Harry

Correct Shelts. I don’t tend to rely purely on stats and like to trust my instinct. I’ve had this conversation with Fevs - where I initially felt as if we were getting into attacking areas better, where I felt we were creating better chances etc. and then Fevs would provide me with the data and the changes were basically neutral. So the stats didn’t back up my eyes, but I still firmly believe my eyes and I think we are a different proposition now than what we were 2 months ago. So yes, I’m not someone who will rely on stats too deeply, but when people come up with one stat that says our PPG is down, it’s very easy to respond and say “but the PPG at home is up”. I’m not anti Nige and nor am I pro Liam. I’m just trying to be fair to Liam and give him plenty of time. But there are quite a few posters who are firmly pro Nige and are coming up with ever more inventive ways to start threads that show Nige in a good light and Liam in a bad light. I’m not firmly in either camp but I do find myself defending Liam, mainly because I think the comparisons and attempts to judge him too early are a bit stupid to be honest!

100%. And that’s always been my stance. And I made it clear from day 1. The reasons the board gave for sacking Nige were an incredible amount of bollox. We all know it. But that’s not to say that it wasn’t necessarily the correct decision. I’ve said myself that I’d have happily let him see the season out but I didn’t think we’d renew him after the 3 years, so I think they went earlier than I thought they would. But would I say I was angered or disappointed - not really. Come the end, I did like Nige, I’d no doubt enjoy a beer or a ramble with him, but ultimately I don’t think he would have taken is to the next level (he’s stabilised us brilliantly but I don’t think was ever gonna be the guy to progress following that stabilisation). I’ve said all along that the dumbass comments from the board have heaped unnecessary pressure on Manning. But I can see beyond that. I am more than happy with Manning so far and I am willing to give him plenty of time. Of course, if we don’t finish top 6 then the responsibility for that lies squarely at the doors of Jon & Brian. As I always said, I will judge Jon and Brian on whether we make top 6, but I will not be judging Liam by the same expectations - we’re a mid table team under Nige and we’ll be a mid table team under Liam. But I do genuinely feel that Nige wasn’t gonna be the man to take us to the next level and I do genuinely feel that Liam has chance to do so. I’m not anti Nige nor pro Liam. I was the first person on this forum to proclaim that I didn’t think our playing squad was a good fit for Liam. But I think he can progress us. My conclusion is the same as it was the day they appointed Liam. The board are bunch of idiots, they dealt with the Nige sacking in an appalling fashion, but I’m happy with Liam’s appointment.

I’m not talking it up. I’m just presenting a fact. As said earlier, this thread was started by someone quoting PPG after 14 games. I agree with you that it’s way to early to be forming opinions.

For the record, I didn’t start the thread. But the thread is discussing the stats after 14 games. So I’ve just presented some stats just as others have done so, over 8 pages! But my stat (fact) is the one which is called out as an agenda. I actually agree with you that we can’t make any clear judgements based on such a small sample size. So why don’t you tell that to the previous 8 pages before I got involved? As for Nige. I’ve made my position very clear. I wasn’t overly enamoured on him when he first arrived. His character immediately grew on me and I liked him. I thought he had a tough job but also thought he could have done more with what he had. But mainly I was critical of home performances. His personality grew on me over his tenure and I would have been happy for him to have seen this season out, but I wasn’t as bothered as many others that his time was cut short. But I certainly have no ill will or agenda against him. Hope that clears things up for you.

Not really. The opening post claimed (correctly) that the overall points per game was slightly down. I’ve simply counter claimed (correctly) that the points per home game are up (along with shots and shots on target). I’ve said all along that home form has been crap for 5 years. So I for one am happy to see this improve so far. It may not stay that way, we may end up being crap again. But for now, there are 2 facts presented - both of which are correct and not “clinging” onto anything It’s very interesting though, that when someone says something that you disagree with, it’s an agenda. No. It’s just an alternative opinion (well, in this case, an alternative fact). No agenda’s. Home form has been improved.

Not a huge difference in key player availability to be honest. In Nigel’s 7 home games, Conway missed 3, Wells missed 2. In Liam’s 6 home games, Wells missed 3, Sykes missed 2. That aside, they’ve fielded pretty much the same teams. Mehmeti instead of Yeboah is pretty much the only major difference in regular players.

Oh and also. In the home games this season. Since Liam’s arrival : Shots are up 9% (average per game 10.71 to 11.67) Shots on target are up 40% (average per game 3.43 to 4.83) The Home form is definitely going in the right direction so far.

Well. If we’re looking at home records. This season : Nige Played 7, Won 2, Drawn 3, Lost 3. GF 9, GA 9, Points 9 Liam Played 6, Won 3, Drawn 1, Lost 2. GF 9, GA 8, Points 10. So, in 1 less game, LM has won 1 more game, has 1 more point and scored the same number of goals. So Liam has more points and has a game in hand. Thats an improvement in home form. And for me, it’s the home form that is the most important and has been the problem we’ve had for 5 years! If we can start to get the home form on the up then we’re going on the right direction.

Good. This roof nonsense is a load of bollox anyway. Can’t wait for them to quit doing it. Besides, he did these pics on Friday before the windy weather.

I actually didn’t think it was too bad yesterday. There’s been a few quiet ones this season but yesterdays was generally ok. Thought it was good when ‘Red Army’ was going round most of the ground a minute before we scored. We lost possession, won it back, and ‘Red Army’ was still going and getting louder, and then we scored. Was impressive to actually have a song going round all 3 sides when we actually scored a goal. If anything, I was more disappointed with the away end! I don’t think I’ve ever seen Watford bring that many to AG before, so they came in good numbers, but they were probably the quietest away crowd all season.

He made 23 passes. His Key Passes stat was 6. 6 key passes out of 23 passes is bloody well good enough for me. So is 6 accurate crosses out of 10. That Key Pass stat is higher than any of our players have achieved all season. But don’t worry, he gave the ball away 5 times.

But that is exactly what Twine offered today. Someone to give an option in the central areas for a ball to feet from the back. Twine’s presence today allowed us to play that ball about a dozen times today, whereas we’d usually not have had that option and ended up with a sideways pass or a lump down the channel. This is exactly what Twine allowed us to do today, to play out quicker

Naturally I was very impressed with Twine. Lots of comments about his set pieces, which of course will generally be bang on the money. But plenty of people saying they thought his ‘general’ play was lacking. Not sure what you guys were watching to be honest. What I saw was the first time we’ve had a player in bloody years who can find the central spaces behind the striker, receive the ball facing his own goal (which enables the CB’s and CM’s to find a forward pass), control that ball and turn, and make another forward pass. It’s how we break the lines and it’s how we’ve always said LM wants to play - but we were always missing that number 10. If people don’t think his general play was that good then they just have missed that dozen times he dropped into the hole and enabled us to pass it out. His strength will come when we have the patterns that will see the wide players making the third man runs once the ball goes into Twine. Because he will be able to turn and feed the ball forward. Sometimes he doesn’t even need to turn - 2nd half he came short for a ball from Dickie, had a man up his backside, but managed to flick a first time pass round the corner straight to Conways feet in the centre circle. We’ve not had this type of vision and execution from anyone for a long time - someone offering an option for a pass out from the back AND being able to control it and continue to play forwards. Yes, some of the passes he attempts will not come off. But that’s what a creative player has to do. They have to attempt the ball that might only come of 3 times out of 10. That’s what coaches call “being brave with the ball”. It’s taking the opportunity/responsibility to try the difficult things. We will definitely have that with Twine. He will try things. They won’t always come off, but when they do we will find ourselves in good attacking positions. And once we get those runners outside him, I can’t wait!!

I can confirm that LJ does not want this job. I understand he’s happy to have a period of time out of the game. His last 2 jobs have left him a little disillusioned and he’s enjoying a break from the game (and in particular, his recent experiences, which were not enjoyable).

He’s going back on loan to Aldershot.

It’s sensible though isn’t it. Not sure why we can’t be happy with highly regarded youngsters from lower leagues which many other teams at our level (and above) were interested in too.

Exactly. For me it’s the way we should always be doing things. It’s all well and good having the academy pathway, but not every player is gonna make it. So for me we should always be looking for the best 17-20 year olds in the lower leagues - low cost, high potentials. Without going over old ground, we should have done this for the likes of Grimes, Watkins, Bowen, Key, Twine when they were all available for under half a mil (some even less) when local. Given this, picking up the likes of Stokes is very much a step in the right direction.

But I guess in response to that I’d say - This transfer would have absolutely no bearing on whether we bring someone else in this January. This is a young kid at low cost. It won’t impact any other business. Re the loan back. I think you are both correct that ideally we’d want him at a higher level. But, if it was a condition of the deal then it’s good business. Let’s say “hypothetically” that other clubs wanted him but weren’t prepared to loan him back this season, and that this is what clinched it for us, then I guess we’d say “well done”. Aldershot have hopes of the playoffs. They’ll want to keep Stokes to aid them in that pursuit. So if we’ve been prepared to play ball on that and it’s kept us in the running then it’s good.

Why is it underwhelming? He’s a 19 year old from the national league. Lots of clubs want him. If we manage to get him it’ll be quite a coup to be fair. He’s not ready to step straight into Championship football. He needs a bit more experience first. If part of the deal to secure his signing is an agreement to go back on loan this season, then it’s good business. Hey, listen - I’ve always been the first one to be critical of our recruitment. But there is nothing to get angry about on this one. It’s a low fee for a sought after player.

It hasn’t. yet

I’m led to believe that Manning had his eye on him when he was at Oxford, and at a guess that likely derives from ‘contacts’ at either Sudbury or Ipswich academy

Nowhere near £1m. Sorry.

No. I think part of any deal might be that Aldershot want him loaned back for the rest of this season. They still want to get into the playoffs and Stokes will be integral to them achieving that.

Someone that was mentioned in the pinned recruitment thread a few weeks back. Josh Stokes. Attacking midfielder from Aldershot. There’s been a number of Championship clubs taking a very keen interest in him. I understand we are one of those clubs who are very very interested. He’s a number 10. So maybe someone to compete with Twine if he signs permanently in the summer. An understudy perhaps until Stokes matures enough for Champ football? Anyway; here’s an obligatory YouTube vid. Anyone who watched the fa cup match Stockport v Aldershot on BBC the other week will have been suitably impressed at how he dispatched top of league 2 defenders so easily.

It’s only fair that the sources remain anonymous. Sorry. But put it this way - it may not be ‘the club’ per se. It could come from someone connected to the player or his agent? Or simply someone who is ‘in football’ and knows these things. There are data bases available to clubs, agents etc which show the detail of the finances involved in deals.