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It was incredible, but it wasn’t sustainable and there were flaws that were being picked at, hence the tactical changes. Bristol (H) - 5 points from last 6 away games (won 4 away all season) Blackburn (A) - mixed form, (3-2-5, trending down) Watford (H) - same as b’burn (3-2-5, trending down)...

Sakamoto has outperformed his xA… The data doesn’t support the idea that Sakamoto creates all these great opportunities that go to waste. MVE, Grimes (including Swansea data), Sheaf have ‘underperformed’ in this metric. Torp and EMC arguably should’ve had one more assist apiece at a stretch...

It should be noted that the games we won away playing 5-3-2 were against teams that were generally out of form. The results v Derby, Hull, Plymouth and Luton were against teams punching well above their league position in the form table at the time. The Sunderland tie, overall we were the...

Agreed. If we want to build a team to take the next step and to ‘prem proof’ the side, we definitely need athletes in the team. Defence and midfield in particular with how we play the high line and the gaps between them. I do think Torp could have a good season next year, he’s decent defensively...

Gut feeling, Simms will stay and BTA will go but not both. Haji is more likely to leave than Simms imo - I’m sure that Rudoni and Lampard called out Simms for praise with his niche tactical role. In 23/24, he proved there’s a serious championship goal scorer there to work with. BTA, on the other...

Agreed that we need to show that progress and a top 4 finish is demonstrates that. Under Lampard we’ve been consistently at playoff form (1.79 PPG) and there are clear improvements to get to 2.0 PPG, specifically our away form v bottom half teams. I don’t want us to follow the Sunderland...

Birmingham are currently 4th favourites, so not necessarily. I recall Bristol not being in the top 6 favourites (nor Leicester). The NTT20 podcasters were in agreement that of the ‘non-parachute payment teams’, we’re in the best position to kick on next season even if Sunderland hadn’t gone up...

Agreed, but as our old friends at Wasps found out, make the product too cheap, you devalue the product. The people who locked themselves in with the PL package should be ‘rewarded’ with the gap closed from the regular ST to the PL package for their vote of faith. £400 for a ST for a playoff...

It would for about 6 months, then everyone would forget and they’d be in a position to establish themselves in the Prem.

As well as wages? Sheaf signed his contract in 2023 so his wages would likely be comparatively low to say, Grimes. You’d probably be better off selling Eccles if the goal is raise some funds. Who is probably worth a similar amount to what we’d get for Sheaf right now. Sheaf’s value has tanked...

Which makes the whole conversation around ST price increases seem more ridiculous. If you lose millions a year, you need to do something to mitigate those losses. Particularly when the expectation of the owner is to plough in more money for players and other operational costs. It’s all well and...

We’re quick to deprecate our own team. Since Xmas, we’ve had more points in the league than Sheff U. We’re 5th favourites with the bookies for next season before a preseason has started. Going into next season, Lampard will have a full preseason with the team and will get the opportunity to...

Co’mon @shmmeee, does Fatso seem the type to work in HR?! 😂 His response says it all!

MVE & Wright are the mostly likely stars to leave this summer. We have zero pressure to sell Rudoni and I think even the player knows he needs another big season in championship before moving on. On Sheaf, I can’t see there being many buyers for him at a price we’d find acceptable. Anything...

Both capable defenders and are undoubtedly the best CBs and pairing we have on the books. Kitching deserves credit for barely putting a foot wrong since his recall v Norwich. Yet, there are genuine question marks over how they fit into Lampard’s system. Thomas in possession can be shaky and we...

Looking at our results under Lampard, that 1.79 PPG easily increases past the 2.0 mark required for automatic promotion if we increase our points tally against bottom 8 teams away from home. There’s no complaints with our home form under Lampard whatsoever really. There’s only game where we...

He didn’t choose to have one significant injury. With his numbers, Wright was on track to score 20+ goals. If the grading was a B with potential to be a A had he played 40+ games, I’d understand that a lot more.

He scored 12 goals which is a good return for a 46 game season, let alone 25. His MPG was up there amongst the best in the league. What planet is the author on giving him a C grade?!

I’m sure @Jimmy87 claimed we rejected an offer from Southampton and Sheaf wasn’t happy about it. If I’m wrong, I’ll hold my hands up.

The way you describe it, then yes we would sell him. What would the club define as ‘the right offer?’ My suspicion is that the club’s valuation probably hasn’t dropped from 23/24 when we rejected approaches from Southampton and Luton. Without knowing figures involved, let’s assume we valued...