Initially these noises were brought in on TV as very much a choice, trialled on the Bundesliga coverage and it said that it was only an option that you can choose from when English football returned. I prefer it without and I suspect am not on my own on that. When I can clearly see no fans I think the noises are an unnecessary gimmick. I saw the highlights from that intra squad friendly and the cheering after the goals was well over the top. For me I dont want it to try and compensate in terms of noise for the lack of crowds with fake noises, when I know and can see there are no fans and just accept it and make do without.

Hopefully the sound effects wont be "pumped into" the stadium and just be an additional option on ifollow that I can deselect.

I suppose the new season start date is a fine balance. I agree that they shouldnt need as long in terms of recovery but I suppose the primary purpose is to prepare for the following season. But I guess a primary consideration should be the situation regarding the pandemic because maybe it would be better to delay the season by a month and try and have as little BCD as possible. But youve also got to consider not starting too far on because it will already be starting late. Difficult one. I suspect that none of next season will be in front of full stadiums, maybe part will be in front of partially full stadiums.

Hes a free agent, very injury prone and had to go into League 1 to get game time but as you say I suspect he is far more realistic.

People have speculated, suggested and questioned rather than stated and it is a fair question. Theres an acceptance that these games are of course friendly but ita fair to question that even factoring in the players professionalism, how it may be difficult to play at exactly the same intensity considering the situation, the size of the break and the lack of supporters.

Just reading the minutes, thanks for the link. I dont think that we need Samuel and Smallwood either way and playing alternatives would make more sense looking forward as neither is important but seems that there is no financial saving from cutting them loose. Must say that regarding the options for season ticket holders, the quotes from Waggott are disorganised mess. The owners are supplementing the furloughed staffs wages, fair play. But then when it comes to refunds, cash flow problems brought straight up and Venkys not mentioned. Its just a communication nightmare, hes seemingly not been challenged too much but is well aware of all of the ways people are missing out potentially. Asking them to contact the club is not really a firm option, most other clubs communicated clearly the options aside from the ifollow option and if best case scenario an additional option is offered, it could have saved a lot of strain on the relationship with supporters had it been communicated initially. Interesting that play off games arent included either in the STH "package" should it come to that. I suppose his personal opinion isnt of that much value overall but interesting to see him suggest than supporters in stadiums "might happen optimistically in October, realistically in January and pessimistically not until the 2021/22 season." Suppose he is covering all bases, if worst case scenario comes to fruition, the football league will be in smithereens. Optimistically would be basically next season onwards.

A Bristol City player has tested positive.

I am not convinced/sure how that would work because surely the contract would just be extended so ultimately they will then be paid into August. Either way though, even if there is no financial saving, neither are of much use so let them go and find a new club as they probably wont make the bench anyway.

I dont think either will be needed in the run in to be honest. We already have at least 4 strikers so may aswell let Samuel and Smallwood go now and hopefully save some much needed pennies.

https://www.hullcitytigers.com/club-update-player-contracts/ Hull have lost some of their first team players ahead of the last 9 games. Lichaj, Irvine, Kingsley and Maddison all unable to agree extensions and Barnsley taking Wilks back as soon as is legally possible. I find it strange that Smallwood and Samuel are playing in the friendlies and presumably staying when youd like to think they will be off at the end of the season. Presume everyones staying but wonder if they will publically announce it.

You can tell that they are not playing at close to normal intensity, some very half arsed play which is the norm in a friendly but I wonder if they will be able to raise their game still in front of no fans but in "competitive" league games.

Cunningham played 7 x 90 minutes for us, we beat Boro, Hull, Reading and Milwall, drew with Forest and lost to West Brom and Luton. So 13 points from 7 games, at 1.86 points per game. Bell has started 19 times, in which we won 6, drew 7 and lost 6. So picking up points at 1.39 points per game In addition to this, Cunningham played about 15 minutes at QPR and went off injured, Bell came on and played the majority of that game and we lost 4-2. I have not included that in either, nor have I included Bell coming on at HT in the loss at Huddersfield, in which it was 1 all at HT.

I am a season ticket holder and get to some away games and watch the majority of others live in full, but to be honest the Sheffield Wednesday game I only saw the highlights of. A reason for my post was to perhaps prompt examples in games or bits of games that I have missed to warrant people being so defensive and being hyperbolic in the case of Buckley. Or indeed remind me of times when he did something in a game I did see. The main point that I was trying to get across is being so defensive and refusing to accept that players have had minimal involvement in games so far, or going way over the top on them being "fantastic" and totally flabbergasted as to how anyone doesnt rate them is totally needless and not a constructive attitude to take. And equally, to tell someone who has acknowledged the mitigating circumstances/difficulties and not written the player off, indeed going out of their way to say as such, to "give them a chance" is not a useful or relevant comeback. In regards to Rankin Costello, as I said I didnt see the full game but saw his assist which was perfectly timed and there was also another pass just before in the highlights where it looked like he was trying to play in Gallagher but didnt get the direction quite right and it went behind his legs but ended up going through to Armstrong. It has been touched on that it was against a 10 man team waiting for the FT whistle, but still it takes the ability to make a pass like he did and I have credited him accordingly.

After a couple of games in the Bundesliga things like celebrations seemed to return to normal. Probably a realisation that there was no point not doing when theyd for example spent time grappling at a corner.

I think everyone acknowledged the mistake, and ultimately we can never expect a player not to make mistakes. But he also was a key factor in a defensive improvement and also offered far more in terms of technical ability compared to Bell in an attacking sense.

Think it gives it away when the CEO has to beg the fans not to consider claiming a refund of 60 quid to help to save the club!

Does he impress you more going forward or defensively? For me he is so slow of mind and reluctant to run forward and I dont think hes ever assisted for us, correct me if im wrong. And defensively he lets as many crosses come in as any Rovers full back I can remember.

Its not about giving him a chance ? its the typical go to line of someone who for some reason is unwilling to accept any constructive critical judgement or skepticism. I made it quite clear that I hadnt written him off (same with Rankin Costello) and I know that he has been played out of position and its hard to break through at his age and cement a place but that doesnt warrant the description of his dribbling being "fantastic" him looking "technically fantastic" and of course "how people dont rate him is beyond me." In which first team games bar Charlton which ive praised him for can you highlight performances to warrant such hyperbolic praise? At the moment I would suggest that Buckley has had one impressive game and Rankin Costello one impressive pass. I acknowledge they are both young, the former has suffered from being played out of position and they have not had much game time at all between them and I certainly havent written them off as your petulant response suggests but what else have you seen from Buckley to warrant such praise?

The only game when he really had an influence on the game was that Charlton game. Obviously he scored v Wednesday with a feeble shot that took a big deflection but otherwise hes looked like a little boy lost and has had very little impact on games. Im not saying hes a lost cause or coming to any extreme conclusion myself but equally how you can justify that last sentence based on what weve seen is beyond me.

To be honest, Skys coverage of the EFL is rather standard/average. Heavily focused on the bigger clubs especially Leeds and also 95% focused on the Championship. Ultimately that is demand driven I suspect but I can still understand other teams kicking off regarding that. Coverage usually starts soon before kick off and analysis is minimal, always playing second fiddle to the Premier League but again, it is the second (and occasionally third/fourth) division so suppose again that is demand driven. The actual brief punditry like with football on Sky is standard with good pundits and some not so good pundits just like other networks ie BT, I think it is quite difficult to mess something like that up as people watch for the match itself. Not surprised to see clubs kicking off about red button which as much as it benefits me occasionally has to be scrapped for the sake of football clubs. That and the split of teams coverage as I mentioned. I am not sure how much demand there is for Championship clubs on TV because it is a good to watch league but sometimes at the absence of quality. Something will have to give at some point somewhere because having so many clubs losing money as they are is not sustainable.

You aren't the only person who I have seen say that but I certainly didnt ever see a competent left back in Bell or a noticeable improvement. Still indecisive and utterly unthreatening going forward and easy to bypass defensively.

Not that Hull side it isnt, without Bowen and Grosicki you really see how shit their squad is. But in general playing teams with nothing to play for can be better at this stage.

So does Bell.

Forest will definitely get in the play offs, on the same points as Brentford, whereas Swansea are level with us on points. Between Preston and Millwall for 6th place I think.

I think Buckley for the vast majority of time has looked as far away as you could possibly be in terms of impacting games, which I think is obviously at least partially down to his physique. I remember him coming on for the first time v Bolton last season and he looked like a little boy whereas Butterworth looked really sharp and got involved. I dont think hes been helped being played out wide, hes not particularly fast. The Charlton away game was a different story, he played as a number 10 and he looked a different player, very smooth picking the ball up on the turn and I can see technical ability there. With Rankin Costello I have not really seen what he is about in admittedly much less game time. He also came on at home as a sub I recall and again looked a little overawed. I definitely think that there is more scope for Rankin Costello in terms of the position he could play in the team compared to Buckley as we are desperately short out wide whereas Dack and Holtby are number 10s. I suspect the play offs will probably be beyond us a game or two before the end of the season so maybe additional scope to get them game time.