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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Portsmouth (a)
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on: February 05, 2024, 11:57:03 am
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The way I see it is that the top 6-8 teams in league2 are pretty much on a par with the bottom 6-8 teams in league1. So of course...we have a few players that fall into that category. They are fine when we play the sh1t league1 teams but get 'found out' when we play the top ones. Its all relative.
I think overall Brough has been very decent this season. He's consistent and has an excellent record of avoiding injury. He's a steady player at this level, but will struggle from time to time. No different to McGowan when he plays (as an example).
If you imagine playing football manager for a moment. You've got a 2 million budget. You spend 1.5 million the first X1, then 500k stocking up the squad with average players to make the numbers up. Or if you've got a 4 million budget. You can spend 2 million on the first X1, but more importantly another 2 million on stocking the squad up.
If you've got a 2 million budget, you will do fine with your first choice X1 but as soon as you get injuries, the value of players in the starting line up massively reduces.
On Saturday we were playing away at a team with a budget drawfing ours. That's no bodies fault. We lose money as it is. To compound things further, we had a large number of our better players unavailable to play. So the players that came in were not up to the required standard to compete against our opponents on the day.
Im not sure why there is such a debate about budgets. It really isn't hard too work out that regardless of tactics employed yesterday, we'd have most likely got swatted aside. I could see why he played with wing backs; we didn't have any defensive midifelders deemed fit enough too start. So by playing another centre back (logically thinking about it) would mean that they could take it in turns and push into the midfield zone and try and gain a foothold. It obviously didn't work. But Im pretty confident that if we'd played a back4, we'd have lost by a similar scoreline. By the time Pompey went 2-0 up, they'd carved out several good openings. The goals were poor ones to concede, but if we hadn't of conceded when we did I have no doubt Pompey would have pushed forward more until they got their goals.
The team put out on Saturday...lets be honest...wasn't good enough man to man to cope with Pompey. It showed all over the park. Thats why I (personally) didn't bother going. I could see a thrashing being the only realistic outcome and given our comfortable mid table ranking, decided to save my pennies and watch it on i-follow instead. Fair play to those who travelled. Ill do the same with other games this season, but I just hate the journey down to the south coast and need extra motivation to make it.
Bolton next weekend wont be much less tougher. BUT the players do have a point to prove because they will know that people don't think they are good enough against the top teams. That might add a bit more fire and they *might surprise us. We live in hope!
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42
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: The 'Clare Balding' POTS Portsmouth (a) February 3rd 2024
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on: February 03, 2024, 19:48:39 pm
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Watched it on i-follow, really hard one this..
All 5's and 6's for me. I thought Burge had a pretty bad game, and Id go with the lad on loan next week...
As for mom. Hmmm. Lintott. Not sure why but he put some decent crosses in. Probably the only game this season where I've thought 'I absolutely have no idea who our best player was'!
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43
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Jon Brady, the future
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on: February 03, 2024, 19:43:40 pm
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Hes the 10th longest serving manager out of the 92 clubs in the top 4 divisions.
Lets put this into perspective. He's done very well. He's united our support. He's an Aussi but he's 'one of our own'. A legend. Whatever happens...
If he gets an opportunity to manage at a higher level on much more £. he will of course leave. Like anyone would.
Personally, I think he's probably just falling under the radar of the vultures. If say, we were 4th or 5th...He'd be gorn. But we are 11th. Midtable'sville.
I think, all things equal. He will be here come the start of next season. I bloody well hope he is as well. Because sometimes its not just about results and performances. Its the whole big picture. He's homing in on beating all sorts of records. Love the bloke. I think our love in with Jon will last sometime longer. But you never know whats round the corner!
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44
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Portsmouth (a)
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on: February 02, 2024, 20:21:29 pm
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Fair play to the 750 plus. I was in the camp of if we sign someone decent, that would push me into going. We didn't, so Ill watch on the i-follow. Me and me lad love live football. We went to watch Rushden and diamonds on Tuesday. We are going again Tuesday, business is sponsoring the match. So Ill have the day orf travelling tomorrow... We are definitely gonna go to Oxford, Boro, Reading and Barnsley. Pompey was one where Id need added motivation to go to. Rightly or wrongly. I always end up doing 7-12 away games a season. Always been the case. But Im knackered from work this work, and basically cant be assed. If we'd been nearer either zone in the table, Id have made the effort. But its midtablesville. When Im old with no dependents Id probably hop on the coach. For the day eyt. As it is, unlikely we will win. Or get anything. But I hope we give those heading deyn a great day eyt and a performance fit for their commitment. Come on Teyn. Ill be tuned in and watching the game on me dodgy website and be their in spirit. Great place is Pompey, seen us there twice. We go again!
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46
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: January 2024 Transfer Window
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on: January 26, 2024, 12:13:33 pm
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You are mainly correct except its not a 1 in 4 chance. If you fancy it there are pleanty of bookmakers offering 100/1 and upwards. How much you would get on, I would have no idea!
Sorry, that's exactly what I meant. As in 1 in 4 IF WE MADE THE PLAYOFFS! Times that by 20/25 as things stand, and yeah - 100/1 plus is about right!
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47
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: January 2024 Transfer Window
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on: January 26, 2024, 11:59:36 am
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Some of the figures we’ve been quoted for players this January are ridiculous and we were certainly trying to bring people in. Have it on good authority we were pushing to do a deal for a couple of Fleetwood players, but covering the wages plus a loan fee is just too much in January.
If we did gamble and pushed the boat out and not make the playoffs (which I don’t think we would either way) we may hamstring ourselves budget wise for next year.
This is the thing. Marvo; I get his point totally. BUT even Stevenage who are 7th are scampering towards 81/82 points. Oxford who are 6th, 83/84 points. So even if we made an assumption that their form will drop off a bit, you are looking at the late 70's point wise to stand any chance whatsover. Which would mean something like 12 wins, 3 draws, 4 defeats from our last 19 matches. And that may well not be enough! With that in mind, Id much prefer any budget we have available to be spent on contract extensions for the likes of McWilliams and Sherring. Plus Appere. And even McGowan if his deal ends come the end of the season...he's earned it. Im all for speculating too accumulate but if I was incharge of the finances, I wouldn't as things stand because the chances of it paying off are extremely minimal. Even if they did, the odds are at best a one in 4 chance of getting promoted if we did sneak in. All the club would do is lose more money on it, unless we got to the play off final and Wem-b-lee.
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49
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Cobblers International Team
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on: January 23, 2024, 14:53:30 pm
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Bit leaky in more ways than one, I'm sure there are others.
Freddy Hall
Theo Foley Colin Hill Aaron Pierre Lloyd Davies Billy Williams Paul Trollope Graham Moore Ken Leek
Carlo Corrazin Andy Kirk
amazing that James Quinn still can't get a game... Yaser Kasim and David Moyo are also great answers to the quiz question.
Ill never forget the headline on Sc***horpes website when they signed James Quinn from us on loan... 'IRON SWOOP FOR INTERNATIONAL STRIKER' Still amuses me to this day!
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52
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: All-time Cobblers All-blacks
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on: January 22, 2024, 13:23:49 pm
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Struggling with centre backs. The two currently with us are far better players than the legend that Terry Angus was (Monthe and also Tyler when he's fit).
I did think of Mark Little but of course he was on loan. VERY good, he was!
Special mention for one of my favourite ever Cobblers players...Super John. The best 'lump up front' we've probably had in the last 3 decades!
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53
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Portsmouth (a)
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on: January 18, 2024, 12:03:24 pm
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Yes. No probs for me personally, we'll be driving down and stopping at the excellently convenient Ibis next to Fratton Park.
That is the situation next Tuesday for Charlton away - bus replacement from MK to Northampton on return.
Enjoy that Ibis mate. Definitely in the top 5 sh1t hole hotels I've stayed in (stayed there after the last game of the Wilder season)! To be fair it is conveniently located and providing you just dump your stuff in it and get out really quick, and only return back after a good session ensuring getting too sleep isn't an issue, you should be fine! Great place to go out drinking, is Pompey. As far as stop overs are concerned, definitely one of the best places to frequent.
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56
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Redevelopment Closer Than Ever?
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on: January 05, 2024, 12:00:00 pm
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Interesting debate this whole capacity v boxes - which generates the biggest revenue.
I believe that KT stated that these boxes/facilitates will generate around 250k a year. Not sure if that's profit or turnover? Im assuming its profit.
Alternatively, if the money was spent on 2000 extra seats - we would need to fill them around 8 times a season to bring in a similar amount. 2000 x £15 x 8 = £240000.
Based on these figures and them staying the same in any division, my take on it would be that in league2 we would definitely be better off with the boxes/facilities. In league1 it would definitely be touch and go. In the championship we would definitely be better off with the extra seats. On a 5 year ROI.
On a 20 year ROI, Id take the extra seats.....we can't increase our fan base by much as things stand. The issue though is political, so it will be boxes/facilities prioritised over capacity.
But either way, its a debate which regardless of the decision made, wont make any significant difference to us other. Because we need 15000 seats and boxes! Which would probably cost 30million quid to sort out. And yeah...that's back of a fag packet number. Might be 20 million, 25 million, 35 million - 40 millions - more - take your pick! Because I aint got a scooby. But its a lot more than what some posters are thinking! AFC Wimbledon's ground cost 34 million quid, was finished 4 years ago. Probably be more like 50 million now. By comparison and taking a northern teams example, York City's cost 44 million quid and was finished 2 years ago.
Big big money needed!
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57
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Play-off watch
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on: December 31, 2023, 12:25:46 pm
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The team in 7th, is currently shooting towards 84 points. I think that's our biggest issue. We would need to perform top3, for 22 games whilst others would have too slip up a fair bit. Of course everything can change quickly. Win tomorrow and a couple of the teams lose around 5th/6th, and we could be 7 points off...which makes things look much more doable. Statistically we've probably got about a 2% chance, but I wont be booking any holidays around the play off dates yet, just in case!!
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58
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: Lincoln Friday 29th December.
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on: December 30, 2023, 10:24:34 am
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Watched the game on the i-follow here in Sunny Hemsby. Whilst consuming a fair few beers....bloody enjoyable evening we had in our John Joe! When I saw the line up, I did feel that we looked weak. That said, it was the perfect opportunity for Simpson to build on his goal and his energetic display at Stevenage, and boy did he do just that. I've gone full circle now with him...definitely worth persisting with. My only worry is that he is clearly a confidence player, but he's proven this Christmas period that he can run around like a headless chicken pressing defenders, as well as showing real quality on the ball. Pressing is a key feature of our game, and until this week he rarely showed the desire to do that (like Appere and Bowie) - anyway, he is now so just want to see him keep it up. The goals will then come for sure. He is a very talented player... I also felt that the other beneficiary of our injury woes was Honders...and he definitely also stepped up. Harsh booking in my opinion, but even that didn't stifle him...he had a really decent game and showed that we have cover in the midfield area. I think for a team goal, you've got to go back a fair while to find a better one than Bowie's yesterday. I've watched it about 20 times this morning on twitter, it really is a wonderful move and finish. Sublime in every aspect. Loved Brady's reaction at the end! Where the heck did that come from? We've won many matches during his tenure in much more dramatic fashion and he hasn't lost his head totally before! My lad and me were roaring at the i-pad, would loved to have been there but we picked Stevenage instead....grrr! IF we beat Cheltenham, there's a good chance we could be just 7 points from the play orfs. I'm not saying we will make them, I don't think we will. BUT it would surely make a bit of a difference in terms of our January shopping if they are in-sight? *Might* be the time to have a bit of a punt. This is the best Cobblers team I've seen and I go back to 87/88 season. I absolutely believe that if we hadn't have had so many injuries and were still knackered at the start of the season, we'd be 10 points better off than we are. You also factor in that its taken 20 games for Simpson to show up and Hylton has only just returned. They are probably two of our three highest earners. Anyway, one game at a time. We've then got to see what happens with the loanee's we've currently got. But its exciting times!
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60
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The Hotel End / Cobblers Corner / Re: January 2024 Transfer Window
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on: December 29, 2023, 11:23:41 am
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My two cents on Leonard is thus…
Brighton don’t like changing loans mid season, the player is happy and settled here and they place a big emphasis on what the player wants to do rather than assuming they know best. I wouldn’t be surprised to see him here still in February. I may be wrong but that’s just a feeling on a few whispers I’ve heard.
I can certainly testify that if he does leave, it will be purely down to the player making the decision. Like you say, Brighton are no Spurs when it comes to recalling players and moving them about... He's clearly very very happy playing for us. Money unlikely to play a part given his contract is with Brighton. The question is, would he turn down playing in front of 20,000 plus crowds every week in the championship for 4 months to stick with us? Will he play the long game and stick with us until May and then make the jump up next season? Time will tell! Hopefully he will kick around and continue too help us consolidate in this division.
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