Best Of

It is harsh on Rav but his ability to deal with crosses has always been his weakness. From his first game in the FA Cup against Morecambe it was obvious that was a flaw in his game. But like Ryan Allsop you can argue he has done nothing wrong but is still going to be dropped down the pecking order. I sincerely hope that Rav sticks around and pushes Norris for that number 1 shirt.

I am afraid the world has moved away from me and I don’t really understand this statistics stuff.

I am assuming stats have driven the signing of a new GK presumably to replace the GK we already have as obviously only one can play. My limited understanding is as follows. Could someone who knows this stuff confirm or tell me where I have this wrong. I really think O ought to try to understand it.

A guy from presumably a third party company watches each game and scores the GK on events as he sees it - eg routine saves, good saves, easy crosses caught/punches, difficult crosses caught/punched, errors leading to goal, errors not leading to goal, short passes completed/failed, long passes completed/failed and possibly some other measures.

A Guy at WWFC has access to these statistics for our GK and other GKs playing.

he identifies perhaps that our GK is above average on shotstopping, average on distribution and below average on crosses. He looks down the list to see GKs who rank better on what he considers the most important attributes and potentially makes contact to player to seek to sign.

is that broadly it?

if so, how does the stats company ensure consistency of rating - ie one assessor rating a save as regular where another would rate it as good

are statistics available for reserve games as in many cases as this one available GKs May not be regular starters

would old fashioned scouts still watch the target in person before committing or is it always a case of “computer says yes”

is character etc factored in somehow or just the numbers.

Genuinely curious - not trying to make any point.

That has to be the main hope that we get a windfall or two via a promotion or sales via the academy. Selling Kone would have balanced a lot of this outlay already so that's a statement of intent in rejecting bids.

The other factor is that it is a very rich man playing with his change. Should he want out without us somehow being transferred into an attractive profitable outfit it's not likely that he could expect to be paid up what he is losing.

An upgraded stadium and nearing profitability would be goals for any handover or pass back, and aren't hideously unrealistic....and I don't mean this glibly but real difficulty or going bust in some manner has been on the cards for so long I am going to allow myself to enjoy the good times if they happen before whatever might come afterwards.

No Dane, no gain.

I admire your optimism about GA’s ability to keep Shrewsbury up “fairly comfortably”.

Gareth is a top notch motivator. Witness the clever spin on the complications and difficulty of integrating and keeping happy a wealth of new signings!

An old friend (Redoubtable Old Bucks Boy, Ken Allen) attended one of Gareth’s presentations on motivation last year and was incredibly impressed. But, as we and Huddersfield discovered recently, a club like Northampton in 20th place can be very physical and hard to beat. Immediately above Northampton are clubs like Peterborough, Bristol Rovers and Wigan who won’t succumb without a fight.

I really hope Gareth can beat the odds but I fear the journey will be anything but comfortable.

January 2025. The month that changed everything.

I think Ainsworth would rather be in their situation than ours. Far too much pressure from the board to kick on here. He could get relegated at Shrews now and it will be observed as “he gave it a right old go”

I think we are no longer in the period of how do the owners balance the books from running it as a normal business (money in the door being greater than money out = profit) to one that buys a company/club at a relatively low cost, pour investment into it, move it up the football pyramid, add assets like the academy and sell for more money than you put in = Profit.

The question is, can they get the club to mid/top end of championship (or even premier league) and inflate the clubs value that way to sell on for more than they need to invest.

This is ML’s money being spent, remember and not the club. The club can’t and won’t ever be able to afford this level of investment and spending so we need to look more at how the owner expects a return. Or just to break even.

Or, he really wants to turn a club from almost nothing to the top and doesn’t mind spending millions doing it.

50:50 match day draw, fan tiles outside the Vere, cardboard cut outs at Wembley, a match day programme from Torquay away, no hot water.

There is a future Wanderers fan born out there somewhere in Central Asia today for whom these ancient artefacts from the dark ages will be as whimsical as Datchet Webb and pals deciding that North Town was too limiting a name for the club in the back room of the Steam Engine appears to us.

As a nod to the new Dylan movie “for the times they are a changing”.

I think this window confirms that we are no longer 'Little Wycombe, a tinpot club punching above their weight, and cheating their way to victory with shithousery and time-wasting tactics'.

We are now one of League One's big hitters.

Of course, supporters of other clubs will still cling to the outdated stereotype.