Ghost of Clough

McAndrew was booked in the 88th minute for a 'dive'. I assume you mean that one? The biased commentators claimed he started diving before any contact so he was fairly penalised. McAndrew's body movement wasn't consistent with someone diving. My first instinct was a penalty. From the replays, it looked like he stumbled before being brought down. I think the fair decision would have been 'play-on', and the worst decision calling it a dive.

He's a set piece merchant. Only 2 goals and 5 assists from open play this season. Nowhere near Bird's 5+7, and not much better than Hourihane's 3+3

In an ideal world, I think McAndrew would have another half season in the U18s before stepping up tothe U21s. He's still quite raw and cous do with improving on a few weak areas of his game first. He's still only 16, but already has 4 goals and 5 assists in his 12 U18 appearances this season, so the club must think it's better to test him at a higher level now. I havent seen much promise from Stepien-Iwumene so far, but the least he offers us is a bit of depth rather than relying on our U18 squad. I don't think we'll see the best from him until next season (if signed), when he'll be in a more settled situation. Radcliffe last played in September... pretty much the whole season. It's why I was surprised to see him on the first team bench vs Northampton. Warne obviously likes him, so it'll be interesting to see if he's loaned out next season, or hang around as a first team backup CB (playing most weeks for the U21s)

We've been close in most games this season. A lot of those youngsters will have another 2 years in the U21s, so we should see a lot of improvement with time. West Ham now top the PL2 table (although they've played 3 games more than Spurs). A 3-2 defeat away from home isn't terrible.

Tbh, I've assumed he'll sign an extension.

DRobinson will need to learn not to pick up so many cards if he's to get some first team involvement. It feels like he picks up a yellow almost every week at the moment, and this time it's resulted in a red. He'll quickly learn when loaned out next season. It's been a tough game for our young team. Other than Weston, all of our other players who finished the game could still play U18 football (5 first year scholars and 4 2nd years). Most of West Ham's players were 19 (including a 22 year old CB and 21 hear old CF).

JThompson Osayande Radcliffe Cox Gill DRobinson Stepien-Iwumene Nto Weston Moloney Wheeldon

West Ham starting with a 22 year old Brazilian at CB. Their #10 (Earthy) has 11 goals and 8 assists from an AM role so far this season

I think Bird will come in at AM, with Mendez-Laing moving to RW

GD could very easily come into it. If Bolton were to finsh level on points with us, then it means they've closed the GD gap by at least 2 goals (from 4 to 2). They've also scored more than us so far this season. It means they only have t win a couple of games 2-0 when we win by 1 goal for their GD to match ours (and still have a better goals scored tally).

"Luxury tax" similar to the financial penalty QPR had when they beat us in the Playoffs.

I assumed the club signed him in case JThompson wasn't ready to step up to U21 football, especially with the plan to loan Evans out. With Thompson deservedly keeping that U21 spot, Ridd is now surplus. I imagine Shattell will be U21 backup next season, with Price playing every U18 game season, unless Thompson is loaned out. In which case, Price would step up and Hardy play for the U18s?

Anyone thinking a goal should count as an xG of 1.0, "becuase it was a goal" doesn't havea firm grasp of statistics. Imagine flipping a coin. It has an xH (expected heads) of 0.5 and xT (expected tails) of 0.5. This particular poster thinks after flipping the coin and it landing on heads, the probability should be counted as landing on heads 100% of the time. The rest of what the poster says isn't much better than that

We decided we would get rid early in the 18/19 season. We even tried to sell him in the January to Mansfield (where he was supposed to stay the full season on loan and would be free in the summer). We then recalled him before realising no one would pay a fee for someone who would be free a few months later, then panic loaned him out to the first taker. It's been said a few times, but whoever was making the final decision on our youngsters players was doing a bad job of it. We got lucky with Cashin and to some degree Ebosele, but missed out big time on Whittaker, Archie Brown, Jacobsen, and Elsnik.

Could their EFL Trophy results be a factor?

2nd will be ours 🐏 Barnsley play twice before our next game, with Bolton playing once. Worst case is just 2 points seperating all three sides after playing 42 games a piece, and Peterborough remaining 8 points behind us (with 2 games in hand). Kicking off their game at the same time as us, Peterborough will have 6 games in 17 days, finishing off with Bolton on the last day. I can't see them maintaining pace despite having an easy set of games on paper. I think it'll result in Bolton winning their fixture, especially as Peterborough can use the game to rest key players ahead of the Playoffs. Even if we win just 2 of our final 4 games, we end up with 88 points. If we can't acheive that, then we don't deserve promotion.. Peterborough or Barnsley would therefore have to win at least 5 of their final 6 games to finish above us. I have doubts Peterbrough will even achieve 5 wins for the reason mentioned above. 2 wins and a draw for us (should still be easy to achieve) would mean Barnsley need at least 16 points to pass us (due to our superior GD). Again it feels unlikely they'll be able to pass us. It's between us an Bolton. They face Portsmouth in 2 games time. A game Portsmouth will be more than happy to take a draw from. At that point, it'll most likely keep them 9 points ahead of Bolton with just 3 games remaining, with them needing just 1 more win to clinch the title (assuming they beat beat Shrewsbury on Saturday). Bolton won't be able to slip up in any other games. If they do, it means we're back to only needing 7 points to finish above them. For us to take top spot, we would have to win all 4 and hope the best Portsmouth do is 2 wins and a draw from their 5 games. Since they've only lost 4 all season, losing 2 more in their final 5 games is unlikely - they do have Bolton, Barnsley and Lincoln to play, so not impossible. I think they'll find a way to snatch enough points to hold on to top spot.

Kamara will be going back to Norwich at the end of the season where he'll be used in rotation with their 3 other main wingers and Onel Hernandez shown the door.

21 different scorers in 08/09

Wildsmith Nelson Cashin Wilson Smith Adams Sibley Ward Mendez-Laing Blackett-Taylor Collins Subs: Vickers, DRobinson, Thompson, Hourihane, Fornah, Washington, Waghorn

6th - Oxford or Lincoln winning all of their games would put them level with our current total. They play each other, so they both can't pass us.

Should have been a yellow, but ref gave him some leeway due to the conditions. He gave a bit of leeway to both sides for a number fouls which would have been yellows on another day.

An xGOT of something like 0.61 would suggest those shots typically go in if on target...

Wycombe next, just 3 days after their Cup Final against Peterborough. There will be a few tired legs on the pitch. Then Leyton Orient who have won just 1 in 6 and ate now pretty much out of the Playoff race. A tricky away game vs Cambridge fighting for survival, but should be safe by the time we play them. They've won their last 2, but went 7 without a win before that. Finishing off against soon to be relegated Carlisle, managed by someone who would surely give us a helping hand if we needed it

Roughly £60m over budget afyer all exclusions are accounted for (rough estiamte without looking st any accounts). At least £26m of that due to 'budgeting' for a top 6 finish, and a further £10-15m due to sacking Rogers and his team. I can't see how they can explain the rest of the overspend.