chinapig

Mark Gavin could put the ball on Rennie's head at the near post from corners 9 times out of 10.

An interesting list of young players to look out for from Ben Fisher. FYI Ben is a City fan which may explain one choice. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/28/from-jobe-bellingham-to-adam-wharton-10-rising-efl-stars-2024

What struck me in Manning's post match interview was that the qualities he praised the players for were those Nigel brought to the squad. Qualities that were sadly lacking when he came in. Look also at the players he signed who played at Watford and I'd say he had a pretty good recruitment record too. It was not a job for a young coach and he has left Liam a very good basis to work with. It would be nice if the club recognised that but that would require more gravitas than they have. No reason why Liam can't continue to build on that. He had my support when things didn't look good and he will continue to have it but I don't see why we have to be in one camp or another rather than recognise the different qualities they have.

It's hypothetical but I can't see Steve ceding control over football operations given that he and Jon seem to think they have football expertise. In any event would any serious investor of the right calibre want somebody as unqualified as Jon as Chairman? Would they want to replace Tinnion with a proven Technical Director? Would they want a Chief Executive and a better governance structure? It seems to me that there are real barriers to attracting investment quite apart from the money. Barriers that Steve would be unlikely to remove.

Phil has just been appointed by Portland Timbers. Their fans are not happy.

I was shocked at how bad Watford's defending was especially down their right side. This seemed to be a weakness Manning spotted as we overloaded our left side. Nice work if so.

At the start Manning seemed to want to show what a funky young coach he is. Things like playing Sykes as a de facto left wing back, putting him back in his proper position but taking him off when he was our best player because he "had a feeling", dropping TGH. Now he is making more rational decisions and getting the reward. Well done Liam. Long may it last.

As Kieran Maguire put it, Stoke wanted to sell the stadium and by a remarkable coincidence Bet365 wanted to buy one.

Murder At The Vicarage Road.

The curious thing is that Steve has talked sustainability for years but done the opposite. You can't be self-sustaining for instance if you allow Ashton to double the wage bill to £30m. I doubt it's possible for an average Championship club to be self-sustaining anyway. Indeed I was struck by Kieran Maguire saying the other day that even with their vast revenues, taken cumulatively over the last 10 years only three Premier League clubs have made a net profit. Anyway we know Steve wants to reduce his financial support and sell up so I take that to be his priority. Nothing wrong with that.

Steve said we were building a nest egg so we can compete in the future. He didn't say how big the nest egg needs to be or when the future where we can compete will arrive though. It's apparent also that he wants to reduce the amount he puts into the club each year. Which he is entitled to do of course.

Print out the email, scribble on it then stick it on the fridge. It's what the baby Jesus would have wanted!

Not necessarily outside of England! In any event the phrase top five leagues routinely refers to England/Germany/Spain/Italy/France

We can't rule our the possibility that Jon doesn't know what the top 5 European leagues are given the evidence we have of his football knowledge in general.

Plus discussion on here tends to conflate wages paid for the period of the accounts and the wage budget for the current period. The latter seems likely to be lower than the former.

I've said it before but I was very surprised we got him. I felt sure that bigger Championship clubs would be after him and we would lose out. A top signing at what will prove to be a bargain price imo.

Yes but what do you think about Danny Wilson?

Do keep up, Jon now says 10th would be success. Sooner or later he will probably change that to 12th, then 14th then ....

The Dunning–Kruger effect is a cognitive bias in which people with limited competence in a particular domain overestimate their abilities. Perhaps we should rename it the Lansdown-Tinnion effect.

Is there anything he says that isn't a lie?

A club Chairman who has no idea when the accounts will be done?! Maybe he would if they were done in crayon.

But he did say it was constant abuse to do with his family, hence his angry response to the fan doing it. Whether that is acceptable and should be shrugged off may be a matter of opinion. I certainly wouldn't accept it if I was a player. All too often fans want to dish it out but start clutching their pearls if they get it back.

Bloody hell, we'd have been off the pitch for most of last season!

Quite, he has his dream job now. In any event, like Nigel, he got precious little credit for digging the club out of the hole Steve created. Because he rated Nigel he wouldn't be welcomed by the devious little men running the club now anyway.

From their equivalent of Tinnion: Michael Beale has an excellent and well-founded reputation for developing young players and is an outstanding progressive coach who is aligned with our playing identity and naturally fits well within our structure. Can't think why but the language seems familiar. Are any of these people capable of independent thought or will we reach a point where all managers/head coaches have exactly the same description? https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/dec/18/sunderland-appoint-michael-beale-as-manager-until-summer-2026