iancognito

What season was that?

Stats are one thing but you can worry the opposition without troubling the statisticians. Fatawu has been more direct and more of a menace to his full back in recent games. It might not always result in a clear cut chance but he's definitely been more of a threat than Stephy (probably because his early form has had defenders doubling up on him and restricting his chances)

Not too controversial to say he's been a bigger threat than Stephy recently. Probably helps him not having to rotate with McAteer so much and he just gets a run of games to improve his decision making and final ball. Been a while since we had a player that genuinely gets a buzz in the crowd and bums off seats when he gets the ball.

Enzo said he'd worked with the wingers on their decision making over the international break and it showed. I thought after the first couple of games he'd be one that would need benching occasionally as a kick up the bum and that opinion hasn't changed. With Kasey out and maybe Yunus now too Enzo's not had chance to rotate as much so his comments about him being 50% were probably his next best hit. He's always going to be compared against that Saints performance so it'll be interesting to see if he takes the comments on board and tries to get up to those levels again.

Multiple managers stretches it a bit far. He was signed by Mark Hughes who was sacked 3 months later with Saints in the bottom 3. Hassenhuttl came in and he only played 19 games the following season. It'll end up like the Cags situation, wishing him well as he departs on a free (cue Rudkin handing out a 5 year extension on Tuesday morning)

Suggested elksewhere for whenever the "your wife is a grass stuff" starts up. Bit late in his career for a new one probably.

Depends how they phrase it. If they say the word Championship it's the best in the last 20 years-ish. If they say second tier thats in the history of league football but there will be a few that don't know the difference. Bit like people saying Arsenal were the only side to be unbeaten in a league season but Preston did it a century ago in the old Division One.

They couldn't have advertised the Everton game anymore than they did, the WSL STs couldn't be any more attractively priced yet they're barely getting 2k in for some of the home games. I have no idea why they haven't ran the WSL games like they used to do the Family Night Football in the 90s/early 2000s. Kids for a quid, STHs in for free that sort of thing. Ticket giveaways in schools if they have to. Right now kids are unable to get general sale tickets & STHs are at a premium for the men's team so this would be the ideal platform to get them into the club.

Championship branded. That list is second tier in general as in the old Football league Division One, Division Two etc

You look at the crowd for this, as a top of the table clash and the general standards - the quality of the play, the 90s Central TV-level pictures and commentary - and the idea being spun that Women's football will attract the same sponsorship & revenues is for the birds (no pun intended). They totally have my backing but the mens and women's games are miles apart right now, it's going to be a slow progression to any sort of parity.

Said this for a couple of weeks. They've got rid of their hangover from last season and Carrick's got them doing what they did when he first went in. Them and Leeds will definitely be in that top 6. Absolutely crazy that Preston are still 4th and haven't won for 5 games. The division is always competitive but for about twenty teams it's like two tramps fighting over chips.

Groin niggle they were saying on RL but he played on with it for a bit

Haven't they got "the other Bellingham" on their books? Mowbray rarely plays anything except 4-4-2 so it'll be interesting to see if he sets up like most other sides this season or keeps two up top. Might see a run out for Wanya or Albrighton in this one. With Yunus picking up a strain today and McAteer still a few weeks away, the wingers are going to need a bit of rotation with midweek games coming up.

I remember this because someone mocked up the DVD cover for the Spurs club shop "Top For 13 Minutes" 😁

Imagine Bellingham and Foden at international level being coached by a progressive manager. Leicester taking on Swansea is far more appealing than anything Gareth and his full set of coaching badges can serve up.

12-16 weeks was quoted post-op so mid Feb ish

Most Tifos involve people holding up some coloured plastic or card, the general view isn't blocked, the blocking comes from the banner held up on the front concourse which is up for barely 1-2 mins. It's something that happens 3 or 4 times per season and livens up one of the most passive, quiet, featureless stadiums in the country for a total of 8-10 minutes a year. I look back at the 90s/00s with balloons, tickertape and crowd noise and wonder when our fanbase became so dull that Tifos are a source of annoyance.

Precisely why the women's league should be self-financing and not linked to the men's clubs. It's one thing to ground share but having the same clubs controlling both leagues is just dull. It's too far gone though to change it.

You can take that back a few more years to the Heskey debate. Always criticised for his relative lack of goals but the comeback was always "Michael Owen's favourite strike partner" and "his team mates appreciate the other aspects of his game". But however you look at it, when you talk top Prem strikers or top England strikers, his "other aspects" won't get him into the best strikers debate, he'll be well down the list. Your other clue is right there in what you said what he does in "our team". For clarity, I'm not in any way demeaning what he actually does, he's having a good season. Just saying defenders are judged by defensive stats.

Sure they do more than JUST that but the clue is in the name, he's a defender. His defensive qualities are what he's measured on. He can play 100 passes in a game but nobody will give a shit about that if Jimmy Halfpint from Harchester United beats him in the air at a corner and we lose 1-0. He'll have stats of Passes: 100 and Aerials Lost: 1. If you're talking keepers, you can look at passes or crosses claimed all you want but when the pressure was on Ward last season nobody - absolutely nobody - said he distributed it well. It was all on his abysmal save percentage. We can get lost in statistics and actually lose sight of what the players are there for.

I kind of understand leaving early when the game is already settled and we're 2 or 3 up or down but if it's still 1-1 or in the balance somehow I'd be fuming if I missed a winner or late equaliser, especially if you've gone to the effort of a 3 hour drive and you miss something.

I'm all for bigging him up but I want to see the "progressive passes" stat. Most of the recipients of those passes have been Doyle, Justin and Choudhury. With defenders the only important stats are Headers won, Clearances and Blocks.

Bit of the Cranberries.... "In your heeaad he's in your heeaad Vardy Vardy Vardy"

No of course but that's part of it isn't it - the job he's being asked to do. Jannik's interview last season where he was particularly scathing of Rodgers said just that "He came to see me play, he spoke to me before I signed, he knew what sort of player he was getting". There's nothing in this current style, that he couldn't have done under Rodgers. It's being given the confidence to do so. He made two or three gaffes at the start of the season that weren't punished but Maresca not only kept him in he made him even more of a focal point for the build from the back. Rodgers dropped him after a couple of nightmare games then banished him to the u-23s. I'm not even sure if he'll be here next year but I prefer having him where he is than training with the kids.

An absolute logistical nightmare to build the outside infrastructure and facilities first and then come inwards towards the stadium which is having to be partially dismanted to incorporate the massive footprint of the new stand. Besides the ground itself is the focal point of it all. They'd be looking to get the extra 8000 bums on seats and corporate facilities full ASAP before the arena, hotel etc