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Reply | keeper
at 10:09 10 Oct 2026
So on a praising our current keeper thread, you felt the need to dig out a player who is not even here, but may play a role at some point in the future , and is obviously going through a rough time at the moment - classy. |
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Reply | Great draw tonight...
at 10:01 10 Oct 2026
But the problem is, Nix, the players are getting injured anyway. If our loading was working and we kept everyone fit by limiting their minutes, then that would be fine, because we would be replacing fully fit players, with other fully fit players of an equal calibre. But managing their load is not working, we are STILL losing key players and dropping points. Last night was a classic example , we took off the fully fit Kemper, who made Bowen look anonymous, and replaced him with Lamptey, who did god only knows what damage to himself first time he stretched for the ball. Then because we had used up all our subs (or sub windows) he had to stay on as a virtual passenger, doubtless aggravating whatever he had injured - where’s the sport science in that?
There are times when you are absolutely right, we need to manage a player’s minutes, but there are times when JS - who overall is doing a great job - has to use his gut instinct and say, ‘no I am over-ruling our earlier discussion , Kemper stays on’. If it blows up in his face and Kemper picks up a long term injury then so be it, that what he gets paid the big bucks for. But instead of that MAYBE happening to Kemper it HAS happened to Lamptey - and we have dropped to points in the process. |
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Reply | Who has say over players ?
at 09:05 10 Oct 2026
If he was running out of gas, fair enough, but there was no evidence of that. And we have Cirkin available on Wednesday after suspension, so no need to play Kemper at all against Derby. Mbengue comes on for Adamson, Lampty replaces Poku to give a Charles a quick out ball down the right. This means he is not stretching for a ball on his wrong side and likely doesn’t get inured. All hindsight I know, But Shankly/Paisley et al built there success on a ‘one game at a time’ mindset and they were playing just as many games as today with a much smaller squad. Yes the game has moved on and there are times when it is clear and obvious when a play nears to be taken off and protected. But there are times too, when you need to use your gut instinct and last night was one of those times imo.
I wouldn’t mind if all this carefully managed ‘game time’ was working and we had the majority if not all of our players fit and available all the time, but our injury list is as bad as last year and we are missing key players, which has cost us several points.
Obviously before hand if someone offered me a point at West Ham I would have bitten their hand off etc etc, but that was not how it played out. We were magnificent and would have won the game if we had tinkerd with the defence. Let’s hope we can reproduce the performance against Derby, if we do that, we will win comfortably |
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Reply | Who has say over players ?
at 23:58 9 Oct 2026
The irony for me is that we take Kemper off (he is way ahead of Cirkin imo) for medical reasons, but then are forced to leave his replacement - Lamptey - on, no doubt aggravating whatever injury he has picked up . Kemper stays on we win the game, simple as that. |
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Reply | Julien Stéphan Interview
at 20:22 7 Oct 2026
That’s exactly how I read it. He was VERY clear, there is NO link between injuries and who plays. The latter is based entirely on attitude and hard work. Alfie will lead the line, would be an amazing time to break his duck. |
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Reply | Julien Stéphan Interview
at 13:41 7 Oct 2026
Cheers Clive, intelligent questions answered intelligently. Two things (and I hear you Brian re Kolli) I think separating injuries from players selection is very telling. At the moment, the blatantly obvious one is Kolli and I would not expect to see him make the match day squad v West Ham. But it also does not spell the end of his QPR career either. JS has been very clear, but also very clever, it is 100% down to the player if he gets included or not.
On the flip side of that, the ‘Standards’ thing is very interesting. JS can impose strict standards on Kolli, as he is on the peripheral of things. But what happens if Dunne lets his standards slip, or Edward’s, or Charles? You can argue that is never going to happen, but that is not my point. If JS is serious about driving up standards (which is music to my ears) then it must be applied to the most important /popular player too, as well as the dispensable. |
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Reply | Stephan interview with Dave Mc
at 22:52 6 Oct 2026
I think when he was talking about Adamson, he answered the question very clearly about Kolli. Whether injuries will force his hand remains to be seen. He literally has one fit striker against the best team in the division - should be interesting |
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Reply | International Break
at 23:20 5 Oct 2026
Hopefully he’ll come back rearing to prove a point |
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Reply | International Break
at 16:14 5 Oct 2026
Interesting one. I didn’t realise we had the power to do that. Good for us of course, but tricky for the player. |
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Reply | You know you're getting old when...
at 16:10 5 Oct 2026
My memory becomes less reliable with each passing year, but from what I can recall, I HEARD rather than saw Wicks produce an incredible goal saving tackle, on BBC Radio. So as far as 12 -year-old me can remember we were playing Slovan Bratislava (which leg unknown) and while generally on top, they broke away and Wicks sprinted 50 yards (70 yards??) to execute a goal-saving tackle. It may have sounded way better than it was, it may have existed only in my childhood imagination, but when I hear Steve Wicks, that is what I immediately think of.
On a slightly different tack, with that mop of blonde hair on a tall fit physique, he must have been the handsome Ron of his era. |
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Reply | The international breakdown – Analysis
at 13:43 5 Oct 2026
Generally speaking my head begins to fry when I see lots of figures graphs and stats, so thank you Andrew for making it so decipherable. On a personal note, I would be quite happy to spend most of the season in and around the play-offs (where we are now basically) even if we ultimately fall short. I believe we are a fair bit short of being able to compete in the Prem (I still expect Hull to be relegated) and we have a couple more cycles to go through (including those elusive ‘big’ sales) before we are ready to really compete. I don’t want promotion per se only to be dismally relegated again 12 months later - been there done that. |
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Reply | International Break
at 23:08 4 Oct 2026
Shocking game I thought. Agree a draw was about right though. Should have won, could have lost. That’s Czechia, Austria and Israel where we have thrown away half-time leads - needs to be addressed. Thought Dunne did really well. MotM through my blue and white tinted glasses |
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Reply | International Break
at 23:04 4 Oct 2026
Different WC tournament I think hooparoo. Thought there was a tournament when Luongo failed to play even though they lost all three group games. I could be wrong, apologies if so. |
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Reply | Whats going to happen to Man City ????
at 22:58 4 Oct 2026
Appreciate we are coming towards the end of an extended International break, but there is a 15 (FIFTEEN) page thread , entitled ‘Man City - GUILTY’ just a little bit further down. |
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Reply | International Break
at 11:24 3 Oct 2026
I think we tend to over-rate our players. Egan who had more or less retired preferred over Dunne. Smyth not getting game time. Chair never gets any meaningful time for Morocco. The Ozzie guy that many thought was the bees knees, never got a kick for Australia in that World Cup, despite them losing all three group games. |
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Reply | International Break
at 11:20 3 Oct 2026
Wait so am I reading this right. The first month the club doesn’t get compensated but from day 29 it does? |
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Thread | Jimmy Dunne - our third choice keeper
at 12:55 27 Sep 2026
Following on from Gavin Bazunu’s withdrawal from the Irish squad, Jimmy Dunne is officially registered as our third choice keeper!! Amateur hour. Nothing has changed since Saipan. Also I presume it means Jimmy now has no realistic chance of getting a game although not sure how that works.
This is purely a football comment, so please don’t hijack it into a political thread that I didn’t intend and I am absolutely certain Clive does not want. |
| | Myke
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