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Quite a bit about the pitch from George Achingbrain in the new interview on BBC Sounds. The most significant investment in the pitch since it was first laid in 1988, and there should be some contribution to it from an outside source (which, I paraphrase, has not quite been signed off yet).

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Awaywego wrote:

For what Butler got out of it last season and it can’t have been a lot other than knowing from the first game in the main his squad players weren’t good enough and entering made them no better for it.

We got a developing relationship with Leeds United and, from that, Rory Mahady on loan.

We also got a potential goal of the season from Declan Howe and a really well-worked goal from Mark Beck (both in the Middlesboro U21s game).

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MK Iron wrote:

They were both decent having promised to be better than that when they first arrived.
Agree with Ironawe they were top 5 performers but nowhere near as important to the way the team played as Roberts, Rowley or Whitehall for whom we didn’t have able deputies.
Beestin when properly fit is better than both of them because he creates things and has a goal in him. Not quite as defensively disciplined as Westbrooke and Ewing so our cautious manager never started him unless he had to.
Butler does not have a track record of bringing in goal scoring or assist generating players. Dec is the only exception and Butler can’t work out what to do with him.

Butler has his work cut out to replace Roberts, Ewing and Westbrooke from the bargain bin or he might be delivering post again by Christmas.

Agree with all of this. They were decent enough, but neither Ewing nor Westbrooke really lived up to their early promise, or their potential. I feel like Ewing’s head was turned around January time and he didn’t get it together until towards the end of the season – by which point I would imagine he already knew he was off to the land of almond milk and manuka honey.

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saleiron wrote:

There’s a lot of rewriting of history going on atm. Turns out that Ewing and Westbrooke were terrible players. If these are ones we can’t afford, don’t expect much next season.

Neither was terrible – but neither was good enough to win the NL Belehouan d’Or.

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Ewing leaving is not that big of a deal.

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Deereyme66 wrote:

Apollo11 wrote:

its not looking to positive for next season as it stands but thats what happens when theres no money in the bank.
At least we still have a club (not heard that gem for ages just thought i would drop it in)

These are, of course, fair points to make over and over.

They really are. Kind of bizarre that ‘at least we have a club’ has become the devil’s spawn.

Using it to excuse a lack of ambition is the devil’s spawn.

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its not looking to positive for next season as it stands but thats what happens when theres no money in the bank.
At least we still have a club (not heard that gem for ages just thought i would drop it in)

These are, of course, fair points to make over and over.

2 users thanked author for this post.

Awaywego, Deereyme66

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saleiron wrote:

No player is irreplaceable and we should be looking to improve our squad depth and quality. The issue is not such much his rumoured departure to an another NL team as what it signals. Our player budget will likely not enable the signing of players of the quality of Ewing or Westbrooke, and certainly not Roberts. The net result is a weaker squad. We will see.

Last season could, potentially, just have been the flukey post-promotion ‘momentum’ season – the chance to ‘do it’ and get promoted. Now the dust has settled, reality could bite and we could be in for a few years of loanee and journeymen struggles.

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Sufcruleok, alcazar

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Deereyme66 wrote:

Tend to agree with Les. Great playmaker on his day and very skillful but he didn’t chip in with enough goals. Don’t think the ‘Madison’ tag from PD helped either.

Neither Ewing nor Westbrooke did a half of the playmaking Rowley did. Nor half of the dirty work.

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lesgeo wrote:

I have mixed feelings on this one.
He started really well BUT wasn’t getting goals.
In 2026 – seemed to lose interest for a period. There was speculation that ‘this was because he wanted to move on.’
Improved pre-playoffs.
Overall, he looked good – but rarely changed matches.
Does want to move on.
All things considered not all that unhappy to see him go.

I agree with this. He was very good but not that very good.

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Deereyme66 wrote:

I don’t think he is using it like that Stu. It’s a rehashed pic and post he shared on the Facebook group months ago that he perhaps thought seemed appropriate to re-post wishing KK good wishes. That’s what I perceived when I saw it anyway. Really not a fan of Dave’s self promotion but he’s not hurting anyone. I’m weary of his posts aswell, particularly those that purport to have secret knowledge of club goings on, but he won’t be the first and last to be guilty of that, so I mostly ignore it tbh. I would imagine many do.

To play devil’s advocate, why not post a picture of just KK?

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BigLeftToe wrote:

Don’t think there’s really any more to add that wasn’t already said on the original “ego” thread originally up on here.

Agreed – though I posted to highlight the irony, after PD’s cancer comments.

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Awaywego, BigLeftToe

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It has seemed to be quite a concerted social climb, hasn’t it?

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I’m certain I said this on another thread, but for some reason I have a strong suspicion he’ll go to York – the geography / travel from Newcastle…

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Southampton FC is now “under investigation” by the FA – so I don’t doubt there will be further sanctions placed on the club. Not sure what the FA will do? Financial penalty? As I said in an earlier post, I believe Southampton should be kicked out of the Football League.

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Sharp_Shooter24 wrote:

I think the EFL are an absolute joke.

If there was any consideration of removing Southampton from the play offs then the hearing should have been held before the play off semi final home and away legs… even if those matches needed to be pushed back!
To allow the matches to be played and then sell tickets to the Southampton fans for a final is disgusting.

Saying that, some of the Saints players actions during the games against Middlesborough (The ball boy not giving the ball back etc…) Added more bad feeling towards the club on the back of the spying.
The whole thing is an absolute mess!!

I’m not au fait with the exact timelines of this issue – but perhaps cut the EFL some slack? There may have been serious evidence come to light late on.

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SODIron wrote:

I personally think the EFL should also ban the individuals involved from all football-related activity for six months. That would act as a significant deterrent and send a clear message that this kind of behaviour has real consequences. If the punishment is too light, people will just see it as worth the risk.

That’d be just about everybody at the club, though?

1 user thanked author for this post.

TheJuryeffsOut

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The recently released statement by Phil Parsons, CE of Southampton. Entitled as fuck.

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SODIron wrote:

EFL Regulation 3.4: the duty for clubs to act towards each other with ‘utmost good faith’.

I know the National League is not part of the EFL… but Wealdstone at GP last season.

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Deereyme66 wrote:

Citeh are a case in point. Makes a mockery of justice and a level playing field.

I feel like there could be something coming soon around the 115, and that’s a big part of Pep’s exit.

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SODIron

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SODIron wrote:

Southampton broke the following EFL regulations (note: #127 was brought in specifically following the previous Leeds United / Marcelo Bielsa spying debacle).

EFL Regulation 3.4: the duty for clubs to act towards each other with ‘utmost good faith’.
EFL Regulation 127: the rule that prohibits a club from observing, or attempting to observe, another club’s training session within 72 hours of a scheduled match between the two clubs.

These are both very serious things to breach.

It’s not just the knock-out bit (the play offs), though, that they’ve sullied. They’ve made a mockery of the final Championship table. It is highly improbable that their spying (and therefore also their shitting on the idea of ‘utmost good faith’ towards other clubs) was restricted to the Oxford and Ipswich league matches. There’s just no way you can give them reasonable benefit of the doubt bearing in mind the admitted breaches.

In my opinion, they should finish this particular season on a punitive 0 points (as Sheffield Wednesday did), and everyone else moves up a place in the final table. Therefore Wrexham should be allowed their shot in the play offs, however that could work logistically.

There would even be a case to say that Southampton should be put out of the whole EFL, imho. You can’t have clubs doing this and getting away with a little slap on the wrist. Make them sit on the naughty step and think about what they’ve done, and then start again / try again / rebuild trust with the wider football community (the sum of which, in their case, would mean taking the punishment as a cleaning of the slate, and attempting in good faith to attain EFL status).

Some would say that would unduly punish the fans – but would it? The fanbase would generally take care of itself, I think. There would be those who would be angry and bitter, but any drop off in Southampton supporter numbers would be the club’s fault, and their issue to address. You support whatever happens – you don’t care less because your team is in a lower league (as we very well know).

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I have absolutely zero confidence in this. Are they not just repeating the pitch seeding process of the last couple of seasons, but a mere couple of weeks earlier?

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Ironawe wrote:

If we don’t get an experienced keeper we’ll have the same pantomime we had last season with 4 keepers each dropping clangers. I too am surprised we’ve kept barrows who isn’t great. Hopefully Campbell gets a season long loan in NLN that’s his level atm.

Jones pulled off several great saves in the (very) latter part of the season – I think he’s better than is being made out. I certainly have a reasonable amount of confidence in him, which I did not have in any of the other 25 who played for the Iron this last season.

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open hearth iron, mistertonmick, Ironawe, lesgeo, IronIronIron, billpuntonsghost, alcazar, iron64, Scunnytim

[Apollo11]

It’s a gentle evolution of last season’s squad – with, perhaps, a little bit of pain to come (Roberts and Ewing). I’d have expected a slightly more significant change if we had succeeded in the play-offs and stepped up a league.

[Apollo11]

FFS. Scunny Bunny is the absolute epitome of our tinpotness.

Should have gone with a tongue, the Scunnylingus.

1 user thanked author for this post.

alcazar

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RedMistTorpsFist wrote:

FFS. Scunny Bunny is the absolute epitome of our tinpotness.

Should have gone with a large tongue, the Scunnylingus.

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WonderGoals wrote:

1) An experienced, dependable Gk on a perm contract.

2) A natural CB to play alongside Evans.

3) A striker to rival Whitehall. A proper effective alternative.

3) Looks like Roberts is on his way with his post match reaction. A good replacement for him, not a direct one though of course due to budget restraints. Luke Brennan looked good last season for Buxton. Probably the kind of market we’ll be in.

4) Ewing will be off. So a good alternative needed.

5) Westbrook on a perm contract ?

More than rival Whitehall, imho. We need to be signing a striker fitter, stronger, faster and smarter than Whitehall, who makes him fight for his place on the teamsheet.

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Or perhaps not!

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iron64 wrote:

The club do need to explain how we have got to this mess, what did our club do to prevent it?
A season ticket holder should have been given the opportunity to buy a ticket. To log on at the appropriate time and there be none available is to deny a perk of buying a season ticket. Perhaps they should take it off as a reason to buy one!?
The number of tickets you could buy should have been set so if every season ticket holder bought their allocated number there would be say 10/20% left for general sale. As it is either us, Rochdale, the league who’s game this is or all 3 do appear to have shafted the fans.

When I bought mine, I’m pretty sure there was a block of seats (maybe two blocks?) in that stand that were greyed out, so unavailable. Perhaps they will be made available?

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… or those aged or vulnerable ones not able to use them

The price of living in the digital world: If you don’t join in you’re dead.

Somehow, provision should be made for these people. I don’t know what that would look like in the real world, but imho it is unfair otherwise.

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North Lincolnshire Irons, Deereyme66

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