Southern Macedonia is a province within Greece. Northern Macedonia is an independent country. Greece objected to the independent country calling itself just Macedonia (itself only created when Yugoslavia fell apart) as by the name there is a perceived inference that it lays a claim to all of historical Macedonia including the bit in Greece. So settlement reached where independent Macedonia renamed itself as Northern Macedonia. Everyone happy (probably not).

Still not working.... this is crazy!

I am (for some strange glutton for punishment reason) trying to watch back the PNE game but still the login issue persists. Anyone got the videos to work yet? Do I need to clear my cache or something? Or just the website is still buggered?

Yes agreed... We only get to keep him I think if we have an average season

I think bringing Buckley back makes sense. But also probably midfield is our best covered position - Travis and Garrett ready to come in - so it doesn't necessarily solve the biggest problem. The big issue will more be right/left back as JRC could cover right back and allow Brittain to move to left back as needed if Pickering was not available. With him now gone we are basically down to Brittain and Pickering staying fit and available through to January. I guess Buckley has played right back, but he lacks the athleticism and positional discipline needed to make a proper go at it imo. And for whatever reason Batty does not seem favoured, not even getting anywhere near the bench.

Yeah me as well! A pleasant surprise.

Yeah pretty sure that will be the team given the injuries. Wonder if Szmodics and Moran will be other way round as Szmodics prefers the left channel. And actually probably Moran will play more in midfield. The way we play atm it's more likely to be Leo Brittain Hill Wharton Pickering Travis Tronstad Wharton Moran Dolan Szmodics Only other setup I think could happen is Leonard comes in up top, dolan plays right, Szmodics left and Moran goes into midfield instead of Travis. Given JDT's liking for ultra attacking setups think that could happen. Leo Brittain Hill Wharton Pickering Moran Tronstad Wharton Dolan Leonard Szmodics

Yeah... we really have been effectively playing with a front two for a while now. Szmodics is great as a striker it too. Much much more mobile than Dack was, runs the channels, press relentlessly, has decent pace, and as evidenced by his stats sniffs out and converts chances. I think he will continue to improve over the season. Dolan's doing very well also so nothing will change short term, but I would like to see Szmodics have a go at partnering Ennis at some point as I think in terms of contrasting styles they would be well suited as a two.

I agree with what you say, but its rare for an attractive club with a good budget to pick a manager in mid table if they can attract those with a better CV. Thats just the way it is. If we get back in the top six for a period and everyone starts talking him up then the situation could change quickly imo.

Letting go of Ayala was the right choice imo given his injury record, and I dont think we could have done much about Phillips. The issue imo was not signing another CB. We tried with Baath (think the plan was to sign him and Hill) but then when the financial situation changed we gave up. We should have found someone.

It's weird - I think a lot of people think of Szmodics as a midfielder (including Elliott Jackson the LET correspondant). But he really isn't... he's been playing as a number 10 right up alongside whoever (usually as a makeshift like Dolan) is a number 9. If Szmodics is a midfielder then so have been the likes of Bellamy or Teddy Sheringham etc. He's often the most forward of all our players, right on the shoulder of the defender. Both his goals on Sunday were classic striker goals. Szmodics average position from the last 5 league games shown by the circle with the 8 (his squad number) below. That isn't a midifelder.

I think the logic is to buy low sell high and consistently improve the quality of the squad. Brentford, Brighton etc have done it. Its a strategy that can work. And tbh if we ever want to get the club standing on its own feet so we no longer need Venkys cash it's the only strategy I can see. If we can make the club independently financially viable we can push them out with some confidence which we just dont have at the moment. Id rather this than spending money we don't have.

Until we are right up in the top six consistently I dont think we need to be too worried about anyone taking him. Not many clubs who would seem worth moving to are going to want a mid table Championship manager

The other plus along with Hill being generally excellent is Pickering has performed well at centre back. Which is strange given his relatively slight build, lack of height, and lack of cb experience. But every time he has to fill in he's done okay.

Think it ultimately finish him at Rovers. I imagine if we were not already looking to replace him in January it will have moved up the agenda. Its such a shame as he was so good two seasons back, but positionally, decision making, being able to compete one on one and his distribution still all over the show. Im sure the thinking would have been to give him a chance this season, but getting sent off with the squad where it is will change minds.

Midfield and up front picks itself... defence is a real nightmare. Having only four recognised centrebacks has come back to bite us. Across a season you always need five. Main positive is Hill looks absolutely fantastic in the air so if they go direct he will be competitive.

At the moment 3 of our former keepers are playing in the Premier League and are highly rated (Raya, Steel and Kaminski) so we've obviously had talent in the period. Agree though that apart from Kaminski's solid spell it's not been convincing since we were relegated from the Premier League. With the keeper situation - it's pretty obvious that the number 1 attribute we are looking for is a keeper who is very good with his feet and we are willing to put up with a lot to get that. I guess that excludes the vast majority of keepers, so the pool we are fishing in is very small. Indeed I think Kaminski was dropped because he wasn't good enough with his feet. I wonder if big brad would have made the grade? It does seem strange. But JDT seems to know what he's doing, and that's the call. And it doesn't seem to just be us... good keepers all over are being dropped in favour of younger "sweeper keepers". Would love to see some good analysis on why exactly it's so crucial to have a sweeper keeper in today's game? As the trade off of passing a bit better but seeming an absolute bomb scare on crosses does not make sense to me. But presumably it makes sense from an angle that the mere spectator struggles to appreciate?

Whether you get the ball or not is irrelevant if the challenge was reckless. Same as Duffys yellow at half time.

I think most refs give that under current rules.

Fantastic result. Thought on the whole we played brilliantly across the pitch. Hill, Tronstad, Szmodics all outstanding. Thought Pickering, JRC, Britain, Dolan, Moran all had very good games. The two Whartons both really struggled imo. Scott just seems to keep doing daft things, including the madness of the challenge for the red when we were 3-0 up. Adam doesn't do daft things but his passing was really off it today. And thats been a theme for months. I suspect Adam will lose his place again to Travis who was superb when he came on. On Leo... i hate judging early. But some of the basics really seem to be missing in terms of handling crosses, and while obviously decent with his feet he is repeatedly playing short passes into marked players which is suicidal. He needs to start catching crosses with authority and picking better passes out of the back asap.

Travis has been quality.

Doubt there will be many wanting to pay mega money atm for him. So off the boil.

When Carters back think him and Hill will be a really good partnership.

JRC would be an absolutely huge loss. Hope just a minor one.

Not sure the foul was about whether he got the ball or not. It was reckless like Duffys yellow just after the restart. And once it was a foul it was red as denying a clear opportunity.