Bristol Canary

Not sure Ben Sheaf will be in the Championship next season either based on that. Ball winning tenacity mixed with some composure on the ball and nice passing stats. Certainly one I would love as an option in our midfield if we somehow get promoted.

Just heard this on the NTT20 Podcast and thought it was super interesting too... does explain quite a lot. For reference Ali Maxwell has Preston to beat us as his NAP of the weekend on the pod because of this dreaded double away theory.

I'd put a large portion of that down to Danny Batth's inability to kick a football. Duffy isn't brilliant but Batth makes him look like Beckenbauer. The subs really didn't help but I actually think the tide was turning way before Sarge went off, we looked leggy and couldn't get anything going. Needed to be brave at that point and bring a host of fresh legs on like Rohl had done at half time. All we've done now is flog Sara, Sainz, Barnes and McLean even more.

Will be a tough game no doubt as I think they are in a bit of a false position. Stats wise they are better than their current position but still very mid table. Wouter Burger is a big miss but on the counter they have quality in Campbell and Bae plus very good January addition of Million Manhoef. However, our aspirations require a win. Need to win that midfield battle, and it will be a battle Ben Pearson and Jordan Thompson currently have 20 yellow cards and 2 red cards between them this season so far, and our quality will tell. NCFC to win 3-1 with Sarge continuing his good form.

Think it was Dimi he got sent off while he was playing for Bournemouth with some amateur dramatics very early on in the game. Was actually incredibly similar to our game against Middlesborough. Start well and dominate, get an early goal and then collapse 3-1 with 10 men.

I do find it slightly mad that because we're not a (complete) basket case we're effectively being punished by our case being lower priority than less fortunate clubs. Surely it should just be a whoever is in the line first?

Little bump of this thread. Interesting stat concerning our next game that since Martí Cifuentes took over at QPR they have the second best xG against in the division. That is a huge turnaround to where they were under Ainsworth. A team that is clearly difficult to create good chances against so they should actually provide a much sterner test than their current standing in the table suggests.

I think he has a lot of potential but do have some worries about how he will adapt to the current system despite being a big lad he certainly doesn't seem comfortable dropping deep and linking play at previous clubs. Much better as a penalty box finisher so I think people will be disappointed if they think he will replace Barnes in that role. Certainly has a decent looking touch and good striker of the ball so maybe that is something to be coached into him?

Yeah holding onto Sara, Rowe and Sargent... I'd add Gunn to that too is a major plus. I personally don't think we have a weaker squad and we have probably banked a decent amount in wage savings. I think our player trading would have been dependent on outgoings anyway because our squad in Championship terms is very large. So I had hoped for much greater emphasis on outgoings of fringe players, particularly the out of contract players if we could get them out and replacements in early. Think that is pie in the sky stuff though, I expect the summer to be much more like 2017. A lot out and in.

I'd recommend NTT20's transfer page for those intrested in confirmed signings around the EFL. Some good analysis/opinions. https://www.ntt20.com/p/efl-january-transfer-deadline-day-signings On Ipswich and Moore... I'm much more disappointed by their smart signing of Ali Al-Hamadi. He would have been great foil for Sarge, good link up, very good dribbler and pace to burn. Decent goal scoring record so far at League 2 level and looks more than ready to step up. A lot of similarities with Luton picking up Elijah Adebayo from Walsall. Others that we might have missed that seem like sensible transfers for us... Max Bird to Bristol City looks like a great signing and would have loved Anass Zaroury here on loan. Not quite sure how Hull plan on getting all these tidy playmaker types into one team though.

I genuinely believe we would live to regret letting Idah go here. He is a 22 year old with a very respectable minutes to goal ratio in the Championship. He would be a starting striker for most teams in the league minus 5 or 6 teams. And just for a bit of perspective at his age... Ivan Toney had just signed for Peterborough after scoring 12 goals in League One the previous season. Teemu Pukki had just signed for Celtic ready for a disastrous spell there. Ian Wright had signed from non-league by Palace a season before... Judge strikers early at your peril.

All the noise for Fisher's signing was that he was for the u23s. Every summer they give the academy first team exposure and those that excel tend to get fast tracked or loaned out. Fisher to his credit took his chance and Wagner gave him a go. So despite his flaws I think Wagner does deserve credit for him making his debut. This summer could actually be quite exciting to see who wins the battle for spots at CB from Tomkinson, Warner, Hills and Adegboyega. Plus returning Kamara to do battle with the likes of the high rated Myles and Welch. Going to be a lot of squad turnover this summer though and I hope some of the youngsters get a chance which might be to the detriment of new signings to replace the out of contract ones. Wonder what people complaining about pathways from the academy would think of that. If say we gave Djedje a chance at CDM instead of a new signing? As for the Aboh situation it happens, it is the symptom of having two young first team strikers in Idah (22) and Sargent (23) who are both still young in striking terms with their peaks around 28-30 so there wont be a pathway for him unless one of them leaves really. Barnes is a short term plug but if Aboh wont sign a new contract and go on loan staying would leave him as third choice potentially and in the exact same position people criticise Idah's development for. Not easy to balance.

If we're going to revert back to the more possession heavy & controlled style of Farke then Henrik Rydstrom at Malmo has done a really interesting job there (and at Kalmar beforehand) after succeeding Jon Dahl Tomasson. Luke Williams at Notts County similar. If we were going to go for a in work manager in the Championship then I do really like what JDT has done with Blackburn with a very young team and under huge financial pressures. Danny Rohl at Sheffield Wednesday has also done an unbelievable job at Sheffield Wednesday too in a much more aggressive pressing style with a very limited set of players. He will definitely be in demand in the summer especially if he keeps them up.

Mumba was very clear he didn't want to be cover and wanted to go back to Plymouth if that was the case as per his signing quotes. I'd have loved for him to stay but it was clearly not going to happen like that.

I guess that is the difficult thing to judge as we don't know how long he might have tracked Farke. Having taken the previous coach and seen that their replacement had done even better he could have kept tabs on him for years potentially? I'm sure some could level the same at Knapper if he say he went and appointed Carlos Cuesta (who sounds like a really innovative young coach) because he has worked with him. Like you say you hope its a thorough process but I guess we wont ever know.

What happened to Bjørkan and Patrick Berg Olano? Both looked like they were going to be brilliant players but then ended up back home after failing outside of Norway. Can only play Knutsen's system or something else?

This is an interesting conversation with him on the Training Ground Guru Podcast: https://trainingground.guru/articles/nick-cox-youth-development-the-man-utd-way Sounds very considered, empathetic and importantly successful in his current role. Interesting to see how that translates to the role here if it comes to fruition. That said I'm skeptical that would be a move that would happen.

For context, Scott Duxbury at Watford who perfoms the same/very similar role for a comparative team earns £1m pa. I don't think the salary is a big shock for a business with turnover over 100m a year, particularly when you consider the added stress of it being so publicly facing and for someone as highly respected in the game.

No FBref or Project FiveThirtyEight stuff yet but Opta are still doing some interesting things here (As you've probably seen Hogesar, but for others that might not have): https://theanalyst.com/eu/2023/08/championship-stats-2023-24-opta/ We're currently 2nd for xG for in the league in open play and 3rd for xG against which suggests we've been difficult to create changes against and good at creating our own so far. Interestingly they also have us top for creating turnovers that lead to shots which suggests the press has been working well too to help create those chances. what was the quote "No playmaker in the world can be as good as counter pressing... except Gabby Sara"

Tbh based on performances during pre-season I think I'd prefer Tomkinson over Zimbo anyway. Though lacking the experience he showed more composure on the ball, athleticism and pace than we've seen from Zimbo in the last year or so and really at some point we have to make sure there are these pathways for academy players.

Batshuayi may not have Lukaku or Benteke''s height but based on his youtube goals he certainly shows on a number of occasions the physical strength to match them. Hard to knock off the ball and able to bully defenders off balance. Would be delighted with a signing like this.

This just reminds me of Wolves and replacing Mick McCarthy with Terry Connor...

Lewis Holtby is available for around 5.5m...

I think generally the MLS is perceived to give a little more protection to dribbling players and more space for them to exploit. To that extent I''m sure it would give plenty of opportunites for our younger players to gain confidence and technique on the ball. BUT... will that experience help them adapt quickly to the rigours of the Premier League? I''m not so sure. Obviously pros and cons to it, I think it''s quite an interesting idea though.

I think the Hull fans are more interested in the owner than the football at the moment, especially after his comments in the paper. Could end up being this seasons Blackburn.