The Bard

It's been painful watching just football on the pitch for most of the previous 45 years I've been watching. You'll get over it.

Disagree to a degree. His mistake was going there in the first place. He managed Chelsea how he managed Brighton. They often didn't have a striker and he made unconventional decisions like the one you describe. Difference is the character of players at Chelsea. This is not the Chelsea of Terry, Lampard, Drogba, Essien etc. They are bunch of overpaid, overrated showponies. Take Silva and Kante out the team (and sell Jorginho) and they are the definition of rudderless. I quite admire him for it tbh. He kept to his principles. It didn't work out but quite frankly he's lost little in terms of reputation. Sure he'll survive with the nice pay off and be able to get a job at a smaller but better run club in the future where he'll be a success.

Warnock will keep Huddersfield up one way or another. Think any of the 4 mentioned could go down as none are at all convincing. Would like us to just win another game asap to settle my nerves as teams at the bottom are just starting to improve.

Thing is, it doesn't quite work like that does it?

Yeah. See how he is at half time and decide if it's worth sending out for the 2nd half.

They were physical and direct and had the best player on the pitch by a hundred miles in Penaud. I thought it was Sinkler who got speared? Genge got clattered but he was way off his normal standard. Both very early in the game - clearly not accidental. Still think we'd have won if we had one of Joyce or Batley playing and only lost due to the 7 points Naulago literally gifted them with 10 minutes left.

Fair play to the groundstaff. It looked a bit of a state at the end of the rugby last night (or was that just the state of the Bristol team)

Went to the rugby last night. Different game to normal with a lot of the play through the middle. Looked like it would struggle to be ready in less than day

Half probably. Proven Championship player like James, Naismith, Weimann etc

1 year left on his contract.

Got a decent set of Players at good ages and a very astute manager. Reminds me of Craig Brown who was similarly wily.

There's this young lad at Bristol City...

Doesn't matter does it? It's a competitive international in a strong qualifying group. A result that means their qualification is in jeopardy because both Georgia and Norway aren't exactly shit. It is the sort of thing the half witted Southgate critics want to see him do - stick a 2nd string side out to give them experience. Well, this is what happens when you don't take a half decent side seriously.

Was similar to you Dave. Know someone who played for him at Cheltenham who said he was an amazing manager. Gave you the info & confidence to be able to get the better of your opponent. Good manager. That's all we ever need tbh. Our problem has been we're not great at appointing them and when we do, they were undermined one way or another...

The other consideration is that Charlton was a midfielder. Comparable to Lampard rather than Owen or Shearer. That's what makes him our greatest ever player. Ramsey used him to keep Beckanbauer quiet in the 66 final.

Bobby Charlton

We lost Kalas before the beginning of the season in reality and we coped. Bizarrely the player I don't think we've replaced is Cundy. Think the Palace lad was effectively his replacement but it didn't happen.

Absolutely massive game on Saturday at Leicester. Win and the play offs are well and truly on. Lose and it's almost certainly gone. According to our local rag, Pat Lam told Genge and Sinkler to have a week off after England duty but Genge turned up on Monday morning anyway desperate to play on Saturday. Legend.

That would be how a rational well run club would deal with the scenario.

Maybe but it would have skimmed his body and the shot was on target and it hit his arm and was deflected away which is a cast iron penalty.

There's definitely a pattern developing where our poor run of form coincides with having a lot of evening games in quick succession. It was the same last season and also in October and November this season. We tend to pick up injuries as well which isn't a surprise. On the plus side, we have hopefully held James, Naismith and Conway back a bit and if they do come back into the squad after the break we will be an entirely different proposition. I would love us to get 60+ points and finish top half but frankly as long as we stay up and we have blooded more players, that will do in my book. Although the front 3 clearly wasn't our strongest, you have to assume that certain players are probably not at 100% and their gametime is being managed which means that out of form players are playing.

Message isn't anywhere near as important as getting results. These aren't 2 Nations league games. We've got as difficult a group as we could for these qualifiers with the hardest game first. We last played 3 months ago. No manager in the world would do anything other than go with what he knows.

So then who is going to go and get a result in Naples instead? Name your XI who aren't in the squad who should be.

He's clearly ready for that level. Far more experienced than half the under 21 squad a number of whom get picked because of their club not their actual ability. However, they've rightly chosen to keep squads together. Squads that qualified for the respective tournaments this summer.

Australia will now start to pine for the pacific.....