filbertway

This refs wild, we must have paid him off

Jordan Ayew aka Maldini watching Nathan Collins saunter past him

Refs been a proper homer so far haha. We might have a chsnce with 12 men

Pretty sure I went to this FNF game as well, definitely remember going to one for my mates birthday which would have been around end of october/start of November.

Shot conversion was almost double the league average under Cooper @Fox92 how's that for luck

I'd love to see Ayew at RWB, that'd be genuinely hilarious to be fair.

The withdrawal symptoms kick in the week after the festival

I think I'm scarred by that abomination in 2019, Liverpool v Spurs, it was played like a pre season friendly.

I'm not particularly averse to it because I find the same country semis/finals incredibly boring, so if they can get them out the way early doors then that's good in my opinion. I think it just really stands out because we don't usually see it.

I think consistently doing good things and not alienating the fan base on an almost weekly basis would help. Anyway I don't want to detract from what is a worthy cause so I'll shut up about it in this thread Massive respect to anyone that does this. I've passed out at festivals before I could get into my sleeping bag in the peak of summer and woke up shivering. Doing this in March takes some balls.

That Wolves game was on my birthday as well, proper miserable end to what was a solid day. They did make up for it nearly 20 years later with the Southampton demolition job though to be fair

We've certainly got history in that respect

The big thanks to Susan Whelan made me laugh. I know this is something that happens every year, but the cynic in me thinks that the announcement timing and fact that Big Suze gets a massive shoutout is more than a coincidence

Mad how many same country ties have cropped up in this new format

Woke up with a feeling it'll be 1-3 Brentford at HT. Didn't get a full time vibe though sorry, so you'll just have to work with that.

Bakole in for Dubois then, incredible replacement that is. Buzzing for the card on Saturday!

If we can have 20+ internationals then even better, I apologise for setting the standards so low I'm not talking about winning competitions in the 17-20 age range, results are largely irrelevant (although more talent will naturally lead to winning more stuff), I'm talking about seeing those high performers in the youth ranks make the transition to men's football without stagnating for 2/3 years.

Great reply, I was going to touch on the community aspect funnily enough, but I was focusing on what benefits the club. Really good insight into what the club offers the local community at that level though so I appreciate it. Agreed as well on having to look at things over a period of time rather than judging each year individually. So if we were looking at 2023-2033 grads. I'd hope to see in excess of 30 players that have come through our academy plying their trade in the top 2 tiers and/or top divisions around Europe. Appreciate the insight anyway. All of mine comes from no knowledge and purely theoretical based on podcasts, articles, footie manager So it's really good to here actual facts from someone who is actually in the know. I think the number of internationals we're seeing recently is a real testament to the operation at the younger levels. Identifying the top talent and giving them top coaching. I'd just love us to nail that final piece between 17-20 and become one of the best in the country at helping quality players make transition from youth to senior.

Not just a problem in football stadia

That's actually the wallpaper in my bedroom

I do always find it funny that people attribute being a nobhead at football to cocaine. I know quite a few people that do/did cocaine regularly and it just made them more chatty. I've seen the same people get into arguments/confrontations when they've only been drinking. If you're a nob then you're a nob, alcohol in my experience will amplify your nobheadedness more than cocaine will. I'd challenge anyone to do a lovely bump and see if they suddenly want to start battering people and committing crimes. Sincerely, P. Escobar

I'd argue it's 2 fold - Provide talent for first team - Provide regular income into club by being able to sell players on With the current crop coming through we should hopefully start to see more of these. We got CAT 1 status in 2013 by the looks of it, so 12 years later now, we should really start seeing the fruits of that coming through on a yearly basis. Does that sound a fair way of looking at it @Kilworthfox? For me, a fair target would be that we are producing 3+ Championship and above standard players a year (not necessarily, champ standard at 17/18 but players who can go on to be that level. For a club with Cat 1 status for over a decade, that feels like a fair target and one that could generate significant income for the club, if not improvement for the squad If we can build a reputation as one of the top clubs for young talent to develop and be given opportunities, either in our squad or out on loan then we're going to become more attractive to players and clubs who would like to develop our players.

The deflection game is top notch to be fair. 3 positive bits of PR in a week. Imagine they didn't need their names to be dragged through the mud for them to do positive things. We need a sweepstake for what the next announcement will be