Coventry Saint

Yeah I didn't mean universally written off, but some folk were calling Strain the worst right-back they'd ever seen Agree totally about using him Olusanya as an impact sub, and, like I said, Saturday would've been ideal if things weren't quite so tight. Ayunga was dead on his feet and a bit of pace would have helped take the pressure off a bit.

I'm convinced we'd have seen Olusanya off the bench on Saturday had that third penalty gone in. Bear in mind he was written off in the same games that Ryan Strain was, so I'm certainly intrigued to see him. Might suit him coming on late into a well-performing and settled side. Only doubt is I thought he was a winger so not sure how that'd work.

Bigger clubs are sometimes weird about young players when they reach a certain age. I think the last two years - COVID and then Goodwin - have scuppered his chance of a bigger leap. That's not to say it can't still happen, but he'll have to take a smaller step in the short term.

Something something... Holes at the back, Aberdeen's defence... I'm tired so just put the pieces together yourselves.

He's still going.

Pretty sure it's a Prodigy lyric from Fat of the Land. Serial Thriller, I think. Just checked: it's "Crowd disruptor". So close.

Nice one mate. Your team got pumped, but staying up late on Christmas Eve to correct my normally-flawless punctuation: that's the real quiz.

A manager who's just watched his team ship three penalties and earn a straight red, describing the opposition as physical, is some laugh. Jim's in the 'talking absolute bollocks in the hope it'll detract from his failings ' phase of the downward spiral and I doubt he'll be with Dons beyond January.

You say 'glancing header'... Goodwin says 'nearly scored'.

The Saints fans urging the Don's keeper to go up for the next corner after our third goal was fucking quality. There was a close up of him and he knew fine well what was going on. Glorious. I've been smiling about it all day.

In my dream, Ayunga buried the penalty.

Fucking hyped for this now. Going in hard on the £15 PPV. Usually only ends one way but I never learn. I've really missed Saints games, tbh. Looking for big games from Ethan and Main today. Both players Goodwin couldn't get a tune out of (or didn't want to try). I think we're edging this 2-1 but Aberdeen will take the lead.

Which is odd because the narrative behind JS leaving is reducing the wage bill... Surely this guy can't be on so much less that it'd make a meaningful dent on our outgoings.

Mad to think he basically got appointed after an incredibly flattering eight (ish) game unbeaten streak, which followed a long spell of truly abject stuff from us. I was still gutted when he left, mind, but absolutely zero chance I'd swap Goodwin for Robinson. It's not even close now.

I'd love to call you out for that but I really can't. For us, pride is regularly followed by a fall. That said, I had a dream the other night that we won 4-1 so stuck a massive 50p on that.

Jim's spell as manager was broadly a success, albeit with some notable blots on his copybook. He remains one of my favourite ever players. He just about comes out in credit, IMO, but also, I hope we get it right round him.

Good job it's not against Hearts or they'd get accused of manufacturing weather in order to postpone a fixture.

That is fucking mad, tbh.

Is it bad that I googled that myself to check the date on the article? Can confirm it's a rumour from this season.

When we picked up that recognition for being one of the world's financially best-run clubs... What period did that relate to?

Did we 'get away with it' though, or was this precisely the strategy? I mean, the events in Qatar have meant the strategy has performed beyond expectations, and probably a lot sooner than was expected: I can't remember the last time we had such a desired asset on such a long contract. But, that was the stated strategy and in my opinion you have to applaud the club for going for it. It doesn't always pay off - Brophy, for example - but I feel in Baccus, Strain and Ayunga we have very sale-able players that we brought in for buttons. Robinson was talking about making a profit on Ayunga as long ago as July. You're not wrong that it carries an element of risk. Good players can get injured or dip out of form, or fall out with a manager and end up seeing their contract out - Ethan (not blaming him, btw) - and we get nothing for them. I'm happy that we seem to have taken a considered approach to getting the club to the next level. We've not splurged on transfer fees or anything: we seem to have done all this in the most sensibly ambitious way a club of our stature can.

Excellent post. Pretty much exactly where my head is with all this stuff.

Decent audition for him...

£1.2m + 15%. And Gilmour to somehow take the credit for balancing the books.

I do find myself wondering what the Rangers kit man makes of all this.