Tamworthram

Yes but I’m sure someone 😉 will be able to “prove” we don’t “deserve” to be second.

My proven (unreliable 😀) predictor has changed after Barnsley collapsed yesterday (and dropped point last Tuesday) and we won when I was only expecting a draw. It’s gone from 1) Barnsley, 2) Portsmouth, 3) Derby to 1)Derby, 2)Portsmouth and 3) Barnsley. This tells me three things. We can catch Pompey. It’s probably going to be very tight. I know nothing.

At last, we can put the speculation to bed. The poster known as RoyMac5 MUST be female. 😀

I’m not sure how poor Bristol were and you can only beat the team that’s in front of you but I wouldn’t describe them as an in form team. Certainly not at home. Since the turn of the year, before yesterday, they had lost 4 out of 6 home league games including against Burton and Fleetwood. If we can back up two comfortable wins against less good teams with back to back home wins (I haven’t checked our head to head record but Reading always seem to cause us problems and, of course Bolton should be a tough game) then we’ll be in the box seat. COYR.

Not sure what the smiley face response was all about @Chester40. I was being serious. Who, in their right minds, would have given him a bad reception?

I wasn’t at the game but it was pretty guaranteed PW (and the players) would get a good reception after a 3:0 away win. Even the most ardent anti Warne supporters would have been pretty silly to do anymore than at worse keep quiet.

I think Barnsley’s result today proves how unreliable our predictors (including my own) can be. No one in their right mind would have predicted an away win, especially by such a margin.

All we’ve got to do is match the results of those around us and we go up. Even more simples 😀

That was my understanding but I didn’t know if I was missing something.

I'm not an accountant either but, reading the government website, it doesn't look as if you can according to the second bullet point. In any event, I doubt we'll be making a profit any time soon. If you donate more than your profit The most you can deduct is the amount that reduces your company’s profits to zero. If you donate more than your total profits you can’t: declare trading losses on your tax return carry over any remaining amount to your next tax return

Yes I know all that but if we've made a loss there is no corporation tax to reduce.

Seems to be (after googling it) on Disney+.

I refuse to complete the survey purely based on the mood set by the very first question: “Which lower league club do you support”? 😀😀😀

Am I being dumb (again)? Why would there be a tax (corporation tax) bill if we made a loss?

Surely he has two jobs 1) get us promoted and 2) make us an established Championship club (how you define that is open to interpretation). But, as far as we are aware, there is no two season time limit on achieving the first objective. For all we know, the timescale agreed between DC and PW could be - get us promoted within 3 seasons (taking into account the restrictions we have been under in seasons 1 & 2. Not that I expect DC to splash the cash in the summer) and survive comfortably in the Championship in season 4 (or sooner if we got promoted earlier). I just can’t help but think people calling for him to be sacked or to resign if we don’t go up this season are clutching at straws. None of us know PW’s real personality and if he’s the sort of person to throw the towel in when the team fall just short, or if DC is ruthless enough to send him on his way in the summer. As for the “grief he gets from the vocal fans that hate him”, I reckon he accepts such feelings on social media as simply a sign of the times. Other clubs may snap his hand off but does he see himself as a winner or a quitter? 🤷🏻 I reckon the former. p.s. I’m not saying we threw it deliberately but maybe going up last season might have been too early given the two year business plan and subsequent restrictions. Staying up this year could have been very challenging.

Nobody likes failure but there are degrees of failure. Yes, if we don’t go up then quite obviously we have failed to get promotion this season which would have been PW’s aim but I don’t think that should automatically cause him to be sacked or to resign. It’s not as if he has failed miserably (assuming we at least reach the play offs). Regarding him personally not liking failure, well I reckon he’d rather try and prove he can do it next season than admit outright failure and walk away. I wouldn’t read too much into his comments about being out of work if we don’t go up this season. I reckon that was just one of his off the cuff comments confirming that all managers are at risk. If he’d thought carefully before speaking I reckon he’d probably have said something more like “I might well be out of work”.

Sounds interesting. Which channel or was it at the cinema?

I don’t know if you’re being serious or not. If you are then taking into account what seems to be his mantra “there are more important things in life than football” and “not getting too excited if his team wins (until they’ve actually won something) or too down if they lose”, I can’t say that I’ve noticed anything that would lead you to that conclusion.

Well you’ve toned that down significantly from your first post. Sounds more like idle tittle tattle that I’ll file under “I’ll believe it when I see it”.

I should have added @Millenniumram: I have no idea how reliable either you or your source are but, if I was a betting man (which I’m not) I’d doubt it enough to offer you a bet that PW won’t resign if we get promoted.

Wow. That’s a massive bombshell you’ve just dropped on the forum. I’d even suggest it’s a tad destabilising for such a revelation to be leaked via such a public forum as this and either your contact shouldn’t have told you or should have sworn you to secrecy.

Don’t be too disparaging about the quality of the Championship until we at least get up into it.

I think it would depend on a) how close we come to promotion this season (it would take some doing to miss out on the play offs so, not far enough off for me to get rid) and b) how much money he has available for the summer transfer window in order to build on what we've achieved this season. I reckon that's how DC will view it as well. It hasn't been pretty this season but the primary aim is to get promoted. If we can do that by strengthening the squad (which we haven't really been able to do that much up until now) and really going for it next season then, DC will stick. I think it's inevitable that there will be some drop off in attendances (and ST sales), which must be in DC's mind but, my guess is he's thinking it won't be significant enough to result in sacking PW. I get what you're saying about a fresh mindset and personality in but who could we attract that would satisfy those disheartened with the prospect of another season in league 1 and no guarantee of promotion? A new name might put a few more bums on seats next season but, unless a new appointment resulted in promotion, a change of manager might just set us back another year. In short, I reckon it comes down to how confident DC is that PW will get us promoted next season. I'm sure he is aware of the fans frustration and likely drop off in ST sales but my guess is he's estimated the drop off won't be too significant and attendances will pick up if indeed we are doing well next season.

Edit: Seriously though, there can be no genuinely reliable method (unless we use XG of course 😀) as there are too many variables including, suspensions, injuries, poor referee decisions, individual players form on the day, and players playing with a bit more caution if they pick up an early booking in a game. All I have done, which is no more a reliable method than anyone else’s is to make an educated guess if a team in the top 8 plays one outside the top 8. Then, if another play off contender has to play the same fixture I’m applied the same outcome. For example, I have Derby down for a draw at Bristol (so obviously a GD of 0). If anyone else has to play away at Bristol (e.g. Bolton), I’ve assumed they will also draw. For head to heads amongst the top 8 I have just taken a guess based on who is home and who is away and their respective current forms. I first did it about 4 weeks ago and I update it as actual results occur. The teams 5-8 are exactly the same and in the same positions but my top 2 original forecasts (Bolton and Derby) I am now forecasting 4 and 3 respectively. So, as I say, not remotely reliable and only done to pass the time away.