ClaphamFox

It has taken place.

Nothing. They’re very likely completely in the dark about when the judgment will come.

The main reason we’re even considering him is because he’ll be very cheap compared to other options. So in the unlikely event that he shows in training that he’s fully recovered from his injuries and could do a decent job for half a season, his low cost makes him an attractive choice. I completely understand people’s scepticism over Antonio, but anybody suggesting he’ll be expensive is completely missing the fundamental point about why the club is even looking at him.

Personally it was because I know somebody involved in football in Ireland, who has followed BBM's career closely and is adamant that he's a serious talent and is going right to the top. I trust this person's judgment (he's not given to being overly effusive), so I was swayed by that. Another reason was that the other names being linked with us at the time were so uninspiring. I did notice that a few others on here wanted BBM to be given the chance, but I can't speak for how they came to that conclusion. Having said that, I admit I was quite happy when Cifuentes was appointed (well, probably relieved more than happy) and although I started to have doubts after the Southampton and Sheff Utd games, I'm still cautiously optimistic he might turn out to be a decent manager for us.

It was not a consensus. Plenty of us would have been happy to see him given a go,

I'd be very surprised if we offered him £20k per week. More like £10k as you say, bulked up by an attractive appearance/performance bonus.

Have you ever spoken to a pro-gun American about the topic? It's like trying to debate with a religious fanatic. There's no point in bringing facts into the discussion as they have no interest in them. And while there are plenty of Americans who want stricter gun laws, there are nowhere near enough of them to make it happen. You'd have more luck persuading Iran to give up Islam than getting the US to ban guns.

Cifuentes said on Friday that Ramsey might be fit enough to make the squad next weekend.

The details emerging about this are horrifying.

Weird. I always assumed people who went for a shit were pretending they were off to do some coke as it’s less embarrassing…🤔

So I guess there will be a few anxious calls to mortgage brokers around Leicestershire on Monday morning…

Marti said he wouldn’t be ready yet.

He’s in no position to demand top dollar. Any club that signs him will be taking a massive gamble. Nobody is going to offer him silly money.

This time last week we were all feeling incredibly negative on the back of two consecutive games in which we’d been 3-0 down at half time. Since then the team has massively improved its first half performances, which have brought us four points from two difficult away games. Obviously it would be better for us to perform over 90mins rather than just 45, but overall there has been a very clear improvement from the Southampton and Sheffield Utd games. Yet the general view seems to be that Ipswich only need to show up today to get the three points. That second half on Wednesday night really has left a few people with serious PTSD…

I doubt if it will even come up as I'm pretty sure Rennes don't have a recall option. It's a season-long loan with an option to buy. He won't be going anywhere in January and we will be able to get him for €5m in the summer IF he still wants to join us.

I think we have an option with James rather than an obligation, but I don’t think anyone else can buy him in January unless all parties agreed, which presumably we wouldn’t.

He scored two goals in the Europa League last night. Roma will either keep him or he'll go to a PL club.

He’ll have to get on the pitch first, which is unlikely.

That seems highly unlikely.

Nobody, but we will have somebody on the bench to bring on for James and cover for him when he’s injured.

In an ideal world, he'd stay with Newport to continue his development. But our circumstances are far from ideal and we will need somebody with Braybrooke's skill set in the second half of the season. Gerrimback.

They were, but that was always likely to happen after the first half. The point is that a decent side would have figured out a way to absorb the pressure while offering enough of an attacking threat on the counter to give the opposition something to think about, whereas every time we got into their half our passing/positional play was all over the place and we offered no threat whatsoever. Our players looked like they didn't believe they could hold onto the lead, and it turned out they were right.

A motivated and committed Harry Winks would have been very useful last night and might have helped us hold onto the lead. An uncommitted Winks who didn't want to be on the pitch probably wouldn't have improved things much, and may have made things even worse.

Cifuentes claims it isn't tactical—ie, he reckons that he told them to attack and play on the front foot in the second half. So if it isn't fitness or tactics, that leaves only mindset. Marti comes across as a nice guy but not necessarily somebody with the authority/charisma to instill self-belief in a squad of players that has become accustomed to failure over the past few years. These collapses we're witnessing may be more a manifestation of Cifuentes' lack of leadership skills than anything else.

He claims that at half time he told the team to not sit back and instead go for a third goal, but he reckons the players’ confidence was knocked by Bristol scoring so early in the second half and they basically never recovered. If so, this is even more of a problem than if he’d told them to sit back—tactical mistakes can easily be rectified next time, but an inability instil any confidence in the players is a much harder problem to solve.