Holmes_and_Watson

We're playing much deeper. Odd to see us happy to conserve energy, and let Leeds have possession. We have Sule waiting for a slip. Leeds had a chance as we sat in our box. 2 strong parties out from McCarthy today. Experienced play from Aribo to get us a free kick with not much going on ahead of him.

That was a great chance for Sule! Good move Saints! And good to see Sule in the middle right enough. That wasn't far from being a Che close range miss. That's the potential he's already showing in there. 🙂

Rothwell picked ahead of Charles for that midfield spot. Downes absolutely key.

Hopefully this is Sule playing more centrally? Been wanting to see that. Gives him more options, and more so if Leeds push up to get an equaliser. Will already tried to pick him out.

Ah shame on the offside. Good move. We get mileage when they switch off. Hopefully more when they tire. Mythical creature spotted warming up. Adams took a knock first half. Cotton wool time. Nice to see Smallbone give Ampadu a good push. A bit of steel.

Smallbone did well, looking for a pass, not getting it, getting the next, creating and then busting a gut to get forward. Move broke down before he got there. As the ball came back with Leeds, our engine in Downes there to put a stop to it.

Finding that balance of failing at the final hurdle, while making enough money to buy and develop lots of Prem League talent to sell on, is tough.

Manning off right enough. Fraser on.

Downes continues to be our key player. His early influence got us in control, and excellent box to box. With Stephens in, and pushing forward at time, Smallbone's role is different. Loads of positives and a goal. Some of it is not where he's most comfortable. Che very important to. Movement, holding it up, partnership with others and at least one excellent covering tackle when we conceded possession. Ref's cards for Manning and Gnonto were daft. Others were fouls, and borderline cards. Ref errs on the card side of things. Their diver got away without one. We gave away the ball clumsily twice for their goal. But even in this system where crisp short passing isn't always going to work, we look organised and are willing to take passes further up to create from. That's what's pinning Leeds back at times. That's from all that work over the season. All good and we're in front. So that means little after a Russ teamtalk... 🙂

Believe so. It's been mentioned a few times. If not even earlier.

After that nonsense booking, that last challenge could mean Manning gets subbed.

Top of the bar. Good header.

Surely a foul before Gnonto's strike.

Lovely from KWP too. We kept going, and directly. Leeds switched off.

Super Will!

Well, that didn't last long. Gave it away twice and concede.

A&A Striking team!

Yeah. There are systems that woul really suit Onuachu. Should we not go up, SR have decisions to make, not only on RM, but the type of manager they want next. We didn't get the strikers for Ralph. Paul came in when it was too late for Nathan, and then didn't suit Russ. Such a waste. We'll have different types of player back with us over the summer. Perhaps the next manager will actually want some of them.

As Humza was, Swinney is there to keep those skeletons buried. He's a serial failure, which means nothing to any political trougher, and things can bumble along until their next election. Unlike Humza, who sent a letter to the Conservatives, asking for help, Swinney has been a bit more reluctant to do a deal. He has to keep the Greens sweet while purging the dissenting voices within his own party. Which is the sad way they operate. Plenty of stories, like all parties, of them turning on their own. Support for any minority group isn't helped by denial of concerns from professionals, by those desperate to see their policies passed regardless of the harm to that minority, and others.

But that relegation is based on those results things. Just because we got relegated, doesn't mean that the underlying stats aren't going in the right direction. There are a lot of underlying stats. Any couple of them will do. And that broader picture is going our way. That relegation enabled us to slash wages at a stroke! Those so-called good players with the highest wages left, will move on. That allows us to bring in even more players on lower wages to sell on! All within the scope of the longer term gamble. 🙂

If there's any doubt over the full fitness of Downes, KWP, Che or AA it would be well worth limiting their time. No point in risking them, for a much more important game. If Downes is missing, it seems to not go our way. I'd consider a Charles, Stephens, Aribo combo in there. It would end up being a bit more direct. But a step up from Brooks somewhere in it. Smallbone available to come in as required. His passing game gets a bit post as Stephens and Aribo aren't really able to make the most of it.

I think it's fitting that the biggest club in SR's revolutionary sporting group, shines a light of hope, with their promotion to a top division, for the likes of Southampton. The closer any club's colours are to Melchester Rovers, is also a good thing. Perhaps this could be the standard across all SR clubs?

I think there's plenty of things you can worry about at the same time. One of them in Scotland, and the one Rowling is so involved in, relates to a party taken over by idealogical bigots, who in turn have helped a larger party go down the same route. Other parties have also helped them along their way, as incompetent and beholden to not seeming to be phobic to anything. The hate crime act was widely seen as a screen to allow one side of certain debates to be protected. The upcoming bill on women's rights is controversial as there are issues in defining what a woman is. While it's one issue, it's connected to others. For example, Kate Forbes has certain views opposed to the Green's campaigns. The SNP troughers depend on the Greens, Bute House Agreement or not. They have already said they won't support Forbes. They're essentially power brokers helping to nod through a candidate best aligned to them, never mind the majority who didn't vote for them at all. And who don't agree with their stance on a number of issues.

From what I've seen, Ipswich's attacking intent makes their opponents defensively cautious. They drop back, and it doesn't take much, giving Ipswich the room to break presses into their opponents half, to launch yet more attacks. We prefer more control, but at the expense of pressure and quicker releases (although RM has said he's looking for quicker movement)

I think I would like my pram wheeled down to the park today. 🙂 Not like me to be optimistic. IIRC, I gave a moment's thought about lower, but then felt we had every reason to think we could go straight back up.