David Kelly

Think this pitch will deteriorate quite a bit so they will have the best of it. Even if we bowl them out for a low ish score, I don't think it will be easy. I understand about the rotation and the seamers work load but I just think Woakes is going to have the biggest load now (apart from Stokes). Unless they think they're more likely to leave him out for a match against India.

Taylor was saying the other day that Finn is very underrated with his ability to reverse the ball. Maybe that's the reason. I'm probably more surprised they rested Broad rather than Woakes who also played in the ODI's. Get up Mo.

Aye, assuming we were to go up, a few quality additions would be what's needed rather than an overhaul. There's a few weaknesses in the squad but there's quite a few players who are more than capable of playing in the premier league and keeping team spirit and momentum delivered by a promotion is essential for any promoted side imo.

Tough start to the day but we're getting back into it now.

That must piss them off when they think that they're the biggest club in the division/world.

Gomorra is excellent. I'm up to about episode 3 from season 2 at the minute.

If there's one thing you have to give them credit for, it's their ability to come up with an excuse.

It might be in a slurred speech and my spelling and punctuation may be all over the place, but I'll give it a go.

I've heard they've already sold out for us going down there. Not sure if that's true but if it is, that obviously impacts on our allocation. I've got a ticket anyway, unfortunately after years of being unable to get to many away games, I've had to use a mates points. It's vicious circle that keeps my points down despite having a season ticket and going to all home cup games for the last 30 years. But at least I'm going!

If it's on the way to the ground from the station there's a fair chance we might make it there. Assuming we can still see by that point.

Aye that was my thoughts too. Just the Adelphi name brought back good memories.

He was warming up near our support down at Barnsley and he seemed to have a smile on his face the whole time. Definitely wasn't sulking. He's passionate about playing whether for us or in general and I don't think there's anything wrong with that all. He reminds me a bit of Gazza. Obviously he doesn't have the same talent but he does seem to be similarly daft. Pulling that kids hair on tuesday night did remind of some of the silly things Gazza did. It's not very bad at all but it's also the type of thing that can get him in trouble and I can't see Rafa liking it.

Aye no beards amongst us either. Tbh we'll probably be smashed by the time we get there so a wetherspoons is the most likely bet. The Adelphi is apparently where our supporters are being told to go.

Aye I'm getting the train down on Saturday. Those pizza's do look nice so I might see if the lads fancy it. Sounds like a bit of a trek from the station though so they might be hard to convince. Also there's none of us like craft beers so that might be an issue.

I actually no a decent bloke who's a Villa fan. He's not the most exciting guy like truth be told. Only 2764 tickets for Leeds away is a bit of a twat. Suspect that will get nowhere near satisfying demand.

Last night I thought he was everything we want him to be. He was holding the ball up well and bringing others into play (something that I think would benefit Gayle), he was unselfish at the right times (ie for Diame's miss and attempting to play in Atsu for Diame's first goal), his finishing was pretty good and his hunger and effort was very apparent. You can say that his booking was daft but bookings for players taking their shirt off still happen all the time and no one makes anything of it (it's also a ridiculous rule). His desire to take the penalty is perfectly understandable (especially as he took and scored one last season) and I thought he reacted well when it didn't go his way. If it wasn't for that sending off against Spurs I think he'd have played a lot more this season (not just because he wouldn't have had the ban). I understand that he has to prove to Rafa that he can be trusted but I can't say that I saw anything last night to suggest he can't be. And I think giving him more game time will just make him all the more hungry and see him perform much better. A couple of minutes here and there is more likely to piss him off than push him on IMO.

Rafa has definitely changed the whole mentality of the club around now. We were just a bunch of losers and, for me, you could see how that carried on to the first couple of games of this season. Now everything is different and if we do go up, I expect that we will have a much better mindset to go up against premiership teams, even if we only had the players we have now (which is not something I expect).

I really enjoyed the latest Westworld. Thought the plot advanced a fair bit this episode.

I enjoyed the Walking Dead tbh. I thought about a season or so ago it had gone to shit but I really enjoyed the build up to the end of last season.

Nice to see the quality of our football is improving. So far this season it's been more functional and efficient but the last three home games has seen us play some very nice stuff. Of course last night was against 10 men and a weakened team from them, but we'd made plenty of changes too. It's just our backup players could walk into any team in the championship whereas most other clubs in the championship have league 1 & 2 standard players in reserve. I was really impressed with all the players who came in last night. I think (even considering that miss) it was easily Diame's best game and Mitro showed exactly why people want to see him play. He held up the ball well and brought others into play. I would love to see him and Gayle together as I think Mitro would help Gayle score even more. Mitro's second goal was a joy and reminded me of Pedro's goal in the Cox promotion season (against Citeh?). I thought him wanting to take the pen was fine and he reacted well to Ritchie standing firm (Ritchie did exactly the right thing if he is the designated taker). And him dancing at the end was brilliant. The only downside of the night was seeing Hayden's shot come back off the post. That would have been a belting goal. Hopefully Wolves taught us something after the QPR win and we wont make the same mistake again. Especially as I'm going down there on Saturday.

That would be smashing

Agreed.

I wouldn't call that established. That's almost like saying the mackems were an established top seven side under monkeys heed.