1967Ram

If we go up I have no doubts we stay up then build from there.  People seemed terrified to go up to the premier league as we'd get beat all the time .  Now we need another season in this league as the championship is the place we'll get beat all the time .  I can't cope.  I don't want to spend anymore time in a league we are only in due to a points deduction.  It's s****. 

spoke to my friend who's a Charlton STH and when i said promotion maybe too much too early for us he said, once you stay down in League1 for more than a season it seems to engulf you and then you're a league 1 club and very difficult to get out of....makes sense looking at other big teams who've gone down and spent  seasons there, so for me , I don't care how we get there but lets just get to the play offs first, then 3 big games and lets get the f out of this league!!
...I think we can do it ....still 

Although I rarely contribute to this site, reading some of the post during the last week or so, I was compelled to:
I would like to think I am as passionate a supporter as anyone on this forum, but hopefully are a little more realistic and balanced in my thoughts.
Firstly, thank goodness we still have a Club to support! Only a last minute intervention from David Clowes saved us. He deserves our support and backing for evermore.
From having hardly any players at all, we rapidly accumulated a set of out of contract players, mostly very experienced but ageing on the whole. Well Liam during this time. We started the season with a team which couldn’t have been match fit and started ok but not as we would have hoped, soon falling back on the division leaders points wise with too many draws.
Our saviour decided to make a change by replacing out Temporary Manager with a serial Division One winner in Paul Warne and his team. Probably surprised us all, but we were not blessed with knowing the inside details of the club.
This brought about a change in style, some say “long ball”, I don’t agree. Players certainly got fitter, as demanded to play in the new manager’s style. Who can not support that?
An early Away win followed - rare indeed. Gradually results improved and a tremendous unbeaten run followed where most fans were happy with the style of football, which at times was exhilarating and everyone thinking at least Playoffs were guaranteed.
A few warning signs were there, injuries to Chesters and Davies, players playing unfamiliar roles, Knight/Smith/Sibley etc. McGoldrick a little injury prone but scoring bucket loads at home. Our squad was basically very small, either very young and inexperienced or ageing with great experienced. We were scoring goals and keeping clean sheets, rising up the league but still not really making headway on the leaders.  We started to play some of the leading teams and were all a little shocked at losing at Barnsley having trounced the in the cup. We’ve been in the doldrums since.
Reasons:
Defensively - we have been making mistakes and conceding some soft goals, penalties etc
Midfield - we haven’t got a tackler in there, even Smith, put in there occasionally to add steel, is pretty lightweight. We are getting outfought in there. Despite some silky skills messrs Bird, Hourihan & White are not aggressive or quick enough - circa Ipswich.
Forwards - apart from Dobbin, this is our most ageing part of the team and shows signs of tiredness. We lack pace up front to frighten defences.
Our squad size allows little scope for genuine quality changes.
The January transfer window was disappointing, in not getting at least one more striker (apparently broken promise).
The Manager has tried to remain upbeat in my opinion despite the players performing so well in part of games but slipping away in the remainder. 
The future - we still have a very good chance of making the playoffs - our next few games are all winnable, which will increase our currently low confidence. We also need a bit of luck which has currently deserted us (Ref decisions etc etc). 

Bearing in mind where we started from - potentially no club, 5 players etc - we all ought to count our blessings as to where we are - albeit a little disappointed not to have done better. Are we currently ready to get promoted - probably not. 
I am not expecting the EFL to move their stance on our financial situation thus allowing payment for transfers etc. Our punishment was for 2 years and don’t forget all those creditors who lost money.
I am looking forward to seeing what Paul Warne will do during the summer. He will surely add height, aggression, pace all over the pitch to be able to play the way he wishes. He said Ipswich were the blue print for getting out of Division One - despite a few dark arts - they were good - and if we can play like that I wouldn’t moan.
Summary - regardless of how we finish the season (hopefully well) , let’s all try to be realistic in our views and assessments. Paul Warne deserves the right to produce his own team over a year or so - and even if you can’t support him personally, the support David Clowes decision. He deserves it.

 
 
 
 
 

I saw on twitter someone said we'd have been better bringing on Joan Collins!  Must admit it made me chuckle 

just got back from the match, its important not to go over board. however it was a stinker, especially first half.
They worked us out and put pressure on our full backs, that meant our midfielders dropped deeper so were not there for the second balls when we went forward.
I have listened to Paul Warne. I accept his points about ditzy and Knight not having trained for a week hence why they didn't start. I do not understand why we changed the back four. Fozzy has been doing well all season alongside Cashin, so why change it, this meant 50% of the back 4 changed, not good.
I like Cashin but he needs to work out when to put it into row z and when and how far to take the ball into the midfield, they targeted him today and caught his a few times.
I thought Roberts and Dobbin looked good when they came on.
They deserved their victory and we never looked like scoring.
First home defeat in months, we are heading in the right direction, it's inevitable that we will have bumps on the way. Still think we will be in the playoffs and think we will make Wembley 
keep the faith
 
 

Pretty much like this thread.
Opinion very much polarised - and entirely predictable.

It's a good point - is this criticism because of him bringing the BBC into disrepute? Is he displaying intolerance, hatred, bigotry or inciting violence against anyone? 
Or are his critics upset because he doesn't say things that they agree with? 

Thing is, I don't think anyone would have any complaints with this.
Game after game, running directly after each other with a graphic between. More highlights less punditry where they get to watch a foul on 25 angles before calling the ref a disgrace.

There are fine people on both sides of the debate.

Does that mean I can insist the electrician I hired last week to do a job on my house doesn't talk politics down the pub in case people overhear him and think I endorse his beliefs? Ergo?

You're right, but what he will have is a contract, hence my opening post, if he's broken it, bin him off. If not, let him crack on.

Well I for one won’t bother tuning into it tomorrow.  I think the whole thing stinks.  Especially when you think that supposed hardened journalists like Fiona Bruce & Laura Kussenberg have been giving The Tories an easy ride for years, and as for Andrew Neil… 
I bet all these bitter & twisted gammons, clutching at their pearls, demanding he was taken off the air, were dancing in the streets when he slotted in the equaliser against Germany at Italia 90.  Hypocrites…

Some insight and analysis from the ITV Political Editor.

Yes. 
I don't watch match of the day very often. I used to, years ago. 
Generally, I'd be more likely to watch it, if there was no presenter, and no pundits. No studio. Just highlights, and if required, a voice over person, saying which match is next etc. 

Here's a random idea - let's just have a MOTD with just football.  No chat, no presenters, maybe no commentators either.  Just footie that we can make our own minds on what's good/bad, right or wrong.  You never know we might be able to have more actual football to fill the available time

The thing is the Beeb have backed themselves into a corner here. Lineker won't apologise. So the options are to sack him or back down. 
Neither option looks great for the Beeb.
This incident is no so big that it will have been escalated to the BBC Chairman to manage - the man who helped arrange an £800,000 loan for the PM and who personally donated 400k (yes 400k!) to the Tory party. 

I don't really get it. The BBC decided it was fine to broadcast an expose of the Qatari government's violations of the human rights of migrant workers instead of broadcasting the opening ceremony of the World Cup last year, but Lineker raising concerns that our own government's policies violate the human rights of migrants on his own channels isn't fine? I can't really reconcile that.

Not watched MOTD regularly for years it’s too much about the presenters today and not enough about the football.
Would be sorry to see Ian Wright go especially for the respect he shows to Mr Pigden.
 
It’s one of my all time favourite YouTube videos.
 

That's a fair point. Of course no one wants to be associated with someone who would discriminate based solely on race, but "perceived racist" is worryingly vague to me. All of this is very subjective and what pushes me towards free speech absolutism is that often the people tasked with judging these cases don't seem to make very sensible decisions. Lineker's case is a great example. As much as I dislike the guy the fact that he's been stepped down from his job because he disagreed publicly with a government position is quite frightening.

I hope tomorrow's show concentrates on, and praises exclusively, the contributions of right wingers to the games. 
That'll get the Tories back on side.

Not that important. If anyone was to stop watching a football programme over one man's political views, wouldn't be a huge lost. Let's be honest, it would take a mass exodus to have any serious impact.
It's all on par with the kids today that scream "you've lost my respect" soon as someone does or says something they don't like.
The sooner companies stop pandering to the cancel culture on both sides the better. 

He's paid to talk about football. I don't see why anything he says outside of MOTD should matter when it comes to presenting a football highlights show. It was the same with the awful treatment Le Tissier got from Sky. It baffles me that companies now seem to believe they can and should dictate what their employees say and think away from work.

Without turning this into another left v right borefest, Gary Lineker is stepping back from his presenting duties on MOTD following the Nazi tweet.
I'm not entirely sure why there is so much controversy, comes down to this for me, if it's within his contract to abide by impartiality rules and refrain from taking sides on politic issues, that is a breach of contract, sack him.
If there is nothing in the contract preventing him, let the bloke crack on.
Many people face certain rules when it comes to social media, I know of two women that work within child services for North East Lincolnshire Council, they are not allowed to have profiles with their full names so have opted for first and middle names only. It's in the employment terms they agreed to.