 | Forum
Reply | For your next test – Preview
at 16:19 14 Oct 2026
I think you, and Gaz, are perhaps confusing my point here - which is my fault for not making it more clearly.
If we never win with more possession than the opposition again, I don't care. I far prefer watching, fast, exciting, counter attacking football to Russell Martin's death by 1,000 passes.
But what has been our problem so far this year? Bolton at home, Preston at home, Charlton away... breaking down teams that just give us the ball and sit there. Winning when we're expected to win. West Ham on Friday actually suits us a lot better.
And it's been a problem for a while - one win in eight home games, and yet unbeaten away so far this season. For us to have gone 70+ games without a win with more possession is highly, highly unusual.
I'm not desperate to see us hold the ball for the sake of it, but we need to ice these Oxford type games (0-0 both times last year) where it's on us to have the ball and dictate the play. The possession stat is not a problem in an d of itself, but it's an indicator of an actual more serious issue. |
| Forum
Reply | Football Finances
at 15:24 14 Oct 2026
As Steve rightly says higher up, it's all wages. It's not even transfer fees (though they are utterly ridiculous now), it's wages.
I don't know how you get a hold of that because clubs have committed to contracts for the next 3/4/5 years, so you can't suddenly turn around to them and say right we're imposing a salary cap etc. You'd also be immediately challenged (and probably lose) by the PFA for restricting their members' earning potential.
There was an amazing opportunity to grasp this when ITV Digital went bust. Clubs like Tranmere, Port Vale, Grimsby, Stockport who were First Div at the time basically went to the wall immediately and have never recovered. That could have been a moment. Man City and the regulator might be another moment but it's tricky.
Some levers I would pull...
- Ditch parachute payments, spread that money across the EFL. They were once needed as protection against a financial cliff edge, now teams coming down can sell all their mediocre players for big money anyway so it's just a massive unnecessary extra advantage for them. West Ham and Southampton have sold £400m worth of players since they were relegated.
- Ban leveraged takeovers. As much as Man City are the bad guys now and deserve everything coming to them, what's gone on at Man Utd is far worse for clubs and for the sport. Burnley have gone from a debt free model Premier League club to £80m in the red at the bottom of the Championship.
- Completely ditch and re-write the EPPP laws which encourage a tiny group of Chelsea-type clubs to hoard all the young talent in giant youth academies with little ambition to ever play them in their first team. Force young talent to stay at EFL clubs for longer, and properly compensate them when they leave. We'd be able to bridge the gap a lot easier if a few of those Harvey Elliott and Alfie Gilchrist types had gone for proper money.
- Debt to equity. Let owners spend what they like, but if it goes wrong it's on them. As long as you're converting debt to equity, and losing your money, owners should be allowed to try and build their clubs up with their money. |
| Forum
Reply | Radio 4
at 20:33 13 Oct 2026
Inclusive. |
| Forum
Reply | Radio 4
at 09:20 13 Oct 2026
Yeh, thanks guys. They heard me doing a drum and bass set in Hammersmith a couple of weeks ago, asked me to come and lay down some sht on the breakfast show. Always happy to oblige. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 19:34 12 Oct 2026
100% agree with this BTW. |
| Forum
Reply | Ref Watch: VAR.
at 15:11 12 Oct 2026
He was on there last week screaming about shambolic VAR was after the Man Utd v Man City game and demanding Howard Webb come on the programme to speak to him. |
| Forum
Reply | Wednesday's referee
at 11:30 12 Oct 2026
Yeh called it a day in the summer and has gone into coaching.
We're actually trying to get him for the Patreon but there's a lot of hoops to jump through. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 20:42 11 Oct 2026
Let's see where we are in May. This is a top eight team. I hope it's not held back, again, by stuff like this.
That was a win on Friday night, that nearly ended up being a defeat because of this stuff. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 20:33 11 Oct 2026
JCS is having to be sat out of games despite playing well and the team looking really good with him at LCB and Edwards in front of him. He was out on his feet by the end of Friday. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 16:57 11 Oct 2026
Agree on the schedule, it’s nuts, and it’s killing teams other than ours. I’ve regularly cited Norwich and Millwall on this and said in the fans forum wrote up that Nourry was spot on with what he said about this. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 16:56 11 Oct 2026
No, I don’t. Sorry for giving that impression. I think Hull Fc and Huddersfield Giants are badly run shtshows. I think QPR are a different organisation from three years ago and the team is unrecognisable from then to now. I’ve praised the recruitment, stephan’s management and said repeatedly I expect a play off push this year.
The point I’m making is specifically about recurrent injuries. When it’s happening to you season after season it’s not bad luck, in my opinion. One season, fine. Two seasons, maybe. Some Coventry twt goes through the back of Dembele’s knee… nothing you can do.
But three seasons of this (if that’s what’s going to transpire)? Something not right somewhere. Next area of big improvement for us, IMO.
I agree with the manager, who has said he doesn’t know what the group is capable of because they’re never together as a group, and has also said we should show ambition and demand high standards. |
| Forum
Reply | Injuries
at 16:25 11 Oct 2026
If I may refer to my other love rugby league for a moment… the best run clubs in the league are Leeds, Wigan, Hull Kr and increasingly Wakefield. Now it’s not a hard and fast rule because it’s an insanely physical sport, Wigan have had their moments and Leeds suddenly lost a load of players just as the play offs started, but over the past two or three years who have had the best record with injuries? Leeds, Wigan, Hull Kr, Wakefield.
Who are the worst run clubs in the competition? Universally seen as total shtshows… Huddersfield, Hull Fc, Castleford, Bradford. Who had the worst injury records this year and the most minutes lost to injury? Huddersfield, Hull Fc, Bradford, Castleford. In Huddersfield and Hull’s cases that has happened season after season for years.
It’s not coincidence, in my opinion. |
| | Northernr
|
Site Scores| Prediction League: | 0 | | TOTAL: | 0 |
|
By continuing to use the site, you agree to our use of cookies and to abide by our Terms and Conditions.