GrahamC

Maybe. Problem is no matter how dispassionate you try & be (& I’m far more so on here than at games) then the fact (not opinion) that we are being treated completely differently from other sides certainly colours our judgement, doesn’t it? The penalty thread shows that. For what it’s worth I think there are about half a dozen really poor refs & for reasons I don’t know, they seem to hang around at our level without ever being demoted/replaced. So Eltringham, Linington, Doughty, Andy Davies, Whitestone, Webb, Robinson, all really poor.

You’re right. It is early days, 1 start & 2 sub appearances of less than half an hour each & posters are coming out with the “not impressed” stuff already. He was 6/10 last night & worked hard, one brilliant back heel to Weimann, a few things didn’t quite come off. He’s a proven Championship player but some are on his case already.

Opposite side of the pitch to me but I don’t think you would need to be Inspector Morse to work out why with James McClean on the pitch. Let’s just say he has “issues”.

I think the person above has already summed it up. It’s my opinion, isn’t it? That’s what this forum is about. No one is always right (I wasn’t convinced at all by Sam Bell, for instance). Facts can certainly prove a point too, so a poster saying that Bas Savage is a better goalscorer than Nakhi Wells or Tommy Conway would struggle to justify that view based on career goals scored & level at which they have done so.

Seriously? Pring has less than a full season of starts at this level & has done really well of late, but bit early to make that type of claim. I like Atkinson & think his career is on an upward trajectory, but same as Pring. Kalas of 2021 maybe, but he’s been injured for a year & no one really knows how he is now. Naismith possibly, but Cornick was a squad player at Luton (my hunch is he will be here, too) not a top six player in any way. Scott obviously is.

Who is a “top six” player then?

Do you also notice that every player apart from Atkinson was marking someone who was taller than us? Earlier in the season (Birmingham away!) we would have conceded at least once from a set piece, last night we didn’t. Organisation & coaching, presumably by Curtis.

So Scott aside, like every other player we have then?

He certainly isn’t “diminutive”.. Also, he hit the bar with a header!

Me too, mixed bag. There are some on here who really have it in for James & as soon as we don’t win, can’t wait to criticise him. He’s been instrumental in our better form but haters gotta hate. On a tangent, one poor clearance aside (Wigan hit the bar as a result) I thought that was one of Joe Williams’ best games for us, whether he was proving a point against a former team, in a good place or trying to ensure he stays in the side when Naismith returns, I thought he was our best player last night.

Don’t think that’s unpopular at all. The standard is terrible & he gets attention because of past performances but for a while now he’s been better than plenty of refs.

We’ll need two whatever & unless we decide we are keeping the Russian chap (& nothing to base that on yet) then he’ll surely get offered a new deal. With one exception I thought Wigan’s set piece delivery was excellent & Power the no. 8 is OoC in the summer, I believe.. Whilst the delivery was good, they’re a very tall side too, we did well to avoid conceding at some many corners when Atkinson aside all our players seemed to be marking a taller opponent.

He was fine, bit lenient on the time wasting but by no means the worst ref we have had. Wigan were physical but with the exception of James McClean (who could start an argument in a phone box) they were a hard working, honest side. 10 unbeaten, another point on the board.

There are hundreds of footballers I have less time for.

Mowbray is a good manager. No idea what Blackburn were expecting from him, just outside the playoffs last season & they didn’t renew his contract. No better off without him. Undoubtedly a very tough game, take a point all day long.

Didn’t realise that after 16 games this season they were top, but they have only won once in 17 games since & are now below us. Their supporters are seriously fearing the drop & reckon they’re in free fall.

Hope not. Argyle got beat at Wednesday, lost their keeper for the season as a result (ACL) & one of their best centre backs injured, too. Their response has been to beat Pompey & win at Oxford tonight, superb effort, no sign of wobbling at all. Hope they do it.

Terrible result for Ipswich, didn’t realise they had only won once in their last 8. Plymouth (doing brilliantly) & Sheff Wed are on great runs, Bolton are scoring for fun, Derby very consistent & Wycombe making a late run. Not beyond the bounds of possibility they will miss out on the playoffs completely, which seeing Ashton’s hoarding of players would be an abysmal effort. Wonder if the penny is starting to drop In Suffolk that we weren’t jealous, just warning them he’s poison.

Unusually for them they are lying about their home attendance, it was 7200 home fans plus Ipswich.

I thought the high prices were putting people off…

Thought that was just at The Mem?

Wycombe got 20 games out of him, which after 2 major injuries in his time with us, was 20 more than I expected. He was a top player but his injury record was horrific & it was symptomatic of just how poor our recruitment was under Holden that we seriously thought him & Chris Brunt was the way forward. Also makes you realise how underrated the signing of Chris Martin (at the same time) was, as we got 26 games out of him in his first season & 45 last..

My view too. I was in a different part of the ground than usual on Saturday (corner of South Stand & Lansdown), as opposed to the Dolman & was struck by just how many kids & families there were. Saw a bloke that I work with, a Coventry fan really but he’s been down here for years, lives Horfield way but guess who his kids are watching? It’s not the few, is it? I saw some sag recently claim that more “youth” are coming back to watch them but I treat that with the same large pinch of salt that I would with anything Sam Frost wrote. They’re dying, slowly but I’m completely convinced of it.

About a quarter, say?

Hence the (hopefully), reckon it’ll be a draw.