squad if Knight-Lebel is with the under 21s

47 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Well, we hammered all these teams in pre-season last year and it didn't help us break down teams at CHAMPIONSHIP level who are better coached and more tactically aware than the likes of Newport County and FGR.................

You might be able to find a local side to play you in an unofficial training game where the specifics are that they park the bus whilst you try and break them down. That only works if the manager of the opposition is actively trying to coach his side on how to park the bus otherwise nobody would be interested. Perhaps you have scenario games in training that are 11 v 14 where the 14 have seven strung across the back? We could do that if we had a squad of 30 players!! I haven't got a clue tbh in terms of how you would coach it at pro level but we certainly haven't found an answer yet.

Different management team and different players pre season compared to now.

There is clearly a difference in the styles of the previous management and the current management so you can’t really draw a comparison between what we did last preseason to what is happening now.

And that isn’t intended to start a NP vs LM debate because that is not my intention.

Just suggesting there is a difference in the styles of play.

Like you say we haven’t found the answer yet and whatever they do to get there, I really hope we find it

6 minutes ago, Numero Uno said:

Who do people suggest though? Unless you can find a high end League 1 side that play that way you are reduced to playing teams like Forest Green that park the bus and you beat them 6-0 anyway. Nothing learned whatsoever, just a nice run-out for everyone. No Premier League side will come down and park their bus.

If they park the bus would we really score 6 ? 
That’s the point of the exercise to work out how we score 6. 

43 minutes ago, noize said:

I am aware that you cant always take a lot from pre-season friendlies, we have seen many times in the prem, a team pre-season looks outstanding scoring for fun then when the season starts they are awful, so i get that point.

However, in our situation i am really hoping we make the most of pre-season friendlies and take on some real quality teams, maybe quite out of our comfort zone. 

The reason for this is because i still don't think Manning has got to grips with different styles of play at this level, having a decent Plan B, and how to approach different style teams, i think the friendlies could be really valuable in getting some great experience and maybe test a few things.

Basically i don't want to see pre-season friendlies with the likes of forest green rovers or standard liege, I would like to see Manning make real use of the opportunity to fine tune his tactics against decent opposition with quality players.

I guess there is also a balance of you don't want to get battered pre-season and go into the season de-motivated.

Not sure if people agree, or how they see pre-season friendlies? 

I’m not sure it’s the case that we should be playing better sides.

Many LM supporters would say that our better performances have come against the better sides we’ve played this season and that’s probably true.

The real challenge has been the teams inability to create chances against the supposedly poorer sides who are happy to sit in against us.

So maybe it’s those sorts of sides we should be facing in preseason

5 minutes ago, phantom said:

You won't see him again this season 

Setback or jut decided to get him ready for next season ?

14 minutes ago, Sleepy1968 said:

They do that to put off shoplifters don't they?

Maybe they thought you you were doing to stick a nice 3 seater down your trousers and do a runner?

I certainly do a runner when they pounce

6 minutes ago, Street red said:

Can't help themselves the more they bombard you with texts emails etc the more you feel guilty for not renewing. That's what there hoping anyway.

It actually makes me feel the opposite

it’s a bit like when I last when sofa shopping, everytime I walked in the shop I got harassed by the sales staff so I just left.

8 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

The game should be stopped. Health and safety. The difference in pain between cramp and a muscle strain is? Not much. Really there is little difference. The difference in consequences are very different. Injury should be assessed on the pitch.

 

 

And I have no issue with players receiving the best treatment in the most timely manner.

But sadly players and clubs are abusing it

3 minutes ago, Cowshed said:

There should be a immediate stoppage for a head injury. There will be occasions where it isn't. 

Cramp. Health a safety.  The part that doesn't always get applied is that the player has to leave the pitch and the player does not have to return to the pitch immediately, the ref can use their discretion till there is a break in play. This was created to cut down on feigned tactical injuries. 

But has it had the effect of stopping it ? I would suggest not.

I’ve said it previously in the thread that although the player has to leave the field for the minimum 30secs and is called back on by the referee, I’m pretty sure that most teams will back themselves having been able to get back into a solid defensive unit to be able to defend for 30secs and then see their player return.

But they will of been able to have the advantage of breaking up the flow of the game, receiving tactical advice from their management and frustrating the play of their opponents.

1 minute ago, Cowshed said:

Play does not continue for a head injury. Play can be stopped instantly if the ref thinks there is a significant/serious injury. Play is stopped for injuries to keepers.

Cramp game is stopped when ball is dead, time is added on. 

There isn’t always an immediate delay for a head injury, the referee still has to stop it ie. The Fabian Schaar incident that Newcastle were unhappy about.

Why the need to stop the game for cramp ? I guarantee you that if the game wasn’t stopped for it you wouldn’t see so many people going down with it.

It’s used to slow down and break up play, no need to add time for it if it can be dealt with while play continues.

I’m aware it won’t suit all situations but I’m pretty confident players won’t go down so quickly when they aren’t gaining a tactical advantage from it