chinapig

No, he lacks Kilkenny's pointing skills.?

My take is that they are more aggressive and play vertically more often than under Parker. I know a Fulham fan who used to complain that they passed the ball too slowly. Some fans don't know they're born, we don't pass the ball at all!?

No they are quoting the review itself: Unprecedented disorder at the Euro 2020 final was a “near miss”, with deaths and life-changing injuries only narrowly avoided, according to an independent report into events described as a “national shame”.... "However they were let down by a horde of ticketless, drunken and drugged-up thugs who chose to abuse innocent, vulnerable and disabled people, as well as police officers, volunteers and Wembley staff, creating an appalling scene of disorder and coming perilously close to putting lives at risk."

Do you appreciate they, and other media outlets, are simply reporting the conclusions of the independent Casey review of the events? Only your comment suggests not.

Agreed, he actually enjoys the game and that comes across. As per this: https://www.theguardian.com/football/blog/2021/dec/02/ally-mccoist-roy-keane-pundits

The constant rotation of position by the Liverpool players in the build up was breathtaking too.

Which begs the question why? Not only have we not recruited senior football staff to support Nigel there is no indication at all that we plan to do so. This is, frankly, amateurish. Not that that is anything new for us mind you.

I fear we may have to start planning for a future without him. Not his fault of course and he may even have grounds to sue for negligence under the previous regime but we cannot afford a player who can only play 1 or 2 games every now and then. I hope I am wrong though as I see him as a key player.

No doubt they are compliant but the fact is they are being massively subsidised by Chelsea. Otherwise they would either have a weaker squad or they would breach P&S again. So they now have a competitive advantage over the clubs around them which negates the points deduction. Yet another loophole then!

Quite so, which is why our recruitment needs to be a lot better. All the talk we used to get about finding out about a player's character before signing him was clearly so much bs.

I wouldn't place too much emphasis on any delay, the courts have massive backlogs. This was the case before Covid as the Ministry of Justice had bigger cuts in it's budget than any other ministry from 2010 onwards. Covid has made it worse with cases being listed for hearing into 2023. In the circumstances Barton's cases have not been delayed so much.

How proactive is the FCA though? It seems to get plenty of criticism for failure to act. Like investigating Greensill Capital after the damage was done. A regulator needs to be ahead of the curve not wait until a club has been screwed by its owner like Derby or Bury say. I suspect the Premier League clubs will not want anybody looking too closely at their finances. Let's see if the government allows the regulator the powers it needs and whether that regulator is willing to use those powers without fear or favour.

An excellent piece of work but the Premier League has already signalled some opposition and the government has said it won't commit to implementing all the recommendations. So be prepared for it to be watered down to suit the rich and powerful clubs. I reckon we will get a regulator but how powerful it will be remains to be seen. The performance of regulators in other areas doesn't inspire confidence. After all we have OFWAT but water companies continue to pump raw sewage into our waters with impunity.

Just read the same piece and I could imagine Nigel saying the following, especially the bolded bit: “Mentality relates to the effort you put in,” he continued. “Are you hungry? Are you willing to submit everything to get better? Do you want to improve yourself every day? Do you live in a professional way? Are you resistant to things like nightclubs or drinking? Do you need a big car or other things for your ego? If you don’t have the right mentality, you can forget about the inherited talent that’s in your DNA, and what you have learned from others. It’s no use. It doesn’t help. It doesn’t matter how talented a player is, if the mentality is shit, forget about it.

The obvious answer is food vouchers. Can't think why the club hasn't thought of it before.

Agreed, Parkin is very good on the Totally Football League show podcast too. So is Adrian Clarke, who is also very good with analytics. It amazes me how many former big name footballers seem to have little real insight into the game, or are unable to communicate it if they do. I guess they get the gigs because of their names rather than any skill.

You mean they play football outside of England? Who knew?? He is of course renowned in the game and something of an innovator in his day. Though I fear United players used to getting an easy ride under Ole may be in for a shock. Maybe if they had appointed him as technical director 3 years ago they might actually have had a coherent recruitment and tactical plan. He would certainly have told Woodward to keep out of the way and stick to negotiating with official noodle partners.

Of course he didn't but it was reported at the time. Also that he would have to reduce the coaching staff. Fine if you want to be entertained in the third division for years perhaps but JW, GJ and SC all outperformed him.

He had spent lots of money but failed to win promotion. As a consequence he was told the budget had to be cut but didn't accept that. Of course subsequently a certain Conference manager won promotion on a shoestring with a squad that on paper was weaker than Wilson's.

It will be: 1. The EFL 2. Steve Gibson 3. Kieran MaGuire 4. Mel Morris 5. @Mr Popodopolous

If a new owner is to take on the debts surely they would expect to buy for a nominal sum? Though it is complicated by there being 6 companies involved.

Crikey, £123m?! I imagine Derby fans will expect him to write it off as penance but I doubt he is in any position to do so. Talk about hero to zero. You'd have to have a heart of stone not to laugh.

I fear you are right. Quite how players get to this level without the pretty basic understanding of defending in a 4-4-2 as I described it is beyond me though.

The bold bit seems fundamental to me. I can go back to GJ's team where Sproule and McIndoe would always drop back, allowing the full backs to tuck in close to the centre backs. The central midfielders would then position themselves in front of the defence and hey presto you have a very effective barrier that challenges the opposition to find space to play in the final third. This takes organisation, discipline and commitment certainly but it's not rocket science. So why is the current team incapable of doing the same?

As others have said, inability to keep the ball is the key factor. I was struck by the following from an interview with Russell Martin I read yesterday: “You always get people who say ‘possession doesn’t mean you win’, but if you have the ball and you have it a long way from your goal, your chances of conceding become much smaller” Common sense really but not something we seem to have grasped/ are capable of.