Holmes_and_Watson

Will did really well under Russ in our promotion season. It would be an obvious one for them to continue that.

Good news to retain Passi. One of last season's few positives.

I guess pretty much every manager has to deal with some issues on arrival. This season being an exception for a couple of PL clubs who have managers moving on. For Martin, he not only has to deal with that. But, because he wants a certain system, rebuild and retrain whoever is left to fit his style of play. His system is also designed to get the best out of decent, but definitely underdog sides. It's possession, and supposedly quick transition, against teams that want to play out. Rangers talked about his possession, without noticing that they already got that percentage against every team except Celtic. Martin, as with us, had to work out how to win against teams happy to sit back and absorb pressure. Right from the start, Martin brings in plenty of his own self-made hurdles to success. Currently, the quality of that Leicester side is silly for League 1. They should have more than enough to eat past teams, whether helped or hindered by Martin. But then, they were supposedly far too good to get relegated there, and the player cull hasn't started yet. I'd like to think that he's always trying to develop his approach. How to break team's down that don't play into his system. Using pace, power and height in there to compliment the possession. The evidence, at Rangers, suggests otherwise.

Keeping in shape for a late call up, when Stones gets crocked.

I thoughtt Harry Maguire hadn't been picked for the squad?

Yup. That's the lot. The rest are given to him through an earpiece, while he focuses on not drooling.

Really pleased for him. They should have went for him, before he got to Rangers. I had read a couple of things offering some financial protection for clubs suffering back to back relegations. So, that should offer some respite. The squad will go through a lot of changes. It's an opportunity to also bring in players to fit his style of play. Baz and Will should be two on his radar. But they need to keep a team capable of bouncing straight back too. His career showed an upward trajectory from that level to our promotion. As always, it will be interesting to see how it works.

"I am"..."an"..."idiot" - Robert Jenrick. All of his words, so they must also be true.

Exactly. We've all had enough of panels being on our back this season.

Numbers

Country

That's a scary thought. Let's hope they guard against that happening.

I had a quick look to see what Malkinson's minimum term would have been. Had he admitted guilt, it was 6.5 years, when he'd then be eligible for parole. Even if the first hearing failed, he would have had access to various sex offender programmes designed for prisoners to be able to be released. By refusing to admit guilt, he couldn't get onto any of those.

Quite the day. Lots of players will be seeing the advantages of staying with an in-form, promotion chasing side. From the rewards of promotion. But also the shop window, and satisfaction, of regular games at a very high level. There may be some PL clubs enquiring. But some thought has to go into potentially joining a side that comes straight back down. Then you've got the same wage reduction, and possibly less chance than we have of going back up. The sign on and PL wage spike may not be worth it long term. Not to mention upheaval and possibly just being a fringe player. Hopefully Bree sees it that way, and decides to stay. It's been a tough time for him under certain managers. But he's a consistently strong performer for us. SR set their stall out to pay wages that made transfers attractive. So, I can see him weighing up his options. Stewart is a different scenario. He's had a good end of it the season for us, with managed minutes. He's only played one season with over 25 league games in it. That was followed by 4 injury ravaged campaigns. Then this one, where he got injured in the early part of it. Sure, he could look at extending with us. Whether out of loyalty for previous injuries, or because we'll continue to manage him. But at 29, and with that injury record, I do understand him wanting to look for the best deal for him and his family. A guaranteed PL, or higher wage than ours, would make a difference should another injury occur. He'll have to stay fit over the World Cup, so he can get that best deal, wherever it is. A long term injury now would be grim for him