Ackey

Posts hidden. No one needs to be attacked for their opinion, equally no one is a more valid member of this board than anyone else - you're all welcome equally if you can behave like mature adults. Knock it off or the mod-preview stick is coming out.

Podcast: Football Weekly podcast | The Guardian Episode: Scotland reach Euro 2024 and Wales edge closer – Football Weekly | Football | The Guardian

I don't think she came across as bitter, no. It was more of a "They seemed to do well and I think he did enough to get the job" vibe, nothing more. Yep - she's very well regarded in football, and was a big part of Leeds' Academy set up for a while. She talks a lot of common sense on Football Weekly and wrote a brilliant article about the England Euro win in 2022. Lucy Ward (footballer) - Wikipedia

On Football Weekly she wasn't really specifically talking about Neil, she'd already said he'd come in with Thompson, so I expect it was more a generalised statement of "they were asked to do a job, went unbeaten and didn't get the job" - which is entirely true, but obviously doesn't tell the whole story either. I really like her as a journalist, and you can't really blame her for looking through tinted lenses in favour of her husband.

Feels like my "I'll check Monday" idea was ill-judged, as there's a barrage of lockable nonsense above. If someone wants to start a new FOOTBALL ONLY post about the important win over our local rivals please go ahead. If anyone posts non-football content in that one I'll just stick them on a few days of mod-approval. I get that it was a noteworthy event but we're 15 pages in and people seemingly want to just try and show how hard they are on an anonymous forum. Weird world, init.

And he's not been fired?!

I'm enjoying the ramble chat - but to be a Debbie Downer, I think we have to put context on "experienced". Someone coming in who's had a few years being average elsewhere or someone coming in to a barely-funded team which is already down is not quite the same as coming in today, is it? Today we have a team probably outspending every other in the league, one of the best (on paper) strikers in the league, multiple players from League One, etc.etc.etc. Then on the manager side we could be looking at someone with genuine success on their CV. Mellon as an easy example has four promotions. When was the last time we even remotely considered someone of that calibre? Of course it could all go tits up. And this is Latics, it probably bloody will. But we're not comparing apples right now, this is all new to us.

Right - but most teams in this league don't have any players you'd consider to be of a higher bar. Indeed many teams have players of a lower one. It's of course unrealistic to think we can win 4-0 every week, but equally our expectations given the budget and all the trimmings we have is surely to be top 2. Anything less than that is a failure.

We'll be strictly enforcing a no-chat policy in this thread (talk usual nonsense here). It's exclusively for posting "I have X spare" or "I need X tickets" comments only. Please be good to each other - anyone looking to put a massive markup on their tickets will have their posts removed. Please report posts (or private messages) to the Mods if anyone's being a dick about it! Good luck!

Totally onboard with the walk round London advice - but skip the top of the Shard and do any number of the free ones (some booked, some just roll up)... Best Rooftop Gardens in London | Rooftop Spots for Summer Days (timeout.com)

I'll counter by saying I've had "season tickets" (multi-game packages) for the NFL in London for about 10 years now and it is always a banging day out. You can drink in your seat, if nothing else. I am at both Spurs games this year (can't make Sunday this week either, sadly) and would highly recommend it, even if as a one-off "well I gave it a go" type event.

And with that very sensible and simple post....

You're still just coming down from your DU-departure orgasm. It'll wear off!

I got twitchy yesterday, but thought I'd let it roll on.

I suppose first and foremost its important to say I didn't put all that much effort in - there could be a dozen better. However, what I meant was pedigree entering the league as opposed to after they left it.

I think you are supposed to preface that with "BLOODY EARDLEY" mate. At least that's what the Main Stand used to do...

Conversely, they've only scored once at home in that time and we've arguably the best-pedigree striker the league has ever seen and a team who've scored 6 in two games. No fucking about, no worrying about them scoring - get at them, get a couple and hope their heads drop from having that "we'll never get two" feeling.

This week, I have mostly been listening to.... New Laugh Track album from The National (strange one - I like it a lot, but it's basically just Frankenstein... again) New Sea of Mirrors album from The Coral (belting!) New This New Noise album from Public Service Broadcasting, which is the live one from the RAH (fucking incredible - love them!) New(ish) The Death of Randy Fitzsimmons album from The Hives (best of the lot - album of the year already and they were fucking brilliant live recently) New Where the Angels Fall album from The Cat Empire (broadly OK - I think they've peaked and are a bit same-y now)

From the highlights alone he's set up a goal with some good determination/awareness and a nice pass. He's made a pressing run that's led to a good chance and done something else I already forgot. Even if that's all he's done in 90min that's a decent performance!

The most notable thing about Green in the games I've seen, even at Bromley which was a thankless task, is he wants the ball. He's been the only player other than Kitching who actually wants possession and is willing to keep the ball, look for a run or pass but without it needing to be immediate. His production wasn't always ideal (Bromley he ran down a dead end at least twice) but I'd be hopeful that comes with both patience and opportunity - if he makes those kinds of runs in a game where other players are also doing the same (which is what infuriated about Unsy ball most - it was so static) then he could be a very useful creative outlet.

They're building a new Spindles?!

Culture is a difficult thing. It generally speaking takes time and effort to build, but can also be fickle and change on a whim. And predicting which bit you're in is hard. Predicting when a whim may occur is borderline impossible. It's also not homogeneous. You can have pockets of culture within a wider one. You can have conflicting cultural behaviours. You can. You can. You can... With that said, it's also worth thinking about those pockets. Not because they are isolated, they influence eachother massively, but because we're in a time of change and things don't change in identical quick-step with eachother. Business Culture - Massively changed. The club as an organisation/business is barely recognisable from a year ago. We've seen huge steps forward in professionalism and more. Team Culture - Still a lot of work to be done, clearly not going the way anyone would want results-wise and some reasonable questions to be asked still. Fan Culture - Improved in general, came together well during the worst-of-times. Travel in incredible numbers. Home attendances brilliant for this level or the one above. Some really impressive strengths that could be capitalised on more. But, still plenty to do too - drawn to mood swings, toxic behaviour (see Chesterfield last-min) and more. Often the most evidently affected by the wider national culture and certainly the case in these polarised times (cliché klaxon sounds). Also the most readily affected by the Team's performance. Club Culture - An amalgamation of all the above and more. Probably better than it's been for 20 years. But still in a state of change and flux. Also one that's very vulnerable to other elements, such as Fan Culture. I could go on, these are examples not an exhaustive list. But the point is as a Club we need to keep picking away at all these elements one by one, improving small parts of them. We should make a LOT of them, but without assuming there's only one culture or that it's mono-directional. Keep improving small things in many areas and they will support eachother, improve eachother and eventually we'll be in a better place. Ramble over.

On the plus side you'll dick'um at the next pub quiz!

We've played a different system in multiple games this season and we're only four games in. Not defending him. Just think that's wrong.