Dan

I'd imagine it's all fairly similar to be honest. You would probably expect it to be more hostile with the underdog at home but what I said before still applies in that I think there is just a reluctant acceptance that this is a one horse race. I haven't checked the record but I expect Red Star probably win there more than Partizan do. Partizan actually went ahead within a minute last night but it never really felt in any kind of doubt (as somebody who needed Zvezda to win for quite good money ) that Zvezda would just win it. I think they played with the handbrake on a little bit and could've really taken them apart if they wanted to but the fact they didn't, in a derby, sort of backs up what I think about this game. It's very good but if Partizan were any good it would be even better.

That's probably the most iconic building in Novi Beograd. Sort of sums it up.

After the lack of success of the Istanbul derby a year ago we went for Belgrade this year, and it fell pretty early in the season. For context around Istanbul, it was basically impossible. This was the total opposite. Landed on Thursday morning, taxi straight to the ground and just bought eight tickets at the ticket office straight away, around £8 each. Near to Delije (Red Star's ultras) but not actually within it. That's about 45 mins before kick off - it did fill up more than that. Attendance probably 25/30k? Ground holds 54k. Block we were in was a bit of a mix I think of the calmer Zvezda fans and tourists, which you could tell from the number of phones that were out every time the pyro went off. We saw a group of about 15 in black walk towards the away end in front of us towards the end of the first half and I did wonder what was about to crack off. Turned out it was all for the biggest pyro show of all which got the game delayed for about five minutes. I'm at a limit on photos but will link some tweets below. It was pretty impressive stuff. It does make me laugh when you tell people you're going to a game like this and the default, while obviously half joking, is that you'll do well to come out alive. Now obviously we've purposely avoided times the fans may clash but it really mostly passed without incident between the two sets of fans at least. A few of the firecrackers woke me up. Must've been about 30 of them go off during the game and a couple of them were ridiculously loud. Partizan's end looked excellent at the start but did definitely drop off a bit, which I think puts me onto another point about this fixture and the one real flaw to the whole thing. There is a big misconception about this league that it is dominated by two clubs. It's as good as the biggest one horse race in Europe. For some context, Red Star went into the game with two games in hand on the rest of the league, in early September, yet were already top, and almost certainly will go on to secure their 10th in a row this season. This run includes not losing a league game between October 2021 and August 2023, and going unbeaten for what I make 153 home games in the league. It's a situation pretty common in European leagues now and I think the Champions League money that teams get is only going to exacerbate it with someone like for example, Slovan Bratislava, on their second pot of Champions League money in three years and absolutely dwarf their competition. But Serbia feels like probably the most egregious example in the whole of Europe today. This is a genuine shame because I think it takes a lot of the sting out of this fixture. There's a reluctant acceptance from Partizan that Red Star will just walk it. Especially this year where Partizan have started terribly. Both clubs sacked a manager in August as well - Red Star's coming after their Champions League exit (and look up what happened to them in Plzen!). The game has also caught the headlines for the tifo and minutes silence for Ratko Mladic which both sets of fans were united in. They're getting absolute pelters online for it, lots of calls for UEFA to ban Serbian clubs. Belgrade is definitely worth a visit. It's pretty cheap, loads of nightlife and bars, taxis a doddle etc... it's split into two essentially either side of the Danube. My hotel was superbly located, Hotel NB Skadarlija it was called, bang in the middle of the old town, cheap and pretty nice for what I paid as well, only about £25 a night each for two of us in the room. The other side of the river is Novi Beograd (aka New Belgrade) which is essentially one giant brutalist housing estate. I did already know this before going but with a city dominated by two big clubs you would think that they were split one side and the other. Galatasaray and Fenerbahce are in different continents. Not the case here - the grounds are 5 minutes walk apart, which I find really quite surreal. I'm interested to know how you establish which are Zvezda areas and which are Partizan. Most taxis seemed to get onto football chat. The majority of them support foreign teams. Chelsea, Arsenal and Inter were the three I had memory of. Chelsea for Ivanovic, Inter for Stankovic. One of them was talking to me about Leicester and saying how much he celebrated the night Chelsea drew with Tottenham. It's pretty mental and hits you how much outreach it really had. What is a shame, and again ties into what I said above about the Serbian league is that none of them had any time for their league at all, with the Zvezda institutionalised dominance really killing their interest. The Inter supporting taxi driver who said what he said about Leicester was saying how his Dad is a die hard Zvezda fan but he just doesn't like them Serbian football is a bit broken really. But don't let that put anyone off going. The atmosphere, while not absolutely deafening throughout (though I don't think the ground hugely helped this) is still great and well worth a visit. It's really got plenty in its favour. I did go to a third tier game on the Friday at IMT's ground (top tier club but the local club, Usce, were using it) which is within Novi Beograd. Free entry but wouldn't let anyone enter the bar which was a bit daft. I lasted a half. We went to Novi Sad on the Saturday, about 45 mins on the train. In truth I didn't see a great deal. It was about 37 degrees - just too hot to really do anything. It's a shame the derby didn't fall a month or so later really, but so be it. Good trip though and I'm lucky to have a wide group of mates that are up for this sort of thing pretty frequently. One of them has hit a point where he's now trying to go to a game in every UEFA confederate and I may have a crack myself, I think that's taken me to 21 out of 55 now. He's up to forty something, including Kazakhstan and Georgia. But yes - definitely recommend it.

The aim is to make those two twats feel unwelcome and to factor this into their decision to get out of here. It might lower their asking price if there's incentive to get out of here. Our fans have been too passive throughout. Lets not look for more excuses to continue being passive. Say what you like but if they're boxed into their area ala Norwich last season after games, they will be wanting to get out of here sooner than if they weren't. They've completely destroyed the club. Lets make it shit for them in return.

Sportswashing. That's what's happened. LCFC as I know it has died. The majority of fans have sold out.

It's a club policy. Couldn't be more obvious. It's why they purposely sign loads of attacking midfielders.

It reeks of a fluke draw. A result that our rapid decline now deems as "steady" but ultimately was just a fluke like Plymouth and Notts County. That the reduced expectations mean this is deemed acceptable. We need Stockport to hammer us. Lowers the chance of relegation in the long run if they are humiliated into sacking him.

I see the gobby lot who went missing after Burton have pulled it again. Spineless they really are.

They are, with no exaggeration, probably the most clueless people to work in the sport. Certainly in my lifetime at least. They're not even close to professional level.

4th favourites already. Only took a month of Martin's football. The 66/1 I got on relegation now 23/1. Still think decent value.

Bump. Keeping it there.

Yesterday remarkably is even worse. But this was right up there.

Ayew going to Blackburn does make this kind of funny.

Them not settling abroad really lowered the feasible options. But Burnley is a particularly drab ending. They're bottom of the Championship ffs. This is obviously biased because I'm literally there at the minute but something like Red Star Belgrade would've been great. Spawn a league title by default without big demands on him. Another run in Europe. It's a shame.

That's such a crappy way to go out.

He'd be successful at no level bar one anomaly of Southampton in 2024. Two wins in twelve managing Leicester in League One and Rangers in the SPL. It's staggeringly shit. The sort of record you would back yourself to beat.

Simply can't play in a front footed team.

It'll be some idiot like Mike Williamson.

Fluke draw. Weird thing I've noticed is the meltdowns seem to come where you don't expect them as much.

Since the start of 2024 we've won twice at home from 0-1 down. One of them being the Sheffield Wednesday game which barely counts really.

I said it when we signed Burns but your fans liking him didn't really sell me. WBA fans hated Albrighton. He was finished. What he'd done here carried no weight for them and fair enough really. We've handed out his best ever contract at the weakest part of his career. A winger based on pace who looks particularly slow and unsuited to our manager (though this is probably a strength of Burns if anything).

Turned the stream off at 0-1 yesterday but generally if I watch our games I'll watch it through the opposition channel. Genuinely sooner listen to Stockport commentators, biased as they may be than be gaslit to the extent you would be watching ours.

Predictably shit. The big issue with them is we give them a contract to essentially let them wind down and we get more of what we got before. That people fell for it again baffles me. You could easily have gotten "experience" without having to do this.

Astounds me people fell for the bloke. Believe people when they show you what they are.

Every manager we appoint will be vetted to ensure they continue the same appalling football the previous manager played. It's the same formation with every manager. The same weaknesses. The same errors. I went to say Challinor but just know I'd be sat here in November following another 4-2-3-1 68% possession comfortable home loss thinking **** him off too. Martin is obviously an absolute joke and should genuinely retire / go into another profession. But he is just simply what they want. It's an easy transition for him. Any manager who would reject their nonsense would never be considered. Probably why it takes them so long to get anybody in in the first place. Force the twats at the top out. However it takes.