ant

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.

Yeah, I scooched over to the left a bit but in essence it's the view from the bar. The chippy down the hill is still open, but has changed hands at least twice in the time I've been here (since 2019). Andy's also still going, but the family sold it on last year. Bitterne Balti folded during the height of Covid but remains an Indian restaurant (called Dhamaka now). The small trains still run! Though strangely I've never seen them in person. Sorry for having derailed the topic a bit - but thought I'd answer these at least!

With all the discussion about the starting lineup it mostly seems to have gone under the radar that the bench looks pretty grim too. 🫣

Cracking view down over Cobden Bridge. Sun trap from March to September. Big fan of grabbing takeaway bottles of draft beer and taking them the stumbling distance to Riverside Park. This side of the city is hugely underrated, IMO.

Was a literal butchers shop in origin, but I believe a picture framing shop in-between. In renovating the place the owners discovered the original wall tiling and motif (which had been hidden behind ghastly plaster). I guess I'm biased but it has to be seen to be believed. And has the best 'community' feel I've ever experienced from a pub. For years before I ran it, it was my favourite place to drink.

The Butcher's Hook, Bitterne Triangle.

Hadn't seen this thread until now but it's been interesting to read your anecdotes - thanks to everyone for sharing. I've been a hardcore craft beer wanker for a decade+, and for me hunting out shiny new releases is a hobby as much as it is about the drinking. There's an app called Untappd where you can log what you've had (including a description, score out of 5, etc.) Mostly joined it because friends did but ironically got suckered in more than any of them. To some extent it gamifies drinking (with 'badges' like the achievements or trophies you get on Xbox or PlayStation). That said I've ignored the gamification since the first year of being on it. Tend to treat it more like a diary of good times and reminder of which brews I like best. I've always worked in web, but through 2018 and 2019 took a swerve into managing craft beer pubs. Couldn't make enough of a go of it without moving cities (which we weren't prepared to do at the time), so that was that. Last year an opportunity came up to manage my favourite pub in Southampton. Interviewed for it and after weighing it up I jumped at the chance. Work-wise I couldn't be happier - though naturally my consumption has ballooned. I've always been blessed with being able to eat and drink whatever I want. Which makes it sound like I gorged and got away with it but I just mean I didn't have to think about moderation of treats etc. Since mid 2020 I've lost consistency in my exercise too. Initially the more physical job was helping with that, but that's been more than outweighed by spending 40+ hours a week around booze, the freebies/brewery samples and eating crap due working patterns. The food bit should be easy enough to solve; need to do more pre-prep and/or cooking when I've got the wherewithal. Thinking of doing Couch To 5k too, as I'm scared how long that distance would take me now (and it used to be a specialty). Booze moderation is going to be trickier. By the nature of my job I need to keep on top of what's hot and what's going to sell... Not drinking on shift would be a start, mind. I've had some nights recently where I've ended up nearly as pissed as if I'd had a night out. Which is fun but unnecessary, and in itself leads to impulsive decisions. RE: low & no alcohol options, I've always had a passing interest in them and tried many. With January/Dryanuary I made a big effort to get interesting options into the pub. We had Unity's 'Nonflux' on draft all month (a play on their flagship pale, Conflux), which wasn't indistinguishable but genuinely bloody tasty. For my money Mash Gang are putting out the most worthwhile 0.5% beers on the market right now. Despite being a small venue we've already sold through about 50 cans of their stouts this year. Some of their stuff is quite, er... Out there. Had a Sour Patch Kids-inspired one from them which was delicious but a soft drink in everything other than name. The absolute best has been a kirschtorte stout called 'Reign In Blood'. Most low alc beers have fuck-all body - in part due to less residual sugars. This one's thick and creamy and lush (and without lactose, which is normally the cheat mode option). Tastes like a stouty black forest gateaux. Last time my parents dropped down my dad tried one - he's gone from being nonplussed about non alc to buying these by the case online. Anyway, didn't intend for this to be quite so long & rambling, but I guess I've typed it out now. Thanks again for the perspective. There's been an occasional voice in my head that I need to make some changes. Better now (mid-30s) than later.

Love Olaf's, and their beer selection is indeed fantastic. I run The Butcher's Hook in Bitterne Triangle, and we may be a good shout for your needs? Don't tend to be able to run as many casks as Olaf's, but there's still 3 beautifully-kept options on at weekends. Local and national picks, and always top-drawer stuff. Rob and Maz won't mind me saying it (as they've told me as much!) but our keg range tends to be more expansive/exciting than theirs, if you're not fussy about dispense type. Well-behaved minors always welcome, too. It's a decent option to park up this way if you want a quick getaway towards the motorways. If using public transport (or in possession of a designated driver) you've got The South Western & Junction en route if you want a small crawl to or from the stadium. Oh - and we're licensed for off-premises sales if you want anything draft or packaged to go. Current selection is updated daily: https://www.butchershookpub.com/menu/

Tap It is still operational but the taproom doesn't seem to open any more, strangely.

I don't think you could say that across the board. There was a mixed degree of understanding. The questions mostly did a decent job of levelling that out, IMO.

Something that struck me was how preemptively defensive they were with the disclaimers about how it was going to be run, why it wasn't live streamed, etc. Despite the visible shock of some of the panel (Henrik Kraft looked like a deer in headlights!) *somebody* at the club has their ear to the ground, at least. It felt a bit like a rebuttal of the criticisms in the early stages of this thread.

Must have been Rasmus. He was near enough the only person with anything to say about on-the-pitch issues. (Also, FFS - this forum always manages to tempt me to spend the fiver when we're shit...)