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Thread | Rating our new signings/loanees after thre first three months.
at 01:29 14 Nov 2024
Yes, it's the international break, so to pass the time I thought I'd have a crack at rating all of our new signings/loanees out of 10. I decided not to include Hutch because he was a known quantity. This does take into account fee and it's hard not to be influenced by expectations.
- Muric (6/10): He's pretty much lived up to what Burnley told us to expect, great saves and man of the match performances, interspersed with absolute howlers. His performances at Brighton and Spurs were outstanding. His performance against Man City was appalling. I think he's an upgrade on Hladky, probably marginally better than Walton and I haven't given up on him coming good like some fans appear to - plus he wasn't exactly expensive. I do wonder whether if we stay up and have a second year of Prem money that a $15-20million keeper wouldn't be a wise investment. Really hard to rate.
- Greaves (8/10): A brilliant signing and a player who will spend the next 8-10 years in the Premier League. Despite Burgess really stepping up I think Greaves walks back into the team after the international break unless there are any lingering doubts about his injury. Docked one mark for his mistake against Villa.
- O'Shea (7/10): Took a while to settle and it was clear that signing players so close to the end of the transfer window means they take time to adjust to McKenna's style. Wasn't initially sure he should be ahead of Woolfenden, but last two games he has been immense. Can only see him getting better and our back four (once Greaves is fit) looks pretty amazing.
- Johnson (6/10): Like O'Shea he took time to settle, but unlike O'Shea he didn't have the excuse of being a late signing in the window. There were some really positive reports from pre-season and his first 2-3 games left me wondering why we signed him. Last two games though he has been really good. Not just decently good, but really good. May find himself in and out of the starting 11 a bit with Axel back, but I expect his end of season rating will be higher than a 6/10.
- Townsend (-): Can't really rate someone who has barely stepped on the pitch. Every week I see him on the bench and think 'who's that'!!
- Phillips (5/10): Has done some decent things, but also made multiple mistakes and we know he can be much much more. Clearly the last two seasons have destroyed his confidence. I worry he is too similar a player to Morsy to be truly effective as a pairing. I still have high hopes that he can come good.
- Cajuste (6/10): Less game time that Phillips and it's still early days to judge him - but...the glimpses we've seen suggest we may have an player on our hands. Glides across the pitch and offers something different to Morsy/Phillips. The best thing is if we stay up we get to keep him. Could be the key to us surviving - no pressure Jens.
- Clarke (5/10): Probably the biggest disappointment for me. I was so excited when he signed and his Villa performance was fantastic. But, struggled to make an impact since and doesn't work hard enough off the ball at the moment to be a starter in a McKenna team. Hutchinson is proof that you can be a flair player and still put in a shift - Clarke would be well advised to watch some videos of Hutch to see what is needed to step up.
- Smodics (8/10): I mentioned in the Smodics thread that I saw Sam as a good insurance policy for us being relegated because I didn't think he'd cut it in the Premier League. I was wrong. Effort, sh1thousery, quick feet and normally a clinical finisher. Very impressed. Just a shame about the miss against Brentford when we were 2-0 up and on top.
- Delap (10/10): Not really much to say other than he will likely be the best bit of transfer business our club does ever. I just hope we get more than one season of watching him in blue - but he will clearly end up an England international and playing week in week out in the Champions League.
- Ogbene (5/10): Had a very solid game against Brighton and I would probably place him ahead of Burns. Probably out for the season - which is a shame.
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Thread | Darren Ambrose…wtf!!!
at 17:42 2 Nov 2024
Ambrose was co-commentator on the international broadcast. Maybe he was trying to avoid being too biased, but according to him:
- Phillips should probably have had a straight red for elbowing the player in the back of the head for his first yellow
- His second yellow was fully deserved
- on balance of play Leicester deserved to take at least a point
- Was certain if the game had carried on for two more minutes Leicester were certain to get a second |
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Thread | Oh for a scrappy, smash and grab away win...
at 05:21 23 Oct 2024
I'm not going to get dragged into another crapfest about whether we are or are not good enough to survive etc.
My main observation about Saturday was we are a side that need a shot of confidence that only a win can bring. Many of the mistakes we made were pretty basic (Clarke blazing over, the Burns WTF moment for their first goal - to name bit two) and clearly down to the mental side of the game rather than the ability side of the game.
So - here's to a lucky deflected off the defender's ar$e 95th minute winner on Saturday. I don't care how we play, we just need to get the 'winless' monkey off our back. [Post edited 23 Oct 7:14]
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Thread | Uncanny resemblance to Wrexham/Sunderland series...
at 02:32 15 Mar 2024
I finally managed to catch Season 3 of Sunderland Til I Die over the last couple of weeks - but given it had been 3-4 years since Season 2 I went back and watched Seasons 1 and 2 again.
It's really uncanny how if you watched Season 1 and 2 of Sunderland Til I Die and then went into Season 2 of Welcome to Wrexham - it would almost perfectly mirror the experience of following Ipswich over the 2018-2023 period.
From the despair of falling out of the Championship with an ageing team and an owner who didn't give two sh1ts (STID S1), to thinking jumping back would be easy only to discover the purgatory of getting stuck in League 1 (STID S2), then moving into the euphoria of new American owners, smashing the league with record goals scored, but still not securing promotion until the penultimate weekend (WTW S2). Plus add in the association with a global celebrity - it's uncanny.
And it's quite probable that Season 3 of Welcome to Wrexham will mirror our season this year with them having bounced around the top four of League 2 all year and still now in with a shout of back to back promotions.
The only thing that our journey is missing in comparison is the sheer incompetence of the new Sunderland owners in Season 2 of STID - although some of the Lambert reign had similarities (great initial fan engagement/PR followed up by sh1te on the pitch).
So many times I've watched both series and thought - yup, been there, experienced the same. |
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Thread | Further parallels with last season
at 04:39 7 Mar 2024
Given the striking similarities with last season (form slump in January, four losses at end of Feb, more than two teams on track for around 100 points)...
...what are the chances that Norwich (A), Coventry (A) and Hull (A) end up mirroring our performances and results of Derby (A), Peterborough (A) and Barnsley (A) last year?
Games where everyone (including our fans) predict they could end our non-losing streak but in the end they are the cherry on the cake of our triumphant promotion. |
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Thread | Of all of the incredible statistics about our wonderful team...
at 00:53 23 Jan 2024
...this is the one that blows my mind the most.
SInce the start of the 2022/23 season, we have played 74 league games and lost only 7 times!.
SEVEN!!
And that includes the farce away to Oxford in the fog.
Absolutely incredible. |
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Thread | Difficulty of run in
at 03:39 15 Jan 2024
So - I was feeling bored this morning and I decided to take a look at the run-in for the top four teams - not trying to predict results, rather how difficult the run-in is for each team on paper.
I have done the same analysis twice for each team, once based upon the current league table and once based upon the 8-game form table (in the league).
What I've done is look at the number of home and away games each team has against teams in the top 8, middle 8 and bottom 8. I've then given a difficulty score for each type of game as follows:
- Away against top 8 side: 6 points
- Home against top 8 side: 5 points
- Away against middle 8 side: 4 points
- Home against middle 8 side: 3 points
- Away against bottom 8 side: 2 points
- Home against bottom 8 side: 1 points
Based upon current league table:
- Leicester: 6 vs Top 8 (3H/3A); 7 vs Middle 8 (3H/4A); 6 vs Bottom 8 (4H/2A) - 66 difficulty points
- Ipswich: 5 vs Top 8 (3H/2A); 8 vs Middle 8 (2H/6A); 6 vs Bottom 8 (4H/2A) - 65 difficulty points
- Southampton: 7 vs Top 8 (3H/4A); 7 vs Middle 8 (4H/3A); 5 vs Bottom 8 (2H/3A) - 71 difficulty points
- Leeds: 5 vs Top 8 (3H/2A); 7 vs Middle 8 (4H/3A); 7 vs Bottom 8 (3H/4A) - 62 difficulty points
Based upon 8-game form table:
- Leicester: 6 vs Top 8 (4H/2A); 8 vs Middle 8 (3H/5A); 5 vs Bottom 8 (3H/2A) - 68 difficulty points
- Ipswich: 5 vs Top 8 (2H/3A); 8 vs Middle 8 (4H/4A); 6 vs Bottom 8 (3H/3A) - 65 difficulty points
- Southampton: 6 vs Top 8 (2H/4A); 7 vs Middle 8 (5H/2A); 6 vs Bottom 8 (2H/4A) - 67 difficulty points
- Leeds: 5 vs Top 8 (4H/1A); 8 vs Middle 8 (3H/5A); 6 vs Bottom 8 (4H/2A) - 63 difficulty points
What does this show us?
- Leeds have the easiest and Ipswich the second easiest run-ins whether that is based upon current table or form table (Leeds' is quite a bit easier.
- Southampton have a way way harder run-in based upon the current table than the other three teams (they still have to play all of the other seven teams in the top 8) - but it's not quite as hard when compared to the form table.
- Leicester's run-in is a bit harder than on paper when you look at the form table.
- Ipswich's outcome is going to be heavily influenced by our away form against middle of the table sides. Hopefully the old adage of 'nothing to play for' comes in to play towards the end of the season.
All in all the Leeds vs Southampton game on the last weekend of the season could be season defining for 2/3/4 of the current top 4 teams.
Bring it on!! |
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Thread | P37 W25 D10 L2 F88 A30 GD58
at 23:23 7 Nov 2023
That’s our league record in 2023.
For those complaining tonight - maybe just have a quiet word with yourselves.
Our form has dipped, we’ve got some injuries and illness…and yet we’re unbeaten since the international break!! |
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Thread | What would McKenna need to do to lose the fans and get the sack?
at 04:57 1 Nov 2023
I was listening to the KOA podcast this morning and it was mentioned that following the recent managerial sackings KMac is now the fourth longest serving manager in the Championship (and the second and third longest serving managers have only been in their roles a couple of weeks longer than him).
It got me thinking, that from our current position, with the huge backing of the fans and credits he has in the bank, what would it take for him to lose the fans and the backing of the Board?
Would we have the patience of the late-90s fans if he had us in and around the Top 6 of the Championship for the next five years without getting promoted? Or has he achieved so much in such a short space of time that it's inconceivable that he would lose your support?
I think for me, he has my absolute trust and it would probably take 2-3 consecutive bottom eight finishes in the Championship for me to lose faith in him - and for what it's worth I just don't see that happening.
I just hope that if we do get promoted and end up as a yo-yo club for a few years (which realistically is where we probably should be in the football pyramid) that he retains the backing of the fans.
Not intended as a negative post - he's almost unsackable in my eyes - but us fans can be a fickle lot. |
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Thread | International roll call.
at 14:41 29 Apr 2023
Where are people overseas watching from today?
10pm here in Perth Australia.
Can’t sit still. |
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Thread | Breathing space…
at 17:03 15 Apr 2023
Todays results mean we could win three and draw two and Wednesday couldn’t overtake us because of our goal difference.
Absolutely want us to get 100 points, but this hugely alleviates the pressure. |
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Thread | Morecambe commentary
at 16:29 8 Oct 2022
I’m watching on iFollow with the opposition commentary. Honestly - they are the nicest most balanced away commentators I’ve ever heard. Been really fair, called it without bias and have been really complementary about us and our fans. |
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Thread | Further to the 'how much would the 81 squad be worth thread'...
at 05:19 13 Jan 2022
...in your lifetime, what's the best club team you've ever seen in the English top flight (I'm thinking starting XI).
I think we can all agree that Sir Bobby's 81 team was the best in the country that year - certainly the multiple victories against Villa demonstrated that. I also think on paper that starting XI is probably the third best 'team' I have seen in my lifetime (I should caveat that I haven't watched the Premier League for over ten years, so I can't comment on how good any of these Man City/Chelsea chequebook teams have been over that period).
I would place Sir Bobby's team just behind the Arsenal Invincibles who I would put in second place, but just ahead of the Beckham, Scholes etc Man Utd team.
But for me the best team I have seen assembled was the 87/88 Liverpool team. They only lost twice in the league that year - and were unbeaten until late march when they were beaten at Goodison Park. They scored 4+ goals eleven times over the season - including a 5-0 against Forest who were in the top four at the time - which was probably the finest single performance I've ever witnessed.
If I recall correctly the main starting 11 was:
Grobbelaar
Ablett - Hansen - Lawrenson - Staunton
Houghton - Whelan - MacMahon - Barnes
Beardsley - Aldridge
They also had the likes of Steve Nicol, Jan Molby and a then close to retirement Dalgleish in their squad. They just passed their way around the opposition at will. I'm certain they would have won the European Cup that year if their idiot fans hadn't got english teams banned from europe.
Anyway - interested in your thoughts. |
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Thread | Harper and Evans
at 17:04 28 Aug 2021
I think they’re both good central midfielders individually, but as a pair they’re not working. Can’t put my finger on it, but that’s four games out of five they’ve been overrun and it’s not because the opposition are overloading midfield.
Only watching on iFollow as overseas, but are they slow? Is that the problem? |
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Thread | One big positive and a hot take
at 17:00 14 Aug 2021
Edwards is going to win player of the year.
Created more in 25 minutes than we created in most games last season. Will prove way way to good for this league. |
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Thread | Is Chambers the rotten core this club needs to excise?
at 18:19 5 Apr 2021
We’ve all heard the various rumours that Chambers was behind Hurst getting the boot. He speaks a good game, but the cold hard facts is he’s been captain over the worst nine seasons of football this club has ever produced. A mediocre centre half even before he turned 30 (hence MM mainly playing him at RB), he’s now nearer 40 than 30.
Is he a big part of the problem? Would we be better off without him?
Head says yes, heart says no,
Thoughts? [Post edited 5 Apr 2021 18:20]
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Thread | Just get rid of the lot of them
at 17:00 5 Apr 2021
Even Dozzell and Bishop can go.
Don’t care if a single one of them pulls on a Town shirt again.
Not one of them is Championship standard, so to even think about getting out of Div 3 with any of them playing is a pipe dream.
Don’t let the door hit you on your ar5e on the way out. |
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