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Comment | Seven days – Preview
at 23:04:26
Thanks for your preview, and thanks for trying to make sense of the current mess.
What looks particulary self-contradictory is announcing everything is going to be different (the project) and then doing everything the same. I wonder if the French have a term for 'déjà vu'?
The sudden change from Nardi to Walsh looked suspect. Either the plan was crudely executed or there was no plan.
As for tomorrow, it's looks like it's going to be the Kelman vs Kone show. Perhaps we'll get a sense of who got the better bargain.
Andy Sinton. Yes, always seems to be everywhere and always knows what to say. He was born to do this. |
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Comment | The spectre of Kelman (and Jones) – Oppo Profile
at 22:16:31
Thanks to Louis.
Charlton have gone under the radar with all the pizzaz around Birmingham and Wrexham.
I guess Nathan Jones has something to prove after struggling at Stoke and Southampton.
Time will tell whether selling Kelman was the right decision. |
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Comment | Coventry City 7 Queens Park Rangers 1 – Report
at 21:08:48
Thanks for a brilliant report on a catastrophic game.
Coventry walked through us time and again. The game really went downhill after that suicidal pass from Morgan. After that it was the Jack Rudoni show.
So many of our players looked out of it. Dembele couldn't hold on to the ball. Even Dunne looked really below par.
Why has Nardi been dropped? It feels like there is something very wrong in West London. |
| News
Comment | And if this world runs out of lovers – Preview
at 14:19:47
Thanks for your preview.
The ticket sales at Coventry do suggest that, although the Martí party is over, a lot of us are still pining for Martí.
You say 'the ultimate aim for a football club has to be to win things', but for the last few seasons the aim (ultimate or otherwise) has been survival. Perhaps one of the appeals of Martí was that he brought a bit of style to the struggle for survival.
Perhaps this is why the aim of some in the hierarchy seems to be mediocrity: it's one step up from survival. |
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Comment | Can Cov marry quality with luck after successive heartbreaks? - Oppo Profile
at 13:40:38
Thanks to Dominic.
'The question this season is whether having more time to implement what he (and his coaching staff) want will make us better or worse'. The Lampard paradox.
Interesting that as goals are being conceded as well as scored, Coventry should be entertaining to watch. As Coventry have kept the squad together expectation of a play-off position seem reasonable. |
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Comment | Dinosaurs for your dinosaur tour – Preview
at 22:38:49
Thanks for your preview.
Quite extraordinary how long this 'striker drought' has gone on, no doubt partly due to poor recruitment and partly due to finances. Not to mention players like Washington who couldn't even do the basics. At least Warburton managed to get the team into a state where players like Hugill could get into double figures.
Goals from somewhere would be very welcome. |
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Comment | Crèche’s brave resistance beaten back by Plymouth’s bigger boys – Report
at 22:11:20
Thanks for your report.
I am still trying to make sense of what I saw (including not recognising half the players), but at least you have given us an explanation of some of the mitigating factors. Throughout the game Plymouth looked a better side than us, particularly when it came to passing the ball. We were lucky to be 2-0 ahead, as at times we were under siege. Still, having been 2-0 ahead it was disappointing to lose the game, but, when it comes to cups, we should all be used to it by now. |
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Comment | Clash of the cup titans – Preview
at 19:36:47
Thanks for your preview.
It's the battle of the cup no-hopers. On top of that it sounds like both teams are having to settle for a lucky dip in player selection as half the players are injured. |
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Comment | Rude awakening for Argyle on League One return - Oppo Profile
at 19:23:00
Thanks to Argyle Life.
This doesn't sound good. Plymouth seemed to be one of those clubs that had its own identity and style, yet seems to have got completely derailed by the appointment of Rooney and now doesn't seem to be able to find its way back onto the right path. |
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Comment | Back on the horse – Preview
at 12:53:44
Thanks for your preview to this joyous new season (including, for you, the joys of running a message board).
Agree there is a big question mark over Larkeche. Esquerdinha was very impressive in the Premier League Cup Dev squad final, as his skill on the ball allowed us to switch straight from defence to attack. How good a defender Esquerdinha is remains to be seen. Getting rid of Nardi doesn't seem sensible with everything else going in.
God knows what our place in the Championship is with the big money coming in from above and below. What seems obvious is that goals are a luxury we can't afford, so we're left praying that existing players like Celar will somehow come good.
We seem to have more momentum than Preston, but that's not saying much. Let's see what happens. |
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Comment | Can Heckingbottom's PNE bomb squad defy relegation odds? - Oppo Profile
at 12:18:12
Thanks to Josh.
It's puzzling what's happened to Preston - they always seemed to be the classic safe mid-table Championship team. There's a lot of change in the division with more money coming in from the top and the button, and maybe the days of just sitting in the middle of the table are over. |
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Comment | Catastrophe, ou formidable? Stéphan steps into Loftus Road hot seat - Column
at 22:15:06
Thanks for the background report on Julien Stéphan.
I listened to the podcast and almost everything sounded positive, especially when compared to some of the more predictable candidates that you listed above. The only negative was the Bielsa-style burnout experienced by Stéphan's teams after the first season. |
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Comment | Keep Calm and carry on – Preview
at 12:22:35
Thanks for your preview (amidst the chaos).
After getting rid of Warburton it's taking us three years to get back to where we started (well actually lower in the league than where we started), and now were ripping that up too.
You've been saying all along that the club's communication strategy has been non-existent. The siege mentality of the board seems to me to be a reflection of the dehumanised leadership which we see throughout society, and in a very extreme form in the United States. Sarah Wynn-Williams's recent book about Facebook begins with this epigraph from the Great Gatsby:
'They were careless people, Tom and Daisy - they smashed up things and creatures and then retreated back into their money of their vast carelessness, or whatever it was that kept them together, and let other people clean up the mess they had made'.
Today's match looks to be a game between a team that has lost momentum and one that never really had any in the first place. |
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Comment | Who needs momentum anyway? Oppo Profile
at 11:43:03
Thanks to Graham.
I can understand your scepticism about your play-off chances given Sunderland's current lack of momentum, but you never know. |
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Comment | Dunne in The Sun – Preview
at 12:20:08
Thanks for your preview.
Dunne has had some lows as well as highs, but over time has become a rock that everyone relies on. I wouldn't begrudge him going either, but it would be a shame if it all ends with a whimper rather than a bang.
I really hope Cifuentes is not going. His arrival is the only good thing to have come out of getting rid of Warburton (after the disasters of Beale, Critchley and Ainsworth). If Cifuentes could have one stable season without firefighting we might be able to assess how good he really is. |
| News
Comment | Do QPR have a manic Monday in them after a very Good Friday? Preview
at 14:53:25
Thanks for your preview.
Some of our problems (like injuries) are objective. However, there's definitely a mentality thing...we play better when there's nothing at stake.
Swansea are a bit of a bogey side for us, so getting something out of the game would be good. |
| News
Comment | The battle for 16th – Preview
at 14:48:28
Thanks for your preview.
When Preston won the League there were only twelve clubs and no Southern Softies (or Manchester clubs).
From Rome to...Preston. Somehow we always end up back at Preston. This leads to soul searching and questions about the meaning of life.
At least we can be thankful that it's not a must-win game. |
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