theAnticlough

I'm feeling more negative about this game than I should be. After a few days to take in the Newport game, I'm wondering if we know who we want to play and where & how we should play them. Having a couple of the same below average performances we had on Saturday would be enough for Salford to extend their winning run against us IMO. All selected players will need to be at it.

Possible isn't it @Robbie, but at 29 I don't think he'd hang around for 2 years collecting a wage. Also, I don't think Salvador is one of the easiest Brazilian cities to live in. If he gets another month to catch up fitness wise, and Vitoria are still struggling (highly likely) he should be given his chance. I suppose we'll see then. I think there's a very strong chance he's somewhere else by this time next year.

@Piethagoram, I don't know how bad the crash was but I hope it can fade with time, even after 10 years A bus in southern Poland is where I retired my teeth as beer bottle openers. I had a good run but there it ended!

Personally, I think Grant should be first in line for a short loan up til xmas/new year. He's on a 3 year contract and we need him to improve. He's not going to produce the goals and assists we absolutely need to do justice to that key position to support a promotion push. He has to go somewhere (NL probably) where he can learn to do that, know what that feels like and gain the confidence he can do it. And then come back.

Vitoria got a nice 2-2 draw against Palmeiras (they were 2 up) but Ruben Rodrigues was an unused sub again. I see the most he's played is 3mins or so as a sub a couple of times. Maybe's he's still catching up on his fitness. Vitoria now no win from 5 and are just above the relegation slots, but have played 2 or 3 games more.

Yeah, noticeably better than his typical game last season. Let's hope it sets the tone and he maintains this more positive way of playing. Last season was about him recovering from major injury, but also about the toothless style SM created. Paterson's a different kettle of fish and the team will play with more purpose.

I once attended a hurling fixture and was taken aback by how fast and violent it is - a great spectator sport for sure

Like many fans, I've been waiting to see JJ tried out in this role for ages because if he's at his best he could wreak havoc. Today gave me a really bad feeling though. Out wide he can spend time teeing up his marker and choose his options. What we can't have is what we saw at times today - wanting time on the ball but being overpowered and dispossessed, then appealing to the ref for free kicks that will never come. If this is going to work out, he's going to have to think faster and be stronger. Early days, If he doesn't get a run of at least 5 games there we will never know.

Stall summed it up well, MP will be searching for the right combination of attacking players. Watching the game, it was a bit Maynardesque in that we couldn't get on top of the game but there were some positive differences... The midfield was far more positive in it's approach, it seems we might just get the fully recovered version of Palmer we were hoping for The substitutes came on and asserted themselves, Bennetts, Norburn and Edwards came on and did really well The negatives today might even be positive if the technical board helps MP realise there are certain losing players that you should hesitate to give a shirt. His early substitutions suggest he can get on top of this himself anyway. Finally, shout out for Dennis - excellent debut, I don't think anyone else was going to do anything to stop us losing today.

I went Bedeau - as good as he was for the whole of last season Dennis and Platt were his competition and some subs played to a good level

Looks pretty strong, despite Jatta, injured players, departures etc. And looks to be in line with the set-up of recent years - 3-4-2-1? If Aljofree is the answer to our long-standing RCB problem, then we'll have taken a big stride forward anyway

If the OP is true, handle it like the Crowley situation... A catastrophe would be a panic sale now, leaving ourselves short and only being able to target promotion in 2027. That's a lot worse than a Ruben-Wootton scenario

With all our changes, a positive prediction needs a leap of faith. I'm ready to make that leap for MP, working with the technical board, to drive us up the table. 6th place again! After just 2 seasons, I've already got too much dislike for the contending teams to make a promotion prediction. But from Mapperley's prediction table above, I think we'll finish over the likes of Colchester and Grimsby. The bottom two looks right - Accrington & Harrogate

Well the planet would be a lot healthier and if other life forms could vote on it, we'd be gone by an absolute landslide (thanks dogs, for your support - I think cats would take their chances and vote with the 99.99% :) ) But at the risk of coming across completely anthropocentric, we are pretty much the world, aren't we? Us 8.23 billion are a work in progress, give us another shot, we might come good yet!

My rookie season begins with... Bradford City 1-1 Wycombe Wanderers Doncaster Rovers 2-0 Exeter City Lincoln City 1-2 Reading Plymouth Argyle 2-2 Barnsley Barnet 1-1 Fleetwood Town Cambridge United 2-0 Cheltenham Town (joker) Grimsby Town 2-0 Crawley Town Walsall 1-2 Swindon Town Happy New Season to all!!!

Nice that it was against Sutton 😊

Me too @Piethagoram, Sirrel stand, upper level towards the Kop. Mac was such a brave, whole-hearted player, but it was never the same after that.

Some great answers to a great question. The obvious easy ones are not signing Agana, not appointing Larry Lloyd. I’ll also offer substituting Iain McCulloch, before Gary Bailey breaks his leg

He’s good, I’ll enjoy listening to him this season. Thanks to Dave Brace-Girdle for his stint, I enjoyed his quirky style, and he was a more astute observer of the game than some give him credit for

great news, been out all day, will enjoy looking up today’s developments, but good timing - we managed to put a squad together before the season started

Gorgeous start to the day. I'd lined up a big gardening day at the start of this week. The forecast is wet for tomorrow, so I'll have to bring it forward to this pm. Good all-round exercise, but I'm bracing myself now I know I'm not putting it off til tomorrow

A team of destiny? Or just a very talented team and a tough nut to crack. This is kind of the early decades of the women's team, so Leah Williamson is the female Booby Moore. Everyone involved deserves a tonne a credit, but Williamson is a SPOTY candidate. If not her, Hammond - her story is inspirational

Looking forward to today's final. It'd be great if we could finally beat Spain in a major football final. I don't think we're favourites though. Our defenders, Hemp and Walsh are outstanding and Agyemang is a real threat. But Spain have strength all round too and then have the real ace to play - Bonmati. I watched most of the knock-out games and they were usually tight affairs. The deadlock in Spain's matches was broken by pieces of magic, which is what major international competitions should be all about. Who else would play the back-heel pass to break the deadlock against the the hosts? Then in the semi against Germany, the focus would be on her finish from the really narrow angle, but it was the trick to throw off the big German defender which made the goal. Pretending to be flat-footed, letting the ball roll thru her legs beat the defender all ends up and despite being twice the size of Bonmati she never made up the ground. Two flashes of genius got Spain to the final, and that's what we're up against.

Me too. I think adjusting to age-appropriate activities is very important as you get older. Because of injuries, more than age, I decided to give up football about twenty years ago. Trouble is I got so old and so much time passed that I forgot about this important decision and started playing 5-a-side again (with work colleagues but with some in their early 20s too). In the second game I lasted 10 seconds before my calf went ping. I'd scored a nice one the week before, so I'll go out on that and go back to my age-appropriate activities rule. Walking, all types, is on the top of my list - love it.