Ohh Tommy Johnson

It doesn't say that he has been released, it says his contract is due to expire which is different. Morecombe haven't released their retained list yet. You wouldn't say the same about Wooton and Rodrieguez but they both left us at the end of their contracts. In the lower leagues it is far more likely a player moves at the end of their contract rather than incur a transfer fee, so I don't think you can read anything into that. Likewise the Winning Mentality; you can't project the collective failure to stay up on the individuals. That is what our stats based approach is supposed to avoid as it removes external influence as far as possible. So you would have got rid of JoB then?

I think the plan is to use it for exhibition space, meeting space and for Florist games, so I guess they want it to remain relatively neutral whilst keeping the nod to the Magpies. I quite like The Gulp though (but it's probably a crap name in reality!!).

@Robbie I think that is basically my point. They tried to fix the wrong thing, and allowed it to become a free for all against refs (who actually didn't make that many game changing mistakes), and they run the risk of allowing the same thing to happen again. I don't think ex-players is the answer as I often see defenders saying 'he got the ball, so it isn't a foul' or 'forwards saying 'he was caught so had every right to go down' when there is the slightest feather of either ball or player. I honestly don't think they know the rules very well and just do and say what they got away with during their careers. The powers that be would be much better giving a clear direction of who has what responsibility for what, and having a strict communications protocol like they do in cricket and rugby. I would get rid of the 'Clear and Obvious Mistake' as that is too ambiguous: you either review everything meaningful or nothing. I see the trouble as nobody knows who has the right to intervene and when. Just make it clear. My thoughts would be: A goal is a goal unless the ref asks for a review - you could have 'I believe this to be a goal, but I am looking at the potential for a foul by attacking 10 on defending 5. Is there any reason not to award the goal?' and 'Was there any foul play in the build up to this goal'. Likewise, 'I saw Defending 3 handle the ball, is there any reason not to award the penalty', 'I didn't see that clearly Penalty or not'. Those checks could be made with the ball in play and the ref makes a signal like the advantage to let people know there is a check ongoing and it needs to be made within 30s. For off the ball incidents, the VAR can call the ref's attention and then it is reviewed next time the ball goes out (again after the indication that there is a review ongoing). So in the Spurs - Forest punching incident that would be dealt with the next time the ball goes dead, and if the offending side scores, that is disallowed. You wouldn't eradicate all the mistakes, but what would happen is that whenever there is a doubt in the ref's mind they would call it in for review, which would in itself limit the number of errors resulting in a goal. You could also use AI to advise on whether something is or isn't an offence which would also remove some of the variability, such as the two offsides above. It's not an easy issue to resolve, and with owners threatening this that and the other when the decision goes against them, it makes it harder.

I don't disagree. My point was really that VAR was brought in to solve a problem that was created largely by referees being blamed for absolutely every defeat a EPL side suffered. This created the impression that referees were incompetent and technology was needed to resolve the issue.... except technology still needs some interpretation and so all it has shown me, is that the refs got far more right than wrong in the past. It is too late now, and as the vogue is now to blame VAR; so what next? Automate refereeing via AI? There would be an infringement every few seconds.. and that is only ever as good as the training the AI gets. Go down the 'bunker review' system they use in Rugby Union (can you imagine the scenes if a ref blows up a couple of minutes after an event for the ref to brandish a red card? It would be chaos. If the current trend of calling for replays for every bad VAR call continues, I can see us eventually ending up in one of those 2 scenarios.

The trouble is, that it was brought in as a response to the constant whining from managers highlighting the one refereeing decision which went against them as the the reason for them losing 5 - 0. I have no sympathy, it's a case of be careful what you wish for.. mind you I would hate it if it was brought in down the divisions.

I realised I had run out of names (although I have forgotten Scott and TAR). I would have both of them on the bench. I left Didzy off because he doesn't seem fully fit, same with Bostock). The Slocombe and Stone was just to highlight that I think our squad is struggling and picking up a lot of fatigue injuries or recovering from long term issues. In reality I would absolutely put youngsters on the bench and if we are winning handsomely I wouldn't be afraid to give one, maybe 2 a few minutes. I wouldn't throw a youngster in to a lost cause though as I could imagine the atmosphere would be very toxic. My bench (assuming that we don't have Jones (family issues) and Chicksen (achilles) available would be: Slocombe, TAR, Scott, JoB, Sanderson, Gill, Bostock

This will be an interesting one. For the last couple of seasons we have always struggled against teams that set up to defend and catch us on the break. Our attack always seems to become predictable and pedestrian and we pass around the back until we make a mistake. Sorting out a better attacking approach would certainly help the defence in this case!

@Wheelbarrow repair man When your job is on the line you play safe, so I am sure he will stick to experience wherever he can. That isn't unusual. Maybe that would be one advantage of making a statement tat Maynard is staying to next season, it gives him a free hit and an opportunity to experiment without pressure. I doubt they would do that though as it would hit crowds between now and the end of the season. That said, if we see youngsters coming in then it may be an indication that he ahs been given the assurances he needs.

I get the feeling that he will go for the 11 fittest players and go from there. There seems to be an illness in the camp, and with all the off field issues with Jones and Morias (not that I think he would figure normally anyway) and partially fit Bostock, Didzy and possibly Chicksen, Austin and Macari we could end up with something like this: Ashby-Hammond Cameron Baldwin Rawlinson Nemane Robertson JoB Randall Jatta Macca Bench: Slocombe Stone Colkett Anybody else that can stand (running and 2 legs optional)!!

I think it was more than the usual sleepless nights - by all accounts there were complications and he hadn't slept much if at all as a result. 'Normal' sleepless nights may seem like a godsend right now! I wonder if our small squad and injuries is increasingly playing a part. Chicksen was playing with a sore achilleas that he has been carrying all season, Didzy clearly isn't fit, now Bostock, Ausitn went off injured again and numerous other players have been struck down with niggles or illness. That smacks of fatigue and if Maynard is having to select a patched up team each game, then it isn't surprising that performance is up and down.

That sounds like there will be something, sometime in the future, but what that may be is still up for grabs! I don't think we will be seeing Wasps as part of that, sadly.

@Robbie I think he is pretty sure what his best / preferred starting line up is, but what he hasn't figured out is what to do if one or more of those isn't available. I think his preferred starting 11 is: Slocombe Cameron Macari Baldwin Nemane Jones Robertson Bostock Crowley Jatta Langstaff The only caveat I would have is Austin. He seems to like him, but that may be Austin's flexibility. What I think his issue is what to do if one of the key players is out. With our injuries you have the issue of putting square pegs in round holes, and I think he is struggling to work out which are the closest fits. Putting Jones in for Nemane is an obvious one, and when you look at who was available you can see why he would back Jones to do a better job of right wing back than say Macari or TAR. Hopefully, now he can see that it doesn't work, but with our small squad it is becomes difficult very quickly. Hopefully everyone is fit and firing and we can see a settled side this weekend.... obviously if he carries on tinkering when there are no injuries or illnesses I take all that back!!

To be fair to Maynard a lot of the recent changes have been brought on by illness, injury and suspension (Chicksen, Baldwin, Robertson, Nemane, Slocombe to name a few). Prior to that I think he was trying to find out about the players. I don't think he is as big a tinkerman as he appears.

I thought it was like that. It seems that the whole idea is to get more money to the big Premiership clubs, and the more I think about it, to get the 'old names' back in the fold. I think only Wasps are looking at the URC. I gather there is some support for London Irish and Worcester to be parachuted into the Championship (or Premiership 2), but there is resistance to Wasps joining which is why they are looking at the URC. It's all rather reminiscent of when the RFU was first set up and the Wasps rep was told the wrong venue so they couldn't join the 'club' for several years.

Do you know where Nottingham stand on Premiership 2? Is that something they would be looking to join? I used to follow Wasps and there is talk about joining a Premiership 2, but I'm not sure how I feel about that. Another option is to join the URC which I think many Wasps fans would prefer as it wouldn't feel like being parachuted in because we were a big name. It would also stick one to the RFU which I think is also appealing to many as they stand aside when Saracens cheat (18 internationals in the match day squad whilst staying under the salary cap????) but stood aside when 3 clubs, so far, folded and then hindered attempts to rescue them from administration.