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Thread | Wes and Broady training; Hirst and Leif living the high life
at 10:22 25 May 2024
Wes doing some sprints at what looks like the training ground, and been down the barbers
Broady is in Mykonos at a sport performance centre - still think his fitness is not quite there
Hirst is is on a glamourous holiday with his girlfriend (NOTE: I originally used the word ‘unattractive’ in an attempt at humorous sarcasm, which seems to have confused some people!)
Lunongo has finally stepped away from his barista obsession and is on a palm beach somewhere
Leif is living it up in a Nobu Marbella
No McKenna melt down observed
Your Unstable Insta Update is delivered.. here to cyber stalk [Post edited 25 May 10:38]
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Thread | McKenna appreciation thread #1 - you know, just to mix it up a bit…
at 22:02 23 May 2024
We’re at McKenna leaving Armageddon (with smatterings of negativity towards McKenna) post number 3,456… let’s change the mood music
IF Keiran goes, I’ll be gutted and concerned for the season ahead.
But I’ll also recognise the hugely positive impact he’s had on our club and that riding on his talented coat tales we’ve moved from League One obscurity to the wealthy wunderland of the Premier League, and enjoyed two of the most exciting seasons in decades.
We all know how good he is, we all know the trajectory he’s on, good luck to him. And I’ll follow his career with great interest. And in some ways support the team he joins.
Chelsea and Man U may get their other targets, Brighton may move for another target, and McKennas desire to leave may be being overhyped. And indeed when the facts of an offer and new role are fully understood he may feel he wants to stay with us.
But come on the guy is already an Ipswich legend, celebrate what we’ve had, and recognise that change is what football support is all about.
COYFB [Post edited 23 May 22:04]
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Thread | I thought I was Unstable - the TWTD hivemind has gone mentalist massive
at 22:32 21 May 2024
As I understand it much of this McKenna to Brighton hype is Brighton themselves using client journalists to create the momentum, the opportunity. Portraying through media voices the negotiations have progressed some distance. Its just not as advanced as this board is making out and concluding.
His people will be in talks with their people, of course, perhaps McKenna is also engaged, but I doubt Ipswich have even finalised any counter offer and terms, or commitments on further squad spending, playing staff, or data analysis capability. And indeed I see mention on the board of a rumoured mega deal from Ipswich, which would be expected and we'd all support. I doubt McKenna has met the CEO/Chairman yet in person or run the rule over the detail of the organisation and set-up, and his role. For example their well know recruitment approach which is by the club structure. Had any time to take a breath and make a huge decision, indeed had any chance to 'get a bad feeling about this'.
Welcome to the Premiership. This press bubble is no longer just Phil, Stuart Watson and Brenner, it's a large set of journos with clicks and readership to feed.
It may still happen, it may not. And it will happen not because of wages, either from Brighton or from us. It will be McKenna weighing up his career path and his emotions. Real chance our squad cannot be upgraded in time to mount a survival challenge, Brighton's is years ahead of us. As are their training ground, and world class analysis teams. A relegation and return to the Championship would see McKenna's stock plummet, and his path to a top four club would close for a while (same could happen if he tried to go too fast to a United or a Chelsea).
Our hope is Brighton just doesn't feel a good fit, both in terms of structure, staff, role. And McKenna feels that commitment to the Town project and place - Suffolk loves him. Furthermore, the drop in atmosphere and fan base is a real factor - where's their platinum selling super fan?! My fear is that if he meets or has met Paul Barber he gets the sense of a club quite a bit further up the food chain than Town fans realise, a level of professionalism higher.
Finally, McKenna is very bright, and its about balance, he knows that from a PR/reputation perspective jumping ship from a newly promoted side to a club with less history and fanbase, isn't a good look. Even Brighton fans themselves are stating this.
Hang in there people. [Post edited 21 May 22:44]
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Thread | Yes the CEO, playing squad, and training ground are a serious upgrade on us…
at 21:25 20 May 2024
…. but Brighton’s own fans moan about the atmosphere, it came 19th in the Athletics ranking of Premiership ground atmospheres, only Bournemouth worse. The club has no history. The identikit ground is soulless and stuck out by the university.
I love McKenna, and I get Brighton is a better stepping stone to further his career, I get that our squad is way way off Premiership level. But I’d be really disappointed if he chose Brighton over a season to prove himself with Town. Brighton is just not a footballing Town.
Very surprised indeed. |
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Thread | Posh revenue incoming for Taylor. Can the midfielder step up to the Premiership?
at 21:58 19 May 2024
His old chairman at Posh, the opinionated Darragh McAnthony, made a lot of negotiating the £1.5m fee, and the potential upside to that. Especially related to promotion:
"I don’t want to get into a row with Ipswich fans over the price and the transfer and who got the better deal. But trust me, I'm a bit like the mounties, I always get my man when it comes to a deal.
"It's a phenomenal deal for us, it's a great deal for Jack. As I promised him, my word's my bond, I do it with my players. I promised him in January that we would do this deal in the summer and we've done that."
MacAnthony, who revealed that Taylor had a tour of Portman Road back in January, added: "I wish him nothing but the best of luck. Love to him and his family. He's been a brilliant player for our football club.
"And I wish Ipswich all the best. I am now a big fan of Ipswich and hope they get promoted to the Premier League because that's worth a lot of money to us, as is the big sell-on, as is the great transfer fee.“
And with 33 appearances, 2 goals, 2 assists, and 868mins in the Championship mean he’ll have contributed enough to the promotion (3 more goals and 2 more assists in the cups)
So McAnthony will have another cheque incoming.
Darragh did also say ““To all those mugs in the Championship, who didn’t come in for him, you’ve f*****d up, like you did with the Ivan Toney deal a couple of years ago when you could have come in for him and you didn’t. He is one of the best young central midfielders outside the Premier League and I firmly believe he could propel Ipswich on a Premier League promotion run.”
The Posh chairman certainly got it right that Taylor may have a part in propelling Town into the Premiership. But maybe not by the scale anticipated, but I do think in some key games he made a real difference.
Can Taylor play a part next season at the highest level??
He’ll be 26 in June, older than I realised. But I like him, I think he has energy and a bit of pace, and breaks the line as a more advanced midfielder.
But it’s a huge step up, and I feel he’s going to have to play out of his skin regularly to succeed. I do think there’s a chance. But perhaps as a back up to the player who will replace Luongo.
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Thread | Looking at the new Liverpool manager, Arne Slot, you again realise McKenna..
at 19:18 19 May 2024
… is some years off the experience and pedigree to take these top jobs, given recent speculation around our manager
Slot is 45, so 7 years older than McKenna
He managed in the Dutch second tier
Before taking the assistant role at AZ in the top tier (which we know McKenna has done), he then became manager and took them to 2nd place in the Erevedisie, becoming the first coach ever to win 19 points in his first eight games.
This success got him the top job at Feynoord in Dec 2020. Where his record has been strong at the top of Dutch football, see below.
McKenna has some way to go, and needs top tier pedigree.
“On 15 December 2020, Feyenoord announced that the club had reached a deal with Slot for him to become the club's new coach from the start of the 2021–22 season. The deal would see Slot sign for two years, with Feyenoord having the option to extend his contract for a third year. Slot succeeded the experienced Dick Advocaat, who led the team to fifth place in the Eredivisie and qualification to the UEFA Europa Conference League Qualifiers. Slot was appointed to build a new team with a recognisable playing style. Marino Pušić (first assistant coach) and Robin van Persie (field coach) were added to his staff, while John de Wolf was retained as second assistant coach. During Slot's first season, Feyenoord reached the round of 16 in European football for the first time in twenty years, finishing ahead of Slavia Prague, Union Berlin and Maccabi Haifa in the UEFA Europa Conference League group stage. In February 2022, Feyenoord used the club option to extend Slot's contract until 2024. In the knock-out stage of the Europa Conference League, the club knocked out Partizan, Slavia Prague and Marseille to reach the inaugural Europa Conference League final. Feyenoord lost the final 1–0 to Roma in Tirana and finished in third place in the Eredivisie. Slot was awarded the Rinus Michels Award for the Eredivisie Manager of the Year.
Slot and Go Ahead Eagles manager René Hake at a game in November 2023
Ahead of the 2022–23 season, Slot extended his contract at Feyenoord for a year, until 2025. Feyenoord won a UEFA Europa League group of Midtjylland, Lazio and Sturm Graz to reach the round of 16 of Europe's secondary club football tournament for a first time since 2002. In the round of 16, Feyenoord beat Shakhtar Donetsk 7–1 on 17 March 2023, Feyenoord's biggest win in European football since 1995. With the win, Slot overtook Ernst Happel and Bert van Marwijk to become the first Feyenoord manager to have won 15 matches in European football. Slot finished his second season at Feyenoord with Feyenoord winning the league, the club's first league title since 2017 and sixteenth in the club's history. Feyenoord were knocked out in the quarter-finals of the UEFA Europa League by Roma and in the semi-finals of the KNVB Cup by Ajax. In May 2023, Slot was heavily linked with the vacant manager's job at Tottenham Hotspur. By the end of the month, Slot announced he would be remaining with Feyenoord and extended his contract with a year, to mid-2026. Slot was awarded the Rinus Michels Award for Eredivisie Manager of the Year in June 2023, becoming the fourth coach to win the award for consecutive editions, after Guus Hiddink, Frank de Boer and Erik ten Hag.
In the 2023–24 season, Feyenoord got knocked out of the UEFA Champions League group stage, finishing third in a group with Atlético Madrid, Lazio and Celtic, and got knocked out by Roma for a third consecutive season, losing on penalties in the UEFA Europa League knock-out round play-offs. By managing the second leg against Roma, Slot equalled a club record of Van Marwijk of managing 36 European games. On 21 April 2024, Feyenoord beat NEC in the final to win its fourteenth KNVB Cup. Many pundits have described Arne Slot as one of the best coaches in the history of Feyenoord, as he combined results with developing players and playing attacking, attractive football.
[Post edited 19 May 20:30]
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Thread | Ipswich in the Premier League squad position analysis map
at 09:51 12 May 2024
So a huge step up ahead for McKenna’s boys
We have the advantage of McKenna’s brilliance, a positive team culture, fired up fan base that can make PR intimidating, and a system that is ingrained across the club.
The challenge is the step-up in the technical ability of players, the scale and level of technical coaching and system set-up depth (set-piece coaches etc), the speed of the game, the ruthlessness of opposition attack as opposed to the Championship.
But if we believe in ourselves, stick to our principles, take the game to the opposition, and limit the scale of squad change, we will have a chance to stay up.
But significant squad change is needed.
My thoughts (relative starting order by each position)
GK
1. Hladky
2. Walton
3. Slicker
RB
1. Axel
2. Clarke
RCB
1. New player
2. Wolf
3. Edmundson
LCB
1. Burgess
2. New player
3. Baggot
RCB
1. Davis
2. New player
RCM
1. Morsy
2. New player
LCM
1. New player
2. Taylor
3. Luongo
RAM
1. Burns
2. New player
No.10
1. New player
2. Sarmiento
3. Chaplin
LAM
1. New player
2. Broadhead
Striker
1. New player
2. Hirst
3. Ali
Humphreys is going on loan. Potentially Baggot. Sarmiento is returning. I’m not sure about Omari.
We say goodbye to Donacien, Ball, Travis, Harness, Jackson, Aluko, Moore
9 new players a hell of a lot. Maybe be higher.
Maybe even 10, if more depth in certain positions needed.
Our central midfield is too slow. You might not even see Morsy start the first game. But we need continuity.
I think take the goalies and much of the back 4 forward. Axel can play at this level. Davis too. Gamble on Burgess. [Post edited 12 May 9:55]
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Thread | Benchmarking against Burnley summer transfer action
at 20:06 7 May 2024
https://theathletic.com/4837815/2023/09/07/burnley-transfer-window-assessed-summ
Good article above that gives us a sense of what business we could expect, and also the level of cover in each position. £15m players.
Kompany went young, and with quite some volume at 15 signings (two being loan players in the Championship campaign signed permanently), with £90m in fees.
It obviously wasn’t successful- Too much change?
Too much of an experimental model?:
“The transfer model of owners ALK Capital involves recruiting players from across Europe and taking calculated gambles on young high-potential players. The club wants to be viewed as the hotbed for developing young talent, increasing their value and enabling them to take the next step up the ladder, while helping Burnley on the pitch.” |
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Thread | So here are some Premier 24/25 dates - 18th June and 17th August
at 13:52 5 May 2024
The release of the Premier League fixtures for the 2024/25 season has been confirmed to take place at 09:00 BST on Tuesday 18 June.
Dates for all 380 matches will be released at that time.
The 2024/25 season will consist of 33 weekends, four midweek rounds of matches and one Bank Holiday Matchweek.
The Premier League 2024/25 season dates have been confirmed, with the campaign starting on 17 August 2024, 90 days after the 2023/24 Premier League concludes on 19 May.
The final match round of the 2024/25 season will be played on 25 May 2025, when all matches will kick off simultaneously as usual.
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Thread | WE STAND ON THE BRINK OF GREATNESS - will YOU answer the blue clarion call?
at 08:08 4 May 2024
Our beloved club - transformed by passionate ownership, adroit stewardship and progressive, modern, technical football management - stands on the brink of a remarkable achievement. Of upsetting the odds and the financial divide, elevating the Pride of Anglia to the golden top tier of world club football.
But that single point need, that last push, that final hurdle for our blue warriors, should not be underestimated or assumed. Our group of players who we feel such connection to, who thrive in a culture of camaraderie, of a focussed desire to slay adversity - Well they NEED YOU.
My blue brothers, my blue sisters. They NEED you to go back to your inner well of blue passion, to drop down the pail once more and RELEASE your most primal and tribal instinct! Bring forth your greatest support… throw away the tartan rug and tartan thermos of self restraint, give in to the moment and SCREAM and SING our brave boys to their deserved destiny.
There will be wobbles today, our belief will flicker briefly, this is the Championship, there is no easy game. The Terriers manager is trying to shame them into a reaction. Our beloved players will be challenged by the gravity of the final ask, the final push over the top. And we, the massed ranks of blue, must respond. When there is doubt, let there be noise. When there is fear… let there be “BLUE AND WHITE ARMY, BLUE AND WHITE ARMY”
Let’s make every single stand, every seat, akin to a Town away end - its Barnsley away, it’s Coventry away - leave nothing in the stand, leave nothing in the well of your own Town passion. Let’s make memories together.
BELIEVE THE IMPOSSIBLE DREAM…. Roar the boys to victory… COME ON
Blue Army
(Nurse nurse increase the sedation!!)
[Post edited 4 May 8:10]
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Thread | If we don’t get a rooftop pool and Michelin starred restaurant..
at 08:16 3 May 2024
… in the new Cobbold
Well it’s time to get the protest bedsheets ready… ‘Ashton out’ ‘how can we support in these conditions’ ‘where’s the lobster bisque foam on my filet mignon?!’
https://riverside.fulhamfc.com/
These new stands/grounds are ridiculous - saw a tour video of Spurs new ground… chicken tikka pies and a plastic bottle of Green King IPA not quite the fare there [Post edited 3 May 8:40]
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Thread | McKenna is coming across incredibly well on Sky
at 22:28 30 Apr 2024
What a manager and guy he is!!!
Thank goodness that we have a chance of the Premier League as he is going to be in such demand
Not just because of the style, the results, the performances but he come as so modern and progressive.
He’s now surpassed Burley in my mind. |
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Thread | Brum relegation and Tom Wagner fan relationship
at 10:04 30 Apr 2024
What a crazy season at Brum
They play Norwich at home who will want to win to secure 5th and take form into play-offs
Plymouth are at home to Hull, who are good, but nothing now to play for.
Brum need Plymouth to lose and they win.
Tom Wagner made the disastrous Rooney appointment. And seems to be more focussed on off field stadia improvement and concerts than the on-pitch set-up. Yes he got Mowbray right and was unlucky with his ill health. And yes the fans really backed the chairman in a recent game, when a rare win combined with stadia news.
But it feels badly run. With Stansfield falling out with fans who’d had enough away at Hudds in a must win game.
League 1 is a nightmare to get out of. Put the stadia on hold and get the playing side working surely? |
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