ant

Lots of fantastic cask about, too - we get through tons of Vibrant Forest, Dark Revolution, Steam Town, Eight Arch, Flower Pots et al at The Hook. Plenty of less traditional, nationally-recognised breweries dipping their toes into cask, too. Have had some glorious pints recently from the likes Cloudwater, Verdant, Kernel, Vocation... We don't have it too bad 'round these parts.

That's apples and oranges, though. Trad ales are cheaper to produce. The dry-hop alone in something like Conflux will likely cost the same as the entire ingredients bill in a Flacks or Steam Town ale. Can't remember the last time I paid less than £6 a pint for the actual 1:1 equivalent of a Unity beer in, say, The Bookshop.

Energy cost + ingredients cost means that's where the price is for anything that's not macro-brewed swill. If the market's not willing to pay it then fair enough. But if the inference was that it was naked profiteering then that's very much not the case. Based upon my own experience of the industry and the continuing success of places like Olaf's Tun, The Butcher's Hook, The Bookshop Alehouse, The Dancing Man etc. I feel it's fairly clear that there's still a desire for quality beer in the city, even if the pricepoint's premium. I've seen successful taprooms in far more obscure areas so am not sure the location's necessarily a critical issue either. And for any brewery worth its salt, the taproom's an extra arm of revenue rather than making up the bread & butter of sales.

Not myself, as I'm running an Omnipollo tap takeover at The Butcher's Hook, Friday to Sunday. Copped some flak from one of the CAMRA guys for daring to put something on at the same time as the festival. But surely fringe events are a good thing? 🤷‍♂️ Yeah, it'll be interesting to see how Unity 2.0 pans out. Good beer in more places isn't to be sniffed at. Just hope they remain authentic to the brewing as-was.

You've only got to look at Scott Carson bumbling around at City. 37 years old and made less than a handful of appearances since signing from Derby. McCarthy could conceivably end up in a similar situation.

They've put it back into 'potentially can afford' territory for me, which is a headache I hadn't quite anticipated. Got 2x Exchange sales from this season's ticket which increases the plausibility. £21.70/match seems about what I'd hope for in the Championship. Not extraordinary value. But fine.

Had no idea this is a sell-out (though I guess that's the Liverpool element). I've other, more pressing plans on Sunday than watching our current goons jog around. So thanks to those that have discussed the ticket exchange. Funds are tight, so hopefully it'll facilitate a match or two next season.

Seems a bit disingenuous. After losing his first match in charge, Carrick took them on a run of 15 wins in the next 20 matches. Took charge of 30 matches. So the best part of a season. 58 points in that time, i.e. 1.93 PPG. Extrapolating across a season you'd be looking at potential automatic promotion. I'm not claiming Carrick's the Messiah - or even a good fit for us. But has at least shown signs of having the chops for the Championship.

I've the will to renew - and don't really want to lose my seat. But am paying 100% more in rent than 12 months ago. So... May be out of my hands. Frankly I wouldn't blame anybody for choosing not to renew. Doesn't necessarily mean they're a 'plastic', either. Do you have genuine faith in Sports Republic fixing this?

Smaller, interestingly. Albeit with other backing.

I'm cynical, based upon who's purchased it. But would be delighted to be wrong. A number of the staff are returning - so if nothing else then for their sake.

Those decrying Wrexham for spending their way out of the league (at poor old Notts County's expense) seem to be conveniently ignoring that County are bankrolled themselves by their Danish consortium owners.

None of which is relevant to what I said, i.e. that Brighton are doing very nicely off the back of a stats-led approach. Let's call a spade a spade: the odd formations and tactics on the pitch are symptomatic of Sellés being clueless. Data doesn't come into it.

Charly seems the sort that could get 15 goals from midfield in the Championship. He cut a very frustrated figure yesterday, where many around him appeared apathetic. Whether that's 'I'm losing my Premier League player status' or him genuinely caring I don't know.

What a bizarre extrapolation of what I said.

The Brighton point is interesting, as they take a hugely analytical, stats-based approach. That tact isn't necessarily wrong (despite what some on here will lead you to believe). The failure point comes on the human side. Picking the wrong metrics, analysing the data incorrectly, etc. etc. Ankersen et al are spectacular human failure points.

We're led to believe that in elite sport fine margins matter, both in preparation and on the day. So what we do? Hand away fans the impetus by letting them (quite literally) drum up support. 🤷‍♂️ Can only imagine they had a prior arrangement to bring it in? And either way you've got to question the club's decision making. When the drumming started quite a few in the Northam lost the plot; more Police and stewards moved up into the stands; they were all monitoring that area of Palace fans but did feck all. Don't think I've ever seen the officials be so heavy-handed with our lot as they've been this season. All whilst letting away support get away with the same or worse. And why don't we position any stewards in the away end?

If anyone's a glutton for punishment and desperate for a ticket for tomorrow, I've just had to put my seat up on the exchange. 42, V, 1095.

Great summary. As you say, even at a basic 'with my own eyes' measure, the difference is marked. Whilst reading your post it occurred to me that Mad Nate is probably delusional enough to think he laid the groundwork for the upturn. 😆

For my money, Sellés has done the near-impossible: made me fully re-engage. To live and die every moment of a match. That was some dynamic, fearless football today, even before the sending off. My heart was pumping throughout the entire second half. It felt good.

100% this. When he receives the ball he holds it, has a think... Holds it... And then eventually releases. I'm not sure that's composure. If you're playing out from the back you need swift, incisive, meaningful distribution. Not convinced any of our CBs are particularly good at it; certainly seems strange to me to highlight it as a Bednarek attribute.

Follow a prominent Palace chap on Twitter (good value, by the by), and he's convinced they've developed a serious issue with goalshyness. Points on the board, yes. But it wouldn't take many weeks to even that out. Still think we're gone, personally. Who joins us is surprisingly wide open for this point in the season.

Tiss is little less than a grifter these days, sadly. And you can be a very nice guy to talk to - AND a club legend - yet still a grifter.

• Defunding it makes it no better. What do you think will replace it? A fair and balanced broadcaster? • You think some rich philanthropist with good intentions and honour will create a media company, news channel etc. ? • Of course not you'll just get another version of the Daily Mail or Sky/Fox or CNN, something owned by a rich person or corporation which pushes agenda's for their owners. • The Daily Mail doesn't giving a flying f about the people of this country, it literally pushes an agenda that suits its rich owners, which means keep tories in power at all costs. • Just because the BBC has been infested by Tories is not a reason to get rid of it, it's a reason to fix and rescue it. • The whole point of proper journalism is to question things, discuss things and expose the truth. Challenge lies, expose false narratives, tell the stories and news that are important to people of the country. • That is what the BBC should be doing, it should be free to criticise the government all it likes as long as it is fair criticism and especially if its objectively based. • Literally the BBC has a statue of George Orwell outside its HQ that says "If liberty means anything at all, it means the right to tell people what they do not want to hear" More digestible? Eagerly awaiting your reasoned riposte.

Fact of the matter is that an international footballer of considerable experience shouldn't be getting riled up by a League 2 player or responding like that. You can ill afford to give away 'nothing' penalties at any level. Let alone when our attack is so utterly toothless.