Holmes_and_Watson

Stephens is available, and will be first on RM's list for that left back/3rd centre back position. 🙂

That Baz, Cap'n Shoehorn, Will, Sule spine of the team, just doesn't get the respect it deserves. What a different season it would be, had they all been fit.

He said that he could have stayed at home and married a girl from La Castellane. Instead he relishes the challenge of following in the footsteps of some of the best pound for pound managers in Europe.

Hard to know what impact he would have had. Will's played DM last season, and it didn't work then. RM trusts Will to do a number of roles, sometimes outside his skillset. Against PL opposition, it was a bigger ask. But if tasked with shutting down a certain player, the injury could have played a part. I guess we won't know if Les or Lallana were the obvious subs, since we didn't see Will do much. Possibly, RM could have shuffled it up again to make it more compact and take Will put of that role. Sometimes, it's worse than a man down having someone there, but unable to stop anything. I hope he's back fit soon.

Another go at the U formation, for a laugh. Pep will be happy putting Pep-lite to the sword.

A bad time for me to have asked what a socialist working class woman was.

I know. Radio, TV and press are going to breathlessly drone on about how City threw it away, and what a sudden crisis for the title it all is, while we get none of the credit.

An article on US discussions on slavery reparations containing some differing viewpoints :- https://edition.cnn.com/2020/08/15/us/slavery-reparations-explanation-trnd/index.html

Rules

The control that Martin wants from each sequence in the game has the result that we're not a side who takes advantage of a shift in momentum. Where others sense something to take advantage of, with the crowd behind them, Martin is concerned about the risk of overcommitting. We get more of a reset than going in for the kill. Last season, we got sides where that worked nicely. But it does lack spirit, with the team's effort and determination being focused differently. If we struggle, it looks very flat.

We've got a large squad. We'll be looking to move on a number of those. Who they are depends on if it's Martin in charge. If it's not, SR may balance some of the outgoings with a reinforcement or two for the new person. That will also depend if there's still a chance of staying up. But it will be mostly outbound traffic whatever happens.

Nice to see them all doing well. In leagues with no impact on us. As Sam's on loan, hopefully he'll have the best of them all.

It would be great if Martin turned it around, starting Saturday, and get enough points to keep us up. If we were to narrowly miss out, there would at least be a decision to make. As it stands, that single point isn't taking us past the record lowest total in the PL. It's fair to say that while sticking with Martin might turn it round, so might bringing in a different manager capable of getting more than that. It's not as if Martin's point was the best anyone could do with those players. Martin's set up results in some of those unforced errors, the set up at corners and how we generate chances and defend. He is learning with the resources he has. But that simply might not be enough. Lots of clubs want an identity and a distinctive style. But it's one built on success, in a results driven business. We may take a pragmatic approach as Brighton (who did stay up) or Norwich with Farke (moved him on in the end) did. But SR have shown with their changes, they won't do it indefinitely. The rat race is just where they want to be. Their budget means they have to look to do it differently. Relegation means another PSR hit, not to mention the other costs. Confidently thinking we'll come straight back is something a number of clubs in the Championship thought when they went down.

Putting a bid in? Please? 🙂

It was absolutely correct that the police followed the car. Considering what it was linked to, having armed officers involved was also completely correct. The police followed the car for some distance, choosing a narrow street to better prevent escape, once the car was surrounded. A measured response protecting the safety of others, and all involved. The car was blocked. The armed police identified themselves as such, issued a warning with guns clearly showing to the driver. They did not immediately open fire or put the driver or anyone else involved at risk. The driver chose to try and drive his way past the block. This action vastly increased the risk to officers. The car moved into a car ahead of it. Officers again did not open fire. The car was maneuvering to make further attempts to escape. This also puts officers or others at further risk. While the car was not going at high speed towards an individual, it doesn't have to be doing more than it was to fatally injured someone. No competent officer wants to be a situation of taking a shot in such circumstances. Based on what's available, it's a surprise the CPS felt there was enough to prosecute. It's no surprise so many officers turned in their firearms. Others there were moment away from performing the same action. The jury didn't take long to reach a not guilty verdict. It's right that the reason for prosecution is reviewed and that all involved, including potential targets, are protected as much as possible, before such action needs to be taken. There's already strict processes in place.

I'm looking forward to seeing Stephens performance against Stones; Dibling against Grealish's; Martin against Pep and SR against City Group. Finally Martin gets his dream fixture. The culmination of everything he's been working towards. 3 fist pumps at full time, rather than tears for our tactical magician (the man who can escape from any winning position)

Jesse Marsch just holding out for a contract longer than the end of the season, this time.

SR came across as smug, when they indicated that we'd be getting a forward in, if not two. I believe they were also prepping for getting shot of Adams. Instead, we got no one up front, brought in kids and moved on Romeu. Deprived of firepower, Ralph also had to adjust with Selles on board. No guarantee he would have turned it round. But the investment didn't solve the issues, and he's had more PL points than any of his successors.

I liked him a lot when he made appearances for Villa in the Cup, as a teenager. Although I hadn't followed his development, his getting some goals last season was promising. I was pleased when we signed him, and good to see him get a couple of goals. In our current set up, getting goals can be opportunistic and despite the system.

Big Sam and Little Sam combo PL survival.

Since they took over with us in the PL, and we're in it now, what's the 10 year goal of this plan? Since they've gone through various styles and recruitment strategies, it would appear to be a distant goal, than any methodical way of getting there. We'll have heard loads of new owners saying that they want to be in the PL/ Championship in 5 years. The vast majority of them sell up before getting anywhere close.

If the results continue like this, it's hard to see any manager surviving. But that could have been said a number of games ago. The last International break, for example. As noted, despite talks of projects and styles, they've dumped a number of them already. So:- Is their data showing them that if it wasn't for individual errors, we'd be a lot better off? Sort of a skewed Brighton approach, where you have to hold your nose and pretend there's not major issues in how they're set up to make those errors. Does RM's contract come with clauses? He gets X number of games, or we pay out more. Or we pay less, but only after Y number of games. With everyone waiting for that, thinking we'd have got more points under any scenario. SR's succession plan is waiting for another manager to agree terms. I'd be expecting a German/ Spanish/ Scandinavian manager with an outstanding record with an Under 10s team, who is renowned for getting the squad to weave baskets for the local area. So terms shouldn't be that hard. Except SR went for the cheaper Sellers option, having spent loads on getting Nathan. They may be in the same boat here. SR are willing to take the hit of relegation. They'd be looking for some improvements to at least beat Derby's record. If that happens, they give RM next season to further clear out the squad and bounce back. With the obvious flaws of having massive financial impact, redundancies, PSR, and no guarantee of coming back up. It's just taking Lallana longer to grow out the right length of facial hair and pick out a pullover?

Just imagine how things might have turned out for us, had Dragan said it was the height of stupidity to Rasmus. We would have ended up with a different owner, but it wouldn't have been SR.

Nathan started off saying how brave he was taking over for a first game he hadn't much time before. He started to discount it as the number of defeats crept up.

I think they thought RalphBall was working when they bought Saints. That would be the flagship to base other clubs around. Instead, RalphBall was busted when they bought us, and they're finding out that keeping a club in the PL with their plan isn't financially sustainable for their model. They may end up with a multi club model, just based in different leagues.