KB1862

Really pleased with this signing. I know it might be just a game but this has been my go to first loan signing in the past 3 editions of Football Manager. So I hope he's as good for Notts in real life as he has been for me on Football Manager. However, you do have to wonder when Tiernan Brooks will be given an opportunity. I read a comment on twitter that made me chuckle with agreement that read something like he'll be 30 and still being sent out on loan to gain experience. It just seems that whenever there's a chance he could grab an opportunity, it's taken away by bringing in a loan goalkeeper that puts him further back in the pecking order.

@Dripsey3 I think you're right, I have thought they'd probably do something like that. They seem to be dipping into pretty much everything. Boxing, Golf, WWE, Football (whether it be buying clubs or bringing big names to their domestic league). @Robbie You're bang on. These nations with limitless money looking to invest in clubs in England are the reason why there's becoming such a big divide with the "big" clubs and those looking to establish themselves in the Premier League. Part of me feels surprised that players have lasted this long while another part can't believe it's already starting to crumble. I don't get why these players can't just come out and say they took the paycheck because it was an opportunity to earn big bucks rather than claim things that were already known before they went over. They'd lose less credibility by doing so.

Seems that players are realising the grass isn't always greener on the other side. It's obvious they were money motivated to move over there but the reasons given for why they wish to leave, as reports suggest, makes it even more obvious that they were blinded by the money being offered. It was never about "helping improve the league" it was always about the big sum of money offered. Now that they've had their share of big paydays they're upping and leaving.

Never really watched him play apart from the 66 Final on DVD but everything I've read and heard about him, he was a phenomenal player and revolutionised the sweeper role. Sad loss to the game of football. One of the footballing greats.

I like how you balanced it out with De Gea. Yes he was prone to quite a few mistakes, more than he should really, but nevertheless had it not been for De Gea, United would have potentially been lower down the table without him. He had a tendency to pull off some outstanding saves and help United gain a point or 3. Also comes back to the confidence issue I mentioned, when a back line is constantly exposing you you tend to make a few mistakes because there's a lack of belief in your back line. I was a bit sceptical of Stone coming in in the first place but I was hoping he'd prove me wrong and come good. The main factor for my doubt in him was that when he was sound emphasis was put on how good of a distributor he was of the ball and that he can fit in to a style of playing out from the back with good foot work. From a personal perspective, I'd much rather have a good shot stopper who commands a back line over a keeper with good footwork. The modern day goalkeeping has so much focus on playing out from the back being able to pick passes out from the back and in turn shot stopping, catching etc. all become secondary.

@Robbie yeah fully agree with the open possession football issue, especially from the back. Personally I've never been a fan of playing out from the back and keep ball near and around your own penalty box. I think it's the old philosophy of we'll score more than you hence the goals we've scored during the season but also defensive record is also very high. Same with playing a back 3, if you play that sort of formation and tactics you need to give them some sort of protection as you say about being defensive minded.

You could see in his face how much he enjoyed his time at the club and how emotional it is to be leaving. I liked the way he spoke about the players, fans and everything that surrounds the club. It was a great interview.

Both Slocombe and Stone have disappointed me this season. More so Stone. As a goalkeeper myself, I do understand that when your defence isn't that great and they make mistakes, which there have been quite a few this season, it does hamper a goalkeepers confidence which then results in goalkeepers making mistakes themselves or not doing as well as they perhaps should. Having said that, some of the goals that have been let in are shocking to watch and more time than not it does make you think that they should have done much better than that. I wouldn't mind seeing Tiernan Brooks being given a shot. I've said it for the past couple of seasons now that perhaps it's time he should be given a run and with how poorly both keepers have performed this season, it might be a good opportunity for him.

My site manager, who's a Birmingham fan, messaged the group chat earlier with the message directed to me as "Rooney's available mate " Whoever the Reedtz decide to bring in as Luke Williams replacement, I trust that they'll make a good appointment.

LW always managed to handle himself very well when it came to post match interviews, the style of play he bought into the club was to be admired and how much he's achieved at the club, there's no surprise that he was sought after but honestly wasn't expecting it to be this soon. As gutted as I am about his departure, will be grateful for the memories he has given us and I wish him all the best for the future.

Bristol City 2-0 West Bromwich Albion Huddersfield Town 1-3 Rotherham United Derby County 1-2 Portsmouth (Joker) Shrewsbury Town 2-0 Bristol Rovers Crawley Town 3-2 Tranmere Rovers Newport County 1-0 Barrow Hartlepool United 2-2 Woking Wealdstone 1-1 Altrincham

England have always been guilty of selecting players based on name rather than form. Generally players played well at club level and were consistently playing for their clubs that's the only difference. Lewis Dunk made a case for himself against Scotland as well as being consistent for Brighton. Tomori has been brilliant while at AC Milan. Levi Colwill has a lot of potential. Dan Burn potentially, although age might be a factor. But until they're given opportunity we'll never know if they fit for England. Ben White, if whatever problem it is there is with England can be resolved. Guehi has played well since being selected and once Stones is back it's about finding his partner. Agree, he's played well when selected for England, as I mentioned in the post. But, what if the game he has a true lack of confidence due to criticism and is well off his game due to this comes in a Euro final? @AmericanPie valid point, I think he needs time out the limelight games against the likes of Malta we can afford to drop him to the bench and allow others an opportunity. Same with against North Macedonia and the friendly against Australia. Until someone else is given the chance to prove themselves, we'll never know if we have a suitable replacement or a player that can fill in if an injury occurs or form dips. There's a few others that could be added to this list tbf. But back then, England weren't as much as a together unit as they are now. Wrong formations, club rivalries and individuals rather than team played factors in letting England down.

@Fan of Big Tone I can imagine that being a headline interesting to know where the nickname came from and when it was changed.

It's been a tough time at Reading. Another club failed by its owner. How many more clubs are gonna fall due to poor ownership? As has been said on multiple occasions regarding owners running a club poorly resulting in them declining there needs to be more done to stop this from happening.

@AmericanPie never understood the reason as to why u21s are even included in this trophy. It takes away the competition from teams in League 1 and 2. Not to mention the fact that some of these teams field some first teamers from time to time. The Premier League shuns the EFL of propositions yet the Premier League are able to take into an EFL competition. I think the competition lost its credibility when u21 teams were able to join.

So, I came across this on Facebook yesterday. Never knew we were nicknamed the Lambs at one point

https://www.bbc.com/sport/football/66778293 I find this a very baffling decision. The fact that the game was abandoned in the 96th minute with Buxton on the verge of a 2-1 win and they have to play the full 90 all over again. There'll be some proper kicking off if Scunthorpe go on to win the game and I wouldn't blame the fans or club for doing so if that'd be the case. Surely there was a better solution than this?

It's time that Southgate had the bottle to distance Maguire from the England squad. I get the loyalty as whenever he's selected to play for England he very rarely puts a foot wrong. But, the media are always gonna be there to question his inclusion. He's out of favour at Man United and should have took the chance to move away from Old Trafford for West Ham to get his career back on track and get back to being the player we know he can be. If a player isn't playing at club level, they shouldn't be selected anyway in my opinion. I understand why Southgate has said this and is defending Maguire, as he's good at protecting his players. Although, having said that, he's constantly selecting Maguire despite not playing first team football at club level, his confidence is shot and of course pundits, fans and media are gonna jeer him and criticise him. Southgate should stop putting him in the squad that gives these people ammunition to take Pops at him and leave him open to this sort of thing. It's not like we don't have players to cover that position and do a job. If anything he needs to be given time away from England for his own mental health. It may be beneficial to him to be away from the squad for a while till he can find his way back. We all know how toxic the media can be, especially over here. Take Gazza for example and Beckham after the 98 World Cup.

Middlesbrough 2-2 QPR Plymouth Argyle 1-3 Blackburn Rovers Bolton Wanderers 2-1 Derby County Northampton Town 2-0 Wycombe Wanderers (JOKER) Morecambe 1-1 Salford City Newport County 2-1 AFC Wimbledon Maidenhead United 2-2 Woking Rochdale 3-1 Halifax Town

I remember watching this game on TV. Despite losing the game, I still think there's positives to take from the game like having been 2-0 down and managing to pull it back 2-2 and taking it to extra time against a Liverpool side that had the likes of Sturridge, Gerrard, Toure and Sterling. Not to mention being at Anfield as well.

Dark times at Southend but I never understood why clubs are punished like this when it's down to poor ownership. The club and the fans are suffering due to it.

@BlackandWhitePie well on The Rest is Football podcast, they interviewed Howard Webb about VAR and he said that they are constantly working with other sports like Rugby about how to implement VAR properly and what they can take from other sports to improve. Hence why VAR has changed to not re-referee the game anymore. But, the technology is good it's just the people at the back of it that needs more education which he also mentioned that Wayne Allison is an ex-pro who helps them in certain parts. Because Shearer posed the question of why aren't more footballers, who have been on the pitch week in week out, able to give their input. Exactly this. Essentially it is match fixing because you know there's an incident but you've failed to acknowledge it and like you said they should face punishment. It's like the Ronald Koeman situation against England in 93. Should have been sent off but the referee later said that he didn't want to face the wrath of the Dutch fans had he shown him a red despite acknowledging it to be worthy of such punishment. We can all excuse human error before VAR, obviously we'd be angered at the time, but with the implementation of VAR EVERY decision must be accurate.

Never really watched Red Dwarf properly. Caught an episode or 2 when we had SKY on gold. But it is a show I've been meaning to get around to watching at some point, along with Fawlty Towers. I quite enjoy watching older tv shows tbf.

Coventry City 2-1 Sunderland Millwall 0-2 Stoke City Exeter City 1-3 Reading(Joker) Lincoln City 3-2 Blackpool Bradford City 2-0 Crewe Alexandra Walsall 1-2 Grimsby Town Boreham Wood 3-1 Oldham Athletic Ebbsfleet United 2-2 Kidderminster Harriers