Mr Popodopolous

Not a fan of Weimann at RWB. His versatility is a strength and weakness in that we know he is versatile, we know he can self-sacrifice for the team but the downside is he can be asked to fill a position such as RWB! Far too deep. Certainly agree on the final point, I've never been a fan of the strategy of multiple strikers on the pitch when chasing- it feels like throwing loads of mud and hoping some may stick. King vs Watford at home and Rotherham away did fine but it's not my favoured option. Wingback wise a fully fit Wilson and Kalas, and by fit I mean match fit and confident would help a fair bit if we are to stick with the current setup. Sykes well he isn't a natural RWB, neither is Scott, Weimann sure as hell isnt- Tanner maybe but again an RB or RCB in a back 3. Vyner? Again no RWB. If all fit and in form and we stick to a back 3... O'Leary Kalas Naismith Atkinson Wilson James Scott Pring Weimann Wells Conway Maybe one way to go although I'd prefer a 4-3-3 tbh.

Huddersfield certainly lost manager and a range of players, coinciding as it did wirh Parachute money ending last season ie last season was the final one. They continued to cut their cloth. Yes Luton started slowly this season but until the red card for Sykes we were very good tbh and 2-0 could easily have been doubled. It's not that the red card was unjustified but that Freeman did not get his, or Sykes getting sandwiched in the build-up didn't get called as a foul. Even the potential penalty denied at 2-0 on Atkinson but don't think that was one. Results are a worry, don't think the performances have been that bad at home except for Millwall, QPR 1st half and WBA 2nd half. We deserved more (IMO) vs Watford, Sheffield United, some would argue Swansea and some would argue Stoke. There are fine margins at play too. Could we have had a penalty vs Sheffield United? We sure could! Norwood red card? Well I think potentially. Same game. We also hit the woodwork twice. Vs Stoke we hit the woodwork at 1-0, that goes in we surely win? Penalty(ies) v Watford? Potentially yes. Did WBA not hit the woodwork at 1-0 ie their own woodwork? Yes. Worthy winners but goals can change games.

Luton? The only key player they lost was Naismith and actually spent rather a lot by their standards. They retained quite a few more than predicted I expect, Mpanzu in particular was touted for moves elsewhere. They retained their prolific scorer from last season. That said Adebayo has not but the same heights.

It's a bit less of a tactical point than some of the analysis on here but we were outscoring our xG in particular Conway was scoring at a rate that just did not feel sustainable. It was brilliant and he is a fine prospect but a dip was always likely. Now we have overshot and we are underperforming at home certainly, lower goals etc than we deserve but the sustainability of our goals and the highly clinical nature we had early season at times just didn't feel like it was built to last- to me anyway. Certainly not for a top 6 push. I was pointing out our chances to goals ratio in August/September time.

The pox thing is disrespectful and well ott. Have errors been made? Certainly. Also think Jon Lansdown, there was a significant downturn when he took a bigger role in the early 2010s but they may have run out of road, run their course a bit by now. It could be and have been better yes but could also have been a hell of a lot worse. There seem to be a fair few Championship clubs with fan discontent, who have suffered mismanagement, or stagnating- the model seems a bit broken really for a lot of clubs at our level. A certain level of hopelessness outside some of the a) Parachute clubs or b) Better managed clubs with lower budgets. Perhaps that's ott but the landscape isn't a good one.

Williams prior to joining us was a reasonably solid Championship pro. I wonder if the injuries have wrecked him somewhat.

Seems vastly experienced, and of the top two divisions at that, ie his time at Crystal Palace. Two administrations but not exactly his fault, surely the owner calls the shots and the CEO does his bidding in a privately owned football club type set-up. Don't think Jordan is a great fan fwiw, found a quote on that Palace thread. Administration is no concern IMO unless or until SL runs out of money or gets bored funding us.

Birmingham is difficult due to HK. They publish their results to end of June by the end of September and it's segmented although the wage bill is bundled up a bit into the group, UK accounts should reveal all. The good news is that by the end of February they also have to publish 6 month accounts made up until the end of December. Exchange rates fluctuate so when exactly, should it be as of the accounts release date or the final accounting period ie HK$ to £ end of June or September? Further complicated by segment compensation which seems to be 3/4 of club segment losses. Anyway they seem to be losing quite a lot of money but when Bellingham goes that sell on should help a lot.

Birmingham via HK too although their UK accounts will show the full picture. Depending on exchange rates and extrapolations they may have lost £24-27m last season, those UK accounts due out very soon. Blackburn total wage bill I reckon £23-24m last season trying to extrapolate from a mix of VLL and the club accounts. After NI etc.

We might need to in order to stay within FFP to this year unfortunately. It's a tough situation to say the least, many other clubs did not seek to be running huge Operating losses minus player transfers e.g..

Few places higher and less shockers goals conceded wise seems not unreasonable to me but we are roughly where we are IMO. The two goals v Stoke for example, watched the highlights back on Tuesday. Then I look at the two home games even though we didn't win vs Sheffield United and in particular Watford and think these were good displays, cohesive and competitive vs top six sides. Not saying that we are top six standard or anything but we should be a bit better. It's a cliche but fine margins have played a role. Hit woodwork on two separate occasions v Sheffield United, v Stoke when we were 1 up and I think Phillips hit his own bar v Wet Brom. Norwood could have been off vs us, may or may not have got us a draw, there was a good penalty shout turned down v Sheffield United and one not two v Watford.

Ah yes that will be good, Moyes at Everton, wasn't fully aware tbh. I just don't think we have exploited it well ever since I remember supporting us and it's a question of how can we maximise our chances. Maybe contacts are overrated I don't know but we seem to be a long way behind e.g. Reading- why has NP for example been unable to tap up Leicester for a good young loanee or two on favourable terms.

Different levels, different contexts. Do take your point about the speed but we were ostensibly a bigger fish in a smaller pond at that time and we were visibly underachieving. It is a tough ship to turn around, he used a good term in a recent press conference which was 'Affecting change'. That is just what NP is doing here- wahw bill has been cut, amortisation has been cut, we have been so hamstring thst we are unsure we can even sign a PL loanee or was the case for 3 Windows. Trying to keep us up, improve the underlying performance while bringing in youth and seeking to avoid FFP sanctions. Tough gig! Robins is doing fantastic work at Coventry but he hasn't been told to make cuts out of necessity has he. Although I think he deserves full credit, SISU, playing in other cities, games off early season and the Wasps debacle.

Eliasson was 2nd or 3rd highest assist maker in the division despite being in and out of the time. Think he would have flourished more at a Brentford say. Diedhiou wasn't brilliant but a goal every 3 games perhaps over time, relatively standard Championship fare. Ups and downs wirh some of the others. King is aging, James is good and possibly hasn't been used to the best- a better squad, doubtful? Yes young and talented players but these are highly inconsistent in a lot of cases. Some of those players were older, coming to the end some were less than peak age let's say. Baker is not there anymore, Kalas ha a been available so sporadically, Mawson was great albeit under Holden when fit- sadly he was seldom fit. The other thing to mention about the period under Johnson was that playing Weimann wide right was less than ideal, although RWB is worse! He also had Brownhill for 5-6 months, didn't necessarily play players in the best position and the other thing was the results were just not so sustainable. We got 20 pts from the 1at 11 games but we deserved may be half of that looking back, little run in January and February, we could have lost 2-3 of those we won. Maenpaa was quite good, defence seemed more stable with him behind I thought. He was old but not yet past it.

On the point about what I assume to be the appointment of Tinnion ie the football man. On one level yes a football man and yes he's done a lot for the club. If I had a concern it would be, and this is a reflection more of the modern game than him, does he have those contacts that you seem to need these days . I don't much love the business side, look at how Reading for example seem to get players well above what they should on loan e.g. from Chelsea but at the same time it seems to be something we are not so good at yet it is an important factor in recruitment and getting that edge. Mark Bowen even basically said that they needed to call in favours this season loan wise. Chelsea obviousky but sounds like contacts have been tapped, favourable deals called in- we really do not seem to do this.

City specific, I go on about finances but is there now a chance Shakespeare and perhaps even Walsh could be available here. Get two and maybe all 3 subject to availability back together.

Always thought Frank was a bit of an upgrade on him, although it could also have been a bit right place right time sort of thing.

Ah yes, I forget about this sometimes. That means the £15m figure cor the future monitoring and staying within. I suppose I am just a bit hypervigolant as without anything official from League, club or even media outlets all angles and scenarios must be considered. Bit daft of me really as neither you nor me perhaps anyone on here can do anything about it- if we get referred or if other clubs get referred for adjudication well that's just one of those things. Or indeed if we are cleared or if we are at least strictly reviewed and then cleared there is little we can do about it I guess- it would happen or wouldn't happen as the case maybe.

I still think the new Independent body will have something to say about it in due course. If it is transfer add-backs that is seeing us compliant. It strikes me as being a flimsy argument and I would objectively if it is our argument refer it for adjudication. A certain level of flippancy on my part but it seems not to have done Reading any harm. I struggle to see how they are seemingly compliant with some of the loan signings, a lower income and their business plan. Other than that what is our current plan to avoid exceeding £39m? Covid losses for regular evenue seem fine but leave us struggling. For me anything for any club exceeding £39m to 2022 or 2023 is either a deduction or a referral to IDC or CRFB. Then the IDC or CRFB will decide. I suppose my overall point is, that comparing us and Reading it feels like we are being penalised for doing the correct thing. Relative to expenditure, type of signing efc.

For the record. 1 in 107 League games now or 2 in 115 in all competitive games (we got one at Millwall in the Cup in 2020-21).

Cardiff, Hull and Swansea also haven't been awarded a huge number across the last season and a half, ie back to the start of 2021-22 but I think we are dead last. Certainly an apology letter regarding Hull away in August, penalties at both ends were an issue.

Part of me wonders if we should just appease the FFP gods if required and agree to some points deduction. Okay I'm being a bit flippant but it seems to have done Reading no harm. Deduction, suspended further deduction, embargo(es) and Business( Plan since summer 2020. Not as if they sold Joao is it. Able to this year loan in Hendrick (Newcastle, the parent club covering most of wages), Loum (Porto- probably fringe) and Fornah (midfield- young). That is the CM, Rahman fully covered by Chelsea LWB Ghana international. Last year him and Drinkwater, not bad at all. Again costs covered by Chelsea. They also have 35 pts from 24 games as it stands. Not bad at all given the outgoing players. We otoh seem to be strangled by it despite a) An almost certainly higher income than Reading and b) No actual breach yet.

Yes good point, was just pondering how they might win them- skill, running at defences, trickery on the ball- or more like dark arts trickery ie diving?

That graph will be well off the graph/charts now as thst ran until maybe late 2021 or early 2022!? We've been awarded zero penalties since then so I dread to think! ?

Meanwhile, Reading who I never saw as a wildly free flowing and dangerous side got awarded their 5th of the League season to date. (They missed). Think that is their 8th in the League since our last one. 8 in 53 League games or 9 from the beginning of last season to present- not bad going at all...like I say not a strongly dangerous or free flowing side.