Sports Babble - sports forum

I was tempted to just put a couple of lines in here today and let you all get on with it.
However I expect whoever plays for Town on Saturday to do a thoroughly professional job, so I'll do my bit and churn out my usual (chirpy?) thread plus a few of my opinions and off the wall comments.
I'm not dropping my standards even if the Club and "some" of our Players apparently dropped their's last week (only last week???).
I and (I think) we believe.
Do the squad?

Please pin a copy to the dressing room wall if you can.

In a change from Chinese Take-Away ownership, two clubs with Yankee-Doodle-Dandy owners, with apparent aims to be in the Prima Donna League sometime soon, go head to head to avoid the drop to League 1.

Early doors in the season, Town picked up 1 point in 4 games and had already shown their ability to let 4 goals in at home to Norwich. Brum meanwhile got off to a better start, winning 3 and drawing 2 of their first 5. They lost 3 and drew 1 of their next 4 however, whilst Town went the other way and won two and drew 3.

So, off the back of an excellent win at West Brom, off I went to a dark and gloomy evening match in Brum, made worse by me misreading the train timetables and thinking the trains were cancelled when it was only the local one from Moor Street to Bordesley. A long hike from New Street to the ground saw me arrive just after kick-off. My mood wasn't improved by an over-officious steward who insisted I turn out everything in every pocket. Prat.

I was just in time to see Town go 1-0 down 3 minutes in and we were piss poor for the rest of the match. At 3-0 down and going into added time, I'd seen enough. As I headed down the steps to the loos, Helik pulled one back for Town, only for Brum to make it 4-1 as I headed down the next flight of steps out of the ground. I then took the longest shortcut ever back to New Street. I've never managed to retrace exactly where I went on Google Maps. Suffice to say, I'll use the main roads next time. My mood was slightly improved by buying a (cheapish) pint in the New Street Station 'Spoons before getting the train back to Wolvo. Far cheaper than that flash place at the front of the station. I paid more for a half in that place the previous time I was gasping for one.

Since then we've both had a change or two in head coaches, their's maybe a bit more high profile than ours, but with more or less the same outcome.

Sack the bloody Yanks.

Strangely, at 0-3 down last weekend I headed down to the loos, just in time for us to go 0-4 down.
We haven't improved much and neither has my timing.

Were the chants from the Cowshed fans at the end deserved? - For several players, YES. you know who you are.

On the tellybox

Not showing anywhere at the moment other than iFollow

Latest news

Town are having a "fan appreciation day" on Saturday. Now where have I heard that phrase before?

"In association with our friends at ebuyer - the UK's number one for tech - Town supporters will be able to choose from the following prizes: an Apple iPhone 15, an Apple MacBook Pro, an Apple iPad Air, an Apple Watch Series 9, an Apple HomePod Wireless Smart Speaker, a Samsung Galaxy Smartphone, a Samsung 65” TV, a Sony PlayStation 5, a Microsoft XBox, an AlphaSync Gaming PC, a Lenovo 15” laptop, a Nintendo Switch, Sony Headphones, or a Funky Air Fryer.

Two Terriers will also be in with the chance of winning a 7 day (6 night) VIP trip to Sacramento - with both airfare and accommodation included, alongside a $500 Visa gift card, a VIP tour and seats to a Sacramento Republic match, and your own lunch with our Chairman Kevin Nagle."

Joy. At least it's not a Bobble Head Toy player give-away. Next season, maybe. You read it here first.

Bobble Head Toys you ask? Game on.

https://www.mlb.com/bluejays/tickets/the...obbleheads

Like those wobbly head dogs folk used to put on the back parcel shelf in the car. Oh Yes!

Out Injured/Suspended/Isolating

There were a few last weekend who I hope never pull a Town shirt on again. You know who you are.
Lees has screwed up his knee big time, so he won't play again this season. Might take a while next season too.

Back training but not oven ready/Back in the frame

There were about 18 of them supposedly fit and ready last weekend that didn't seem that oven ready when push came to shove.
Hopefully they've had a bit more than a basting in hot fat this week in training.

Last time out

I might have mentioned we got battered again. We've conceded 4 (or more) goals 9 times this seaon. We're pretty good at conceding 3 too. We haven't won any of them. We've scored 4 once, against Wendies who are now laughing at us. If we win 5-4 this weekend I'll buy you all a beer. All you have to do is find me. Billy no mates in a pub somewhere near the station.

Thanks to Mr. Chicken and his mate for this, it saved me looking it up.

Only Millwall (28) have dropped more points from winning positions than Town (27), and the vast majority of Town’s dropped points (23) have been squandered by conceding in the last 20 minutes of games.

No other Championship side has conceded as many goals in the last 10 minutes of games plus stoppage time (18), and no other side has conceded as many second-half goals (48)...



Rotherham picked up yet another point and showed far more fight than we did in drawing 0-0 at home to Brum. The Sky highlights I saw, I didn't go looking for them, honest, showed Brum were about as inept as us. Well, there's a reason why all 3 of us are below the trap door.



Elsewhere, down amongst the dead men, a few would be corpses still have some breath in them.
Wendies continued their march out of the bottom 3 with a 1-3 win at Blackburn on Sunday, aided and abetted by possibly the worst display of professional goalkeeping ever by Blackburn keeper Aynsley Pears. We are now 3 points behind Wendies, which I didn't think I'd be typing anytime this season after their start.

Well OK maybe not ever, Andy Dibble anyone? Pears didn't help Blackburn or us. Brum couldn't get a shot on goal worthy of the name at Rotherham (like us, it's going to be a joy - not - to watch us both fail again on Saturday) other than a tame pass to the keeper.

Plymouth got battered 3-0 at Stoke, QPR won again at home to Both Ends who can't decide which end they really want to be in. That finally ended any play off hopes they had. Think that's the bottom 3rd covered one way or another. Up in the nose bleeds, them that want to be promoted suddenly sprung into life. Leicester beat The Baggies, The Dirties beat Boro and it doesn't show below, as Ipswich still have to play Coventry after the Sky Blues came back from 3-0 down v Man Utd in the FA Cup semi on Sunday to draw 3-3. They had a last second extra time winner denied by VAR (what else?) due to a players toe nail hanging out of the front of his boot 40 yards back up the pitch.



The Sack Race

For some reason Barnsalee, sat comfortably in the play-off places in League 1, turfed Neill Collins this week.
Maybe Snoots or AmChaff have some local insight into this but it seems batshit barmy to me.
Good job we never sack managers just before they might get us promoted.

Tables, Form

We're not that far apart, just don't waste your time looking at the top half of of the table






You might notice where Town have a bit of a problem this season. Good job Brum are no longer in the top half.
Likewise Brum have a bit of a problem on the road. 0-0 or 1-1 again then.



We're both doomed.





Innies and Outies

Millions were not exactly squandered in the January Sales, but £98K might have been



Who's banging 'em in

Well it isn't the Poison Dwarf but someone we used to know is reasonably handy by bottom 3 standards.



They can't all lose

Rotherham go to Brizzle, neither could give a rats ass. We know who 23v22 is. Wendies are home to the Baggies, Plymouth go to Millwall, Bollackburn are home to Coventry, QPR home to L666s.

In the nose bleeds, I just mentioned L666s, Leicester go to Both Ends, Ipswich to 'ull. Not that it will bother us much, but Sarfampton play Smoke-on-Stench City



We've played 'em before

How even could it be? Last season's win was the first at home in 10 games, 7 of which were draws and nearly all of them 1-1. If repeated it will possibly send us both down. Can't wait. Does fan appreciation day mean free beers? Thought not.



New Stadium - well, maybe, 'appen?

The Bluenoses new owners have bought some mostly derelict land that the City was going to build a load of big factory units on with no real purpose in mind, except maybe finding you somewhere to store the shit in your loft that you don't want to store in your loft anymore. If you've had the pleasure of travelling by train through New Street in one direction or t'other in the last few years you might have spotted a Go-Kart track with no Go-Karts running round it. That's it, plus a bit more land around it. Previously the site of brickyards as far as the eye can see, the shit in the soil will be deeper than anything in the outflows of every Severn Trent sewage works. Remediation won't be the only word spoken to fix that lot.

The YouTube video they released showed a corner of what might be the new stadium, meanwhile, Birmingham News prints a new version of the "vision" every other week. Supposedly double the capacity and more of St. Andrews, it will look even more empty than St. Andrews does now.

This one?



This one?



Or this one?

895,000 sq ft of sheds proposed for former motor racing park

Ozzy



The Bull they made for the Commonwealth Games was gonna be scrapped, but after a public outcry they got him all fixed up again and parked him in New Street Station. By further popular demand he was named Ozzy.



Next up?

A battering at Ipswich next week. 4-0 anyone?

Pressers

The Keighley Canavaro and Herr Brighton Writer have their say.
Pearson kicks in around 08:20, The gaffer around 38:00 mins

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=jdfzel3xdtM

The view from Bordesley Raceway

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=tkayC4AT5cw

QPR two up at half time against Falling apart having seen the ball thread going to have to up my game next season

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3 down

Nice one, theo.

Can I just say congratulations to Queens Park Rangers for doing what we sadly can't.

I won't be there today, focus turns to the red leather option and for one I'm glad that it's there.

Last three games I've been to we've conceded a lot, Swansea, Coventry and west brom. We beat Millwall...soooo.... In the words of Dwayne the rock Johnson, you're welcome

D totally forgotten that the greedy prick Pritchard was at Birmingham these days, another reason to want to stuff them.

I don’t blame you for finding something else to do JJ, I think a lot will have given up after last week. It won’t take much for me to depart this week as I have to get across to Wakey for the Trinity game at 6pm, if wasn’t get dropped off I’d have sacked Town off as well.

I know we are no position to laugh at Leeds but given how bad our season is the only saving grace is that they are screwing the season up at the crucial point of the season

Hopefully Andre has a load of fresh faces ready for signing up as soon as possible. We need a clear out. He needs his own team. Nagle has to back him.

Otherwise we just carry on sinking, changing managers until we're playing against Premier League u21 teams in the National League.

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Today is not a must win game. That ship has sailed. Let's just have a good game and see what happens.

Sorba and burger van man have been dropped.

Cafu returns

Turton, Ward, Healey start. Burgzorg benched along with Thomas.



Bacuna starts for Brum with Useless on the bench

Finally picks two strikers then puts Thomas on the bench.

Baffling