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CrosspoolClarets

I visited New Zealand and my abiding thought while standing in amongst all of the houses in Christchurch without central heating was that they have been turned over by their big rival Australia with many of their young skilled workers jumping ship and the country being far poorer as a result. That i...

CrosspoolClarets

I feel so sorry for the Scots having her and her cronies in charge (or at least, pretending that they are). On a blind lunge for power, they conveniently ignore that the % who would hypothetically vote to be independant (about 48% seems to be the latest polling) is very different from the % who agre...

CrosspoolClarets

Heaton 6 Lowton 8 Ward 8 Mee 6 Keane 9 Barton 8 Hendrick 9 Arfield 7 Boyd 8 Gray 8 Barnes 8 Brady 4 First of all, not Brady's fault, I bet he has never played right in his life, but my Aunt Doris has a better right foot than that. Mee was pretty good, one or two desparate lunge blocks and his relati...

CrosspoolClarets

I think he wanted Arfield to stay left to stop Clyne getting forward. Whatever, it seemed a defensive mindset change not an offensive one, whereas when we are one down for 30 minutes I would have liked to see us go for it more with genuine width. The away stats are improving, not the results yet but...

CrosspoolClarets

Unfortunately Ben has made a lot of errors which have led to goals at key times. We still have a chance today but unlikely. I'm just grateful that few of those errors have been at home (suggesting it is mental weakness). His performances may still be good enough overall to see us comfortably stay up...

CrosspoolClarets

There is a place for zoos and safari parks in terms of research, education and preservation. Some animals would not survive in the wild for example. This particular place seems like a throwback though. To get close to animals we can go to Longleat where you can feed giraffes with branches or drive t...

CrosspoolClarets

Norwich appear to have imploded since selling him, and his record with us so far is decent with a goal and an assist. He is always looking for the forward pass which I like. He tucks in a lot away from home which limits his attacking instincts while rendering him less effective overall due to still ...

CrosspoolClarets

Skybet have us as 18-1 now which I think is about right. We have to remember the reason for the away (and home) form is about scoring the first goal, we've failed to do that repeatedly away, but often do at home. We've got our first two points of the season recently after conceding the first goal (C...

CrosspoolClarets

We know that we allow crosses and long shots in favour of getting bodies in the way of their destination, I'd be more critical of 28.8% possession but in fairness it isn't our style to sit back with the ball, and we did score 2. I prefer though just to think how good we would be if we had Llorente a...

CrosspoolClarets

It always strikes me as odd when people refuse to vote for a party based simply on previous governments. Nowadays great leaders of the future have to pick one party or the other to have a chance, and if they have a set of beliefs that are neither left nor right you could see them picking either part...

CrosspoolClarets

I'm another one who thinks those are excellent points. I tend to think many Tories are socially aware and fairly compassionate (Gove being one, IDS being another, though both may be misguided in some senses). I do think though many other Tories are like Yank politicians, in it for their chums and to...

CrosspoolClarets

We are rapidly getting to the time when fixtures remaining become important, so even though I predicted Leicester at the season start and on page 1 of this, I think they'll survive because of their easy home fixtures left. So now I think Palace, Sunderland and Boro. Two shocking run ins for those th...

CrosspoolClarets

The Keane story was in the papers last weekend. As for what Foxedup said, whoever that is, that's all well and good but statistically it is proven that the "bounce" from a new manager is an illusion (see the book The Numbers Game). In that all managers get sacked when results go wrong for them, that...

CrosspoolClarets

Because it's looking good I'm sticking to the same three I said in July - Leicester, Hull and Middlesbrough.

I have a feeling though that Sunderland will ruin that initial prediction.

CrosspoolClarets

Heaton 7 Lowton 9 Keane 8 Mee 8 Ward 7 Barton 8 Westwood 7 Brady 6 Boyd 7 Barnes 6 Gray 5 Arfield 5 Grosicki was on a mission to prove a point but Lowton handled him immaculately. That the unbelievably good Robertson was behind him, on a mission for a different reason, meant that Lowton (and to a le...

CrosspoolClarets

Grosicki reminded me of Kightly today. Direct, fairly quick and threatening, but his end product was a bit inconsistent today. Boyd had a really good first half and dug in after the break. He was certainly much better than Brady, who showed he's still very unfamiliar with our system. Funny that, I ...

CrosspoolClarets

"Losing the players" is a concept I struggle with. If I was a boss and disliked by a bunch of my staff, they would still need to toe the line. Footballers at the top level don't think like that any more. Surely they should still respect him for what he contributed to the biggest success of their liv...

CrosspoolClarets

My wife has just had the exact same injury playing sport (strain on medial knee ligament) and the physio has said a month. My bet with JBG and the treatment he will receive is that it will be 3 weeks until he is considered again, all guesswork but I doubt he will be playing major parts in our crucia...

CrosspoolClarets

I'm not sure what relevance our performance last week will have, but we will find out - regardless of who outplayed who, we didn't really work the keeper of a non league side at home, so it's safe to say our level needs to improve on Saturday. Its fairly obvious to me that players out of starting ac...

CrosspoolClarets

Just seen in the LET the Lincoln manager say we were lobsided with Flanagan playing which meant they only had 65% of the pitch to defend. Can't really argue that assessment and in truth that can't be laid at Flanagans door that he didn't become left footed overnight. Dyche bizarrely gave us no threa...

CrosspoolClarets

Agree entirely with that report, the only thing I would add is the ball coming off the Lincoln players hand for the crucial 2nd corner. Resting players is fine if the ones coming in are good enough, but those two full backs are not. Certainly not the right footed Flanagan on the left, taking away al...

CrosspoolClarets

And if we stay up, especially in mid table, we will still be reminded of one of the greatest achievements in modern football - which this season will be if we carry on going as we are! There is a reason why many pundits are suggesting Dyche should be nominated for manager of the year. And just to a...

CrosspoolClarets

Assuming the question is about why the fans are so negative for a one off defeat, I think it's something to do with being on the wrong end of one of the top upsets in over a century. Even for those of us who want to focus on the league, that feeling of humiliation isn't something we want associated ...

CrosspoolClarets

Heaton 6 Darikwa 4 Flanagan 4 Keane 6 Tarkowski 6 Arfield 3 Gudmundsson 4 Barton 6 Westwood 5 Gray 3 Vokes 3 Boyd 3 One of those days where you can't see us winning another point, yet know we will. The wide players were woeful, no stretching the pitch, no drawing them out, no pace, no skill. Lincoln...

CrosspoolClarets

The ghost of Wimbledon in 1975 - it felt so good to be the only top flight team to lose at home to non-league, so we decided to do it twice. That, and karma from 1987, as said above we got away with one and the police dog relegated Lincoln and saved Torquay (if I recall). Dyche makes it abundantly c...

CrosspoolClarets

On the positive, we can have a day out in Liverpool on a weekend now instead of midweek.

CrosspoolClarets

Claretspice, I think we all know that a referendum is a fairly blunt instrument, like a general election, but it is democratic. Being blunt, if we held one a week for a year, Remain would win some, Leave would win some. Simply based on the ebb and flow of the news cycle. Blair knows that (as do Stur...

CrosspoolClarets

Side issue but being part of the EU means they're politically further from Russia and less under the influence of Putin. Non-EU Montenegro saw a failed Russian coup only a few months ago. Ukraine was keen on EU membership a few years ago, Putin diapproved, been sort of at war since. I'd say EU memb...

CrosspoolClarets

We are certainly not the last to leave. And yes, Europe does need us more than we need it, they`ve now lost one of their largest contributors. Absolutely spot on. See my above post about the Latvians. They need our money, our security, our world influence. Not Europe per se, but many of the countri...

CrosspoolClarets

That's all well and good timshorts, but it is our money not the EU's money, it just goes temporarily into their pot. When I was skiing 2 weeks ago I was taxied back to the airport by a Latvian, who was telling me what a disaster it was when the Soviets fell, and everyone lost their savings overnight...

CrosspoolClarets

This interview with Blair a couple of months ago is interesting. http://www.theneweuropean.co.uk/top-stories/i_am_tony_blair_ask_me_anything_1_4809132 He talks some sensible talk at times, peppered with arrogance and the habit typical of consummate politicians and lawyers to never give up in trying ...

CrosspoolClarets

Let's be clear, we don't need replays - as soon as Defour started playing Saturday then Tuesday and for more minutes he got injured for example. But playing Saturday, Saturday, Saturday with the occasional cup game in there - I don't see the problem. Just play the game, whatever game it is, and see ...

CrosspoolClarets

Whatever you think of Tony Blair (I think he's odious, personally), is there actually anything wrong with this comment: “The people voted without knowledge of the true terms of Brexit. As these terms become clear, it is their right to change their mind” As I said to someone last night in the pub, I...

CrosspoolClarets

He has chosen Saudi Arabia because he is to become the head of Saudi Arabian refereeing on a rolling 1 year contract. As someone who has known him since he started refereeing in our local leagues back in the 1990s, refereeing senior football at the age of 15, I wish him well, he has been a good amb...

CrosspoolClarets

The number of things that we will discover cause damage to the brain, we'll end up banning everything. In truth though I have had no intention of ever heading a football for over 30 years, they always made me dizzy and I always felt sure they damaged the brain long term. Even new balls. I would pers...

CrosspoolClarets

Got to be Keane. He makes less tackles, interceptions, fouls and clearances than Mee (who I would vote 2nd, Heaton 3rd) - he does though have more attempts on goal at the other end and blocks at our end. I interpret that as being someone who carries out his work in an incredibly calm and accomplishe...

CrosspoolClarets

A nice feeling to see that table and as a nostalgic I hope it is not too far away from being a table where we can then go all out to try to win the FA Cup. After all, beat Lincoln, get a home draw and we can go all the way without having to play away, so we must have a fair chance.

CrosspoolClarets

I recall the stat that close to a year went by without us losing a league game that Ward played any part in. I think it was from the Arsenal / Everton defeats 2 years ago, until well into last season if I'm not mistaken. I thought it was folly when he was left out for Mee at left back simply because...

CrosspoolClarets

Heaton 6 (sure he fell asleep at one point 2nd half) Lowton 8 (terrible finish, otherwise great) Ward 8 Keane 7 (I thought he struggled with their movement at times including the goal) Mee 7 (a few bad errors otherwise terrific) Barton 9 (when he lands from that Willian challenge I'll work out how l...

CrosspoolClarets

Agent tried to broker a move to Forest and Rangers took that as a resignation - sounds like MW has wanted out for some time. I suspect the club was too big for him at this stage of his career even if the standard of football isn't that high. I said at the time regarding Joey that maybe MW isn't used...

CrosspoolClarets

I'm just as sure that Russia interferes in Western elections as I'm sure that we interfere in theirs.

We've engaged in plenty of regime changes that we DO know about, sure as heck we try to engineer others too.

CrosspoolClarets

I think before anyone talks about Hull's upturn, they need to look at who they have played. A couple of good draws granted but also a win or two against some very out of form sides like Liverpool. Whereas we have won everything at home, and could have got something away against 3 of the top 4 and a ...

CrosspoolClarets

Isn't the most pertinent question - how do Chelsea beat us?

We have a slightly better home record than their away record. If I was a betting man, I'd be putting my money on a draw.

CrosspoolClarets

When you have big managers like Allerdyce, Moyes etc struggling to keep their teams in the league despite in some cases spending large sums, that suggests this is a really hard league and any manager sitting above bottom must have something about them. Eddie like Sean has done really well so far - I...

CrosspoolClarets

Not sure whether this has been mentioned in the thread, but the below link in theory is a stats geek website that has very cleverly predicted we will finish 9th - without getting more than 1 point away from home 8-) 8-) 8-) http://www.express.co.uk/sport/football/763751/Premier-League-table-predicte...

CrosspoolClarets

Hull have got their tails up, Grosicki will be on a mission, we will have no midfield, we can't win away.

Sounds like the sort of challenge this team have loved taking on to be honest. Hopefully we'll win it.

CrosspoolClarets

Not sure where loyalty comes into it. Barton was out of contract and joined Rangers for reasons unknown but I suspect he sensed he wouldn't be first pick for us. As it turns out, on returning he has been MOM or close in virtually every game and (in my view) has led to us being far better away. He ha...

CrosspoolClarets

Given Leicester could go down (and I think will) it proves nobody is too good to go down (nor to win the league). The margins are fine and are often confidence related and a few other intangible variables like Vardy not conning as many refs this time. So I won't get complacent but we have to aim for...

CrosspoolClarets

My wife is from Lincoln and our first date was Lincoln City vs Burnley. Sad I know, but she has been a Claret season ticket holder for 10+ years so the ploy has worked!

CrosspoolClarets

The clues are there. Private school, seems to prefer his own car to his teammates company, likes walks on his own in Yarm, sensitive, a thinker. Variables which may lead him to succeed in many walks of life, but I suspect football isn't one of them. Strikes me as someone who makes bad decision after...

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