Lack of Action Man

He did okay today. Certainly didn’t look out of place. Probably has a role to play as a cover player/reserve for us, or could drop down a league and more likely be a starter.

First time I saw a “fanzone” with live music was at West Brom away in the cup when SC was manager. I have always wondered if that was the first such instance (and inspired us), or whether we were simply late to catch onto the idea…

I went today, and was pleasantly surprised. We look decent. Naturally it’s very difficult to judge how the performance today will translate into a competitive match, but there were enough positives to get me feeling somewhat optimistic. We moved the ball well and generally kept possession well, without too many instances of cheaply giving it away. We also seemed to have a greater amount of possession in their final third, certainly in the first half. Bentley had a strange moment losing a relatively easy catch (maybe there was a foul, I wasn’t able to see) but other than that he was solid and distributed well. Defensively as a unit we looked good, particularly Jay Dasilva who I was really impressed by. Add to this that Sykes has settled in well and looks a good addition to the team. In midfield Matty James looked sharp, and more like the player I had expected him to be. Massengo also kept the ball very well under pressure and played some neat passes. We did make some decent plays on the deck through their lines, but were also able to go long when we needed to. As for Bournemouth, well they huffed and puffed, but didn’t really show anything too inspiring. Their opening fixtures are very difficult. If I was a Bournemouth fan, I’d be more than a little worried… Oh and shout out to the cheerleader, and the seagull!

Not sure if B&Q or Easy Jet…

I love it. Best kit in years.

The shop is truly crap. It was better when we had TFG as kit supplier, and even that was fairly woeful.

Don’t get the hate for FBC to be honest. It’s the first city pod I listen to each week, followed by OSIB and then maybe 3 peaps but I struggle to get on board with 3 peaps as it does play things very safe r.e. Any criticism of the team or club. FBC and OSIB will at least call out crap football when they see it, and let’s face it - apart from Hull 5-0 there’s been an awful lot of crap to discuss this season.

But if NP then goes on to state that most of those players will still be here regardless, what’s the incentive? If they’ve already decided they’re not on board with NPs plan, but know they are staying then they could easily plod along collecting a wage without any real need to knuckle down. There’s no real threat to underperforming players here is what I’m getting at.

Then why say (on several occasions) that players won’t be here next season after a defeat in his post match press conference? At best he’s giving off mixed messages here.

Not a fan of Downsy, much preferred David Lloyd and also his immediate predecessor (unsure of the name) circa 2003-2005 who did the massively elongated “come on you redssssssss” before kick off. Much better. Why be so precious over a hat?

This is a very odd and jarring comment to make by NP considering he has (after several defeats this season) repeated his mantra of getting rid of players that don’t engage with his plan/vision. It stinks of all bark and no bite to me?

Yes, we’ve renewed our two season tickets. Yes, we are probably mad for doing so ?

Never got the hype about him when he broke into the side. Average at Champ level on a good day. There’s better players in the positions he can fulfil at this level.

Assuming the Sporting quarter redevelopment goes ahead, but we continue to be absolutely **** as a football side it may as well be more like “The Huboo City Robins Arena & Plaza” (Aka The C.R.A.P)

No to LJ from me. Things are already fairly toxic, and he’s a marmite character. If it goes tits up, which I would expect it to, things will only get more toxic at AG.

Yes I agree, this is also a concern and when you factor in RG’s posturing to the media that we would rather take a points deduction than accept a sub-par bid, it all adds up to a right old mess. Someone on here recently suggested stadium naming rights as an option. I’ve always been against this myself, but given how desperately we need investment I’m finding my opinion swinging towards anything is option now.

It’s clear we aren’t getting out of this mess without serious investment into the playing staff. However, due to FFP we are financially hamstrung and NP has already come out in the press and squashed any expectation I had for next year by saying it’s unlikely we will be spending big in the summer (at least not unless we sell big). Assuming (for whatever reason) the big money bids don’t come in for the likes of Massengo, Semenyo or others, just how on Earth are we going to raise some much needed cash? Do the panel have any legitimate suggestions for alternative ways the club can generate some much needed income so we can go after the quality players needed to turn this around?

It’s not for me. Three subs, with additional subs only allowed in the case of a head injury, is fine.

A strategy based on high percentage of backwards passing is not entertaining ? just my view.

There was unrest in the dressing room due to disparity of wages between some of the key players from the promotion and play off seasons. McIndoe was one of our highest earners, and this didn’t sit well within the camp. Apparently it all got out of hand from there as players (including Basso) started to question the club’s (or rather the management’s) thinking on player’s worth. I had the pleasure of speaking with Basso and watching him train when he was out of contract. This was what he told us at the time.

I agree totally with your point about defensive coaching. We simply have to be so much better than we are, and given that both Pearson and Flemming were defenders in their career I cannot fathom what is going on? If Flemming is leading training and Pearson observing, then they are both culpable since Pearson must be happy with what Flemming is coaching to the players. If it's Pearson leading training then we've got even bigger worries because you would expect him to be able to teach players how to mark, screen and attack the ball properly. Pearson talks about our players lacking "heart" and desire to win the ball... but surely that's his job - to inspire and motivate them to be the best they can be. Or is he simply saying that he is unable to polish a turd? I just don't get it. Injuries are a huge worry. Is there something "off" about the training pitches or indeed the training routine the players are put through? Are they getting adequate recovery from games/rehab from niggles? All valid questions we just don't have the answers to.

Swear I've heard Nige Whittle on sound of the city before. Decent episode, as always Headhunter. As a seperate point, how does Twentyman/Radio Bris choose who goes on the air? Always seems to be the same old few fans, whether it's the post match phone in or the weekly show.

On your points I've highlighted: I think I expect some of the basic/fundamental errors we see week in week out to be addressed. FBC pod made a fair point that if NP isn't in charge of leading training (i.e. he takes a more observational role), and he isn't in charge of recruitment, then he is solely responsible for selection, man-managing and motivating the team - and I question some of the team selection we have seen and certainly the motivation of some (but not all) of our players. Kasper Schmeichel (and indeed many of the other players from that Leicester side) talk about NP like he was the defining turning point in their careers. I want to see some evidence of that level of inspiration and motivation here at AG, and imo I'm struggling to see it apart from in Alex Scott who I suspect due to his ability may have been a revelation under any half decent manager. You could make a case for Semenyo, but that's just two players. We have a lot of players in our squad who are underperforming and I would expect more from NP in that regard. I do agree that the club is a mess, has been mismanaged for quite some time, and I think this needs to be hammered home a lot more directly to the club themselves. It's been a little while since Twentyman has done a cutting interview/show with one of the City higher-ups. The interview earlier this year with RG was dominated by NP's health issues so I don't feel we got much in the way of a strategy for moving forwards other than RG saying "I hope Nigel stays with us" (paraphrasing). I take your point that perhaps a change now isn't in the clubs best interests... however you have to look at the likes of Forest who were similarly languishing under Hughton (again, another one of my preferred choices for the managerial post here) and how when they made the change their fortunes improved. Is it correlation or causation? I can't say for certain, but I think as fans we are right to have some skepticism over what we have seen this season. I was expecting us to finish about 10th - 13th after I watched us in pre-season and on the opening day, so in that regard we have been very underwhelming - for me personally. I absolutely agree we need a huge slice of luck in the summer with both outgoings and in comings - can I see it happening? Probably not. I have a horrible feeling the summer will go similarly to the pre-season we spent under SC pursuing players who were (for whatever reason) financially unavailable to us i.e. Dwight Gayle.

And I do not ?

Christ, that squad makes for depressing reading Fevs and that’s assuming Williams is a contender, which I personally don’t think we can rely on given his injury record.