Robbie

At the moment in the Premier League A Premier League squad can have up to 25 players, but at least eight of them must be "homegrown" players. That means 17 out of the total of 25 can be foreign players. This can mean that home grown players may never get in the starting eleven.. Having such a low number of home grown players can have a knock on effect for the four home Nations squads regarding ability & availability. I think that home grown players should be at least a minimum of 13 out of the 25. What do my fellow PON members think the right number of home grown players should be in a squad of 25?

Have you got some more from your catalogue @Wheelbarrow repair man?

Norwich City 2-1 Bristol City???? Portsmouth 1-1 Preston Exeter City 1-2 Charlton Athletic Stevenage 2-1 Reading Tranmere 2-1 Newport Walsall 2-1 Crewe Solihull 2-0 Altrincham Southend 1 -1 Yeovil

How about this one? Another corny one. What's the best way to protect your house from bad football? By purchasing a Guard-iola dog.

What do PON members feel about Notts keeping mum regarding the state of the ongoing injuries? Should the club keep the fans in the know or are they right to keep their opponents guessing, which means keeping the fans guessing too? @Wheelbarrow repair man

Hindsight is a wonderful thing. When you are older and wiser (some might disagree with that one) I think that most would say that they should or could have done things differently. I wish I had stayed on at school. I just wanted to leave school & get a job, which I did. I wish I had taken my Motor Cycle test, but I took my driving test & bought a car & sold my motor bike. In those days you could ride a 250cc Bike on a provisional. My Honda CB 250 twin was a pleasure to ride. Cost me £265 with a £230 bank loan over 2 years. In hindsight though I'm pleased I learned to drive because it's so much better being in the dry than getting soaked to the skin in the wet on a bike.

Your Friday Morning Weather

I've seen some Football bloopers in my time but this one takes some beating.

What did the referee say to the South American footballer who lied about deliberately handling the ball at the World Cup? I don’t Bolivia!

Can't disagree with what you've said @Wheelbarrow repair man but as we know, the powers that be don't think all those things make for a good coach nowadays. When a team has the money to buy the best, those traits that we have agreed are what counts, doesn't score high on the score sheet of owners in my opinion. I think they look at the marketability of a Head Coach first. Can he attract the best players, can he enhance the Club's reputation abroad & attract foreign support, can he attract even more investment for the Club from home & abroad? I don't think those traits are the attributes of a good Head Coach/Manager, but what do I know?

That's the question PON members. Everyone will have their own opinions on what makes a good Head Coach come Team Manager. For my example of a good Team Coach/Team Manager, you can't go any further than Jimmy Sirrel who guided Notts from the fourth tier to the first tier, building multiple teams to get the team promoted through the leagues. Another would be Neil Warnock, & recently, Mark Robins is the another one who's Managed a team from the 4th tier to the 2nd tier & nearly made it to the 1st Those three would be my idea of what is good. Managing at all four levels & building a team to get promoted to each level. Thoughts?

@Wheelbarrow repair man It seems that way doesn't it. The new owner got control at the start of 2023 so Robins did most of his good work before the new owner arrived on the scene. Don't get me wrong, the owner has pumped lots of money into Coventry & they are on a much better financial footing, however I think he's made a big mistake doing this, a quarter of the way through a season.

@Wheelbarrow repair man as you said, the usual excuse. Let's be honest, a home grown manager is ok for the EFL, but as soon as the PL comes into site, teams tend to look for managers from abroad, which some believe are a step up. I'm not saying this is the case here, & there are some very good foreign managers about, but I can't think of too many home grown, or foreign managers that have a better record than Robins over the last seven years, taking a team from Tier 4 to almost Tier 1 last season. For me that record in itself demonstrates terrific coaching, team building & management qualities, something we both have been talking about in other threads.

@Wheelbarrow repair man Looking at Jatta's wiki, he hasn't been selected for Gambia before, so it's going to be a big opportunity for him. If I were him I wouldn't refuse the opportunity. It might not come around again, & an opportunity to either player in the Africa Cup or World Cup would be big for him. It's like anything else in life, if you pass over an opportunity will it ever present itself again. Personally, I think he should go. The only worry I would have would be the possibility of an injury. But good luck to the lad, & him being selected is good on Notts too for the way they play.

Listened to Stuart's pre Donny conference today, & he talked a lot about Jevani & Alassana, but not a lot about the game with Donny. He acknowledged that the match would be tough. Unfortunately, he didn't discuss about the current injury list, & who will be available this Saturday, out of those who are recovering from injury. Stuart is playing his cards close to his chest regarding who's available & I can understand that, but if 8 players remain unavailable, that will make it tough for Notts on Saturday.

@Fan of Big Tone I've just googled it to make sure, this is what I got. EFL "In EFL competitions, a postponement can be requested if three or more players are called up for their national teams". The PL is different the PL will consider any reason for a postponement. So it looks like you were right.

Congratulations to him. He deserves it. If Jatta is absent I'm sure that Notts will be able to postpone any matches if they wish while he's absent.

Agree @Fan of Big Tone Looking at a headline today. "Struggling Coventry sack Robins" Struggling? They're only 7 points from the playoffs for Pete's sake. I think there's more to it than that. How much you want to bet that they'll appoint a Head Coach who prefers to play 3:4:2:1

Your Thursday Afternoon Weather

We've seen a big example of it today. Something that is very wrong with modern football. There is no loyalty in modern football whatsoever. If a person doesn't deliver 100% of the time, their time is very limited.