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Reply | Team Vs Birmingham
at 08:34 23 Feb 2024
Has Moore picked up a knock? I know he was holding his knee on Tuesday but seemed to run it off.
Unless he's injured, I think we'll see Moore start every game for the rest of the season. The desire for al-Hamadi is more heart over head at the moment (I love him as well, and really want him to start & score goals), but Moore is just more consistent and has settled quickly into the team dynamic.
RB might prove an issue. Clarke has been good when fully fit - much less so after a run of games. Tuanzabe also looked a bit lost when he came on on Tuesday.
I think we could see a return to Burns - Chaplin - Broadhead. Although would love to see Hutchinson start, only seems likely if Burns is cream crackered after Tuesday. |
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Thread | Championship managers appointed by PL clubs - a Statistical Rarity
at 13:59 21 Feb 2024
Hi all,
Obviously like others, I'm concerned about the premier league bigboys having a look at Kieran McKenna and fancying the cut of his jib. This got me thinking about how often PL teams actually hire managers directly from the Championship; not managers who have flitted between the leagues, were out of contract, or were an internal hire, but contracted Championship managers moving between one club to the other. Interim managers also do not count.
For instance, a quick glance at the most current (and admittedly small) sample size of the current PL managers shows NO current PL managers were hired direct from Championship clubs. Obviously some achieved promotion to the PL with their current clubs (Rob Edwards, Vincent Kompany, Thomas Frank), and this seems to be the most frequent avenue through which Championship managers gain PL experience. The majority were out of contract with their most recent experience abroad or in the PL (David Moyes, Sean Dyche, Mauricio Pochettino). The closest you have is Chris Wilder, but he was hired after being binned by Watford, so doesn't count.
So, my GCSE maths makes that approximately 0% of current PL managers directly hired from Championship clubs. Also, by my estimations, the last manager contracted to a Championship manager who moved to a PL club was Nathan Jones from Luton to Southampton, which will go down as one of the worst hires in PL history. Before him, it was Graham Potter moving to Brighton from Swansea, way back in 2019. And at about the same time, you had Lampard moving from Derby to Chelsea as he knew were the mugs were kept. Admittedly, Potter is a far more successful example. In fact, going back to all PL hires to start of the season in 2015, they are the only three I could find. Steve Bruce quit Sheffield Wednesday before joining Newcastle less than 48 hours later, so technically doesn't count, although he would have been a useful reference point as a hapless manager based on recent performance.
Obviously, this is not an exact science and happy if anyone is able to identify any I have missed (I used Wikipedia and my own football knowledge, both have been proven previously to be unreliable sources). But this equates to around 3% of PL hires. Which even I am comfortable enough to describe as a small percentage. My guess if there as numerous reasons for this:
1. Potential for failure - once again reverting to the small sample I could identify, 33.3% were a immediate disaster and the other 2 went on to be disasters. Potter was a success and then went to Chelsea and took a dump on however many years of hard work up the wall. Lampard took Chelsea nowhere then also destroyed his rep with a destroy and exit job at Everton and then remarkably Chelsea again. Nathan Jones' stint was hilarious from beginning to end. There are very few success stories (If KM stays a while I think we should thank Nathan Jones for putting PL clubs off Championship managers with little PL experience).
2. Lack of experience - as mentioned above, the only real way to get PL experience as a Championship manager is to get promoted, and then hope you do a good enough job to get another job. See Dean Smith, Scott Parker et al. Trying to get a PL job as a manager is like trying to get your first job out of University when all entry-level jobs want 2 years of experience.
3. Costs - Presumably, if a PL team is trying to hire a Championship manager, that manager has done well and their current club does not want them to leave. That means compensation. And why pay compensation when Dean Smith is available for free. That's the option the very smart boards of the PL usually go for.
4. Small sample size - It's difficult to know how well a manager will perform in the PL after 46 games (as the KM example) in the Championship playing the likes of Rotherham, QPR etc. Man City away is a very different fish. Performing well over a small sample size does not a good manager make. See Mick Beale's time at QPR as a recent example.
To summarise, it is not a definite that KM will go the PL, even if we don't go up this season. There is a lack of appetite from PL clubs to take a punt on a Championship manager with no PL experience, for numerous reasons. Obviously, KM is more Graham Potter than Nathan Jones, but there is still a chance he will be here for a while.
(Please don't shout at me if he joins Brighton in the summer)
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Reply | General Election now (n/t)
at 13:01 16 Feb 2024
This is probably playing a fairly significant role in when the election will be held.
Labour would probably like the election to be held before the US election, as if it happens after, then a whole load of attention could turn to 'So Mr Starmer, how do you intend to deal with President Trump?', which would suck a whole load of air out of the campaign.
For the Tories it matters slightly less, but you can still see Sunak getting some awkward questions about working alongside Trump. If Sunak and Trump are in power in 2025, something has gone disastrously wrong. |
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Reply | KM going to
at 16:43 14 Feb 2024
He wouldn't be able to hear any abuse from the stands anyway, you have to take a bus from the pitch to the first row of fans. |
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Reply | Al-Hamidi upgrade on Ladapo?
at 16:34 29 Jan 2024
He has a much higher ceiling for a start. His raw attributes are very promising - quick, strong and presses like a madman.
As a Wimbledon resident, I can confirm Dons fans I know are gutted he's left, and says despite being raw they can see him making the step up to the Championship. I'm excited about this one. |
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Reply | Striker seems to be the consensus
at 12:50 21 Nov 2023
It's a difficult window to predict, as I doubt we'll be able to follow the model of last January, which was players dropping down after not really setting the world alight in the league above (Hirst, Broadhead, Clarke - might be a touch harsh on Broadhead). And then also Luongo who was a punt that proved to be a masterstroke. I can't imagine we have the wage structure to be looking at many, if any any, PL cast offs. It would be interesting to know just how much of Williams' wages we're paying.
As others have mentioned, I doubt it's a window where we'll be looking at 'projects', but players who are ready to come in and immediately contribute. Potentially players at clubs down the table who won't break the bank and could be tempted by joining a club pushing for promotion. In terms of a striker, Ryan Hardie has 6 goals at Plymouth, potentially he'd be interested in coming in to push Hirst for a starting point. I know trying to sign players off half a season of form isn't great protocol, but he would fit the mould of being ready and available. Colby Bishop at Portsmouth hasn't got Championship experience, but a move upwards would surely be tempting. No idea of the financials that these deals would involve, but surely more realistic that trying to tempt players from the PL. |
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Reply | Rent free
at 12:52 28 Sep 2023
I don't really engage much with the rivalry in general, but I thought it was telling last night when a Norwich supporting mate said he was glad they went out to Fulham rather than play us in the cup.
For the first time in over a decade they actually seem scared of playing us. |
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Reply | Stop enjoying this!
at 15:52 20 Sep 2023
My boss is a Saints fan and straight away went into the 'you weren't very good though' narrative this morning. I heard the same after QPR, Sunderland etc. But if we're not playing well and sit on 4 wins out of 4 away from home, imagine what we'll be like when we get going (that's firmly tongue in cheek, sometime home fans just refuse to admit the other team has put in a perfectly cromulent away performance).
He did say however that Ipswich fans were some of the best, if not the best, fans he's seen there in years. 'They absolutely schooled us' was his exact quote. |
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Reply | Terence Kongolo (n/t)
at 16:22 1 Aug 2023
Am I missing something or has he played 15 games in 3 season? |
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Reply | Colback to QPR
at 12:51 1 Aug 2023
The problem QPR have is they have some quite handy midfielders, Colback, Chair, Willock, Dozzell etc who won't be involved in the play at all as they watch the ball getting punted towards the head of Lyndon Dykes all game. |
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Reply | Dullest Encounter With A Footballer
at 18:13 23 Jul 2023
Maybe not an encounter, but the fact it wasn’t even in person probably adds to the monotony.
Probably about 10 years ago one of the championship podcasts (can’t remember which) asked for nominations for cult heroes. I replied on Twitter saying Matt Holland as he was a pillar of consistency, still loves the club and is regarded as a legend.
Listening to said podcast a couple of weeks later, they did an interview with Matt where they read out my tweet and he thanked me for my kind words. I was absolutely buzzing. Still talk about it to this day.
Still never met the bloke. |
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Reply | This weeks by elections
at 13:00 18 Jul 2023
It says a lot that it looks almost a given that Somerton & Frome will go to the Lib Dems which which will require overturning a tory vote share of +19,000.
The other two are looking very interesting. Umbridge and Ruislip looks eminently winnable for Labour but it comes down to how much they have been kneecapped by the ULEZ extension, while Shelby and Ainsty would require a historic vote swing. The amount of resources Labour are chucking into to Shelby indicates they believe it is winnable, perhaps even more so than Uxbridge. If they don't win Johnson's old constituency, they can blame it on a split vote due to all the ULEZ independents. If they don't win Shelby and Ainsty, they will have less of an excuse, apart from 'we're not quite as popular as we thought'.
If they lose both I can see Labour diving into crisis mode. Perhaps they might even consider repealing policies which starve children. |
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Reply | Macauley Bonne
at 19:34 16 Jul 2023
I'm not sure why anyone wouldn't want anything but the best for Bonne. His first 3-4 months here were great, he scored a good amount of goals for the club during that time and it allowed the fans to connect with a team who were almost all totally new signings. Then came the change of manager and a completely different system which didn't suit his playing style. He's said in interviews before there were some off the field issues as well. Both parties shook hands and he went back to QPR. It's a shame he hasn't been able to settle anywhere since.
Best of luck to the lad, hopefully he can find a club in League One/Two, get settled and starting hitting the back of net again. |
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Reply | Joe pigott situation
at 18:39 16 Jul 2023
My read on the situation is that we gave him a relatively high wage so he's trying to find a solution which won't enormously slash his wages but will let him play football.
Mutual termination seems a case of when and not if, once all parties have their ducks in a row. |
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Reply | Tom Cannon...
at 11:21 15 Jul 2023
I'd be surprised if he wasn't one we were looking at given his profile and recent last season (8 goals in 20 apps for PNE).
Now Hirst has signed you could see us getting in a PL loan for that 3rd striker spot, Cannon could easily fit that role, although Everton might want assurances about game time which we might not be prepared to give. |
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Reply | Royal Blood
at 13:43 30 May 2023
The drummer is called Ben Thatcher - probably the most memorable thing he's done since trying to elbow Pedro Mendes into the sun. |
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Reply | TowenTV
at 16:56 18 May 2023
Will the games be available on TownTV similar to ifollow?
So you can buy individual match passes for the games when, cough, abroad. |
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Reply | General election voting
at 08:13 5 Mar 2023
I've always voted for whoever is most likely to beat the Tories, which was Labour in Waveney and Sheffield, and then a mix of Labour/Lib Dem in various London constituencies.
It's interesting as in my current constituency of Wimbledon, the tories are eminently beatable, as they only beat the Lib Dems by 700 votes in 2019, with Labour third by around 7000 votes. The seat has been Conservative since 2005, and the largest opposition vote share has swapped between Lib Dem and Labour.
This is the kind of seat which will be interesting in 2024. As conceivably both Labour and Lib Dem will believe the seat is in play and both will campaign hard. But, there's always a chance that if the vote share between them is split fairly evenly, the tories will sneak in again. Difficult one to call. |
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Reply | Turkey holiday...
at 13:39 30 Jan 2023
The alert itself came from the US Embassy, and they regularly publish fairly unspecified 'terror threats', not just in Turkey but all over. It caused a bit of a stir when then they announced similar in Abuja end of last year, but no attack occurred. They don't corroborate the source of the threat which makes it difficult to ascertain the credibility, but these alerts are largely precautionary. If anything does happen they can say 'well we did warn people', despite the alert being vague and unspecific.
Not sure why they believe the threat is higher in Turkey either. There's been protests denouncing the burning of the Koran in Sweden in a lot of Muslim-majority countries over the last week. My own two cents is that it's because it's an area that does have active extremist groups (although largely in the south-east) and a Western tourist/business presence.
In general, I wouldn't say you need to amend your behavior while there. As in any place you are unfamiliar, trust your atmospherics and instincts. And when in busy areas, remember you are far more likely to be pickpocketed than impacted by a terrorist attack - keep your wits about you! |
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