Open End Numb Legs

The share price of popcorn manufacturers will track the number of signatures to that petition. . Only 32 so far, about a tenth of their home crowd then. I would be genuinely staggered if that went anywhere, deep down they must know they are better off without him.

That goodbye message actually reads quite well. There seems to be no bad feeling in there so maybe he wants to go. I don't agree with the bit where he says the club is in an amazing position. It reminds me of those old photos of men having lunch sat on steel frames of sky scrapers in 1930s New York - they were in an amazing position too but no one else would want to be them! There is a parallel here with the steel beams of their new stand, so maybe that is what he meant after all.

Tell me they were joking. Although, thinking about it, a visit to the Mem would probably swing it in Rovers favour.

Don't forget, they are apparently 'still getting used to their new found wealth'* so shouldn't be going cheap on their next manager. Pep will be getting a call I expect. (* Source - Gaschat)

I had to dig down into the lower end of the football stories on the BBC sports page to find a mention of it. It seems not to be a story worthy of much attention. Am I right in thinking he had surrounded himself with mates there? If so this could run on a bit yet. To save money perhaps Rovers will wait for them to move on voluntarily, perhaps rejoining their leader when he gets a new job? It will be interesting to see how their form goes. You would think it would naturally improve without him there but if the regime is essentially the same and the coaches don't see a future there, we could see a further slide.

I would say he has had too much naan recently.

Training and getting match minutes at this level and on these pitches with these crowds will accelerate their development IMO. We should have a great young team further down the line, but, we need Nige to guide the way with proper support. Jam tomorrow!!

Yes, agreed. I suppose my point about crosses is that it is something that is very easy to work on in training, much like shooting practice or penalties, you don't need the squad, even just stay behind after hours with a coach. There is saying somewhere about being lucky. Sportsman replies, yeh, funny how the more I practice the luckier I get. (Someone will know who said that!!).

Fair point but remember that Ipswich went a bit AWOL in the last 15 minutes, their movement was poor. They out played us earlier at times so fitness is key. Had we played the final pass or cross better it could easily have been 2-1 so that is where I would concentrate improvement. Too often we get to the byline, don't look up and the cross goes nowhere near our players. Having done the hard bit..... One of the differences to Prem players is the whipped in cross, accurate and at pace. We rarely do that IMO.

Ipswich passed well but over did the play between their keeper and defenders. If we had pressed with full committment a couple of times we could have embarrassed them. They fell off the game in the last 20, probably due to not playing matches recently. Thought a draw would have been fair. The old cliche of the final ball is very true of us. Do we look up before crossing? Not sure we do.

I think we deserve a draw.

Ref doing us a favour with his version of 10 yards there. Our build up play is pretty good but the final ball has been poor. Improve that and clear our lines better and we are still in this.

It sounds as though he needs to read the City shirt number, then check it against the line up.

You would read that Ipswich preview and think we shouldn't bother turning up. I would quote some of that in our changing room about 5 minutes before ko.

There is a clue in the so called foul on the Rovers keeper - the Rovers defender who collided with him is laid out on the grass afterwards. The Stevenage player is on his feet. As for JB, his name calling is something you hear in a primary school playground. In this case it deflects attention away from what his own fans are calling a poor performance. I suspect the Martin goal was a hit and hope on the basis he was expecting the hand ball to be given.

What a player, what a person. RIP.

They would have a smaller crowd than attend the summer solstice....

There is a difference - apparently early man got planning permission for theirs. No floodlights though.

With those pillars, could it become a listed building? A fine example of 1930s architecture.

It would be different these days. Planning for natural drainage is very important.

I would watch Doctors but I have to make an appointment 3 weeks before.

Interesting that Southgate mentioned Phillips being lucky not to get a red in his after match interview. Rusty Phillips may be but as this team comes together it shows that his card is marked by the coaches to improve. Both tackles were clumsy if not dangerous.

Odd article as watching on TV there seemed to be nothing but cheering and clapping. Maybe someone who was in the stadium can say if different, but probably the best thing to do is say nothing and let the football do the talking.

He could have got a decent pasty in North Cornwall and the beaches are nicer.

Where players are selected that perhaps goes against public opinion I think it is partly down to international coaches wanting to persevere with and maintain a 'club' feel within the squad. There are pros and cons with this of course but with Eng currently looking pretty good it will be a morale he will want to protect.