Andrew3000

Dunno if this has been posted previously, good read...
https://thetilehurstend.sbnation.com/2021/7/1/22558746/sone-aluko-sam-baldock-departures-signal-fresh-start-reading-fc-royals

I agree. But also think @Coconuts post was funny.

Adam Curtis is great!

Jozwiak

AFC Wimbledon. Born out of one of the biggest injustices in football in 2002 which galvanised a bunch of fans to stick two fingers up at the FA. We think we're going rough times now, imagine being in their position then.
They were told by the FA when their club was stolen from them that setting up a phoenix/new club was 'not in the wider interests of football' just to rub more salt in the wound. Started in the Combined Counties League anyway & 9 years later, made the Football League. They've now been an established League One side for 5 years, moved back to their own new stadium at Plough Lane & are a shining example of the power of fans to affect change.
Been to see them loads (incld when they were still non-league/playoff finals/relegation deciders) & own some tops. Will always be a Ram & when the sides meet, will want Derby to win but got all the time in the world for Wimbledon.

I agree, Curtains and I am sure if this was any other club than Derby that this rule would have been relaxed in relation to that one specific fixture.
We would probably have been better to forfeit the match, which is totally against the spirit of the competition. 

The Chorley situation and how the FA rules have interacted poorly with the EFL rules should make a compelling case for a single football regulator with a single rulebook. 

Adam Curtis is great!

Adam Curtis is great!

He's an Adam Curtis documentary in the form of a Twitter account.
"Here's one thing, and here's another thing that doesn't really correlate. And that the same time there's this.. and look at this..!"
He's convinced himself he's unravelling a large conspiracy. Genuinely think he bottles his own piss.

I think it will be a long time before most of us need to worry too much about paying tax on savings.

This post should receive an award for the record number of anatomical references in one paragraph.

I'd definitely put these, and all our trialists in fairness, firmly in the "worth a look" category. 
 
The thing about having so few senior pros is we can bring a lot of free agents in for a closer look. If the coaching staff don't like the looks they'll get a polite "thanks but no thanks". But like a few have said look at CKR, none of us really wanted him but the staff watched him train for a few weeks and knew he could do a job. 
 
None of these are the promotion push players we're used to being after, but does anyone think we're honestly aiming for anything beyond staying up, ideally drama free? 

Perhaps Wazza has a cunning plan….

Baldock would be worth a go. A hard working irritant of a forward in a similar vein to Gregory, Weimann etc. His career numbers aren't too bad by any stretch and he's played for some decent sides at this level.
Folks love a good whinge for whinging sake. It's pretty clear that the type of player we are looking at now is 100 % relative to the situation we currently find ourselves in.
The only immediate priority is to simply form a squad capable of competing in the Championship next season.
With all of the overriding factors and restrictions impeding our potential transfer movement (self inflicted or otherwise), what else is realistically expected?
 

We've got 3 and a half weeks until the season kicks off, just over 7 weeks until the transfer window closes until January - so plenty of time yet - and we're currently in a position where we can't readily sign players unless they are free and willing to come for what in football terms is a relatively low wage, whatever our owner might be prepared or want to do financially.  
And we are in the part of the season - every season - where every single club has players on trial so that the coaching staff can look at them to see if they are 'better than what we have', add something to the squad and team and improve our chances for the season.  Our greatest ever manager had a funny habit of finding players that other clubs didn't want and who didn't fit and turning them into teams that ruled the football world, because he looked at what they could do rather than at what they couldn't.  He also didn't hesitate to get rid if they didn't fit in.
Ravel Morrison is a good age, footballing wise, apparently hasn't been in any trouble since his late teens (join a long queue for that one) and has persuaded several good managers over the years that he's worth a shot at a high level.  Maybe he'll sign for us, maybe he won't - that's the whole point of pre-season - but he's sure worth looking at. 

Osteoarthritis springs to mind

Sone Aluko is the kind of player that always causes us massive problems when we play against him, but will immediately become useless the moment he signs for us.

Massive missed opportunity for me. Southgate is very likeable, but his selections are so negative, maybe have faith in some of our world class attackers who should start instead of being on the bench. 

This was Southgates Lampard playoff final moment, his substitutions were horrific tonight. Apparently we’ve practiced penalties constantly leading up to this. Why, why, why, why do that stupid stutter run against one of the best goalkeepers on world football, the guy is 6”5 and we’re ******* around with soft stupid penalties.
what I must say here though, all props to Saka to stepping up to take a penalty when our “senior” players hid in the shadows, I sincerely hope he isn’t to badly affected by this, well don’t young man and keep that chin up. 

Loads of people in Utch isolating or testing positive atm. Most schools have at least one class shut down, couple of pubs shut, people being "pinged" by track and trace etc.
Very few symptoms and no hospitalisations that I know of. Most folk who do have symptoms have a sore throat, dry cough, some with hay fever symptoms and a few with fatigue, tiredness, no energy (I get that every Monday morning but the missus tells me to get up and go to work, evil she is). 
Life goes on, not had a day off work other than Annual Leave, same with the missus who works at a school. 
I'm probably the most left wing person I know, as in I truly believe the NHS should be fully owned by the public and have no private involvement whatsoever, so I'm certainly no right winger or libertarian type. (I sound like I know what I'm talking about but I only learnt about libertarianism through the old political thread on here!!), yet I'm called an anti vaxxer because I've not had the jab.
When the vaccines have passed their experimental stage, I'll consider it if its still a threat, but as it stands, I won't cough on anyone, I wash my hands regularly through habit having worked in a food factory for 42 years and being trained in HACCP and Food safety up to Level 4 (so having a reasonable understanding of the dangers of bacterial and virus spread through poor hygiene).
We need to get back to some sort of normality and start living our lives again.
I just want to stand on the South Stand, moan about the service in the concourse and shout abuse at the ref, is that too much to ask for?

Define 'better'! ?
More talented individually, maybe, but I like that Southgate has recognised we need a team that works together as a unit, and that invariably means getting those players in there that do the donkey work to allow the most talented players to shine. Many previous England managers have tried to fit all their stars into the side at once and it hasn't worked.
I quite like that we've got a bench full of players who have individual brilliance desperate to get out there and prove it. When they come on they have to perform. 
I do wonder how much influence Steve Holland has on this? A lot, imo.

I need sub-titles on some of that banter! 
Good to see some of the younger players looking a bit more "sturdy" in there - Cashin looks like he fits right in already.

As you walk into Derby, your heart will skip a beat
You’ll get your ducking head kicked in as you check our P&L sheet
You’ll find our amortisation is making Gibson sore
F off you EFL barstards, we are the Derby boys