SSD

Pro decision:

Chris Martin winning a penalty vs Blackpool 13/14. He barely got touched, took about 5 big strides, realised he didn't have control of the ball, fell crash bang on the deck. Ref blew the whistle. Comical decision, classic wardrobe.

Worst decision:

I know it has been mentioned plenty of times (deservedly so), Atwell disallowing the Addison headed goal vs Red Dogs. Scandalous. The roof blew off Pride Park in pure anger. If Rob Earnshaw had scored the winner from running down the field afterwards, I don't think Atwell would have made it out of Derby alive. The state of refereeing in this country is summed up by that man being one of our "elite officials" yet he refereed that match and the Watford ghost goal in the same season.

Bottom half finish. Don't mind being set piece merchants next season, if it meant survival. Not inspecting the quality of football to improve, it will more than likely go the other way. 

As much as I want nice pretty football, we're going to very pragmatic in certain games. I can't see us passing it around teams, we'd get picked off. Some pace in midfield and upfront will give us counter attacking options, that'll be the direction I'd opt for this coming season.

Electric cars are a complete con, a stop gap for when hydrogen fuel finally comes onto the mass market.

Most weddings are crap, ridiculously expensive and too big for their own good. Every married person (including myself) has said they're a complete waste of money and you end up worrying most of the time rather than enjoying the 8 hours of attention.

Wildsmith getting some keyboard warrior abuse on good ol' social media. He's completed his contract, a big part of the promotion campaign. Proved to everyone he can be a number one and not a bench warmer. 

Well done Joe. Good luck for next season. 

Alberto Bueno, Cywka and Commons could have taken us at least to the play offs that season but Nigel was incapable of having that much flair in his team and couldn't deal with it.

And he let Commons go far too easily.

Conor Washington 2.0

A league one standard player, not for me.

Well I've booked a hotel..... Whether I'll get a ticket or flight is another matter 🤣🤣

RIP Bernard.

I painted a model figure of them not long ago as King Theoden from Lord of the Rings alongside my nephew. Great childhood memories.

Such a shame.

He lasted longer refereeing people who hit each other with q tips on a Saturday night TV show.

As much as I think Paul Warne has done wonders for the dressing room, culture behind the scenes at the football club, he still hasn't proven himself as a Championship level manager. This is why I'd keep him on the same deal then see how we go after a season. 

For all the gamers out there, it feels like Warne has played the game on the "League One difficulty" a number of times , knows how to navigate the problems and could probably finish it in his sleep. He still has a point to prove at another level which is probably why he was very calm at the weekend. He's won the battle but he knows he hasn't finished the war.

That doesn't mean to say he can't hack it at Championship level. With some more fire power upfront and a new midfield, he's got every chance.

Love: The old fashioned grounds and some good chatter with the opposition supporters. Feels like football from way back when. Proper passion, less phones and plenty of cheaper beer to be found.

Hate: The standard of play, the endless time wasting and the officials (although they're seemingly useless at all levels now).

Sorry folks, when we get promoted on Saturday I'll be sobbing like a big baby.

Thank you Mr Clowes.

Don't expect anything less from those classless owners at Cardiff.

On a tangent, people dying and then families fighting over their estate / assets is disgusting. I was the executor of a friend's will and it's amazing how many people who couldn't give a toss about him all of a sudden come out of the woodwork. Family that never spoke to him demanding XYZ, threatening to take me to court over assets which were to be sold and money towards the charity he worked at, once he retired. 

Genuinely never felt so horrible and angry at human beings.

For that haircut, automatic 3 point deduction.

That Coventry Vs Man Utd could have gone down as one of the greatest semi finals in FA Cup history. 3-0 down and Cov brought it back to 3-3. They scored in the final minutes of extra time but VAR ruined it by disallowing the goal due because the Coventry lad had bigger sized boots. To rub salt in the wounds, Man Utd win the shootout and proceed to taunt the Coventry players. Zero respect.

It summed up modern elite football for me and why I don't watch Premier League football anymore. VAR making a mess of the those precious moments and then the footballers / managers who get paid absolute fortunes to moan about playing too many matches. If you don't want to play because you are tired, sod off and let some young talent have a game. These financially abundant teams have so many resources to deal with multiple matches yet have the nerve to pile on the FA (who themselves are a disgrace) to scrap the replays, because poor old £300k a week Bruno ran 1k less according to a huge team of data analytics. 

The European competitions, many Premier League teams don't play their best players until after Christmas anyway. And then none of them play in the League cup until the winter and then no FA Cup until January. But they're very happy to go on the Asia tours and fly around everywhere all summer because they've got sponsors to please.

Go and play in your European Super League and open the competitions up to football clubs who genuinely want to play domestic football.

I know he might cringe at the thought, I'd get a big flag with him front and centre.

Absolute hero.

Forest having the cheek to criticise Stuart Atwell. What goes around comes around.... 16 years later.

I'll be celebrating but my emotions will be more relief that we're out of this absolute pit of a division.

Watching the Bolton game.

I'll take any win at this point. I was amazed at the 1st and 3rd goals. We put them away well but my goodness, the level of defending at corners was absolutely atrocious for professional football. Our lads didn't have to work to challenge for the ball. Funniest moment of the day was Orient fans sarcastically cheering when the keeper finally caught the ball from a cross.

The back three is absolutely solid most weeks. This season has been built by mainly good defensive performances, particularly Cashin and Nelson. Swap Bradley out long term for a younger centre back and we've got a good Championship level defence.

Player of the match definitely Liam Thompson. Gave Adams some help with the legs and energy to shut down their midfield. Underrated player, a shame we can't have him, Adams and bird in a 3 next season. I think that would work well if we go for the wing backs again next season (which I admit I got it wrong, we do play better in this system).

Have to win those next 2 games. It'd be nice if Bolton drew again in the week and we beat Cambridge. That'd basically secure us promotion unless Carlisle scored 5/6 past us without reply. I can't see that happening, I think they'll apply maximum pressure until the final day.

Ultimate redemption. Silly sending off, comes up with a superb performance in both boxes.

He's got the pace and agility of a lorry but he definitely suits a back three. This will give him bags of confidence.

The good news is every time we seem to raise posts on this thread when we play poorly, we tend to pick up again.

I've said my piece on the manager many times, I don't think he's going to take us to another level. League One specialist, brilliant. But having watched the team play every week, his tactical standards have to improve because many people are barely putting up with what's on offer at the minute (which is strange as we're still 2nd). It's nothing to do with wanting "total football." When you're plodding on every match, just being slightly better than teams in the bottom half with much smaller wage budgets, where's the confidence to suggest we can compete in the Championship?

One thing I'll give Paul Warner credit for is against our rivals, on the whole we have competed and played well by setting up on the counter attack. If we do gain promotion, I would look to bring in more pace and some creative midfielders. That could work better against teams who will want 800 passes every game.