Gloucester Saint

The PSED is also very different to affirmative action programmes running in the States, given the different cultural and social contexts between the countries (eg the KKK, racial segregation in living memory). If Reform want to go down that rabbit hole they will find in more southern, metropolitan and urban areas that is is met with a lot more public resistance and will drag in a lot more groups they don’t want to eg veterans at the cross-section of disability/EDI/PTSD. British people even in England value employment rights a lot more than America, we are far more of a European nation in that respect.

It’s up to the buying club to run a thorough medical and do the necessary due diligence, and very robustly so when the buying DoF is the selling manager’s brother. Obvious it was a huge risk and no certainty he’d be fit again, had only played 11 Champ games and was out of contract within 12 months 🤦‍♂️ In most firms, that kind of highly foreseeable and costly blunder = a meeting with the CEO/Ops Director, HR and strong hints to look elsewhere for a fresh start.

They made the same stupid claims in the literature here - there aren’t specific EDI posts, hidden or not, that I can discern - but a quick search indicates there’s working groups which are probably 10-15 hours pa of people’s time from other specialisms and across the parties https://careers.gloucestershire.gov.uk/GloucesterCity/content/Diversity/?locale=en_GB Thankfully, Reform only got 11 seats here (still 11 too many) so they won’t be introducing any Trump shit here. As you say, they’ll find that any hypothetical savings of a few hundred quid on trading here and there doesn’t make a dent on deficits of hundreds of millions. And that’s before the SEND assessment and diagnosis challenges.

We used to - Timmy, restored Beasant’s confidence, Jones, Niemi - but since Forster’s knee injury and Kelvin’s retirement, the goalkeeping department has been pathetic. Gunn we overpaid badly on (City yet again, what an aggregate of shit with Bazanu), McCarthy has gone backwards, Forster totally lost his mobility, Bazanu throw in far too young and badly overpaid. Coaching department miles away from the days of David Coles for keepers.

Even our placid away fans are turning rapidly. If we aren’t looking a lot more energetic and competitive in the first few games next season and top 6, watch out SR. Fernandes wasn’t well apparently but bringing on Smallbone to give some energy 😂🤣😆

Alan Nixon saying we are looking at Anthony Patterson if Sunderland don’t go up. Mix of views on their forum, in summary very good shot stopper, less good off his line and communication not great. But at 25 those could be fixed. Some slight concerns about weight control/fitness as well. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Anthony_Patterson Can’t see us paying what they might want but positive to see another goalkeeper link as Bazanu’s Belgian stint finally brought the club into reality.

Maybe they are more the fish finger type?

Trouble is, I agree but Dragan is already going to be writing off a lot of wages and fees season. Bazanu will be on heavily subsidised loans for his last couple of years as clearly is nowhere near a Champ goalkeeper as his wretched Belgian stint further underlined as if it needed to, Larios probably most of his wages when he goes back to the Spanish semi-pro leagues, Smallbone they won’t get the £7-8m Sheff Utd offered in 2023. ABK - who knows?! Ditto Taylor.

There’s going to need to be a fair degree of writing off from Martin and Rasmus’s mistakes. Bazanu will be a heavily subsidised loan to L1 next season or two, Smallbone cannot press at all so low fee/free so another club offers him a longer contract. Stephens probably back-up, Manning not the worst at Champ level and Onachu has interest from Turkey. Larios back to Spain with some of his contract remaining paid on the difference. Stewart they might as well keep for his final year as an impact player as no-one is taking a risk with his record.

And not just Leavers, true of Remainers as well. The whole thing was far too complex to be decided in/out which is why no-one has got what they thought they were going to out of it.

It’d have to be later in the window to shift some PSR lumber and even then, can’t see how they’d get close to what the club would want. Ipswich is the most likely.

With most of this lot minus Ramsdale, Fernandes and KWP, avoiding a Luton would be LMA nomination worthy. The only hope is that Dragan is up for backing Spors to perform a total overhaul and/or part-subsidise loans out for the trash the club can’t sell eg Stephens, Smallbone.

He’s certainly more Herpes than Hyppia

Possession is clearly nine-tenths of the Lego brick…

We’ll be paying the bulk of the wages but yes, seems an obvious move, good for Jack to be near family and yes, League 1 about his level these days.

Good to hear, in the absence of any leadership whatsoever in the technical area, training ground, in the senior players and worst of all boardroom, we will need to educate the younger players on what it means to play for the club and the standards expected. Learning by praise and criticism.

£18m for Downes wasn’t it? Cannot see anyone wanting to pay anywhere near that, maybe £10-12m from Ipswich if McKenna stays there and still interested.

Probably less ‘who would we like’ and more ‘who is willing to do it who isn’t a Russell Martin/Ivan Juric disaster area.

Agree but who wants him/can afford him? Argyle would but we’d have to pay 80% of his wages. That is one of the worst individual top flight outfield Saints performances I’ve ever seen from a player. A fan from the away end would have been a huge improvement. He’s nowhere near even being Champ quality now. I say outfield as Bazanu is a category of toilet all on his own in goal.

Only because Argyle or Truro can’t afford his wages.

Even he admits they’ve basically thrown the game from kick off and not tried a leg. Cheats, spivs and wage thieves.

As his name suggests, he is best feeding the young.

Sounds like a Tofu substitute to me.

Rasmus

Smallbone is only a Champ player in a central 3, he’s nowhere near Champ level in a 2. Downes is Champ but can he do it outside Martin-ball? Questionable. Stephens I think has regressed to top half League 1. BBD has been poor on loan at Sheff Utd and can’t get a start now. Stewart has only played 11 Champ games so certainly league 1. Bazanu - worst keeper in the Champ 23/24, error prone for Pompey in L1, there’s another. I’m not even sure Sulemana is a professional footballer. Runs fast, but so can Usain Bolt. Less end product than Evri. Larios - not suited to English football at any level. Manning wasn’t particularly good last season, actually bit better this, Nathan Wood lower Champ at most, probably closer to league 1. Not convinced about Sugawara defensively in the Champ, might be an Otsemobor.