Ghost of Clough

I’ll give you Watford and Sunderland but I’ve been delighted with Stoke this year… 😂

Really?
The top 6 consist of 3 PL sides of last season, two sides still boasting former PL players and a final parachute payment and Ipswich who have been brilliant.
Rosenior took over Hull last season when they were a bottom 8 Championship side with players of that ilk.
No doubt they have invested. But not to the extent of bringing in a host of players better than 5 of the 6 above them.
They finished above Watford who are still under parachute payments, plus Boro and Stoke who have invested more than Hull.
I think if Rosenior had taken over a top 10 side you could argue finishing 7th with the added investment is a tad disappointing.
But underperformed? At worst finishing 7th-10th is solid but room for improvement, and that’s looking on with a negative spin.
Watford have disappointed. As have Stoke and Sunderland.
 

Silkeborg play Copenhagen tomorrow and in the Danish Cup Final next week. 

When Warne was first appointed as manager, I pointed out a number of my concerns.
I think it's still fair to say a couple of those concerns remain: style of play, reducing the chances of keeping our academy graduates
Style of play must improve in the future. As shown this season, when we don't win, there is nothing to fall back on and results in a lot of unhappy fans. Perhaps fans as a whole will be more forgiving when we're considered underdogs in games and we expect to lose? We've also lost Knight and Bird, and eere close to losing Cashin. Are we going to keep Sibley and Thompson this summer? 
I think it's also fair to say recruitment has emerged as a concern, in particular the apparent lack in plans to sign players to suit a system, which has also resulted in a mixed success rate. Not signing any wingers but signing wing backs in the summer, only to play a back 4 and wingers after the window closed, followed by signing a winger in January, only to stop using wingers afterwards.
 
However, it's only right for me to point out where my concerns appear to have been addressed: damage to the academy [retention of top prospects], dwindling attendances, the destruction of the feel good factor around the club, etc... 
So far, we managed to retain all of our top talent, with suggestions of us recruiting some very good youngsters from other clubs. Attendances also picked up, especially for the run in. Our average for the season was also our highest since 16/17 despite fewer away fans. It's also undeniable that the feel good factor is back!

I suggested Alexander Lind before Christmas. He's only 21, has a 1 in 2 record and chips in with the odd assist. 

U18s currently losing 3-1 to Wolves (3rd in the league), after McAndrew put us 1 up in the 7th minute. 15 minutes left.

A very interesting read:
https://offtheline599656488.wordpress.com/2024/01/18/in-the-spotlight-15-dan-ellison/

U18s currently losing 3-1 to Wolves (3rd in the league), after McAndrew put us 1 up in the 7th minute. 15 minutes left.

Forsyth, Adams and Collins are the types of player you want in your squad as they set standards for the rest of the squad - professionalism off the pitch as well as effort and determination on it.
All three are good enough to be at least Championship squad players, so as long as they're happy with wages to match their role, then we should be trying to keep them around.

When I look at these percentile charts, it's clear to me that Brown should have a big role to play next season. He'll provide everything you want from a Warne forward - shooting, creating, and would help with the high press. Weirdly, he's fairly similar to Waghorn (statistically).
Waghorn's shooting stats surprised me. You'll struggle to find many forwards who rank so high across the board in any division. Could he be worth keeping as an emergency CF... essentially resulting in similar to Gayle's involvement?

By genuine competition, I assume you refer to title winners. 
In the Bundesliga, Bayern have won the title 20 times in the last 30 years, with there streak of 12 consecutive titles coming to an end this year. Dortmund were 2nd for the majority of those seasons too.
In La Liga, there have only been 2 seasons in the last 20 which weren't won by either Barcelona or Real Madrid. Is that genuine competition?
Series A will have 5 different winners in 5 seasons, but that is on the back of Juventus winning it 9 times in a row. Inter are also 19 points clear with 4 games still to play. That doesn't sound like "genuine competition" either.
Man City have won the PL 5 times in the last 6 years and could add another to that this season. However, there was a spell of 4 winners in 5 seasons before that.
The PL is so competitive, a player who wasn't wanted by Arsenal has played almost every minute to help Leverkusen win the title. Villa bought a player off Leverkusen for £50m in the summer too. Liverpool poached one of Bayern's most promising players. Newcastle and Man Utd took star players from AC and Inter.

I assumed everyone knew Simmo just makes rumours up pretending to be ITK

See G of C post 

You talking to yourself again 👻😉

Matt Ryan and Marek Rodak are probably the two best keepers avaialbe who would be realistic for Championship clubs, but I would expect both to want more than we'll be willing to pay, especially Rodak. Rodak spent 2 years on loan at Rotherham, so Warne could potentially sway him to come here.
A more realistic choice would be Walton, who had 23 clean sheets for Ipswich in 22/23 and 14 the year before. He also had 21 clean sheets in 80 Championship games for Wigan and Blackburn (plus 19 in 31 L1 games for Wigan)
I've always been impressed by Joel Pereira (Reading) on the rare occasions I've seen him. He only broke into Reading's side for the final 9 games of the season.

I assumed everyone knew Simmo just makes rumours up pretending to be ITK

I assumed everyone knew Simmo just makes rumours up pretending to be ITK

I assumed everyone knew Simmo just makes rumours up pretending to be ITK

He's 22 so will command a compensation fee - essentially he'll go to the highest bidder and out of our price range.

I assumed everyone knew Simmo just makes rumours up pretending to be ITK

A very interesting read:
https://offtheline599656488.wordpress.com/2024/01/18/in-the-spotlight-15-dan-ellison/

A very interesting read:
https://offtheline599656488.wordpress.com/2024/01/18/in-the-spotlight-15-dan-ellison/

Forsyth, Adams and Collins are the types of player you want in your squad as they set standards for the rest of the squad - professionalism off the pitch as well as effort and determination on it.
All three are good enough to be at least Championship squad players, so as long as they're happy with wages to match their role, then we should be trying to keep them around.