MadAmster

Slow opening to both halves which is, unfortunately, consistent with the rest of the pre season games so far. Unlucky with their 1st to an extent, CH had a go 25 out, slight deflection off Cashin but Vickers dived late. Some very good link up play and passing moves falling down at the sharp end with either the wrong pass, the attacker looking to play a pass when a shot was on or simply not shooting at all. Well worked goal by NML. 1-1 at HT. Good goal to go 2-1 up and we looked on top. Then came the mass changes on the hour mark. Still some good moves going forward but the old failure to clear our lines crept in and they got an equaliser. Cracking break for Collo's goal to go 3-2 up.   We weren't helped by CBT going off injured and from that moment we got pushed back. Again shoddy at the back for 3-3 and the 3-4. Conclusion, the starting XI looks OK provided we can get them going from the off. The bench players are all OK BUT as subs, not as the core of the side. Vickers will need to look at his part in 3 of their 4 goals. I was surprised we played 433 but pleased about it as we have 3 wingers in the squad, are said to be after a 4th and none of them are wing backs which they'd need to be if we kept playing 3 at the back. Hopefully Nelson is over his illness come Saturday and can start alongside Cashin at CD. That one change gives us, at 433 anyway, our best XI at the moment. That will change between now and the end of August with between 4 and 6 new players in and some going out, either on loan, sold or let go. Still not the finished article but there was enough there to think we won't get relegated, which is the top priority this season. Anything better than that is a bonus.

... and yet his Rotherham promotion sides were said to have done better from January onwards. Something PW, RB et al plus RamsTV often said last season. I had a look.
17/18 promotion season. 33 points from the opening 23 games, 46 from the last 23. Better 2nd half of the season
19/20 promotion season, the shortened Covid hit season. 30 points from the opening 18 games, 32 from the last 17. Better 2nd half of the season.
21/22 promotion season. 47 points from the opening 23 games, 43 from the last 23. 4 less points in the 2nd half of the season, agreed, but hardly a slump.

Slow opening to both halves which is, unfortunately, consistent with the rest of the pre season games so far. Unlucky with their 1st to an extent, CH had a go 25 out, slight deflection off Cashin but Vickers dived late. Some very good link up play and passing moves falling down at the sharp end with either the wrong pass, the attacker looking to play a pass when a shot was on or simply not shooting at all. Well worked goal by NML. 1-1 at HT. Good goal to go 2-1 up and we looked on top. Then came the mass changes on the hour mark. Still some good moves going forward but the old failure to clear our lines crept in and they got an equaliser. Cracking break for Collo's goal to go 3-2 up.   We weren't helped by CBT going off injured and from that moment we got pushed back. Again shoddy at the back for 3-3 and the 3-4. Conclusion, the starting XI looks OK provided we can get them going from the off. The bench players are all OK BUT as subs, not as the core of the side. Vickers will need to look at his part in 3 of their 4 goals. I was surprised we played 433 but pleased about it as we have 3 wingers in the squad, are said to be after a 4th and none of them are wing backs which they'd need to be if we kept playing 3 at the back. Hopefully Nelson is over his illness come Saturday and can start alongside Cashin at CD. That one change gives us, at 433 anyway, our best XI at the moment. That will change between now and the end of August with between 4 and 6 new players in and some going out, either on loan, sold or let go. Still not the finished article but there was enough there to think we won't get relegated, which is the top priority this season. Anything better than that is a bonus.

Injury troubles last season didn't help him and apart from the Pompey game and one sub appearance, he didn't play well.
Said pre Barnsley match on RamsTV he was feeling fit. Comes on, on the hour mark, on the right as a previous poster said. However, his previous pre season appearances were down the left so that previous poster got it wrong. Those appearances weren't brilliant. IMO, he wasn't aided by them being on narrow pitches which don't afford him the space he requires to "do his thing". I hope he's soon over whatever niggle/injury he picked up last night and that he starts replicating the form he showed against Pompey, a game in which he showed much more the "one good cross".
There's a player in there. Can we get that player to emerge? I hope so.

There's a fair few on here as well 😉

I did say approaching, they are very similar.  You miss out VAT at 20%.  We are getting £9m from Sky which we will not be the end user, so will get whole amount without VAT deduction (EFL will charge it + VAT and Sky will reclaim from HMRC] - with subscribers paying on end product).
Ticket sales are VATable @20%.  £9,961,600 net from ticket sales versus c£9m net from TV.
Not much in it.
 

Slow opening to both halves which is, unfortunately, consistent with the rest of the pre season games so far. Unlucky with their 1st to an extent, CH had a go 25 out, slight deflection off Cashin but Vickers dived late. Some very good link up play and passing moves falling down at the sharp end with either the wrong pass, the attacker looking to play a pass when a shot was on or simply not shooting at all. Well worked goal by NML. 1-1 at HT. Good goal to go 2-1 up and we looked on top. Then came the mass changes on the hour mark. Still some good moves going forward but the old failure to clear our lines crept in and they got an equaliser. Cracking break for Collo's goal to go 3-2 up.   We weren't helped by CBT going off injured and from that moment we got pushed back. Again shoddy at the back for 3-3 and the 3-4. Conclusion, the starting XI looks OK provided we can get them going from the off. The bench players are all OK BUT as subs, not as the core of the side. Vickers will need to look at his part in 3 of their 4 goals. I was surprised we played 433 but pleased about it as we have 3 wingers in the squad, are said to be after a 4th and none of them are wing backs which they'd need to be if we kept playing 3 at the back. Hopefully Nelson is over his illness come Saturday and can start alongside Cashin at CD. That one change gives us, at 433 anyway, our best XI at the moment. That will change between now and the end of August with between 4 and 6 new players in and some going out, either on loan, sold or let go. Still not the finished article but there was enough there to think we won't get relegated, which is the top priority this season. Anything better than that is a bonus.

They had a plan, they've stuck to it. Concentrating on fitness up to and including the Shrewsbury practice game aka glosrified training session. Since then the focus has been on formation and tactics. Exactly what we did last season and that turned out badly didn't it?. The starting XI tonight will, barring any injuries/knocks, be the strongest XI we have (I expect it not to be that come the end of August once the window shuts), playing the formation PW et al see us playing this season.
I'd love to know what you see to be the "missteps".

I'm happy we're getting a lot more notice than we used to get. I agree with your sentiment, however, from early March onwards, any TV company will want to concentrate mainly on promotion and relegation matters. We already know what's what up to the first weekend of January. By November 1st we'll know up to the first weekend in March. After that, TV matches will be announced every 4 weeks, starting with the February 1st announcement for games in March and then 4 weeks later for April games.
As an expat this helps me greatly with planning flights and hotels and able to get both at a cheaper rate because I can book early. Not perfect but much better for me.

Thanks for the comprehensive response. We shall see how it pans out over the season. We should be very good 2nd half if the season when our fitness keeps us going where others tail off. 1st half of the season might be a struggle if we haven't done enough ball and tactics work. December will be tough any road up looking at the fixtures. Whatever happens, COYR!

I won't be giving up my RamsTV subscription as long as they exist. I'll still fly over for 8 or so games a season. That's about as far as my pension allows, financially. DTID.

Thanks for the comprehensive response. We shall see how it pans out over the season. We should be very good 2nd half if the season when our fitness keeps us going where others tail off. 1st half of the season might be a struggle if we haven't done enough ball and tactics work. December will be tough any road up looking at the fixtures. Whatever happens, COYR!

I won't be giving up my RamsTV subscription as long as they exist. I'll still fly over for 8 or so games a season. That's about as far as my pension allows, financially. DTID.

My view is the opposite. For every season ticket holder who gives up to watch on TV there will be another fan who gets introduced to football through TV who wants to go to the real thing. 
 
This is why attendances are rising not dropping. 
 
Compare PL attendances now to the 80s before Sky started. They are double. 
 
TV is a great form of advertising that most brands would die to be on. 

CBT isn't the only player who is a winger. NML and Barks are as well. The latter two came here because Rosenior brought them in as wingers, they left their previous clubs because they didn't want to be utilised as wing backs. That's 3 wingers we don't play as wingers, why not bring in a 4th, that way they could play bridge together.

Is this the beginning of the end of football as a spectator sport?
Sky get their new deal. Year 1 clubs sell as many STs as they usually do. Come the end of the season, fans realise they can watch most games at home for less than the price of an ST. Or you could watch it in the Neppy. Year 2 a fair few decide to do exactly that. Year 3 even more. etc..  Year 6, new Sky deal. DCFC gates down to 16K, maybe? Other clubs seeing similar drops in attendances. That may well see less advertising at grounds, sponsors less willing to pay as much. Clubs would then be reliant on Sky for funding.... 
This is, naturally, a worst case scenario but it's a very plausible one.

They had a plan, they've stuck to it. Concentrating on fitness up to and including the Shrewsbury practice game aka glosrified training session. Since then the focus has been on formation and tactics. Exactly what we did last season and that turned out badly didn't it?. The starting XI tonight will, barring any injuries/knocks, be the strongest XI we have (I expect it not to be that come the end of August once the window shuts), playing the formation PW et al see us playing this season.
I'd love to know what you see to be the "missteps".

Shipped 4 v Chesterfield but they hadn't had 2 full on training sessions that day. We had. At Shrewsbury we had players out of position because it was their turn to get minutes in their legs, something PW said in a prior interview. Had we also had one or more training sessions that day as well? 
Many fans seem to be displaying what I call "scoreboard journalism". Unable to look dispassionately at a game, especially a pre season friendly, and take circumstances into account. If you simply take the scores from those 2 games, yes, it was crap. Look into the background of the game, look at what the staff said pre game and then you should be able to understand the why of the matter. At Barnsley, according to the staff, we can expect, barring injury, PWs current first choice first XI in the formation he sees it in. Further signings in this window will probably see a couple drop to the bench and maybe a change of system as well. Barnsley should be the best team we have faced so far. A positive result would be nice but a positive performance is, IMO, more important as it will show that the squad is closer to where it should be than fans have so far thought. Further improvement against Valladolid and we're set for the season opener against Blackburn. Whatever happens, I'll be supporting DCFC.

They had a plan, they've stuck to it. Concentrating on fitness up to and including the Shrewsbury practice game aka glosrified training session. Since then the focus has been on formation and tactics. Exactly what we did last season and that turned out badly didn't it?. The starting XI tonight will, barring any injuries/knocks, be the strongest XI we have (I expect it not to be that come the end of August once the window shuts), playing the formation PW et al see us playing this season.
I'd love to know what you see to be the "missteps".

Is this the beginning of the end of football as a spectator sport?
Sky get their new deal. Year 1 clubs sell as many STs as they usually do. Come the end of the season, fans realise they can watch most games at home for less than the price of an ST. Or you could watch it in the Neppy. Year 2 a fair few decide to do exactly that. Year 3 even more. etc..  Year 6, new Sky deal. DCFC gates down to 16K, maybe? Other clubs seeing similar drops in attendances. That may well see less advertising at grounds, sponsors less willing to pay as much. Clubs would then be reliant on Sky for funding.... 
This is, naturally, a worst case scenario but it's a very plausible one.

They had a plan, they've stuck to it. Concentrating on fitness up to and including the Shrewsbury practice game aka glosrified training session. Since then the focus has been on formation and tactics. Exactly what we did last season and that turned out badly didn't it?. The starting XI tonight will, barring any injuries/knocks, be the strongest XI we have (I expect it not to be that come the end of August once the window shuts), playing the formation PW et al see us playing this season.
I'd love to know what you see to be the "missteps".

Is this the beginning of the end of football as a spectator sport?
Sky get their new deal. Year 1 clubs sell as many STs as they usually do. Come the end of the season, fans realise they can watch most games at home for less than the price of an ST. Or you could watch it in the Neppy. Year 2 a fair few decide to do exactly that. Year 3 even more. etc..  Year 6, new Sky deal. DCFC gates down to 16K, maybe? Other clubs seeing similar drops in attendances. That may well see less advertising at grounds, sponsors less willing to pay as much. Clubs would then be reliant on Sky for funding.... 
This is, naturally, a worst case scenario but it's a very plausible one.

Well yes, that sort of goes without saying. 😉
 
 

... and RUFC is still the one common denominator.

Shipped 4 v Chesterfield but they hadn't had 2 full on training sessions that day. We had. At Shrewsbury we had players out of position because it was their turn to get minutes in their legs, something PW said in a prior interview. Had we also had one or more training sessions that day as well? 
Many fans seem to be displaying what I call "scoreboard journalism". Unable to look dispassionately at a game, especially a pre season friendly, and take circumstances into account. If you simply take the scores from those 2 games, yes, it was crap. Look into the background of the game, look at what the staff said pre game and then you should be able to understand the why of the matter. At Barnsley, according to the staff, we can expect, barring injury, PWs current first choice first XI in the formation he sees it in. Further signings in this window will probably see a couple drop to the bench and maybe a change of system as well. Barnsley should be the best team we have faced so far. A positive result would be nice but a positive performance is, IMO, more important as it will show that the squad is closer to where it should be than fans have so far thought. Further improvement against Valladolid and we're set for the season opener against Blackburn. Whatever happens, I'll be supporting DCFC.