Xen

Its spelled Jake, actually...

Ive been the same for the last couple years when I moved to Salford. Usually got the train down in the morning and back up straight after, or like you stopped with parents just outside the city. The 5 minute walk to Old Trafford was convenient for away games Over in Oldham now and still making the same pilgrimage, but it's become more and more of a chore. Bit easier now that I can drive, but whilst it's now more convenient, my enthusiasm has gone the other way

Yeah, I figured as much. Not sure how they could stop it, though: Easy enough to transfer an NFC pass to a diff device, or use an old phone to store the pass as if it was an old physical ST card. Other than ID checks on the turnstiles (and even then we're similar enough to get away with it 😂)

I live in Manchester, been dealing with the trains for the last couple seasons to be able to get to games, completely upending my weekends a lot of the time so I can keep on coming down. Finally got around to passing my driving test at the end of last year so I don't have to bother with that and... I still can't be bothered. Completely apathetic towards the club as it stands. If it was just me I'd be cancelling my ST, but I share with my dad/brothers when I'm not able to make it, so I'll probably end up keeping it for their sake. Although even that is in doubt. If it was easier to get my ST back should the running of the club improve (not as bothered about on-pitch results) then I would've already cancelled. But its a captive audience and given my circumstances, if I gave it up I doubt I'd ever get the points to get it back under the current system. Cant believe how quickly this club has shifted from fans feeling on top of the world to such a low point. Even the Championship win felt like we dragged ourselves over the line in the end. It's pitiful.

Think this'd be a decent signing if the fee is modest. Injury record isnt great, but he's been mostly OK on that front this season so that bodes well. Clearly capable at this level so no more of a risk than Woyo. Can play more advanced, so if we've not been able to find a winger to bring in, it can help bridge the gap and puts less of a reliance on players like Ricardo/JJ picking up the slack. Kristiansen, Lamptey, Ricardo, Coulibaly, JJ is a pretty good crop of fullbacks in the right system. Gives us the option of pulling JJ/Coulibaly over to the left, or even (for JJ) as one of the wide CBs in a 3. I wouldnt be thinking our problems are solved if we brought him in, but I equally wouldn't feel like it was a mistake to do so so long as the terms are reasonable.

I live in Manchester, possibly the easiest away fixture i could possibly go to. But not even going to consider it at those prices. Ridiculous.

Not that bad, if you think about it. Winning a league (or getting promoted in any manner) puts you into a tougher league for the other half of the year. Ipswich and Southampton missing as well, whereas Leeds who were nearly-men got to have another 20 games against Championship opposition. Likewise, dominant PL teams remain dominant. In the lower leagues you tend to see clubs keep a bit more momentum after promotion so the likes of Wrexham are up there, but otherwise it's mostly filled with clubs who had a good run at the end of 23/24 without achieving anything in the end, and maintained consistency/slightly improved this season.

Effort-wise, best we've been in a long while. Granted against a poor Man City side, but hopefully we can take confidence from that and build on it in the games against other bottom-half sides. BEK was excellent. Soumare too - nice to have a player who can out-strength pretty much anyone rather than just bounce off all the time. Still lots of room for improvement, some which the current crop are capable of, but more importantly where a few additions are needed. January is a huge month for us and who we can get in will likely make/break our season. A new RB for definite, JJ just isn't cutting it, but there's plenty other positions where we could/should upgrade. The foundations were there, remains to be seen if we can build on them. Cautiously optimistic...

What's the opposite of "unstoppable force vs immovable object"?

Think I'd genuinely feel more confident if Ward was playing upfront (and as far away from our box as possibl) and Vardy in goal instead...

Graeme was chair of Foxes Pride for a long while.

Mads if fit > Stolarczyk > Iversen > One of the U21 Keepers > Vestergaard (or any other outfield player) > Mads if unfit > Rush-backs > No goalie, just 11 outfield players > RVN > Mads if critically injured > Ward

Prior to RVN, I'd almost resigned myself to thinking that (almost) all the promising youngsters are just going to either fizzle out here or get poached away and we'd fail to capitalise on what seems to be a very highly rated crop of youngsters. He's only been here just over a week and already he's been having regular conversations with the youth coaches, properly assessing them in senior training, and even explicitly name-checking some like JJJr/Cartwright in the press. That's extremely promising that they'll be well looked after, and even if they don't get minutes straight away then training under a former player of his calibre and genuinely getting consideration will surely be a huge confidence boost for them. Not to mention the ones out on loan who could well push on and step up - Nelson in particular could save us a good chunk of cash in an important position, then you've got Braybrooke, Wanya, Silko... They probably won't all make it, but at least it feels like we're going to give them the best chance of success. If RVN can shift the club in that direction, then he's already having a positive impact.

That's because he saved up all his energy from the last few seasons, including the games he was playing in... Had a cracking game tonight. Kept improving as it went on. Long may it continue.

Dutch youngster who plays for our sister club, it's a no-brainer, surely. With the likes of facundo available we can probably afford to let him see the season out at Leuven, too.

Id trust Mav to track back as WB more than I'd trust Kristiansen to do, well, anything, as LB...

They were wearing red and white

He was trying to get rid of the lazy boring style and replace it with... what, exactly? And as for holiday camp culture; he replaced Maresca who's at least something of a tactician, and brought in his PE-teacher-style "give it your best, lads" approach. If SC's been trying to make it less of a holiday camp, then he's utterly failed and its gone the other way

This is my field, and for a while at uni I was considering going down this route (Maths with Stats at Loughborough uni, so a relevant masters would've been relatively easy to transition to). When you look at how competitive it is with people wanting an 'in' to football and the relatively limited number of positions, they can afford to pay peanuts and just get by on the number of applicants driving the salary down. It's why the salary is only ever listed as 'competitive'. I'd wager that a comparable job in the civil service (where I am currently) would probably be somewhere between 10-30% higher salary, with better benefits. Private sector could be as much as double in the right industry... Would love to see us invest to become industry-leading on the analytics side. We've been up there previously and we're leading in other backroom depts (grounds/maintenance), so we're clearly capable of it. Would help us make the most out of Seagrave, at least.

I wonder if Potter wanting his own DOF is also the reason it didnt work out previously. Especially if Top wasn't (as) involved in Cooper's recruitment - that suggests it was led by Rudkin, who obviously isnt going to be keen on anyone who wants him to change role as a condition. Hopefully things are different this time around.

In exactly the same boat. Living up in Manchester now, and keeping my ST more because I'd struggle to get it back (without doing the 3-year dance of membership and random tickets around the ground to get points) rather than any true desire to get on a train and take up an entire day to get down to watch what seems to be increasingly inevitable turgid football. Especially when I can watch most matches on TV or - failing that - a stream somewhere. It's hard to get excited about the club, anymore, to be honest.

Indeed. When players are constantly switching off and passing is a league 1 standard at best, there's no system in the world that'd make that competitive enough for the prem. Forest weren't particularly special yesterday, but we gifted them all 3 goals and would've been more if not for Mads. That's (constant) individual errors either giving away chances or at minimum inviting more pressure onto ourselves.

Graeme (back left) has been chair of Foxes Pride for a few years now, so there's that part satisfied Whether that's been a successful tenure or if he suits a spot on this FAB is another matter... On the whole, this does feel very corporate and as a way to skirt past some of the actual opinions of fans and just get a few 'yes men' in place so they can say they're doing something...

Even the subs warming up just seem to go up towards the corner flag now and stand around not doing much. It's like they're all actively avoiding him.

Pretty much entirely Man City and Man Utd fans (about a 60-40 split, at least in my team(s)). But I do work in central Manchester so probably not too surprising...