Whitey Grandad

This is my view too. There was a moment late in the second half when we had about 4 players bundling upfield and Llalana got the ball on the right wing at the half-way line. It was crying out for a ball upfield but a couple of passes and shimmies later the ball was passed back to James and then Davis. Sometimes it seems as if we are concentrating on making pretty, short passes instead of getting the ball forward quickly.

I can't disagree with any of that. And our players are nowhere near fit enough. James was knackered at 70 minutes.

According to this they (and the FA) will be compensated to the same amount that they would have received from the gate. http://www.dailymail.co.uk/sport/football/article-1091065/Birmingham-splash-100k-thank-season-ticket-holders.html

It still makes me smile. What happened to it in the end?

Surely, if we pay lots of money to run an academy in order to produce players that we can then sell at a profit, then there will inevitably be a revolving door of young players being brought into the squad and then sold on once they have gained enough experience. That means no stability in the team, mistakes through inexperience and no players that the young supporters can identify with.

I agree. What really sticks in my throat is the thought that just as much of my ticket money will go to that load of overpaid cheating northern bullies as will go to our honest, heroic youngsters.

Good point! I forgot that I would have to dip into my own pocket.

I think 'The Barmaid's Knockers' is a much better name for a pub than 'The Antigallican'

There's only one answer - a draw and then a win at Old Trafford.

There's nothing pedantic about that - in fact it's a good point that I, for one, had not thought about. We season-ticket holders paid VAT at the going rate when we renewed, but future tickets will be at the new rate for the rest of this season and part of next, so presumably this means that the club will get slightly bigger income from ticket sales than they were expecting!

I didn't know he was joining them?

As far as gate receipts are concerned it's probably no different from a normal league game where we keep all the takings. If we link the sale of tickets so that we get an extra 15,000 on a league game or two then that really would make a difference. A replay at OT would be beyond our wildest dreams.

As long as it's at home

I was not really bothered who we drew, just so long as it was at home. Never mind, at least now I can plan my holiday in the New Year without worrying about who we might get in the fourth round.

A good point away from home and a clean sheet is always good. What really matters is our home form... oh :shock:

But demand is in short supply at the moment. And why is it that when my customers ask for a bigger quantity then they expect a lower price?

It's not exactly 2.5%, though, is it? It's 2.5% of the ex-vat price which is costs plus profit so depending on the margin it's a lot more than that. I can't see many smaller enterprises passing on the reduction. The cost of changing all the tickets for 13 months would probably come to about 2.5% anyway.

Just got back and I've wet my trousers. God that was awful, but depressingly familiar. We are never going to score at home with a formation and tactics like that. Why change it with only 20 minutes left? It's time to get rid of this clown in charge (you choose which one) and get in someone who understands the mentality of this club.

But it's not just the last two games, is it? We only have one home league in 7 so far this season so maybe our playing style is best suited to away games. Unfortunately we are not playing well at home and until this issue is resolved we will not be getting the bums on seats that the club needs.

Weren't we 3-0 down at home to Liverpool once at the Dell and came back to draw?

I've revised my estimate. I now think that we will get a minimum of 4 points.

I was screaming at the bench because it was a stupid thing to do at that stage of the game. We were 3 mins 10 secs into stoppage time and the referee could quite easily have blown for time straight away. The chap in front of me pointed out that Surman could hardly walk, but in my book it still goes down as the wrong thing to do because it broke up our momentum.

That was a lot less tonight than the last 'lowest ever'.

Nope. The more I see the more pessimistic I get.

It is never considered a good idea for the chairman to go into the changing room. Besides, if you believe that you have chosen a good manager then you should stand back and let him manage.