Mr Popodopolous

Unsure why the OP mentions Standard Liege unless they've declined drastically, I seem to recall them being alright in European competition even. Forest Green and Standard Liege is an interesting two sides to place together.

I literally don't see how it is even a starter, ethics aside. He was untried in this League. He could've been a poor man's Haaland and and got 15-20 goals thereby propelling them into contention for say the last Europa League place. Or he could have done his ACL in training and not kicked a ball. Or anything in between. It seems purely speculative.

It's been in the works for a while, they won some Insurance claim apparently but which years Accounts that is in Idk.. Disgusting is the correct term. I am sure they were factoring some sort of Sala Impairment Reversal into FFP calculations too had they won the case.

Both conversion and creativity can be a problem albeit trends are improving. I dunno what sample size we want but on a basic shots/goals ratio in this little run. 9 Goals, 75 Shots Taken albeit 3 of these were penalties. Conversion rate 12%, non penalty Conversion Rate 8.33%. Other end. There were no penalties against. 2 Goals, 75 Shots Allowed, Conversion Rate 2.667%. Both are lower than trending norms in respect of Non Penalty. Basic Shot data is fairly midtableish. Maybe a bit higher.

Sure it has been posted on here by others already but I wonder how far down this road football is.

Any indication as to how many Season tickets sold yet or would that be sometime this week..tomorrow perhaps?

I think there were a host of reasons why football attendances fell in the 1980s. That was one but one of several IMO.

Just checked briefly.. In 2001-02, they finished 2nd in the Bundesliga, CL and German Cup. In addition, they also came 2nd in 1996-97, 1998-99, 1999-2000...Plus 2010-11 but that period of late 1990s to early 2000s especially. A major feat don't get me wrong but by certain metrics a decent sized club or have been.

I mean agreed in some ways albeit Bayer Leverkusen did reach a CL final in the early 2000s, did reach 2nd in the Bundesliga at least once..they were known as Neverkusen until now. Blackburn are a historic club, in modern times bot so much but a strong history so I'm not sure any of the 3 are that alike. Albeit in the very modern context of the last saw years I can see some similarity.

As for the actual OP by Dave, Leeds under Bielsa and Brentford under Frank were perhaps 2 sides who went up with good Possession numbers but without Parachute Payments or so I've always thought. Can't be many others? Wagner and Huddersfield were technically alright at times, Nuno and Wolves very good in a range of ways but were either Possession sides as such?

I would offer a note of caution in respect of defence albeit their are some transitional periods as we go between back 4, back 3, back again. This offsets some of it and things are on the up again but this Isn t so much a critique of individuals but I wonder if we are quite as rock solid. We're good, we're decent don't get me wrong. Though in terms of Goals Conceded we are, in respect of some underlying numbers albeit tbis was prior to this weekend I have the following data. Fbref- models differ. We absolutely have a decent base to build on across the pitch, agree with the overall premise.

@Antman for your benefit (and anyone else) the EFL and a longer history of it. 1) 2013-14 until 2015-16, EFL has the one year Fixed Asset Rules and Profit (or Loss) on Disposal is adjusted out of FFP, somewhat aligned with UEFA. One year Rules were causing problems of their own, the fine system etc. 2) In late 2014, EFL clubs voted to align with the PL, and the 3 Year Rule we have now comes into being with the first rolling 2 Year Period ending 2016-17, therefore 2014-15 to 2016-17, 2015-16 to 2017-18 and so on. 3) Somehow that Loophole opened as the Rules changed. Kieran Maguire after the Derby sale suggested that they copied and pasted them across from the PL and didn't do correct due diligence- this made a hitherto shut loophole, potentially open. (Fair Value and timing other issues that srill are relevant). 4) The first major controversy emerged in March 2019. Steve Gibson among others, possibly SL too was very angry and we soon found out why! 5) Derby a regular in and around the top 6 were heading for a financial hole..yet had avoided issues at that time? How. £81m sale, Profit around £40m Pride Park! Sale and leaseback, they or Reading were maybe first. Both definitely took place by end of June 2018 anyway. The List of Championship clubs and the nature of their Transactions 2017-18 Derby- Pride Park, Sale and Leaseback to commonly owned external company. Reading- Club to immediate Parent, Madejski Stadium- Sale and Leaseback. 2018-19 Aston Villa- Villa Park, Sale and Leaseback to commonly owned external company. Birmingham- St Andrews, Sale and Leaseback to external company. Reading- a) Madjeski Stadium Sale and Leaseback from Parent to external company b) Land around Madjeski Stadium sold outright to external company c) Old Training Ground, sold outright to external company. 2020-21 Blackburn- Training Ground, Sale and Leaseback to commonly owned external company. Stoke- Bet365 Stadium and Training Ground, Sale and Leaseback to Bet365. Category of its own..2017-18 into 2018-19 Technically Sheffield Wednesday sold and placed their Sale and Leaseback of Hillsborough in the season ending 2017-18, however they did not do this in time and they had to move it to the correct year. This meant they failed to the extent of £18m above Upper Loss limit and a 12 Points deduction. The EFL shared some blame. Was halved on Appeal but relegated anyway. Clubs unanimously decided in Summer 2021 that this was bringing the competition into disrepute or that the Rules needed tightening so it is no longer a relevant transaction for FFP. Not banned, simply irrelevant. The PL should have had a formal vote on this, didn't but despite that it still must be Fair Value and is challengeable on these grounds and perhaps challengeable if the Rent is too low if Chelsea still benefit from Revenue eg For an outright sale it surely must be derecognised, for a Sale and Leaseback there must be a Fair Market Rent that reflects such transactions.

Plymouth and Blackburn as well as being 3 points and clean sheets felt important for this reason. We won in different ways but we deserved both. Huddersfield, big step back but we at least had some pressure 2nd half and gained a perhaps fortunate penalty but the evolution in intent feels key.

Yeah we are all guessing atm. Either it is going great we hope and they will surprise us on a particular day, or.. it is sluggish or mediocre and they aren't exactly rushing out the bunting and data. Based on last time, April 25th was 10k, I can't recall what was outlined exactly but the equivalent date is one to benchmark against. April 23rd feels like the day.

Brentford last time had a great time, their best ever season certainly position wise. Notable scalps- Beat Man City twice, hammered Man United 4-0, won at Chelsea, Tottenham, beat Liverpool- drew at Arsenal... This year not so much but they have been rather wrecked with injuries, teams beginning with Br eh- less injuries in key positions and they would he both more watchable and have more points.

We're doing okay now IMO, sometimes sketchy sequences of performances and or results especially 5he latter can occur when you make a mid-season change and the new man has his own ideas. That is priced in to an extent, the last 6 games has had 3, perhaps even 4 performances I suspect most are happy with. The real hit was that 2ne run just after the Middlesbrough and Southampton wins, an unexpected lease of life for the season- far from an easy League but you can afford one ropey one, perhaps 1 and a bit but..yet had we scored first v say QPR and Cardiff and perhaps we do win one or both.

Do you mean Atkinson or Naismith?

4 more points would be reasonable, being s bit greedy 6 but yes 4 will be aok- it will maintain the level. We have had two especially poor runs under Manning, maybe 2 especially poor and 1 suspect. Otoh this is a strong run, so too was the run in December of 10/4 and 2 wins gave us an opening in mid February..then alas.

Still improving in respect of the position but remember Sheffield Wednesday play tomorrow and tbis is prior to the game QPR are currently playing. QPR v Preston currently 1-0 to the hosts so heading to 11th. Possibly 2 or 3 points light on where we might be. However performances out of the last 6 such as Leicester, Blackburn, Norwich and even in some ways Plymouth are reasons for some positivity.

Naismith when fit also a viable option and crucially IMO can switch between deeper midfield and a back 3 in-game, another tactical dimension. Not sure how many others we have can do it in that way for us.

I'd say 4 enjoyable performances personally, e.g. Plymouth perhaps the least eye catching of the 4 but after weathering an early storm we looked decent- important too given the aforementioned variable record and performances vs bottom third sides

Hopefully we can keep both. Both offer strong positives, experience and quality, in the case of Williams perhaps entering peak years.

No real need to sell this summer, Bird has good Championship experience and yet room for growth. Recruitment and retention could be key.

Cardiff are oddly low in wages, £14-15m only for players, total Club wage bill £22m or so?? That was their 2023 Accounts as stated.