chinapig

Nigel's preference was for 4-3-1-2 and Wells and Conway was his best front 2. Liam seems to think Tommy is naturally a lone striker so that's what we get. I don't think it suits him or the team. In a recent interview Tommy said he had been told to stay in the middle and that he no longer has to make runs in behind. On the first point Nigel said the same so no change there. On the second if your only striker is not allowed to run in behind it will surely be harder to break down a well organised defence? Ollie Watkins is an outstanding lone striker who makes lots of runs in behind. Has Unai Emery got it wrong?

But Tinnion never defined what front foot actually means so he will doubtless claim it is what we are doing. Much like Jon saying we had a top end squad then telling the Senior Reds that 10th would be success. It's hard to tell if they are lying or just don't have a clue but the effect is the same either way.

So the last time the Gas beat us then.

Yes, the Peter Principle ie a tendency in most organizational hierarchies for employees to rise through promotion until they reach a level of maximum incompetence. Not something that applies to our Technical Director or Chairman of course.

I was at that game. Two of our teachers took me and a mate as the chance to see Real Madrid live doesn't come along often. But second division Cardiff beat them 1-0 with Brian scoring with a header. Brian was in two great partnerships, with Atyeo and then with Toshack, though Tosh had moved to Liverpool before the Madrid game I think. He was in their shadow but was a terrific striker of the old school.

True except that I suspect we will soon be told that actually we haven't reached the limit of our wage after all.

I see they claim to be the original family club when everybody knows that's the Gas. I can see them suing Watford given the success of their case against Wycombe. NB: The above may be entirely false. You decide.

Bear in mind that we are speculating on this thread based on what Man Utd have done. There isn't actually any indication that there are any negotiations going on with any potential minority investor. Remember also that Jon told us categorically that the football operation doesn't need a CEO. When challenged on that at the Senior Reds he compounded it by saying we didn't need one because Tinnion was growing into the job. So the Technical Director is also fulfilling at least some of the CEO function? Really? Of course that could just be Jon's usual hapless communication but on the evidence available I'm not inclined to credit him with cunning strategic thinking.

It's worth asking whether any other Championship club would have the same, shall we say, unorthodox governance structure. I suspect not. Furthermore would any other club appoint Jon as Chairman? Again I think not. There is a worrying lack of professionalism and best practice at the top.

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.