HarvSFC

Won't be the most recent club to win back to back promotions to the Premier League much longer. I said McKenna would be a good option for us last summer, shame we didn't try and pry him away.

Our last two appointments finish the 2023-24 season in 16th and 17th position in League One. Ankersen sure does have an eye for talent.

We looked like a proper mid-table MK Dons/Swansea side today. A terrible insight of what could be next season if we keep the same manager and mess up another summer transfer window. No intensity and lots of playing in our own half today. While Stoke tested McCarthy a lot more than we tested their goalkeeper. Last time we were here we were on the pitch after thrashing Coventry. Now, we're going through the motions against Stoke on a miserable day and the players walking around an empty stadium with a game left.

Guardiola's tactics work because he handpicks the best teams in a country - Barcelona, Bayern Munich and Manchester City. He has admitted himself that he couldn't replicate Bielsa's achievements at Leeds. That would be because his tactics do not work with lesser players. But, Russell Martin disagrees.

61 goals conceded. Look at the league table, Leicester 39, Leeds 37, West Brom below us 44, Bristol City eight places below us 47, 13th Sunderland 51, 16th Millwall 55, go as far down to 22nd with Birmingham and they've only conceded 3 more goals than us this season. These tactics would get annihilated in the Premier League, as we saw tonight and as we saw against the young Liverpool team in the cup. All well and good keeping possession. But we play possession far too often in our own half and in our own danger areas. As soon as we lose the ball, which is now becoming inevitable, the opposition get the ball in a good attacking position spring to punish us with a lot of our players now out of position. We, however, will allow the opposition to set up their defence and attempt to play through them, rather than taking any advantages of any gaps when we do pick up the ball. It has been boring and dull for large parts of the season and we're 4th, which shouldn't be the case. Worrying thing is that Martin doesn't look like he wants to adapt given his history at MK Dons and Swansea and the goals against tally at those clubs. An ex-centre-back who doesn't know how to setup a defence. Go figure.

Walking football, creating nothing, but winning possession. The Russell Martin way.

Downes has missed 9 league matches, 1-0 defeat against Ipswich, 1-1 draw with Watford, 1-1 with Coventry, 2-1 win against Plymouth, 3-1 loss against Bristol City, 2-0 win against West Brom and then 2-1 defeats against Hull, Millwall and Cardiff today. So, of the 9, we've won 2, drawn 2 and lost 5 without him.

What ever happened to that myth that all our possession would eventually tire the opposition out? Seems to have the opposite effect, all the work on the ball knackers our players out.

They seem to be changing the FA Cup final dates every other year these days, one year it's played the week after the season, the next it isn't. The argument is lost a little, when as already mentioned Newcastle and Tottenham are playing a friendly in Australia three days after the Premier League season ends. Two years ago Manchester City played Barcelona in a friendly three matches into the season, which was also bizarre.

I was surprised McCarthy was picked ahead of Lumley given he has been non-existent this season, but you've got to pick the goalkeeper who has played for England and been a below average Premier League goalkeeper, which probably makes him serviceable in the Championship over the below average Championship goalkeeper. Remember Lumley's stats at Reading weren't much better than Bazunu's, if they were, from what I can remember. Fortunately, we've only had to see the Watford FA Cup howler from him and that wasn't too costly. Feel more confident with McCarthy in the sticks, we know his drawbacks and deficiencies, while I don't think we've seen enough of Lumley to get the full experience, but I remember that lowlights video of him when he signed. Now, knowing our luck with McCarthy, he'll have a good end to the season and we'll offer him a new contract and a wage increase.

It's the hope that kills you. Up the Saints!

Strangely, there are only three players I'd be disappointed to lose this summer, Harwood-Bellis, Downes and Walker-Peters and they feel like an inevitability if we don't get promoted anyway, so double misery potentially this summer. Think everyone else in the squad is replaceable with a good scouting team, even with A. Armstrong's strong numbers. The good scouting team, is of course as always the worrying thing.

Indeed, it's a token gesture from them to make them appear as though they care about the fans, when there isn't a single professional football club in 2024 that does. Hence they charge their own fans £47 to watch Championship football. They said £15, or £47. From one extreme to the other. Leeds would make up the shortfall from the £15 pricing because they have a bigger stadium and would grant us a bigger allocation than what we could offer Leeds. You'd imagine we made a counter offer and asked them to meet in the middle at £30, which they would have then declined, going to their £47 tickets, but announced how it was horrible Southampton who stopped the reciprocal pricing. They were too loud in pleading their innocence, when the only information from Southampton has come from Alfie House and it looks like it was only their terms, or no terms.

The nostalgic kits are done, red and white stripes now, please.

One day we'll play well across a full 90, that day was not today. Really good in the first half, untouchable at times, but dismal and complacent in the second half, giving Coventry something to cling to with their goal. Could understand the poor second halves under Hasenhuttl, the players had used all their energy in the first halves under him, but with these tactics everyone kept saying the opposition would eventually tire from us keeping the ball, but it doesn't seem to be happening. Feared another Middlesbrough at the end. Onto the positives, Aribo was really good, especially in the first half. Coventry couldn't get the ball off him in the first half and couldn't understand why the Coventry player wasn't booked for a deliberate pull back after Aribo beat him all ends up, but the ref did seem to favour Coventry this evening. Glad the player who initiated the contact with Bazunu in the second half went off injured, karma. Scrappy goals to score, but we'll take them. Even with the autos pretty much out of our sights now we still need to keep winning so that we can go into the play offs with momentum and a good feeling. Coventry aren't a bad team either, beaten Leicester and Leeds in the last few months and are chasing down a play off spot in 7th, so could have easily slipped up to a team that wants it tonight, good professionalism. Major negative, Sekou Mara. What a waste of a sub, one of the worst performances I've seen.