StarkMallard

I sympathise with you @Chris, back pain is awful and often the only thing you can do is lose weight, which is not a quick fix. The thing that helped me most was switching to water. I'd developed a habit of drinking apple juice with sparkling water, thinking it was healthy. I was consuming about 200 calories with each glass. Changing to sparkling water (with a squeeze of lemon when I was feeling wild) made a massive difference. Counting calories really helped me. It made me aware of what I was consuming and how much leeway I had.

Stockport have appointed Jimmy McNulty from Rochdale. Was expecting something different to be honest. I hope the rumours about MP continue to fly, as that means he's doing a good job!

I wouldn't be too concerned about it - they're under contract until the end of June, so from their point of view there's no hurry. If they do intend to sign, the club will probably be aware of this already and will be planning accordingly. I want them both to stay, but neither is irreplaceable.

Who's coming next @piedestrian? 😉

I know this is an old debate, but I had a look at Transfermarkt. I was convinced that Ardley had been wedded to four at the back and that it was Burchnall who switched to three. Wrong! The first game in the 20-21 season where we used wing-backs was a 1-0 win at Wealdstone in March, in the last days of the Ardley era. Miller and Kelly-Evans were our wing-backs that day. But our first game of the current era with wing-backs was the home draw with Stockport at our very first home game in the National League the season before, with Bakayogo and Kelly-Evans taking up the positions. All according to Transfermarkt of course. We'd dabbled in it before then too, but March 2021 was our permanent move to playing wing-backs.

I think he's been mentioned here before? He sounds like a ball-player in the Palmer mould but with a physical side to him too. Not sure he's the tough tackler some are expecting. He's also got plenty of League One experience. Sounds very promising, I'm happy with our transfers so far. Here's a picture of him with his wife.

I tend to read PON on my mobile (Android) and often post that way too, but I prefer to post on my laptop. I'm using the laptop now - it's still pretty new; it's almost doubled in price since I bought it in January, so I'm being very careful with it! I use Windows 11. There's a lot of bloat, but it's user-friendly and does what it's supposed to. I've also switched from Chrome back to Firefox, which makes no discernable difference. I did use Ubuntu (Linux) in the past when my old desktop PC was nearing its end, but I constantly encountered bits and bobs that didn't work quite right, and the solution was generally to go to a Linux forum and write something in the command line that had been suggested there. It can be pretty awkward if you don't have a basic understanding of programming.

I saw this on Facebook the other day, Football League World I think. I didn't post anything here because it looked like clickbait - when there's a managerial vacancy, they immediately speculate about other clubs' head coaches to get their fans posting and engaging. Engagement is the name of the game. So I don't think there's anything in it. Stockport have just parted company with a manager who has won two promotions with them, including into League One. Why would they replace him with MP, who has an objectively far inferior CV? Stockport are well-funded and ambitious, I think they're likely to go for someone who has won promotion to the Championship before, who has shown he can take the next step. Challinor was managing in the division above Stockport when they appointed him. Nothing is impossible of course, and they could undoubtedly afford to give him a big pay rise. But stories like this are part and parcel of being successful. And if/when he does move on, life will go on and we'll still do our thing. That's why it's important to have a sound footing and an established way of doing things.

I suppose you could draw a parallel between this and Notts sacking Maynard last year, although Salford have probably given Robinson greater (financial) backing. Still feels harsh after missing out by a whisker.

Last season we travelled to Germany with a newly installed head coach, half a squad, a stack of trialists and minus Jatta. And we played teams levels above us - Darmstadt have just sold two of the players that played against us (Hornby and Lidberg) for 7 million euros. We barely touched the ball. This time, MP will have a better idea what his team will look like from the outset. It would be best to play teams at about L1 level, so hopefully our Danish opponents will fit the bill. SPL opposition might also be suitable, otherwise we'd have to settle for a crap Championship team like Derby. We only know three of the fixtures though, so there'll be more to come.

The head coach put the cherry on the cake by claiming it's normal in Germany. No it isn't. Germany has strict laws against unauthorised filming and he'd be facing a prison sentence of up to two years there. German clubs do hold public training sessions, but he knows very well that this wasn't public. And are we really supposed to believe they only spied on three teams? And got caught every time? Pull the other one. By standing by the head coach despite a clear case of gross misconduct, the club hierarchy are in on it as well. Throw the book at the lot of them.

I was actually thinking about going to Denmark this month, but flights from Germany start at 550 euros. It's much cheaper from the UK. It sounds very interesting and it looks like we'll be playing at the actual stadiums (and not just training grounds). I hope they're good, competitive games and I hope we can take a full squad there this time!

Was this you @Chris?

He's been a virtual ever present the last couple of seasons @Chris , so I don't think we need to wrap him in cotton wool. It's very clear that he's far too good for the National League, so he deserves his chance. However, this is a big step up for him, so I hope we aren't putting all our eggs in the Roberts basket. I think he'll do well. Also, it's great that we're getting the summer signings in early! It would be a big advantage to start pre-season with more or less a full squad.

Sounds like a great signing, a player hitting his peak and in great form last season. The Cambridge fans are gutted he's gone. Will probably compete with Ness and (when he's fit) Macaroni for the RCB spot but according to the report he can play in any position across the back. (Macari's name was autocorrected to macaroni above but I'm not changing it because I'm hungry)