Long Time Lurker

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

If we're looking on the basis of who we've lost since we started shipping water financially, rather than just administration, I don't think we we could realistically say that we'd have kept hold of all of them anyway, even without all our difficulties.  If we'd not had any major financial issues , I'd say we could have kept the following:
Jordan Brown: I always rated him and think he's probably one of our biggest losses.  He might have wanted to move on though anyway as he would have been struggling for a regular first team place given the competition that he would have faced.  The Orient fans seem to rate him highly.
Lee Buchanan: he might have got duff advice from his agent anyway, but I'd like to think LB probably wouldn't have acted as badly as he did.  Interestingly (or not), he seems to be one of the few members of BCFC team who their fans would like to keep when they meet their richly deserved fate and disappear into the abyss of the third division (the A38 derby will happily remain in place, just in a different direction....).  The same is not true of Bielek, by the way.
Jason Knight: would he really have gone to Bristol City if we'd not got relegated?  And for that matter, would Birdy have gone to join him?
Omari Kellyman: reputedly he didn't want to go at all, and I fear that he will be a big loss.
Dylan Williams: we would have been in a good position to reject Chelsea's offer and Dylan by now might have got 100 first team performances behind him.  As it is, I don't think that he's kicked a first-team ball for Chelsea, and I wonder whether he wonders if he did the right thing.  
Malcolm Ebiowe: we could have offered him a longer contract than we did.  The same is possible with Luke Plange.  But their subsequent stuttering progress suggests we have probably not lost as much as we thought (I hope they both prove me wrong by the way).
One that we probably would have lost anyway:
Morgan Whittaker:  I have enormous respect for what Wazzer did for us, but his treatment of MW is probably his worst moment.  For me, MW was the most naturally gifted on the 2019 youth team and his stats were phenomenal at that level.  But as we can probably all recall, when he got into the first team his languid style didn't endear him to everyone, so Rooney wasn't alone in underrating him.  To be fair, Whittaker didn't pull up any trees at Swansea or Lincoln.  As Angie has rightly said Plymouth would already be back in Division 3 if it wasn't for his goals and assists.  But his form does appear to have fallen off a cliff since Schumacher left and the Plymouth fans, or at least some of them, seem to be beginning to have their doubts: https://pasoti.co.uk/forums/plymouth-argyle-fans-forum.30/
Those that we almost certainly would have lost anyway:
Archie Brown: contrary to what is often said here about us letting him go, in fact he left of his own accord :
https://archive.ph/20211130171732/https://theathletic.com/2666370/2021/06/23/why-derbys-young-star-archie-brown-turned-down-a-new-deal-to-go-to-switzerland/
He has done brilliantly since leaving, but it's not a given that his progress would have been the same had he stayed with us.  He's had to get used to different football and different counties, so he's had a lot to cope with, all of which may have helped his progress (the reverse is also true of course).
Liam Delap and Kaide Gordon:  We never had them under professional contracts because of their age and we could not have stopped them leaving even if we were rolling in cash.  Any young player given the chance to move to Liverpool or Man City was always bound to go.  The same is likely to be the case with Festy - would he really have preferred to stay in Championship obscurity if he had the chance to go to Serie A?
As for the like of Kain Ryan and the three who went to Man U, moves at youth level and earlier happen all the time - after all Tom Huddlestone and Will Hughes were, I believe with the Red Dogs for a while.  Those lads may go on to be great players- but then again they might not.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Living fairly near to Motspur Park, I went along to the game tonight.  While it's certainly disappointing that we were on the way to three points after 93 minutes and were going home with none after 97 (part of the first team ethos the academy certainly seems to have taken on board), I don't think we should get too downhearted.  Overall Fulham probably deserved their win, dominating possession for the last third of the match, and we were a bit reliant on their poor final balls and inept finishing at times.  That said, we matched them for long periods and I don't think anyone would have seen us as being two divisions below them, as we are of course at first team level. 
Of the individual performances, four stood out for me for different reasons.  In the first half at least Fulham had no answer at all to Dejaune Brown, who simply bullied their rather large centre half as if it was the easiest thing in the world.  DB saw less of the ball in the second half, but he took his goal nicely.   Hopefully he will not be another Calum Ball type who struggles when up against more experienced and tougher opponents.  His overall game - touch, awareness, positioning etc - all seemed good to me.  This last point holds true for Lennon Wheeldon who really seems to be growing into the no 10 role.  Ryan Bartley had an excellent game at  centre back, a calm, reassuring presence who read the game well.  And then there was Darren Robinson, who I was particularly keen to watch, in part for some of the reasons discussed higher up in this thread.   I thought he was really good, passing the ball quickly and accurately with the minimum of fuss.  He was unlucky not to score when after a great run, he hit the post with the keeper stranded. He certainly likes a tackle.  One particular pole axing of a Fulham player was spectacular, with many in the crowd seemingly sharing my surprise that no free kick was given.   
If it was up to me, I'd see DRob as a better bet for the first team than Tyrese Fornah, particularly as a CDM.  But it is of course not up to me at all, and DRob may have some mysterious Elsnikesque shortcoming which means he never makes it.    However, he seems to be ahead of Fornah in areas such as positioning and knowing when to release the ball.  This is not to slag off Fornah, who certainly has some talent but to me he plays more like an 18 year old than someone who is 23.  In parenthesis, as we used to say in the Ossie End, I do wonder whether this might be to do with where we got him from.    I recently saw a little documentary on Oliver Burke, who the Red Dogs managed to stiff RB Leipzig for about £13m back in the day.  The documentary made the point that Burke had a certain degree of raw talent, but the Leipzig coaches were surprised at how poorly he had been coached meaning that he was deficient in all sorts of basics.  Still, if you can get £13m for somebody that poor, you must literally be laughing all the way to the bank.
 

Oh my goodness, what a response!
Hello everyone, I’m Claire, Daniel’s (B4) sister. I am overwhelmed by your kind words, support, and the memories you have shared.  Thank you so much for the kindness and love you have all shown to Daniel over the years. My parents are working their way through all of the posts and will offer their own thanks in due course.
I wish I knew about the scraves, flanges and ballions before now. I wouldn’t have let Daniel live that down at home. This made my husband and I laugh this morning.
I will be wearing Daniel’s shirt and keeping his seat warm at the Bristol match. Really looking forward to hearing a big cheer and round of applause in the 38th minute, a goal at the time would be perfect!  Do please continue to share the picture with details of the applause. Let’s raise the roof for Daniel!!!
Thank you all again ❤️
#BeMoreB4 

I have some very sad news this evening.  Daniel (B4) died earlier this week. He was just 38.
As you know, he has been battling numerous health conditions for a long time, but always remained cheerful  and was the most loyal supporter of his beloved Rams, home and away.
He was at the match at Crewe and gave his full support as always. 
Daniel leaves behind a grieving dad, mum and sister. Our thoughts go out to them and we only hope they get a little comfort from knowing how well loved Daniel is by all who know him. 
Here are a couple of photos that his dad agreed could be shared. I'm sure many of you have others, as Daniel loved a selfie at the game.
David is hoping to arrange a more fitting tribute in time, but for now please raise a glass in his memory and a good Derby win today. I am sure that's what Daniel would have been doing tonight.
 

I'm not entirely sure I understand the point being made here, as the two examples quoted are, I would have thought, more of a reason for being cautious than for picking DBrown etc. 
With Bennett, we naturally thought that we had a real talent in our hands, given his debut at 15.  As it turned out, he made a total of 88 further appearances for us, spread over nine seasons, which produced six goals.  He only ever played one game for us where he completed the full 90 minutes. 
As for Sibbo, I like him a lot.  However, it wasn't his debut (which was against Scunthorpe in the EFL cup) but his first game in the league against the Wendies, followed by the hat trick at Millwall that created the level of expectation about him.  In retrospect, the first two league games were possibly the worst things that could have happened to him, given the level of expectations that they raise ('he's better than Jude Bellingham'...).   He was great to watch in the u21s, but expecting him to dance around experienced championship hard men in the way that he did with kids his own age at u18/u21 level was, again in retrospect, always unlikely.   The dreaded phrase "failed to live up to his potential" seems to hang in the air about him, but what somebody's potential is can never be more than a guess on the part of the person doing the assessment.  Perhaps the fault lies more with the assessor than the actual player.
Having said  all that, I hope we play something like Ghost of Clough's team on Wednesday, although I think Radcliffe is injured and the Sibbo police will be after GoC for suggesting that young Louie should play at left back....................
 

I'm not entirely sure I understand the point being made here, as the two examples quoted are, I would have thought, more of a reason for being cautious than for picking DBrown etc. 
With Bennett, we naturally thought that we had a real talent in our hands, given his debut at 15.  As it turned out, he made a total of 88 further appearances for us, spread over nine seasons, which produced six goals.  He only ever played one game for us where he completed the full 90 minutes. 
As for Sibbo, I like him a lot.  However, it wasn't his debut (which was against Scunthorpe in the EFL cup) but his first game in the league against the Wendies, followed by the hat trick at Millwall that created the level of expectation about him.  In retrospect, the first two league games were possibly the worst things that could have happened to him, given the level of expectations that they raise ('he's better than Jude Bellingham'...).   He was great to watch in the u21s, but expecting him to dance around experienced championship hard men in the way that he did with kids his own age at u18/u21 level was, again in retrospect, always unlikely.   The dreaded phrase "failed to live up to his potential" seems to hang in the air about him, but what somebody's potential is can never be more than a guess on the part of the person doing the assessment.  Perhaps the fault lies more with the assessor than the actual player.
Having said  all that, I hope we play something like Ghost of Clough's team on Wednesday, although I think Radcliffe is injured and the Sibbo police will be after GoC for suggesting that young Louie should play at left back....................
 

And I do as well, while Banksy also seems a welcome addition.
Meanwhile, here are the highlights from the Middlesborough game: https://www.mfc.co.uk/videos/4cdab4c9-f119-4bab-8d96-9f7996f04252.  There doesn't seem to be any sound, although that could just be representative of the atmosphere that the Smoggies manage to generate these days.  As you'll see, the goal is not one where cover ourselves in glory, but hopefully it will be a learning experience.

I'm not entirely sure I understand the point being made here, as the two examples quoted are, I would have thought, more of a reason for being cautious than for picking DBrown etc. 
With Bennett, we naturally thought that we had a real talent in our hands, given his debut at 15.  As it turned out, he made a total of 88 further appearances for us, spread over nine seasons, which produced six goals.  He only ever played one game for us where he completed the full 90 minutes. 
As for Sibbo, I like him a lot.  However, it wasn't his debut (which was against Scunthorpe in the EFL cup) but his first game in the league against the Wendies, followed by the hat trick at Millwall that created the level of expectation about him.  In retrospect, the first two league games were possibly the worst things that could have happened to him, given the level of expectations that they raise ('he's better than Jude Bellingham'...).   He was great to watch in the u21s, but expecting him to dance around experienced championship hard men in the way that he did with kids his own age at u18/u21 level was, again in retrospect, always unlikely.   The dreaded phrase "failed to live up to his potential" seems to hang in the air about him, but what somebody's potential is can never be more than a guess on the part of the person doing the assessment.  Perhaps the fault lies more with the assessor than the actual player.
Having said  all that, I hope we play something like Ghost of Clough's team on Wednesday, although I think Radcliffe is injured and the Sibbo police will be after GoC for suggesting that young Louie should play at left back....................
 

And I do as well, while Banksy also seems a welcome addition.
Meanwhile, here are the highlights from the Middlesborough game: https://www.mfc.co.uk/videos/4cdab4c9-f119-4bab-8d96-9f7996f04252.  There doesn't seem to be any sound, although that could just be representative of the atmosphere that the Smoggies manage to generate these days.  As you'll see, the goal is not one where cover ourselves in glory, but hopefully it will be a learning experience.

Here are the highlights of the game against Man U. 
It would appear we were the better side in the first half and should have scored more than one.  United seemed to get the upper hand in the second half without creating too many chances, but we then gave away a penalty (we must learn to commit fouls before the player gets into the box.........) and then a second through poor defending (overplaying at the back).  We had a great chance to equalize, didn't take it and within 10 seconds United had their third.
While it is difficult to make many conclusions on the basis of 10 mins highlights, Cruz Allen certainly looks to have a bit about him as a creative midfielder.  Lennon Wheeldon caused United a lot of problems on the first half and, while we didn't see much of Jack Thompson till the end, the United Commentary team praised his handling.  Incidentally, the commentators seemed to take pretty balanced view, and were often complimentary to us.  Staying on a non-partisan theme, they have a player called Shea Lacey who certainly looks like he has a very promising future.
 

Here are the highlights of the game against Man U. 
It would appear we were the better side in the first half and should have scored more than one.  United seemed to get the upper hand in the second half without creating too many chances, but we then gave away a penalty (we must learn to commit fouls before the player gets into the box.........) and then a second through poor defending (overplaying at the back).  We had a great chance to equalize, didn't take it and within 10 seconds United had their third.
While it is difficult to make many conclusions on the basis of 10 mins highlights, Cruz Allen certainly looks to have a bit about him as a creative midfielder.  Lennon Wheeldon caused United a lot of problems on the first half and, while we didn't see much of Jack Thompson till the end, the United Commentary team praised his handling.  Incidentally, the commentators seemed to take pretty balanced view, and were often complimentary to us.  Staying on a non-partisan theme, they have a player called Shea Lacey who certainly looks like he has a very promising future.