Boro fans will have to undertake quite some journey… about 750 miles to Exeter and back?
and we then play Plymouth away on the following Saturday!
2 Likes
Dave, I think your result today epitomises the Championship perfectly, that on any given day, any team can beat another, no matter what type of run they may have been on.
2 Likes
Given the fact I’ve picked apart Martin and Farke I really ought to have made a score prediction. Thank goodness I don’t usually do such things and didn’t on this occasion 
1 Like
It was always going to take more than one transfer window to sort out Orta’s mess. I think yesterday was proof of that. A RB at LB. A mid at RB. And still no real replacement for Pablo - Kamara & Ampadu aren’t the most creative midfield.
Farke seems to like the slow burn approach, start slow and rely on superior fitness as the game wears on. Wrong tactic yesterday. Worryingly he changed nothing in game. One thing’s for sure. Any team on a poor run needs to play LUFC. We’re guaranteed to get them off the hook.
On a positive note, the defeat will bring a touch of reality to those fans who were starting to get carried away. And Rutter was arguably our motm. We need him to hit £30 million form.
Tough game in London next up. Lose that and it’ll be Farke out 
1 Like
Genuinely interesting night for lots of “unfashionable” clubs. Lovely to see Ipswich flying and Middlesboro and Southampton perhaps slowly coming good. Ditto Barnsley and Charlton.
Further down, and despite Saturday, it’s good to see Crewe picking up and it was hard to wonder how a very good Mansfield under Clough didn’t batter us tonight.
Bizarre that the Arsenal loanee is in goal let alone getting rave MOTM reviews on the BBC. He was dreadful. At one point released the ball out of both hands to kick it and was legitimately robbed by a Stags player who then got a yellow card for doing literally nothing wrong at all. Also appalled to see that the one thing he did in his 6 yard box was a Cruyff turn. No thank you. Parky making some genuinely perplexing team selections at present.
Further down also good nights for Alty, Barnet, Gateshead and of course Sarfend who may have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire but should at least avoid liquidation tomorrow.
M clubs. Lovely to see Ipswich flying and Middlesboro and Southampton perhaps slowly coming good. Ditto Barnsley and Charlton.
Further down, and despite Saturday, it’s good to see Crewe picking up and it was hard to wonder how a very good Mansfield under Clough didn’t batter us tonight.
Bizarre that the Arsenal loanee is in goal let alone getting rave MOTM reviews on the BBC. He was dreadful. At one point released the ball out of both hands to kick it and was legitimately robbed by a Stags player who then got a yellow card for doing literally nothing wrong at all. Also appalled to see that the one thing he did in his 6 yard box was a Cruyff turn. No thank you. Parky making some genuinely perplexing team selections at present.
Further down also good nights for Alty, Barnet, Gateshead and of course Sarfend who may have jumped out of the frying pan into the fire but should at least avoid liquidation tomorrow.
Woo. Had some déjà vu reading that 
Hope you’re getting better
Not sure why that reproduced itself twice? Very odd.
However, lots of these clubs get no mention despite being superb to watch so… why not 
Thanks for asking @SiBrighton. Long slow road has commenced. Still coughing up a whisky tot of “stuff” per day but I am slowly feeling less exhausted. The chest and other pains have largely gone but each day brings something new. Sunday the chest and breathing were terrible. Yesterday the coughing fits doubled for no appreciable reason. First post hospital blood test today.
1 Like
Went to the Wrexham/Mansfield match last night. Mansfield are a good, neat side and on another night could have been out of sight by half time. They really showed our lack of pace throughout the team.
Hayden had a good match, mendy was reasonable in the right but can only kick with his left. Palmer had a good game up front.
I couldn’t see the incident with Okonkwo where he got the free kick, but otherwise he made some good saves. He does still seem a little unsure of himself.
Mullin laboured throughout the match and is not up to speed by a long chalk.
1 Like
I enjoyed the piece in The Athletic today about Celtic v Lazio, and particularly about how “ultra culture” plays out between the two clubs.
Celtic’s Green Brigade are purportedly the only real example of ultras in the UK. For those who don’t know, the Green Brigade are left-wing (as you’d expect in Glasgow), articulate, and not hooligans. Lazio’s ultras are said to be far right and thugs. The Green Brigade call tonight’s opponents Nazio.
Feelings have been running high since the Green Brigade hoisted a banner at Celtic Park the last time the teams met showing Mussolini hanging by his feet. Lazio fans were predictably provoked.
Things could get interesting in Glesga this evening.
2 Likes
Glad you managed to see a game in the flesh. I was confined to the live stream but, even if I’d been fit enough to go, getting back to the outer reaches of GM would have been impossible by public transport so I’m not kidding myself I’d have been going if fit. I definitely wouldn’t.
Wholly agree it could have easily been over by half time. For all that people are battering the back 3, for me the issue is solely team selection. If you pick 3 attacking midfielders, none of whom are ball winners and none of who track back, then ally them to wing backs who play as wingers i.e. they don’t chase back either then of course the back 3 are exposed.
No idea how O”Connor was picked last night or Saturday. He’s been wretched since the 2nd half against Donny. However, McLean is worse. A left sided midfielder who has mostly played in a 4 now being asked to play as wing back in a 5 and showing himself to have zero ability to chase back. However, bad O’Connor is at the moment, having McLean in the team left him hopelessly exposed as it did Boyle against Crewe. The sooner we can get Mendy back on the left and Forde on the right then the better. I’d have played Max instead of O’Connor last night.
Loads of people made the keeper MOTM. For me he’s Mayebi. Great shot stopper (as you’d expect any pro keeper to be) but he’s quiet; doesn’t dominate his 6 yard box and has a brain fart in him every game. For me it was Palmer, Jones or Mendy. I’d say Mendy edged it because he got through so much defensive stuff whilst playing way out of position but still managed to pass and break intelligently. I thought he was pushed to the limit snd cane through superbly.
I like Parky and think he’s got 2 more promotions in him for us but the sooner he realises that our best midfield is Jones, Young and A.N. Other the better.
All that said, it was a proper hammer and tongs game that. Really tough game. I think if we’re being honest 3 points from Crewe at home, Mansfield away and Crawley away will be a cracking return. A win on Saturday seems unlikely but would represent a tough but very good week.
I’m optimistically aiming for the Crewe EFL Trophy game next Tuesday but we’ll see. Every day is an adventure at the moment.
1 Like
Well Munoz didn’t last long at Sheff Weds. Karma for the club’s appalling treatment of Moore.
The Moore thing was a little more nuanced than presented I suspect. Asked for a raise which would have made him one of the highest paid managers in the country let alone the Championship. Also some interesting behind the scenes stuff about players sharing the same management as the manger. Always an accident waiting to happen.
Feel sorry for any manger there now tbh. Who could survive an owner who attacks his own fans? A matter of time before their sugar daddy becomes the new Ron Martin and the protests begin.
Yes, Mike. With the owner publicly declaring that he’s putting no more money into the club it’s hard to see the Owls attracting a new manager with a decent track record. After all that hard work over several seasons to escape from L1, I can see them returning to it very quickly.
1 Like
Another disappointing performance at Swansea last night. I know we’ve lost Sargent and Barnes from the team that played well earlier in the season but it doesn’t excuse our performances of late.
We are supposedly in a three year ownership transition but it needs to be brought forward as we badly need fresh impetus.
@JohnF I’m curious you always question the ownership, never the actions of the board. Why is that? Genuine question.
1 Like
Delia is the majority shareholder and thus she is the board.
1 Like
I don’t wish to reopen a discussion we’ve kind of done to death, albeit that it’s always interesting, but I genuinely find the mindset fascinating.
Fans see conspiracyrather than co**-up. Fans target individuals and find reasons for doing so but the reality is often so different. There appear to be eleven people on your board and looking at their roles it’s hard to accept the others are just there to make up the numbers.
At my club it’s well known who the majority shareholders are but it’s equally well known that they’re not really running the show at all. Sadly that falls to Harvey, Ker and Robinson. I doubt any of the three have any financial investment in the club.
I think the other side of this, which is inevitably divisive, is that finance plays such a role nowadays that expectations become inflated. “Why can’t my club do what that club has?” It’s an uncomfortable truth but there is much to be said for understanding that a dose of new finance and ambition is more likely to put your club at risk in the long term in exchange for a short term taste of sunshine.
The list of clubs who did exactly what you aspire to is interesting to say the least.
Stockport County made it to the Championship and were pushing for the EPL. Ended up in National League North. Cambridge United did the same and ended up one division higher. Oldham Athletic “lived the dream”. Absolute miracle it took them so long to land in the National League. AFC Wimbledon. Failed to understand that if your biggest asset is your ground and it’s not worth much then the vultures will circle. MK Dons are the villain of the piece but really it was going to happen anyway. Barnsley, Blackpool, Bolton, Charlton, Derby, Portsmouth, Reading and Wigan all now in League One. Many have visited League Two recently. Hello Bradford City.
A similar exercise in the Championship gives us Cardiff, Huddersfield, Hull, Ipswich, Leicester, QPR, Sheffield Wednesday, Southampton, Stoke, Sunderland, Swansea, Watford and West Brom. Many of these also fell far below Championship level once they’d had their moment (or even a few seasons) of glory. Those that didn’t have often clung on by the skin of their teeth.
Hard to believe it will end well for Luton and Wolves for the same reason. Sheffield United? I fear for them too.
I make no apologies for saying that my club has the possibility to achieve Championship level. To do so we know we will need to get the ground back to at least 20 to 25,000 capacity and to bring in outside investors if we get to League One at some point. The problems which then arise are so obvious but worth laying out.
Put simply, when you’re one step away from alleged heaven some people will accept that stability has value and that you are in a golden era. Some people will look up and think “why not?”. That list above is why not. I will love every second of being in the Championship but the moment we start thinking that the level above would be a “sustainable” option “if only” we had more investment etc. is the exact moment the downward spiral commences. If both our owners and their new investors want the EPL then that’s what we’ll go for. That instantly triggers a conflict as to who will be putting the money in and what level of ownership they should get in return. Never ends well. Points deductions often derive from this exact clash of ambitions. Charlton and Barnsley fans will recognise this. Ditto Portsmouth and their fresh investment from a person who turned out to not exist. Lots of others obviously.
This is not to say that the status quo is always acceptable or that existing owners are perfect. No-one is. Our own are to ann extent utterly embarrassing. However, genuine fans when in charge will often appear conservative and staid to those fans on the outside when what’s going on inside is turbulent and a constant battle.
2 Likes
I see Hughes has gone from Bradford. Did well for them last season but I don’t rate him as a manager.
Harris also gone from Gillingham after a mere two defeats against teams on the rise. I don’t think he’s a great manager but it again shows the impatience of owners now investing at lower levels because of the mistaken perception it’s easier to get a ROI.
Hughes is a funny one. Such an inspired player. Such a dour manager. Has the utter intransigence of all good managers but hasn’t really adapted to the modern game. His spell with Wales featured a big man up top holding the ball up for two wingers. Once it clicked it was a joy. His undoing was a lack of depth and a commitment to experienced players out of position rather than an inexperienced player who knows the job. I still have nightmares about Gary Speed at full back away against Italy. Cost us qualification right there. Same issue with Parky at Wrexham now. Would rather play an attacking midfielder on the left of a three because he’s played there before than a 20 year old who plays that position; has quicker feet and brings the ball into the opposition half rather than playing speculative punts.
That pattern of play is one Hughes stuck to with the likes of Blackburn and City and he brought it to Bradford with Cook up front. Once again an injury exposed that you either need a different plan with the same players or at least two players for every position. Of the teams my lot have played so far this season I thought they were comfortably the worst bar Newcastle Under 21s.
Delia has hired Stuart Webber to run the club but as the majority owner then ultimately the buck must stop with her.
There is a £60 million financial hole despite a so called self funding model being in operation.
As soon as the parachute payments stop heaven knows what happens with the self funding model.
Delia has entered into talks with Mark Attanasio, who owns the Brewers baseball team. He has taken up an equal shareholding and provided £33 million to facilitate the current financial problem.
As I understand it if all goes well there will be a transfer of ownership in three years time.
In the meantime we’ve sold around £25 million of players and spent approximately £3 million on new players. Several of the new players are ageing free transfers and the club is slipping into, at best, mid championship.
The championship now has several billionaire owners and as far as I’m concerned I’d rather see the ownership transfer take place immediately as the club needs overhauling.