BaaLocks

He's only eighteen months younger than Chris Martin.....
 

Nailed on post of the year.

And has a tattoo that looks like Jesus offering you a fist bump

Replaced by Vic Moorland, not his fault, by that manager that shall not be named - entirely his fault.
Shudder. I won't sleep now.

The only way I see this happeneing is if we do a straight swap with Fornah, with them having enough time in to get loan cover in for CF.
Unrelated, but I didn't realise how small their squad was. Outside of their first 11, they have Clarke-Harris who has played a bit part role this season, a winger who comes on when Mason-Clarke or Poku need a breather, and a backup kepper. They also have a CB who hasn't started since September (following 7 goals being conceded in 2 games). The rest of their squad has played a total of 622 minutes between them. If they don't suffer from fatigue in the 2nd half of the season, they'll surely pick up a couple of injuries with results dropping off.

He wasn't the worst deadline deal day of all time, he wasn't even the worst deadline day deal of that day

Hopefully a Gambial that will pay off

Ah, I thought you meant a different type of Coach - that would have been interesting

Well thanks a million for bringing that memory back - that's Monday ruined.

Ah, I thought you meant a different type of Coach - that would have been interesting

I just think that Villa team was better than our best XI, no matter what it was. I have no doubt what we started with was not able to win the game, I'm also certain in my own mind any other combination wouldn't have been either.
Many could argue we won the last ten minutes as soon as Marriott came on, we did. But I still think over the full ninety even that line up would have come up short.

This one comes up again and again, it just feels like it has become the written history.
To remind:
- If you don't like the team Lampard picked on that day you don't like the team he picked in the SF (a) game (give or take - Marriott on the bench being the point I am making) vs Leeds. Given what happened there he'd have been equally slaughtered if he'd changed it.
- That Villa team was a whole hill of beans better than us, objectively. They had Grealish, McGinn, Abraham, Mings and a couple more (inc. Hourihane back when he could influence a game), it was about as good a Championship team as I can recall - I know we had Tomori, Wilson and Mount but still we had a few players who were well beyond their last hurrah (Huddlestone, Cole, Johnson).
If we played that game the other way round, a half dozen times over, I'd reckon we'd lose more times than we won (let's not forget they had beaten us 7-0 on aggregate in the league that season). Yes, it all went up a gear when Marriott came on but those rear view mirrors are great things that football managers do not possess in real time.
Not to say I didn't have my issues with Lampard but it is lazy memory (imho) to think it was all about the starting line up. We went in as heavy underdogs and we lost, as we were expected to.

A recommendation from Mrs C from a recent flight "Empire of Light", a 2022 Sam Mendes film starring Olivia Coleman as the manager of a seaside cinema in the 1980s struggling with her mental health. She described it as "sweet and touching" which is odd because she usually describes such films as "soppy", so maybe it isn't too sugary. I'll try to catch it myself somewhere to see if I agree.
Possibly Leon Osman/Morten Bisgaard
 

Bradley Johnson did a Q&A in the hospitality pre-Cheltenham. 
It interested me to hear that Lampard regretted his lineup in the final. He was trying to pick a team that would nullify McGinn and Grealish, hence Huddlestone's inclusion - instead of just leaving the team that finished the semi-final at Elland Road.

This one comes up again and again, it just feels like it has become the written history.
To remind:
- If you don't like the team Lampard picked on that day you don't like the team he picked in the SF (a) game (give or take - Marriott on the bench being the point I am making) vs Leeds. Given what happened there he'd have been equally slaughtered if he'd changed it.
- That Villa team was a whole hill of beans better than us, objectively. They had Grealish, McGinn, Abraham, Mings and a couple more (inc. Hourihane back when he could influence a game), it was about as good a Championship team as I can recall - I know we had Tomori, Wilson and Mount but still we had a few players who were well beyond their last hurrah (Huddlestone, Cole, Johnson).
If we played that game the other way round, a half dozen times over, I'd reckon we'd lose more times than we won (let's not forget they had beaten us 7-0 on aggregate in the league that season). Yes, it all went up a gear when Marriott came on but those rear view mirrors are great things that football managers do not possess in real time.
Not to say I didn't have my issues with Lampard but it is lazy memory (imho) to think it was all about the starting line up. We went in as heavy underdogs and we lost, as we were expected to.

Well thanks a million for bringing that memory back - that's Monday ruined.

Suffice to say that on Saturday I was pining for the days of John Newman’s Derby County, it was that bad. I met John once, and that was way too many times, as he had the effect of sucking out the will to live of anybody who was unfortunate enough to get too near to him. But the football, although embodying Newman’s personality vacuum, was better than this troach.

I don't think I unfairly reserve my vitriol, I fairly believe Conor Hourihane is not delivering for this team. Is he played out of position or in the wrong format? Well if I hire a plumber to do my electrics it doesn't matter, the fact is my electrics will be sub-standard and the plumber gets judged on that, not how good they are at plumbing.
Limited choices btw? We have a bigger squad than Peterborough, Bolton, Stevenage or Blackpool and definitely towards the top end in the division.
So you think we just clap every pass, even those that are intercepted, 'get behind the lads' (especially those that are prisoners) and then just go 'oh well, we gave it a go' when we come up short?
BTW - we agree there is much to play for, which is why it makes no sense to pile on Warne at this time. If he fails, that time will come. Before that, given we have to make the best of the playing squad we have, I see no issue raising concern if one of those players is not performing to a level needed.

Ronnie Barker and Ronnie Corbett setting up their chess board...it's a good knight from me, And a good knight for him.

We've taken one point in two games against two teams that have managed a combined 7 points out of 24 before they played us We've failed to score in three of our last four games, we didn't even manage a shot on goal in our last match We've lost leading positions in two of the last nine games, ones where we had points on the board until the 94th and 98th minute As for Hourihane creating chances, besides jumping on one late one against Burton he is a complete liability. Not since Gary Teale have I seen a Derby player so unable to justify his position in a starting line up. Not sure what pay off that means Warne has agreed to, but it isn't one I feel comfortable accepting without comment.

We've taken one point in two games against two teams that have managed a combined 7 points out of 24 before they played us We've failed to score in three of our last four games, we didn't even manage a shot on goal in our last match We've lost leading positions in two of the last nine games, ones where we had points on the board until the 94th and 98th minute As for Hourihane creating chances, besides jumping on one late one against Burton he is a complete liability. Not since Gary Teale have I seen a Derby player so unable to justify his position in a starting line up. Not sure what pay off that means Warne has agreed to, but it isn't one I feel comfortable accepting without comment.

Don't worry, I can take it. It's just an online forum after all - you've not insulted my mother or anything like that.
You will note I haven't suggest 'Warne out' or that we need to go and buy Chris Martin. I'm saying that we have obvious failings in our team and they are the same issues we had last year. Our midfield lacks bite, the ability to out think other teams is not there.
And as for comments on the squad - of course Nyambe, Elder, Nelson and Wilson are good, you would expect them to be. We are one of the big draws in the lower leagues and we should have the ability to attract better players. But they are not better than Knight, Roberts, Davies, McGoldrick, Ebosele or Kazim-Richards. They just aren't.
And that is the point - our manager is here to turn us around, to improve us as a club and he isn't doing that at the moment. And the signings he has been allowed to bring in haven't done that. And he still doesn't see that our midfield is powder puff. And he still doesn't see that Hourihane is a scandal to be an automatic name on that team sheet.
Should he go? No, not now. But if we don't go up this season he should.

See above

I will quote @Gee SCREAMER !! from a few weeks back - Hourihane is stealing a living in this team. Absolutely stealing one.... For a player that was supposed to be our linchpin he has been woeful in all but two or three games. Sibley is still living off that Milwall hat-trick (if ever there was an example of lucking out that was it, I'd be surprised if he scores three more goals in the rest of his career) and Bird just seems to get muscled off the ball too easily. Some say Bird gets himself about but that is for naught if you can't control and distribute the ball when you win it back.
To not score against either Lincoln or Reading and to not even have a shot on goal when a win would have taken us top shows just how poor this side actually is. And while we can point blame at Hourihane, Bird and Sibley it is also true that time and again, it's the summer signings that have been the undoing of us, there is simply no quality in nearly all of what was brought in. Nothing to even suggest we can change a game when things aren't going our way. Ward, Bradley, Washington etc. have just been bang average. Nelson, Elder, Nyambe, Wilson have replaced what was there before (Davies, Roberts etc) but besides that this team is not better than the one of loans and favours we cobbled together last season.
As for Warne, I'm not sure you can blame him as much for the footballing ideas and general intent but if you don't have bite in the centre of the park you can shout and wail all you want to get it out wide. Not much point though if you can't keep the ball for more than ten seconds or find a man in space when you do.
What I will say is that tactically Warne doesn't seem to do his homework - mate of mine is a Reading fan, tells me before the game that Azeez is the main threat. So what happens, we let him run free for the first half before we work it out? Surely someone, somewhere watched a video and had a think about what they were going up against?
Depressingly poor performance against a team that we should have cantered to a win against.