GrahamC

Oxford too. They have 4 trips closer than our second closest one.

Seems remarkable that 25 year old Ryan Yates starts for them, when considering that he came on as a sub at Spurs on Saturday playing the last 20 minutes & he also featured in their previous Prem game as well.

I won’t be complaining if we do, but probably not up front, anyway?

No way is anyone paying £30m for Scott. Recruitment doesn’t entirely depend on this, we have gaps already, I expect Dasilva & Massengo to go, we have a decision to make on Kalas, plus the likes of Haikin, Moore, Baker & Owura Edwards are coming to the end of their contracts, plus a few of the U21s. I think people have taken Tinnion’s comments a little bit out of context, these are the signings we would be making anyway. Scott will almost certainly leave & if Kalas does too, then further ones are required & those might not be from the same pool.

I’ll be absolutely amazed if this happens. Luton is effectively a free hit, we are filling our bench with kids at present & they are absolutely flying. We have struggled to get any sort of result there of late even when near to full strength, they are a relentless, physical outfit. Swansea are struggling & we have already drawn with them over 90 minutes three times this season. Far more likely the reverse to what you say happens. If we could get another point on Sunday I’d take that now.

Nasty piece of work. Reckon he committed 3 yellow card challenges today. If he ever played in the Prem with VAR he’d be repeatedly banned.

Identical. Their lack of self awareness is off the scale, if you were a Charlton or Plymouth fan then you could definitely say that, but not if you expect away fans to endure very similar facilities to this.

Agree with all of that. Knew there was absolutely no chance of James playing & must admit thought with so many others missing too & us in the middle of a goal drought it would be a drab 0-0. However basically the only 11 senior players we had left (just look at that bench) managed to see us through comfortably against easily the worst side we have played.

I’ve watched a lot of ageing pros who were on the way down (hello Jody Morris) totally phone it in at Ashton Gate over the years, but yesterday was a perfect example of why Pearson brought Andy King in. We were without James, Williams and Naismith & so had few other options in centre mid bar the peerless Scott & a load of kids who have been on loan at the likes of Yate earlier this season. King, who has actually been available for selection for every single game this season & been in the league match day squad on 33 occasions, was very good. Couple of brilliant passes, some smart interceptions & so calm on the ball. He’s 34 now & it is obvious 90 minutes twice in a short period is tough for him but I’d happily see him get another year to do exactly the same job he’s done this season, back up player & a coach. He’s a top professional & if the rumours that he’s on a low wage are true (highly likely when you consider he didn’t have a club after his unhappy time in Belgium) then it’s an even better deal for me.

Absolutely should. Stockholm is a beautiful city.

Pretty sure someone on here was back to slagging him off recently “what role does he play for us now”. Hope that person was watching today, as he certainly did lots of “running around”.

First 2 passes were decent. Still looks like he should be playing U21 football but a lovely time to come on. By the way, Andy King was excellent today, what a model pro he is.

What a ridiculous club they are. Whatever your views on the Lineker business they are about as irrelevant to it as a team that plays on the Downs.

Yes it was. I wouldn’t lose sight of the probability that stuff is going on behind the scenes all the time. We’ve known for some while he wouldn’t sign another contract & so I do think it is an exaggeration that it was all down to Huddersfield, but once he stops making an effective contribution & we know he’s been dead set on leaving for ages it makes sense to have a clean break. If we had used him 4 or 5 times in the remaining games what does it prove? He will leave in June no matter what. Giving Taylor-Clarke a bit of pitch time & getting King to fill in short term is more sensible.

On the first point, spot on. Whoever it was that was up first from Radio Bristol (Ed Hadwin?) was excellent, James Piercy, as usual, excellent. The 3rd one to speak always fills me with dread that it is going to be that idiot Jordan Jones, but although I have no idea who it was, it definitely wasn’t him & they also asked decent questions & covered Duncan Idehen, which the first two didn’t.

Brilliant choice, proper red.

He always was. Didn’t want to sign a new contract & was playing really poorly when correctly dropped. No one was going to buy him then & he vetoed at least one move away to a club in another country (Belgium) before joining Auxerre. Just need to get some compensation from wherever he ends up next now & move on.

Don’t hugely care but does seem ridiculous to keep on giving it to Kompany virtually every month. They have parachute payments & also sold players (Collins, Pope, McNeil, Cornet) for huge sums last summer to enable him to totally restructure their squad, though I’d accept they did a great job in doing so. Carrick has revitalised Boro after Wilder completely lost his way there, to my knowledge he’s also only brought in one player (Barlaser). Surely that’s more deserving? Blackburn have had an up & down season & actually drew their first 3 games in February, so hard not to draw the conclusion that the cup win at Leicester got them included.

Brave call. Barnsley’s next 4 games are; Plymouth, Wycombe, Sheffield Wednesday & Ipswich. If they are still “in form” after that lot then maybe, but Ipswich or Derby would be very tough in the playoffs, big clubs.

Totally & I genuinely think it would be very difficult if he was, because in his mind he’s a Prem player then & so would suddenly find playing for us a completely different experience. We need to move on when he’s inevitably sold & use what part of the fee is available to strengthen. He is, but if they are the ones who are most determined to land him I would not be too surprised if he ends up there. They don’t look relegation candidates under Lopetegui any more & he would have a very decent chance of featuring regularly.

That’s the Barton way, borrow 5 players every window, lose them to their parent clubs at the end of the season, or in one case to a side higher placed in the next window, then do exactly the same thing again next season. Our plan of developing our own players & a smarter, less scattergun approach to transfers than under Ashton is far more effective. I’ve actually enjoyed the fact that Pearson hasn’t had a single loan player & everyone who has featured is “ours”.

I think without knowing who the replacements are, it is very hard to say either way. If we decide not to offer Kalas anything & bring in 2 centre backs (as I expect) then no way will both of them be inexperienced 21-23 year olds with absolutely no Championship experience. Likewise when Massengo goes & Scott almost certainly does, I can’t see both midfield replacements being as above. The squad probably won’t be any larger than this year, but moving on Taylor Moore, Owura Edwards & with Nathan Baker also leaving the wage bill too for much sadder reasons we will have a similar number of players but more contributors, I expect.

Definitely did, typical Warnock tactic, along with Hogg repeatedly kicking Scott.

Think when Plymouth lost their senior keeper for the season (& a first choice CB for some while) in the defeat at Hillsborough that was when they might have buckled, but based on an unbelievable home record, they keep on churning out the results. Really hoping to see them back in The Championship next season now.

Would accept all of this bar James, think he’s perfectly capable of replicating this season. Naismith & Weimann will still have key roles too, Wells might morph into a squad player, Kalas potentially not here. James is basically a 35 game a season player though, so that needs to be taken into account. Pearson inherited a terrible blend of over 30s & untried youngsters, part of next season’s solution are O’Leary, Vyner, Atkinson, Sykes & Pring, all in their mid 20s & with decent experience of this level now. We are expecting at least a couple of them to move into more senior roles in the squad. The funds released by losing Kalas, Dasilva, Massengo, Baker (who is still on the payroll), Moore & a few others, like Owura Edwards allied to the Semenyo fee & probable Scott one gives us scope to reshape the squad to a greater extent than before.