Ghost of Clough

You've missed the point completely. It is never wing ugly vs lose pretty. Would I rather be 2nd playing Warneball or 13th watching Exeter? Warnebsll wins. However, would I rather be Exeter or a more route 1 type side such as Northampton or Wycombe and be in roughly the same spot? Another clear winner.

Only 2 goals all season and no assists. Seems to put the odd very good performance in (usually against the top sides) but poor most of the time. This is how he compares with other L1 mids:

You've underestimated a lot. For example, back in 2019, Boro paid £3.7m in rates, VAT, utilities and insurance. We also know utility rates have sky rocketted since then - add another £1m minimum to that figure. We're basicallly talking £5m, where your estimate is just £1m! You also missed off matchday doctors/paramedics - another £400k There's another £2m+ on maintenance and cleanign of the stadium and training ground.

2 draws in 17 away games so far and 6 in 32 overall suggests to me we wont draw another 5 away games. To only win 1 away game out of 6 is odd too - 4 of those being Bristol Rovers, Cambridge, Wycombe, and Northampton

He hadn't played at this level since his half season at Coventry in 2012 (16 goals in 22 games). That was after 3 seasons of struggling at Forest who signed him as a 22 year old. The season before joining us, he contributed to 6 goals in 969 Championship minutes (1 every 162 mins) and 9 in 2402 PL minutes the season before (1 every 267 mins). His increased mins per contrubtition following another drop down in level was to be expected (1 ever 99 mins). However, credit must be given to the staff for keeping him fit enough to play in 39 league games.

To get us started... GK - Radek Vitek (Accrington, on loan from Man Utd). 3 clean sheets in 4 games since he joined them on loan. Good on the ball as you'd expect from a Man Utd keeper bit also a very good shot stopper. A 6'5" giant. DM - Ebou Adams. No justification required DM - Nohan Kennah (Shrewsbury, on loan from Hibs). Young cover for Adams and very similar in style of play - both are two of the best defensive DMs in the league. Came through at Leeds when Bielsa was manager so will be used to a high intensity style of play. CM - Herbie Kane (Barnsley). A very good all round CM, possibly the best in the league and also a good set peice taker. Will fill the Hourihane shaped hole well. Will be availabe on a free in the summer. RW - Tyrhys Dolan (Blackburn). Only 22 and out of contract in the summer (Blackburn have a 1 year option). He's been used as a squad option since breaking into their first team, so may not feature in their longer term plans. Can also cover CF. LW - P. Płacheta (Swansea, on loan from Norwich). Missed all of last season due to a rare shin injury.It's someone I would take a risk on, knowing we will have Mendez-Laing and Blackett-Taylor who can both play in this position. Still only 25 and avaialbe on a free in the summer.

At what point is the league a fair indicator? Do we have to wait until the last game has been played? 10 games in, Port Vale were 6th bit now they're 4th bottom. After 20 games, Reading were bottom 4, but would now be 14th without a points deduction. Leyton Orient have shot up from 16th to 9th in the same period of time.

Summer suggestion since no one will start the thread... GK - Radek Vitek (Accrington, on loan from Man Utd). 3 clean sheets in 4 games since he joined them on loan. Good on the ball as you'd expect from a Man Utd keeper bit also a very good shot stopper. A 6'5" giant.

Ward on for Cashin. Ward RWB, Wilson LWB, Elder LCB

And now 343 with Sibley and Barkhuizen supporting Collins

It was more like 4231 woth Bird AM. Now 352 with Barkhuizen and Collins CF

That assist was Mendez-Laing's 24th goal contribution of the season in all competitions. His previous best was 23 back in 16/17 when playing for Rochdale

What a goal! Brilliant!!!

Mendez-Laing from another Bird assist 🔥

Looks like Collins will be off with an injury

Was that when he was fouled after he had crossed the ball?

Adams - pushed to the ground at the weekend and gets booked. Now fouled in the corner and gets a talking to. L1 refs are shocking

3 points off top with a game in hand as results stand Edit: or not 😬

Adams now has 3 yellows in 3 games 😅

Arms all over Collins yet again

Mendez-Laing ran out of play and crossed the ball. Lino THEN flagged, followed by the ref's whistle. Mendez-Laing yellow. Whatever happened to "play to the whistle" 😅

This link gives a reasonable estimate for non playing staff wages for a similar size club. https://www.google.com/amp/s/www.gazettelive.co.uk/sport/football/football-news/money-go-hidden-costs-running-15860716.amp

Bird in the form of his life now!

Laptop with HDMI will always work. I usually just watch in on my firestick using the default Internet browser. If you're only getting audio, it'll be because you're in the UK for an overseas only fixture. Try taking a trip abroad.

45% player wages is still a significant operating loss each season - £5m minimum, more likely around thr £7.5m mark