#(and hopefully third and fourth best case scenario four seasons)

[alexiethymia]

[book spoilers]

Lockwood’s idea of a grand gesture is to be more of a fool than usual, more death-defying than usual, to make sure that Lockwood & Co. was always on front page news because if Lucy was the best then Lockwood & Co. could be nothing less than THE best agency to deserve her, to get her to return. And no, he doesn’t stop there. He may not have asked you to return on bended knee like you wanted Lucy, but like any proper gentleman caller he couldn’t come to your door empty-handed. He brings THE case, that one case that Lucy could never refuse coming from Fittes herself. I bet he spent all those four months searching for that one case. Because see the plan was always for her to return and Lockwood has always been an end-justifies-the-means kind of guy. And the way he gets her on board speaks a lot about his own character and how well he knows Lucy.

Lockwood has always been slightly manipulative and he uses the full force of that skill during that reunion with Lucy. Every move was calculated. From his suit he wears like armor, each one carefully chosen. An old coat that reminds them of a case they worked on together, an immaculate new suit (Really? Just to hire her again?), and to top it all of, a tie which Lucy specifically gave him. He catches her off guard, he doesn’t give her time to get her bearings. He knows asking her outright to return wouldn’t work. Even if he did beg, that already failed when he ended up so angry that he left Lucy behind in that cafe (the fact that Lockwood who prides himself on being a gentleman could leave a girl, and Lucy of all people, shows that his emotions were completely haywire that day). In other words, Lucy’s stubbornness proved stronger than his own. So he had to change tactics. He had to make sure that her returning would be all her idea, that she would return all on her own.

Because see, he didn’t need a case to see her. He could have visited at any time after they didn’t have closure when Lucy snuck away in the dawn to leave. He could have normalized ties between them and remained friends even as Lucy was now a freelance agent. But he didn’t. He made sure they didn’t have closure. He didn’t even acknowledge her leaving because to do otherwise would make it final. On Lucy’s end I think she wouldn’t have minded if they could be friends and talk casually together again. She wanted it. But that’s not what Lockwood wanted. He wouldn’t have been satisfied unless Lucy was back home with them. Like a jilted lover, he needed a grand gesture to draw her back in.

So he does everything. He lies. “I wouldn’t ask you again to return.” “It’s just a one-off.” “One night, two max.” But and even though Lucy couldn’t fully see through him, what they really meant, she did pick up on signs of him fraying and unraveling. The uncertain smile that was simultaneously just for her and was shades paler than his usual gigawatt smile, the slight bitterness that she was willing to work with other agencies but not his, that studied nonchalance as if he wasn’t keeping track of her progress and whereabouts the same way Lucy tried not to follow news of Lockwood and Co., the deflection, deflection, deflection.

He doesn’t answer properly regarding Holly because he still thinks she might have had something to do with Lucy leaving.

“George didn’t like it.” This is his mixing up of I and we tendency again but way worse. For him to use George to say that she was missed was egregious because couldn’t he just say that he missed her? Or even we missed you, we didn’t like it [the idea of replacing you]. It wouldn’t be so strange. He is as much her friend as George. Unless her leaving cut him more deeply. And we know he represses that sh*t. So he doesn’t even include himself in the equation anymore maybe because he thought it would make Lucy uncomfortable because not even him losing control of his emotions, being exposed and raw could get her to stay. Or at least that’s what he tells himself when in reality he’s fortified his barriers once again. He made himself open for Lucy, all the anger he’d kept tightly locked inside, and still - she left. So he can’t even talk to Lucy anymore without using someone or something as a conduit, projecting himself because he can’t expose himself to that sort of vulnerability again until he accomplishes his goal. So yeah there’s plenty of bitterness on his part, but what trumps that, always trumps it and his pride (because I’m sure part of him expected that Lucy would come back earlier on her own so he was just waiting and when that didn’t happen because see in a contest of wills Lucy’s would always trump his own, he’s weak when it comes to her, he’s the one who comes to her instead) - is that base desire for her to just come back.

[junker-town]

Grading every NFL rookie QB in Week 2

Photo by Grant Halverson/Getty Images

Let’s check in with the rookie quarterbacks after Week 2.

All things considered, it was a strong start for rookie quarterbacks in Week 1 of the 2021 NFL season. Trevor Lawrence, Zach Wilson, and Mac Jones each started for their teams from the jump. Trey Lance and Justin Fields began the season as backups, but each scored a touchdown inside the red zone.

The good news for the rookie QBs in Week 1 was that each of them scored a touchdown. The bad news is that Lance’s San Francisco 49ers are the team with a first round rookie QB to win their opener — and Lance only played a handful of snaps.

Week 2 featured our first head-to-head showdown of rookie quarterbacks when Jones started for the Patriots against Wilson’s Jets. It was another encouraging performance for Jones, who earned the first win of his short pro career, while Wilson would like to pretend it never happened.

Here are our grades for the first round rookie QBs in Week 2.

Trevor Lawrence

Week 2 started in promising fashion for Lawrence and the Jags when the rookie QB led his team on an 11-play, 83-yard touchdown drive on the first possession of the game. On 3rd and 13 just outside the red zone, Lawrence threw a beautiful strike to Marvin Jones Jr. for a 25-yard touchdown.

Trevor Lawrence is going to be a problem.#DENvsJAX on CBS pic.twitter.com/MMfnTA6YJZ

— Jacksonville Jaguars (@Jaguars) September 19, 2021

Unfortunately for the Clemson product, that was as good as his day would get. The rest of the afternoon was basically a disaster for Jacksonville.

The Jags lost the Denver Broncos, 23-13, to fall to 0-2 on the season. Jacksonville only had 189 yards of total offense. Lawrence threw two interceptions, and ended the game with a 37.2 QB rating. The Jaguars somehow embarrassed themselves even more after the game.

Lawrence finished the game 14-of-33 for 118 yards. You can watch every throw he made in Week 2 against the Broncos here. This was such a miserable offensive performance for Jacksonville in general that it’s hard to take too many positives away, but the early TD throw showed Lawrence’s natural arm talent. Even during a rough game, there’s no reason to worry about him. Lawrence was considered one of the top QB prospects in recent memory to hit the NFL draft, but Jacksonville clearly still has a ton of work to do to build around him. Last year’s team went 1-15 to earn the No. 1 pick and the rights to Lawrence, and this year’s team doesn’t feel much better.

Lawrence will be fine, but was a game he’d soon like to forget. Hopefully the Jags can get running back James Robinson more involved next week to take some of the pressure off their rookie QB.

Grade: C-

Zach Wilson

Wilson came out of BYU with a reputation as a gunslinger with great arm strength and the confidence to take shots deep down field. His Week 1 performance showed both sides of the coin on that scouting report, as he connected on a few nice throws but also threw an interception. Overall, it was a fairly encouraging debut even in a loss.

Wilson’s performance was not encouraging in Week 2. He threw an interception on his first two throws of the game against the Patriots. He didn’t have a single multi-interception game for BYU all of last year.

It only got worse from there. Wilson threw his third interception of the game in the second quarter, and then came out of halftime and immediately threw his fourth interception. At one point in the game, Wilson had four completions to his own team and four completions to New England.

You can watch all four of Wilson’s interceptions here. There are some bad throws in here.

Here is a video of all 4 Zach Wilson interceptions and none of them are the offensive line's fault. Very concerning decision making by the rookie. pic.twitter.com/DyhCcvjSp0

— olinestats (@olinestats) September 19, 2021

Wilson ended the game 19-of-33 for 210 yards, zero touchdowns, and four interceptions. The Jets lost to the Patriots, 25-6. This was basically the worst case scenario for any young QB. Hopefully it isn’t the type of performance that hurts his confidence going forward.

Part of this is the growing paints of being a starting QB as a rookie. Part of it is playing for a Jets team that went 2-14 last year. Either way, Wilson has be better next week against the Broncos.

By the way, Wilson still has a cannon.

Zach Wilson hit 59.99 MPH on a throw this week. The highest pass velocity on a throw this year.

— Andre Weingarten (@Swami_EA) September 20, 2021

Grade: F

Trey Lance

The 49ers improved to 2-0 by outlasting the Eagles for an ugly 17-11 win. San Francisco continues to start Jimmy Garoppolo at quarterback despite taking Trey Lance with the No. 3 overall pick, and this week Lance didn’t even see the field.

Lance only got four snaps in Week 1, but one of them was a touchdown throw. He did not take a snap in a tight game against Philadelphia. Head coach Kyle Shanahan explained the decision to reporters on Monday:

“No, I never have a plan that ‘Hey, I’m going to use him or I’m not going to use him.’ It’s always an option throughout the game,” Shanahan told reporters Monday. “It’s been two games and I’ve never had him in the openers and I’ve never had him as a designated time. I plan on doing that week-to-week and whenever I feel like putting him in. You saw when I did in Week 1 and I never got that urge in Week 2.”

Garoppolo really well in the win, finishing 17-of-25 for 314 yards with one touchdown and no picks. Jimmy G doesn’t play a particularly exciting brand of football, but he’s helped the Niners win a lot of games since coming the franchise. It’s easy to see why the Niners are taking a patient approach with Lance given that he only played one college game last season at North Dakota State, and Garoppolo is steady enough to help the Niners be competitive right now.

Grade: Incomplete

Justin Fields

Fields is still the backup quarterback in Chicago, but he saw his first bit of extended action in Week 2 after a leg injury for starter Andy Dalton. Fields played the entire second half and made some good throws even if his final numbers didn’t reflect it.

Fields hit Allen Robinson with a beautiful deep ball in the end zone that went through his hands for a bad drop. Chicago receivers let a few more catchable balls fall incomplete on the afternoon. Fields ended the game 6-of-13 for 60 yards with one interception, but he help lead the Bears to a tight win over the Bengals.

With the game hanging in the balance late in the fourth quarter, Fields made the biggest play of the afternoon by running for a first down on 3rd and 9 with Chicago holding onto a three-point lead. Fields made this play happen all by himself, and it’s possible the Bears would have lost the game without it.

1. People easily miss what made Justin Fields' 10-yard scramble for the game-sealing 1st so great. The broken tackle was one thing, but it was his awareness to get on the ground inbounds to keep the clock moving. To have that presence of mind as a rookie? It's rare.#Bears pic.twitter.com/UP8aJoU4Ca

— Erik Lambert (@ErikLambert1) September 20, 2021

There were some less encouraging moments, like a bad interception late in the fourth quarter that allowed the Bengals to get back into the game.

With Dalton’s status unknown going into Week 3 against the Cleveland Browns, it looks like Fields is going to get the chance to show he deserves the starting job the rest of the season.

Grade: B

Mac Jones

The Patriots didn’t need Jones to make a bunch of big plays to beat the Jets. New England came out with a conservative game plan for its quarterback, and let its defense dominant the rookie QB starting across from them to coast to an easy 25-6 win.

Jones played an efficient game, finishing 22-of-30 for 186 yards. He didn’t throw a touchdown or an interception. Instead, the most memorable plays Jones made came by helping the Pats’ running game. He pushed Damien Harrison into the end zone for this touchdown.

Mac Jones was right in there pushing the pile on that Damien Harris touchdown run. This guy is freaking awesome. pic.twitter.com/q3OgBXyvgt

— KJ Doyle (@bykjdoyle) September 19, 2021

He also helped spring a reverse for New England as a lead blocker:

A QB blocking, a WR rushing.@MacJones_10 | @BournePoly11 : @NFLonCBS / Patriots app pic.twitter.com/6uZGO0m1uo

— New England Patriots (@Patriots) September 19, 2021

Jones has looked like the best rookie QB through two weeks, but the Patriots have also made his job pretty easy. Credit the young QB for looking poised and accurate in his first two games. The big plays will come eventually.

The Patriots host the Saints next week, which should be another winnable game and an opportunity for Jones to impress again. After that? A Week 4 date with the Bucs and former Patriots legend Tom Brady.

Grade: A-

[crohnsdigest]

‘The virus will be back’: Preparing for the second wave of Covid-19

Epidemics of infectious diseases can be unpredictable but they often come in waves. History has left hard lessons showing that a virus can quickly return – and with deadlier force. Just over a century ago, the three-wave Spanish flu pandemic that claimed at least 50 million lives, killed more people in the more virulent second wave in the autumn of 1918 than in the first that spring, including in Ireland. Public health responses during that pandemic were complicated by the fact that the world was at war. Regional inaction and the increased movement of people as the war drew to a close deepened the severity and death toll in 1918 and 1919. Now, as Ireland reopens from a severe lockdown imposed to flatten the curve of infection and death, the risk of coronavirus infection rates rising again remains high with the increased interaction and movement of people. The risk is particularly high given that a vaccine to eradicate Covid-19 is some time, possibly years, away and seroprevalence studies which measure past rates of infection show little “herd immunity”, leaving large swathes of populations still susceptible to the virus. The two-month steady descent from Ireland’s peak of deaths and infection in mid-April has allowed the country to move into the second phase of lockdown relaxations and accelerated the Government’s plan to reopen society and the economy. This will, inevitably, put more people in closer contact with each other and raise the possibility of new infections increasing again. In the early stages of the pandemic, public health specialists were able to predict how infections would soar in an unmitigated scenario, where, based on the reproductive rate of a highly transmissible disease, one Covid-19 case would infect four or five others. Now, even the experts admit they cannot predict how the virus will spread if it returns. “I honestly don’t have a crystal ball on this one. I don’t know what we’re going to learn about this virus over the next six months,” Prof Philip Nolan, chair of the modelling advisory group on Covid-19, told the Oireachtas special committee on the pandemic response on Tuesday. Opinion is divided on how an increase in infections could come or indeed whether it is even likely. The State’s chief medical officer Dr Tony Holohan has said that a second wave is “not inevitable”. He said he hoped the reopening could proceed “without seeing a change in the level of disease that causes us either to have to pause or go back on some of the measures we have used”. “This virus will almost definitely come back again. It is not a case of ‘if’ it is almost guaranteed that it will be a case of ‘when’,” says Prof Sam McConkey, infectious diseases specialist at the Royal College of Surgeons in Ireland. Given the prevalence of the disease in countries such as the United States, Rusia and Brazil, McConkey believes the virus will be circulating in the world for the foreseeable future, possibly for between five and 10 years, and that the State has to become better at keeping coronavirus out and, if it is discovered again in the community, identifying it quickly and managing its suppression again. “If we do a really good job, it might be a second ripple rather than a second wave and there might be a second and third and fourth ripple. We might deal with it better. If we do a really bad job, it will be a second tsunami and then we have learned nothing,” says McConkey. 1 Tracing and testing The view of most public health and medical specialists is that the second wave will be different. The past three months of lockdown have been so traumatic for people and caused such an upheaval in their lives that the response the next time around, should the virus return, has to be less severe and managed differently. “There are two issues: one is when it will happen and the other is how big it will be. With a little bit of luck it will be just a wave, not a surge, and that it will be entirely manageable.” Among the advantages heading into any potential second wave is that there is now a greater understanding of the virus, how it spreads and presents itself clinically in sick patients. In March the State struggled to test people for Covid-19; it has since built a capacity to test up to 15,000 people a day for the disease, turning around tests from swab to result in 1.2 days on average, and taking three days to trace contacts of the newly infected. Some believe the rapid Covid-19 alert and surveillance system may need to go further. McConkey says the State may need to extend checks to second- and third-degree contact tracing, similar to how Facebook generates contact suggestions for friends of friends and friends of friends of friends. He uses the example of his wife potentially getting infected and people he works with being her second-degree contracts and having to self-isolate. “The aim there is to try to control the resurgences of the disease really thoroughly and in a way that prevents it spreading into the general population again, through more extreme isolation and control of the people in the immediate vicinity of others who have it, but then at the same time have more relaxation on the general population,” he says. Few expect a return to full lockdown or “phase zero” should the virus return, not because of the likely public anger to such a response, but because there may be strong evidence that the risk of transmission of the virus is lower in creches and primary schools, for example. “We used a big sledgehammer when we locked people into their homes,” says Motherway. “It would be very hard to lock people down totally again but hopefully over the next few weeks we will learn which bits of those public health measures did the most to reduce the curve and which bits can be applied without interfering with our economic life as much as we have,” she says. From his position on the modelling advisory group, Nolan said this week that “the management of the second wave will be different” and that there could be “more targeted measures introduced to control the future outbreaks before the sort of blanket measures that we have seen”. Contingency plans will be needed, he said. In Asia, large second waves were averted by such targeted, quick actions. Nationwide lockdowns being replaced by ones on regions or sectors and the partial reimposition of restrictions. “The lesson for Ireland here is that we must remain vigilant for new cases,” said David Higgins, an analyst with consultancy firm Carraighill which tracks and compares new Covid-19 cases against first-wave peaks. “We cannot rule out some restrictions being imposed again.” 2 Being vigilant about indoors and alcohol Two issues identified as posing the greatest danger for a return of the virus are indoor crowds and alcohol. The State’s chief medical officer has warned about house parties – events that can combine the two. “Alcohol is a distance inhibitor because it doesn’t take more than one or two drinks for us all to say, ‘Ah sure I’ll be grand, I’m only here for 10 minutes’,” says Favier. “By three or four drinks, everybody is everybody’s best friend and everybody’s sharing a corner of the bar along with bottles, glasses, food and cutlery,” say the doctor. “That is the biggest one we have to negotiate: the impact of alcohol on our social inhibitions and our ability to self-monitor.” In South Korea, a cluster of new infections was discovered in early May after weeks of almost no fresh cases and traced to Seoul’s nightclub district as social distancing was relaxed. Some 90,000 people were traced for contacts and almost 300 infections were linked to the clubs. The infection of more than 100 people was linked to a single person attending three clubs over one weekend. 3 Being sensible about individual behaviour Personal responsibility and individual action – from adhering to physical distancing and respiratory etiquette to early awareness of symptoms and contacting a GP quickly – is seen as essential to building an early-warning system that could help avoid a second wave. “All of us with sniffles, coughs or fevers should be getting our Covid-19 tests,” says McConkey. “Then if it does start to spread in Ireland again, we will see it at a very early stage, rather than waiting until there are thousands of cases.” The low prevalence of the disease makes individual, preemptive action essential. The reopening of society means public health officials can no longer rely on the few simple rules that applied during the lockdown for the multitude of risk scenarios facing the public. “We have to rely on people’s individual decision-making and good sense in order to reduce the risk,” says Pete Lunn, head of behavioural research at the Economic and Social Research Institute. “People need to be alert to and understand situations that are more risky than others and act to reduce the risk of transmitting the disease.” 4 Preparing the hospitals The risk of a second wave of the Covid-19 pandemic coinciding with an outbreak of other infectious diseases, such as seasonal flu or measles, raises the potential for a “double wave”. Doctors want the prepandemic “baseline” of 250 intensive care beds across the State’s hospitals doubled permanently and more isolation units to segregate Covid and non-Covid cases over the winter. “You can’t do that in one season but they need to start making significant plans,” says Motherway, whose term as president of the Intensive Care Society ended last week. Unlike during the first wave, when hospitals suspended non-Covid care to create capacity to cope with the pandemic, the acute care system must have plans to tackle a second wave of Covid-19 along with managing surgeries and accidents that were not happening in the first wave. “We only got one shot at the first wave where we could just suspend everything. You can’t do that a second time. It is just not going to be tenable,” says Favier. “The big challenge now with any surge is that we now have to run non-Covid work in parallel with Covid and our hospitals will really, really feel that strain. I would have more concern about that than we did in the first place with how many ventilators we had.” She says there is now no situation that carries zero risk from Covid-19 and hospitals “need to find workarounds and doing the new normal” and to move beyond “this paralysed, rabbit-in-the-headlights of Covid” that is preventing the return of some regular healthcare. 5 Preparing the nursing home sector The sector worst hit by the pandemic is the one facing the biggest challenge from a second wave. Many nursing home staff were forced out of work having contracted Covid-19, leaving care facilities struggling to cope with a virus that killed many elderly residents. McConkey believes care homes will need at least 20 per cent extra staff for “surge capacity” for a second wave. This will inevitably result in some privately-run homes not being economically viable and the larger nursing home groups being able to staff-up more quickly and to cope better. “Nursing homes have been chronically under-staffed for several years. They are going to have to start cherishing their staff as the most important thing they have,” says McConkey. Given the risks to nursing homes from Covid-19, staying prepared generally, not just for a second wave, is essential to beating the virus, with increased focus on stringent restrictions on visitors, social distancing, hand hygiene and the wearing of personal protective equipment. Regular, mass testing of care homes – or even batch testing of all nursing home staff and residents before testing individuals to identify the positive cases – is considered critical to being able to isolate Covid-19 cases and protect the most vulnerable group to the coronavirus disease. Appetite for risk Predicting how or when a second wave might emerge is even more unclear than preparing for the first wave because it comes down to the risks members of the public are willing to take. “Some people will take more risk, some less. That is the nature of humans. They differ in how much risk they could take whereas before we just knew we had to get the number of cases down,” says behavioural economist Pete Lunn. “The world has become more complex and then you are also in a far more complex set of rules for governing the behaviour so it has become much more messy and hard to predict.” https://crohnsdigest.net/hand-sanitizer-will-be-hard-to-find-for-a-long-time/ https://crohnsdigest.net/hand-sanitiser-handrub-formulation-100ml/ click here to buy hand sanitiser Read the full article

[fan-of-mulligan]

FOM BLOG: COVENTRY CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM

My Thoughts On Coventry City V Gillingham………

I made sure I had the following things on me,,,,, Money, Keys, My Coventry City Ticket, My Sony Xperia XA1, Lightweight Jacket, 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola, Match-Day Programmes, Lids, Bag, Polo’s, Pad and Pens, Can Of Lynx, Charger and Portable Chargers - And I double checked I had everything on me before leaving the house at 8.40AM Before making the ten minute walk from My House to the pick up point out-side The Cricketers Pub, And there were a few Gillingham Supporters standing around waiting for the coach, and I got speaking with Gary, and we spoke about how we might see a decent away attendance, because quite a few supporters will have not been to St Andrews Before (Coventry City are ground-sharing at Birmingham City’s Stadium For The 2019 / 2020 Season), and even though we would like to see Gillingham pick up all three points, A Draw For Gillingham against Coventry City would be a very respectable result, considering that Coventry City were unbeaten after four League One Matches and they are third in League One Table going into this weekend’s clash against Gillingham.

We also spoke about Tuesday Night’s 2-2 draw against Blackpool, and how Gillingham have conceded all five league goals that we have conceded just before half time in three league games, Burton Albion and Blackpool have both scored twice between The Thirty Eighth Minute and Half Time, and that is something that Gillingham need to sort out going forwards, Blackpool hit the inside of the post in the first half and Jack Bonham made a magnificent save in the second half to keep the score-line level, and Gillingham battered Blackpool in the final fifteen minutes of the match, and it would have been great had Gillingham won, and drawing 2-2 after going 2-0 up is very disappointing, But Blackpool created some very good goal-scoring opportunities and perhaps could have won the game, but Gillingham could have won late on against Blackpool as well.

The Kings Ferry Coach arrived at 9.20AM, And I got on the coach and sat towards the back, and once I was seated, I Re-Tweeted The Score Prediction Polls From Gills Debate and Gills In The Blood, And I Re-Tweeted The It’s Match-Day Tweets From Gills Debate and The Gillingham Official Twitter Account, before updating My Status Updates On Facebook and Twitter with the following message,,, On My Way To St Andrews As Gillingham take on Coventry City In League One This Afternoon, Hopefully, Gillingham can build on our point against Blackpool in mid-week and Gillingham can pick up all three points against Coventry City - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!

We headed towards our next pick up point at Priestfield Stadium, where the majority of Gills Supporters got on the coach, and once everyone was on the coach, we were on to our next pick up point out-side The Strand, and while we were waiting at this pick up point, I replied to D3D4’s Match-Day Post With The Following,,,, St Andrews, Coventry City V Gillingham, Coventry City 2-2 Gillingham - Alex Jakubaik and Brandon Hanlan to get themselves on the score-sheet for Gillingham. And the fourth question was favourite movie, and I put Terminator Two.

And we then arrived at the final pick up point at 10AM, which was out-side Strood Sports Centre, and we had a problem, the coach was over-booked and some people’s names were not written down on Peter’s List, and six people had to be turned away from the coach, and the six supporters who were turned away decided to group together and drive up to Birmingham Instead, And this isn’t particularly fair on Peter, and we are fortunate that six people have found other methods of transportation to Birmingham.

Peter then went through all the formalities of the rules and regulations, and The Coach Prices for Adults and Children, and no alcohol on the coach - not that anyone would carry alcohol on the coach - and the travel costs were £25 for Adults, and £21 for juniors, and Peter mentioned that the plan was to stop off at Watford Gap Services or a service station closer to Birmingham, but a lot will depend on traffic and driving regulations, and because there was only one driver on the coach, we will have to have a long stop at the services when we hit those driving regulations, Peter also mentioned to everyone who wishes to book on Kings Ferry to book with him directly and not book with Gillingham Football Club, because they do not always pass the relevant information on, sometimes if there is spare room on the coach like when we are traveling to the likes of Blackpool or Accrington Stanley then there is going to be seats available, and over-booking isn’t a problem in those situations, but there were no spare seats on the coach, and that has meant that six people are traveling to Birmingham via car.

I then re-tweeted The League One Fixtures and a few tweets regarding Bury being saved for the time being at the very least, But Bury have only been given an extension to try and get the change of ownership over the line, and I really do hope that happens sooner rather then later, and Bury can then move forward, finally play there first competitive match of the season after six matches have been postponed, and even if the worst was to happen in-terms of what happens on the field this season, IE: Bury Relegated Into League Two, Bury supporters will still have there football club, and that surely is what is important, Because I am sure that if you offered Bury Supporters a change in ownership, but the downside of this is relegation into League Two, then Bury Supporters will take that over the alternative of liquidation any day of the week - I wish Bury Supporters all the best, and hope that the necessary changes go through without any problems.

Also, If you want a better understanding of what is going on at Bury, Then I recommend watching this video clip LINK IS HERE: https://www.youtube.com/watch?time_continue=5&v=jVKglkDawmA - And give Bury Supporter Peter Taylor a follow on Twitter and his Twitter Account is @burymeinexile

UPDATE: Unfortunately, The worst case scenario has happened and Bury have been expelled by The English Football League and Bury Football Club no longer exist, and this is horrible news, just horrible, I have no idea how Bury Supporters, Players, Staff and Academy Staff And Academy Players are dealing with this announcement, and what happens next I am not sure, But there has already been talk of A Phoenix Club and maybe Bury Athletic or AFC Bury will be the new name of the Phoenix Football Club, but making sure that The New Bury Football Club plays football matches at Gigg Lane is essential and Bury Football Club has to own Gigg Lane and ensure that football matches continued to be played there for the foreseeable future.

Thankfully, It only took us ten minutes to get through Dartford Crossing, because we know how bad Dartford Crossing can be when traveling to away games on A Saturday Morning, And looking at potential team news from our opponents, Coventry City could start with no right back against Gillingham and Steve Evans will be in the dugout after serving his four match suspension, I think Steve Evans might adopt the strategy of sitting higher up in the stands for the first half, and then take his position in the dugout for the second half, I have also seen a few suggestions along the lines that Steve Evans not being in the dugout for the first four matches of the season could be a contributing factor as to why Gillingham have yet to win a competitive match In The 2019 / 2020 Season, And Gillingham will be putting that theory to the test against Coventry City this afternoon.

Diane mentioned that the traffic is very slow on The M1 at Toddington Services and Diane mentioned that there are other traffic problems on the way up to Birmingham, And I just hope that we will make it in time for kick off, I have only missed kick off for away games three times, AFC Bournemouth V Gillingham For The 2008 / 2009 Season where Gary Mulligan scored the equaliser, (I missed the first fifteen minutes in that match) Bradford City V Gillingham and I missed the first five minutes of that game, and I think the third game was Bristol Rovers V Gillingham on A Easter Weekend, There have been matches where I arrived with minutes to spare, Like Stockport County 1-5 Gillingham and Cody McDonald scored a hat-trick at Edgeley Park, And Coventry City V Gillingham looks like it is going to be one of those days where it is touch and go if we arrive in time for kick off.

Barry Fuller was going to be making his 200th appearance for Gillingham against Coventry City, And Barry Fuller Is The Fifty First Gillingham Player to reach that milestone, and it would be the perfect way for Barry Fuller to make his 200th appearance for The Gills by scoring the winning goal today, And as for the likelihood of Gillingham picking up all three points, I am hopeful, But I am not confidant at all, Coventry City have made a very impressive start to the season, Gillingham have yet to win a competitive match and Coventry City finished Eighth In League One Last Season, They are a very good team and if Gillingham were to leave St Andrews with a point, then it would be a very good point.

Peter then came round to collect the money, and I paid My £25 Fare, I mentioned to Peter that Diane had made other travel arrangements for the trip to St Andrews and Peter mentioned that there is a good chance that we will have to stop for forty five minutes because of driving regulations, and much will depend on traffic on which service station we will be stopping at, Because so far, traffic has been very stop and start which has only added additional time on to our journey.

Diane mentioned that there has been a crash nearby which has added further additional delays on to the journey, and I mentioned that The Kings Ferry Coach will probably arrive at 2.30PM, The GISC Coach had stopped off at Corley Services at 12.15PM and they are likely to leave the service station at 1PM, But Diane is only nineteen miles away from Birmingham, compared to our fifty four miles away from Birmingham, and we have yet to stop off at the services, This has been a very stop and start journey all the way to Birmingham and I think it is going to be touch and go if we make it in time for kick off, It is when you get traffic jams and delays on the motorway, that you can see the benefits of traveling via train, but to make train travel affordable, you need to book your train tickets months in advance and try and group save if at all possible, and you might need to get a taxi from the train station to the football ground depending on how away the stadium is from the train station, I experienced this when traveling to Bearsted in pre-season and I had to pay £13 for A Taxi, Thankfully, I got a lift back to Maidstone West Train Station after the game, but Bearsted’s Stadium really is in the middle of no-where.

We then stopped off at Watford Gap Services at 12.35PM, And Peter mentioned that we had to stop for forty five minutes, I then checked Goggle Maps, And we still had just over a hour before we arrived at The St Andrews Stadium, So your talking best case scenario, we arrive at 2.30PM, And it is frustrating we had to stop off at Watford Gap Services for so long, and even with the long  stop, the queue for food and drink at McDonalds was ridiculous, and I really wanted to get something to eat and drink, but with the length of the queue, there is just not enough time to get food and drink ordered and served in forty five minutes, and I decided to leave it and buy a small snack, and One 500ML Bottle Of Coca Cola For £3.

I got speaking with Charlie for a bit, and I mentioned that we should just about arrive in time for kick off, but for anyone who wants to look around and get something to eat and drink, or meet up with people they know who are going to the game who have not traveled via coach, then that is going to be very difficult, We also spoke about The Gillingham V Blackpool Game and how Gillingham have conceded another two more goals before half time and Gillingham have conceded five goals in three league games between The Thirty Eighth And Forty Fifth Minutes Of The Match, and going forwards, Gillingham cannot continue to concede goals just before half time, The positives were Alex Jakubiak getting himself on the score-sheet and how Gillingham battered Blackpool defensively for the final fifteen minutes of the match, but the negatives are the defence conceding two goals at home for the third successive home match, and had Jack Bonham not made that fantastic save, then Blackpool could have picked up all three points.

As there was time to spare before getting back on the coach, Me and Louis spoke about the up and coming match against Coventry City, and A Draw would be a very respectable result for Gillingham and while we are hoping for a win, avoiding defeat and building on the draw against Blackpool is of course very important as well, I mentioned that we should arrive out-side Birmingham’s Ground at 2.30PM, And hopefully there are very few traffic disruptions on our way to St Andrews Stadium, I mentioned that I brought Gillingham’s New Home Shirt On Tuesday, And I had to Buy 3XL, And I know so many fans who have had to go one, two, or even three shirt sizes up compared to the shirt sizes on last season’s kit, Because Marcon (Who are Gillingham’s Shirt Manufacture) have messed up the shirt sizes for this season’s kit.

I mentioned that the driving regulations have not helped us at all, A Forty Five Minute Stop means that we are running things close if we are to arrive in time for kick off, The coach was also twenty minutes late and I was picked up at 9.20AM, And the traffic has been stop and start on The M1 for the majority of the journey as well, I do think that both coaches could have left thirty minutes earlier, which would mean arriving at the ground at 2PM, But there is not much we can do about the traffic and the road works on The M1.

I got back on the coach, and once everyone was back on the coach again, we were on our way at 13.20PM, And I was charging up My Mobile Phone With My Portable Charger, I mentioned to Diane and Stephen on Facebook that The Kings Ferry Coach had left from Watford Gap Services and hopefully we will make it in time for kick off, I mentioned to Diane that we should arrive in time for kick off and this has been a dreadful journey, Diane in comparison is half a mile away from the ground compared to our forty two miles, This is going to be one of those away journeys where we will know the team news while we are still traveling to an away game.

I mentioned on Twitter The Following,,,,, We should arrive at St Andrews Stadium at 14.30PM, Traffic has been horrendous on The M1, And I also re-tweeted video clips of what is the latest on Bury’s Situation, And A Coventry City V Gillingham Preview From Gabriel Sutton, While Gillingham had uploaded a few photo’s and a video clip on to there Official Twitter Account and I guessed correctly which ground was in The Gills In The Blood Photo, As I mentioned that the stadium in the photo was Plymouth Argyle’s Stadium, And as we are coming up to 2PM, Gillingham’s Team News should be announced within a few minutes.

Eventually, Gillingham’s Team News Appeared On Twitter, And Gillingham Lined Up As Follows,,,,,,,,, Jack Bonham, Lee Hodson, Max Ehmer, Connor Ogilvie, Barry Fuller, Stuart O’Keefe, Alfie Jones, Mark Byrne, Regan Charles-Cook, Brandon Hanlan, Alex Jakubiak SUBS: Joe Walsh (GK), Ousseynou Cissé, Henry Woods, Mark Marshall, Elliott List, Mikael Ndjoli and Mikael Mandron - Gillingham have named a very attacking substitutes bench, with a defensive midfielder, a attacking midfielder, a winger and three strikers, So there are plenty of attacking options on the bench, should Gillingham want to or need to make changes later on in the match, I asked Nicholas the following question, What do you think in-terms of the formation, 4-3-3, 4-3-1-2, diamond midfield or maybe three at the back???, And Nicholas thought that Gillingham would line up with a 4.1.3.2 formation, But Steve Evans could well decide to line up with a 4.3.3 formation though.

I then re-tweeted a few Gillingham Line Up’s On Twitter, But I also noticed that Billy Bingham and Josh Rees were both starting for Bromley against Boredom Wood Today, I then re-tweeted The Team-Sheet, And there was a photo of Neal Ardley and Cody McDonald together at Stonebridge Road, as Ebbsfleet United host Notts County In The Conference National This Afternoon.

Ben then mentioned to me that stewards are not allowing supporters to take drinks with them inside the stadium and the stewards are being stingy to say the least, especially when you take the weather into consideration, Finally, we had arrived at St Andrews Stadium, But our coach was diverted and we had to be dropped off and then we walked to the stadium, I then double checked I had everything on me I wanted to take with me inside the ground, and once I got off the coach, I got speaking with Nicholas, Debbie and Charlie, and we had arrived at St Andrews at 2.30PM, and we have at least made it in time for kick off, and that was the most important thing.

In-terms of The Starting Line Up, I think we are going to be guessing on whether it is A 4.2.3.1 Formation, 4.1.3.2, 4.4.2 Diamond Midfield or 4.3.3, But Gillingham have got the players on the pitch to change to different formations without having to make a substitution, we could even go to three at the back if required, Because Connor Ogilvie, Max Ehmer and Alfie Jones are all starting for Gillingham, But regardless of formations or tactical flexibility, we need to see something from Gillingham against Coventry City This Afternoon.

And as we approached the entrance by The Away Turnstiles, Everyone was searched prior before being allowed to queue up to get into the away end, And once I gave My Ticket To The Turnstile Operator, I went through The Turnstiles and waited for Nicholas and Debbie, and that was a bit excessive when it came to being searched before being allowed through to the away end, I brought One Match-Day Programme for £3 before walking upstairs to The Away Concourse to queue up to get something to drink.

I mentioned to Diane and Stephen that the queue in the away concourse was packed, and while I was queuing up to get something to drink, I got speaking with Brad and James, and I mentioned the terrible traffic problems on The M1, Before we got speaking about Steve Evans as Gillingham Manager, and while there has been plenty of comments online, I have only seen two people face to face at home games who want Gillingham Football Club to lose football matches to get Steve Evans sacked, and regardless of anyone’s opinions either for or against the manager, I cannot see a situation or scenario where I would cheer on the opposition to win football matches against Gillingham Football Club because I want Gillingham Football Club to win football matches.

I also mentioned what happened against Blackpool On Tuesday Night, And If not naming Darren Oldaker and Miquel Scarlett on the bench for Tuesday Night's Match against Blackpool is a ploy by the coaching staff to try and force The Chairman's hand to strengthen the squad, Then I cannot see that going well. But we do need a few reinforcements into the squad before the transfer window closes, But the main point I made on Tuesday Night is this, If a young player has made the right impression for Gillingham's Youth Team, Then in situations like the game against Blackpool is where you reward the young player by naming them on the bench, and it sets the benchmark for all the youth team players that there is a pathway into the first team, And I think Steve Evans has named six substitutes to try and enforce Chairman Paul Scally into strengthening the squad, and if Steve Evans (Or any Gillingham Manager for that matter) were to try and battle with Chairman Paul Scally when it comes to transfer dealings, then The Chairman is going to win that battle.

After paying £2.50 for my drink (which was poured into a plastic cup and you were given a straw) I made my way pitch-side to try and find somewhere to stand, the back five rows were packed, So I stood next to Diane roughly halfway up the away end, and there was a decent turnout from Gillingham Supporters At St Andrews This Afternoon, I took to my seat at 2.55PM, And there was just enough time for me to send the following tweet on Twitter,,, Coventry City V Gillingham - COME ON THE GILLS - I got My Notebook and Pen out ready for the match to begin, and we have just made it in time for the match.

Both teams had walked out on to the pitch and lined up in-front of the main stand, Gillingham were kicking towards The Tilton Road Stand In The First Half, And Coventry City were kicking towards The Gil Merrick Stand, meaning that Gillingham were kicking towards the end where there supporters are situated In The Second Half, Coventry City Supporters were situated in The Spion Kop Stand down the right side of the pitch, There were no supporters in the stand behind the goal.

Hopefully, the traffic is the worst part of the day and we can see Gillingham get there league season up and running with Gillingham getting there first league win of the season against a decent Coventry City Side, because five points from four matches would be a reasonable points tally considering that Gillingham have played against Doncaster Rovers, Burton Albion, Blackpool and Coventry City - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

FIRST HALF:

And Matt Godden gets the match underway by passing the ball back to Michael Rose, who takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down the right side of the pitch, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, In Gillingham’s Defensive Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Barry Fuller throws the ball long down the line and Sam McCallum wins the initial aerial challenge and Jordan Shipley wins the second aerial challenge and Michael Rose wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Jakubiak, and Stuart O’Keefe plays a first time pass over the top towards Brandon Hanlan down the left side of the pitch, And Brandon Hanlan manages to force Sam McCallum to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Coventry City’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Regan Charles-Cook, who passes the ball back out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller is intercepted by Sam McCallum, But Gillingham do manage to win themselves another throw, and it is from this throw where Gillingham create a half decent goal-scoring opportunity, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Brandon Hanlan, who chests the ball back out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a high and hanging ball towards the back-stick which is over-hit and runs out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick.

And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Marko Marosi has kicked an appalling goal-kick down-field and Mark Byrne has headed the ball into Alex Jakubiak’s Path, And Alex Jakubiak gets the ball under control and attempts to cut inside, before going on a driving run around the out-side and Alex Jakubiak goes on a driving run forwards inside Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Alex Jakubiak see’s his low shot towards goal blocked by Michael Rose and the ball deflects out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne throws the ball down the line towards Regan Charles-Cook, And Regan Charles-Cook manages to get the ball under control before running away from goal towards the byline, And Regan Charles-Cook turns back on himself and uses his pace and skill to take on Dominic Hyam and Regan Charles-Cook fires in a low cross across Coventry City’s Penalty Area, and the home side manage to clear there lines and Connor Ogilvie is penalised for his challenge on Matt Godden, And Coventry City have been awarded a free kick on the halfway line.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Michael Rose plays a cross-field pass towards Brandon Mason, who manages to get the ball under control, And Brandon Mason passes the ball down the line towards Jordan Shipley, who is intercepted by Alfie Jones, But Jordan Shipley manages to shield the ball out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Brandon Mason throws the ball short to Jordan Shipley, who passes the ball back out-wide to Brandon Mason and Brandon Mason has to run back in possession of the ball before passing the ball forwards to Zain Westbrooke, who flicks the ball around the corner and Lee Hodson was well positioned to kick the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the aerial challenge to header the ball into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Although Mark Byrne wins the initial aerial challenge, Matt Godden manages to win the second aerial challenge to header the ball back to Zain Westbrooke, who plays a first time pass out-wide to Wesley Jobello, And Wesley Jobello runs forwards in possession of the ball down the left wing, And Wesley Jobello whips in a fantastic in-swinging cross towards the far post and Matt Godden see’s his powerful downward header brilliantly saved by Jack Bonham and Matt Godden tries to get to the re-bound and Max Ehmer manages to shield the ball so that Jack Bonham can dive on to the loose ball, Coventry City Supporters wanted a penalty, But Referee Martin Coy was not interested, and I don’t think that was ever going to be a penalty kick for the hosts either.

Four Minutes Into The Match, And Stuart O’Keefe takes the sensible option of passing the ball back to Jack Bonham because Coventry City are on the front-foot, And Jack Bonham takes a few touches in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Jakubiak and Mark Byrne is on to the loose ball and passes the ball out-wide to Lee Hodson, who takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down the line and Dominic Hyam has to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on because of pressure from Alex Jakubiak, and from the resulting throw on, Lee Hodson throws the ball short to Alex Jakubiak, who gets the ball under control, But The Watford Loanee is crowded out and Liam Kelly manages to intercept the ball and clear the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie takes no chances and kicks the ball into touch for A Coventry City Throw On.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Brandon Mason throws the ball short to Jordan Shipley, who passes the ball back to Brandon Mason, And Brandon Mason runs past Alfie Jones and continue’s running forwards in possession of the ball and Brandon Mason’s through-ball through to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila down the left side of the pitch is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Both Brandon Mason and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila are very quick, and with Coventry City not having a natural Right Back In There Starting Line Up, Then we can expect to see Coventry City being over-reliant on there left sided players to create goal-scoring opportunities against Gillingham this afternoon.

Six Minutes Into The Match, And Stuart O’Keefe managed to win Gillingham A Defensive Free Kick after Brandon Mason had played a neat one / two with Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, And The Defensive Free Kick Decision infuriated Coventry City Supporters, but this decision also just relieved some of the pressure building on to Gillingham’s Goal, And From Here, we have seen Gillingham Line Up So Far, Gillingham’s Line Up Is As Follows,,,,, Jack Bonham In Goal, Lee Hodson, Max Ehmer, Connor Ogilvie and Barry Fuller as Gillingham’s Back Four, Alfie Jones playing in Defensive Midfield, Mark Byrne and Stuart O’Keefe lining up in central midfield, Regan Charles-Cook lining up behind Brandon Hanlan and Alex Jakubiak in attack, as Gillingham Line Up With A 4.4.2 Diamond Midfield Formation.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the initial aerial challenge and Alfie Jones headers the ball forwards and Sam McCallum headers the ball away from goal for Coventry City and Mark Byrne headers the ball forwards to Brandon Hanlan, who manages to retain possession of the ball before laying the ball off to Regan Charles-Cook, who runs towards the left flank in possession of the ball, And Regan Charles-Cook continue’s his run down the left flank, and tries to take on Sam McCallum, who manages to shield the ball out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick.

However, From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Coventry City had the chance to open the scoring, Marko Marosi clips the ball down the right side of the pitch, and Sam McCallum chests the ball under control before evading the challenge from Mark Byrne and Sam McCallum manages to pick out Brandon Mason with a accurate cross-field pass, And Brandon Mason gets the ball under control and passes the ball forwards to Jordan Shipley, who lays the ball off to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila runs down the left flank in possession of the ball before threading the ball through to Matt Godden by the byline, and Matt Godden’s attempted pull-back is blocked by Max Ehmer and diverted out of play for A Coventry City Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Zain Westbrooke whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards Michael Rose at the far post, and Max Ehmer has done enough to stop Michael Rose from getting on the end of that cross and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Max Ehmer is penalised for his challenge on Matt Godden just in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Coventry City have been awarded a free kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Liam Kelly passes the ball back to Michael Rose, who passes the ball out-wide to Sam McCallum, And Sam McCallum takes a few touches in possession of the ball before passing the ball through to Zain Westbrooke, And Zain Westbrooke gets the ball under control before passing the ball out-wide to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila down the right side of the pitch, And Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila passes the ball back to Sam McCallum who passes the ball forwards to Jordan Shipley, And Jordan Shipley lays the ball off to Zain Westbrooke, And Zain Westbrooke passes the ball out-wide to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila down the right side of the pitch, and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila runs into a central position on the pitch before looking to attempt to pick out Brandon Mason with a cross-field pass which is over-hit and runs out of play for A Gillingham Throw On - But there was a level of frustration aimed at Gillingham for the amount of possession that Coventry City had in that passage of play.

And Coventry City are still in the ascendancy, Because Mark Byrne is penalised for his challenge on Sam McCallum, Because The Make-Shift Right Back For Coventry City goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball and Coventry City have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position here, and from the resulting free kick, Jordan Shipley whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila’s glancing header goes wide of Jack Bonham’s Right Hand Post and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Coventry City were appealing for a corner kick, But Referee Martin Coy points for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

And From The Resulting Goal-Kick, Jack Bonham quickly kicks the ball long down-field and Brandon Mason wins the aerial challenge up against Regan Charles-Cook and Liam Kelly kicks the ball up into the air and into Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Connor Ogilvie manages to header the ball away from Gillingham’s Goal and Michael Rose takes a touch to control the ball before kicking the ball long down the right side of the pitch, and Barry Fuller wins the aerial challenge up against Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila before kicking the ball high up into the air and although Regan Charles-Cook manages to win the initial aerial challenge, Regan Charles-Cook cannot keep the ball in play and the ball runs out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, right in-front of the dugouts.

And From The Resulting Throw On, Sam McCallum throws the ball short to Zain Westbrooke, who runs towards his own half in possession of the ball and passes the ball back to Michael Rose, who kicks the ball high up into the air first time and Lee Hodson headers the ball clear and away from danger and Jordan Shipley beats Stuart O’Keefe to the second ball, and Jordan Shipley gets the ball under control before going on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch, and Jordan Shipley threads a pass through to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, who lays the ball off to Jordan Shipley first time and Lee Hodson kicks the ball against The Coventry City Midfielder to win Gillingham A Goal-Kick - And Gillingham are under the cosh at the moment.

Fourteen Minutes Into The Match, And Liam Kelly kicks a long ball down-field for Matt Godden to chase, And Connor Ogilvie just about manages to header the ball back to Jack Bonham, and only just as well, and from here, Jack Bonham rolls the ball short to Connor Ogilvie, who runs forwards in possession of the ball, And Connor Ogilvie runs forward towards the halfway line and is tripped by Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Jack Bonham plays a horrendous pass down the line towards Regan Charles-Cook, who was expecting Jack Bonham to kick the ball long down-field, and Brandon Mason goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball before running into a more central area on the pitch, And Brandon Mason manages to thread a pass through to Matt Godden to run on to, And Matt Godden see’s his first time chipped effort saved by Jack Bonham, who at least has atoned for his error by making the save, but what on earth was that pass from Jack Bonham, a terrible decision which could have cost Gillingham a goal as well.

Eighteen Minutes Into The Match, And Regan Charles-Cook is penalised for hand-ball when Stuart O’Keefe looked to pick out Regan Charles-Cook with a pass towards the centre circle, and from the resulting free kick, Liam Kelly passes the ball back to Michael Rose, who passes the ball out-wide to Sam McCallum, who takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball back to Michael Rose, And Michael Rose passes the ball square to Dominic Hyam, who passes the ball forwards to Liam Kelly, And Liam Kelly drops the ball off back to Michael Rose, who manages to pick out Brandon Mason with a forty yard cross-field pass, and Brandon Mason gets the ball under control down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Brandon Mason looks to take on Lee Hodson inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Lee Hodson has done enough to shield the ball back to Alfie Jones, who runs wide in possession of the ball and Alfie Jones kicks the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the aerial challenge up against Alex Jakubiak and Liam Kelly gets the second ball under control, evades the challenge from Stuart O’Keefe, And Liam Kelly see’s attempted pass down the line intercepted by Regan Charles-Cook - Anywhere will do for Gillingham at the moment as The Gills are on the back-foot.

Nineteen Minutes Into The Match, And Dominic Hyam tries to pick out Wesley Jobello with an attempted cross-field pass and Barry Fuller headers the ball clear and out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Sam McCallum throws the ball short to Zain Westbrooke, who passes the ball back out-wide to Sam McCallum, And Sam McCallum passes the ball square to Wesley Jobello, who manages to retain possession of the ball before playing a one / two with Zain Westbrooke, And Wesley Jobello losses possession of the ball to Barry Fuller, who turns back on himself, and although there was a collision between Barry Fuller and Mark Byrne, Alfie Jones is alert to the danger and threads a pass down the left flank to Alex Jakubiak on the halfway line, And Alex Jakubiak runs forwards in possession of the ball before playing a threaded through-ball through to Brandon Hanlan, And Brandon Hanlan does in-fact get to the loose ball first, And Brandon Hanlan cuts back on himself and is twisting and turning and causing Michael Rose all sorts of problems, And Brandon Hanlan whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick which goes out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick - And having Brandon Hanlan and Alex Jakubiak down the left side of the pitch is problematic with Gillingham lining up with a 4.4.2 diamond midfield formation.

But Gillingham have got to The Twenty Minute Mark with the score-line still goal-less, and that is always the first benchmark I look for when Gillingham are playing away from home, get to the first twenty minutes of the match with the score-line still deadlocked, or maybe go 1-0 up, But at the moment, The score-line is goal-less, even though Coventry City have been the much better team based on the passage of play, But as long as the score-line remains goal-less and even if Gillingham have been second best for the majority of the game, there is always that one chance for Gillingham to open the scoring, We just need to see a bit more from Gillingham as an attacking threat.

Twenty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila is penalised for a foul on Lee Hodson, But everyone in the away end was furious with the decision a minute later, Jack Bonham has kicked the ball long down the right side of the pitch, And Regan Charles-Cook was flagged for offside, and every Gillingham Supporter was baffled as to how or why Regan Charles-Cook was flagged for offside when he had possession of the ball in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch ??? - We know that Gillingham are going to be in for a difficult game against Coventry City, but decisions like that one from The Linesman are not going to help Gillingham out at all.

Perhaps that strange offside decision was a sign of things to come, because things did not improve for Gillingham when play resumes, But before play could resume, All Twenty Two Players had a drinks break and this stoppage in play gave Steve Evans the chance to relay any tactical instructions to the players, and also, this gave a few supporters the chance to go to the refreshments stand to get something to eat and drink, particularly those of us who had traveled via coach and we arrived with just twenty minutes before kick off, I had my drink on me, so no worries there, but others might take this drinks stoppage break to buy a drink themselves.

And when play resumed, Dominic Hyam passes the ball short to Liam Kelly, who passes the ball back to Dominic Hyam, And Dominic Hyam plays a one / two with Michael Rose, And Dominic Hyam threads the ball through to Brandon Mason, who controls the ball on the half-turn before laying the ball off to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, And Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Wesley Jobello wins the initial aerial challenge to header the ball across Gillingham’s Penalty Area and Stuart O’Keefe’s horrendous defensive header has basically teed up Zain Westbrooke to hit the ball first time on the volley and Mark Byrne has threw himself in-front of the shot and the ball deflects off Mark Byrne and over the crossbar for A Coventry City Corner Kick, And It Is From The Resulting Corner Kick Where Coventry City open the scoring, Zain Westbrooke whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross which Jack Bonham completely misses and the final touch either comes off Dominic Hyam or Connor Ogilvie and Coventry City take the lead.

But that is such a scrappy goal to concede, And Jack Bonham should be getting on the end of corner kicks whipped inside the six yard box, granted the penalty area was packed and any touch will lead to a goal, But Jack Bonham went to punch the ball clear and missed the ball and unfortunately, it is his error which has lead to Coventry City scoring from a very simple set piece, Other questions have to be asked as well, like why was Dominic Hyam unmarked, and also, this goal is a contribution of another error, because if Stuart O’Keefe doesn’t tee up Zain Westbrooke for the volley, then Coventry City don’t get the corner kick which leads to the opening goal of the game, and now Gillingham need to respond and respond quickly.

Twenty Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Barry Fuller is penalised for his challenge on Wesley Jobello in Gillingham’s Final Third (A Challenge Which See’s Barry Fuller Shown A Yellow Card), and because that free kick decision came straight after Coventry City’s Goal, that just fuelled further frustration from Gillingham Supporters In The Away End, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Coventry City could and perhaps should have gone 2-0 up, Zain Westbrooke whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Michael Rose Headers the ball back to Matt Godden, who see’s his first time low effort towards goal cleared off the line by Max Ehmer and Matt Godden see’s his follow up effort blocked by Alfie Jones and Matt Godden plays a clipped short pass to Michael Rose see’s his cross towards the edge of Gillingham’s Penalty Area headed clear by Mark Byrne and Sam McCallum plays a first time high ball over the top towards Wesley Jobello, who has aches of space inside Gillingham’s Penalty Area, and Wesley Jobello retains possession of the ball before dropping the ball out-wide to Zain Westbrooke, who takes a touch to control the ball before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross which is headed clear by Alfie Jones and Mark Byrne can only header the ball out of play for A Coventry City Corner Kick.

And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Matt Godden whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the near post, and although Wesley Jobello wins the initial aerial challenge, he cannot direct his header towards goal and Mark Byrne headers the ball wide and away from goal, But Matt Godden is on to the loose ball, and Matt Godden whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Brandon Hanlan headers the ball clear and Michael Rose kicks the ball up into the air and Max Ehmer wins the first aerial challenge and Stuart O’Keefe wins the aerial challenge up against Liam Kelly to header the ball forwards to Regan Charles-Cook, And Regan Charles-Cook runs forwards up towards the halfway line before dropping the ball back to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe plays a long pass down the line towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak see’s his first time effort towards goal saved by Marko Marosi and the second ball ricochets off Alex Jakubiak and goes out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick.

And after the ball had gone out of play, Gillingham make there first substitution after thirty minutes, Because Mikael Ndjoli comes on to replace Regan Charles-Cook, Now either this was a tactical decision from Steve Evans and Paul Raynor, Or, Regan Charles-Cook had indeed picked up a knock and Gillingham are earring on the side of caution to ensure that Regan Charles-Cook isn’t out injured on the sidelines for the medium to long term.

Thirty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Coventry City win themselves another corner kick as Liam Kelly tries to pick out Wesley Jobello with a long ball down-field and Barry Fuller at full stretch has to header the ball behind for A Coventry City Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Matt Godden whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Liam Kelly headers the ball back across the face of goal and Max Ehmer manages to header the ball partially clear and away from danger, and Wesley Jobello is on to the loose ball first and lays the ball off to Matt Godden, And Matt Godden see’s his driven effort towards goal blocked by Lee Hodson, and the ball ricochets back to Zain Westbrooke just in Gillingham’s half of the pitch, And Zain Westbrooke manages to pick out Dominic Hyam with a cross-field pass, And Dominic Hyam tries to header the ball down towards Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, But Jack Bonham was able to make the save.

Thirty Three Minutes Into The Match, And Brandon Mason is penalised for his challenge on Brandon Hanlan, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a very promising position here, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Stuart O’Keefe whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Liam Kelly manages to header the ball clear and away from goal down the left side of the pitch with a glancing header, and Wesley Jobello gets to the loose ball first and Mark Byrne times his challenge to perfection with a excellent sliding tackle to prevent Coventry City to hit Gillingham on the counter attack, But for some obscure reason, Referee Martin Coy has shown Mark Byrne A Yellow Card and none of us could believe it in the away end that Mark Byrne had been booked for a combative challenge that was never a free kick in the first place, and nor should Mark Byrne have been shown A Yellow Card as well.

Thirty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick because Matt Godden is penalised for climbing all over the back of Barry Fuller From Sam McCallum’s Long Throw On, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Barry Fuller hits a high and hanging cross-field pass and although Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial battle, Zain Westbrooke smashes the ball long down-field and although Matt Godden has won the foot-race up against Lee Hodson, Jack Bonham has come out of his penalty area to header the ball towards Mark Byrne, who kicks the ball high and away from goal so this allows Jack Bonham to get back inside his penalty area, and Stuart O’Keefe gets on to the loose ball, And Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball first time down the line towards Brandon Hanlan, who is fouled by Dominic Hyam and no free kick decision was given for the foul, and when Brandon Hanlan tries to take on Dominic Hyam, The Coventry City Defender shields the ball out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick, the shielding the ball out of play was good defending, but the foul on Brandon Hanlan prior should have been awarded in Gillingham’s Favour - And Gillingham Supporters were infuriated with The Official’s For Not Awarding Gillingham A Free Kick.

Thirty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Brandon Mason threads a through-ball down the line towards Matt Godden, And although Matt Godden see’s his attempted pull back blocked by Lee Hodson and the ball is deflected out for A Coventry City Corner Kick, The Linesman Down The Near Side Of The Pitch Had His Flag Raised For Offside, And In The Thirty Ninth Minute Of The Match, Brandon Hanlan is penalised for his challenge on Dominic Hyam and Coventry City have been awarded a defensive free kick.

Forty One Minutes Into The Match, And Coventry City had the chance to double there lead just before half time, Marko Marosi has possession of the ball for Coventry City, And Marko Marosi plays a one / two with Michael Rose before passing the ball out-wide to Dominic Hyam, And Dominic Hyam runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Brandon Mason down the left side of the pitch on the halfway line, And Brandon Mason passes the ball inside centrally to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, who cannot get the ball under control and Mark Byrne nips in there to intercept the ball, takes another touch and kicks the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam headers the ball down the line towards Brandon Mason, who manages to keep the ball in play, And Brandon Mason passes the ball back to Liam Kelly, who passes the ball back to Dominic Hyam, And Dominic Hyam lays the ball off to Liam Kelly, who passes the ball square to Michael Rose, And Michael Rose passes the ball out-wide to Sam McCallum, who passes the ball inside first time to Zain Westbrooke, And Zain Westbrooke passes the ball back to Sam McCallum, and Sam McCallum drops the ball off to Michael Rose, And Michael Rose kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie wins the aerial challenge and the ball goes out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Michael Rose throws the ball back to Goalkeeper Marko Marosi, And Marko Marosi passes the ball square to Dominic Hyam, And Dominic Hyam passes the ball forwards to Liam Kelly, And Liam Kelly takes a touch to control the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Brandon Mason, who runs inside centrally before passing the ball forwards to Jordan Shipley, And Jordan Shipley runs forwards in possession of the ball and see’s his attempted through-ball through to Matt Godden saved by Jack Bonham.

Forty Four Minutes Into The Match, And Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila mis-controls Sam McCallum’s Pass and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And just as we are about to approach half time, I thought that Lee Hodson was harshly judged to have fouled Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Liam Kelly passes the ball back to Dominic Hyam, And Dominic Hyam passes the ball square to Michael Rose, And Michael Rose kicks the ball long down-field and Wesley Jobello cannot get the ball under control and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick.

And right at the very end of the first half, both teams had half chances to get themselves on the score-sheet, Wesley Jobello passes the ball back to Liam Kelly, And Liam Kelly passes the ball out-wide to Zain Westbrooke down the right side of the pitch on the halfway line, And Zain Westbrooke passes the ball first time through to Wesley Jobello, And Wesley Jobello goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, twisting and turning past Barry Fuller before whipping in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila headers the ball back to Matt Godden, who cannot get a decent connection on to his strike towards goal, And Barry Fuller was able to clear Gillingham’s Defensive Lines and Alex Jakubiak gets the ball under control before flicking the ball through to Brandon Hanlan, and the ball bounces over the heads of Brandon Hanlan and Michael Rose, and the ball runs through to Mikael Ndjol, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And Mikael Ndjoli continue’s his run forwards into Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Ndjoli fails to hit the target with his shot towards goal, and maybe Liam Kelly had done enough to put off Mikael Ndjoli.

And that was the final noteworthy moment of the first half, And Coventry City go in at the break with a slender 1-0 advantage, There is a lot of work for Gillingham to do if we are to get anything out of this match, Gary and one or two others on the coach mentioned pre-match that they would not be disappointed with a point, And if Gillingham were to leave St Andrews with a point, then that would be a fantastic result, but to get a point, we need to see a better performance from The Gills.

HALF TIME: COVENTRY CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM

Half Time gave me the opportunity to sit down and I updated My Status Updates On Facebook And Twitter with the following comment, HT: COVENTRY CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM - A Goalkeeping Error From Bonham is the difference between both sides at half time, But Coventry have had chances to extend the lead further in there favour, Because Max Ehmer has made a important goal-line clearance to keep the score-line at 1-0 - I think from what we have seen from the match so far, Coventry City have been the much better side, Because Matt Godden saw his header saved by Jack Bonham in the opening stages of the match, Matt Godden almost scored as Coventry City tried to hit Gillingham on the counter attack, But Jack Bonham made up for his terrible pass with a decent save, But the next error from Jack Bonham was a costly one, Zain Westbrooke whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross which Jack Bonham completely misses and the final touch either comes off Dominic Hyam or Connor Ogilvie and Coventry City take the lead.

Max Ehmer’s Goal-Line Clearance has kept Gillingham in the game 1-0 down, But I do think there is a huge level of difference in quality and ability between Coventry City and Gillingham, Coventry City’s passing and movement has been superb, and there is always a pass on for A Coventry City Player, Gillingham just cannot get the ball back, or, we are looking to stand off them and retain our shape, but something has got to change In The Second Half, If we want to see Gillingham get something out of this match, and that is easier said then done, also, Alex Jakubiak and Brandon Hanlan are not strikers who can retain possession of the ball or play with there backs to goal, So I do wonder if Mikael Mandron will come on sooner rather then later to give Gillingham a focal point in attack.

Another thing that is worth mentioning is the divide amongst Gillingham Supporters who are Pro Steve Evans, those who are in the middle and those who are Anti Steve Evans, Because there were a few Steve Evans Barmy Army And Steve Evans Is A (Insert Swear-Word Here) Chants in patches in the first half, and this was not the case for Doncaster Rovers Away On The Opening Day Of The Season, And The Team-Sheet For Gillingham V Blackpool On Tuesday Night only raises concerns, Because If not naming Darren Oldaker and Miquel Scarlett on the bench for Tuesday Night's Match against Blackpool is a ploy by the coaching staff to try and force The Chairman's hand to strengthen the squad, Then I cannot see that going well. But we do need a few reinforcements into the squad before the transfer window closes, But the main point I made on Tuesday Night is this, If a young player has made the right impression for Gillingham's Youth Team, Then in situations like the game against Blackpool is where you reward the young player by naming them on the bench, and it sets the benchmark for all the youth team players that there is a pathway into the first team, And I think Steve Evans has named six substitutes to try and enforce Chairman Paul Scally into strengthening the squad, and if Steve Evans (Or any Gillingham Manager for that matter) were to try and battle with Chairman Paul Scally when it comes to transfer dealings, then The Chairman is going to win that battle.

Darren Oldaker’s Contract being paid up when the young midfielder had two years left on his contract was another concern, and I think sending Darren Oldaker out on loan to A Conference National Club would have given Darren Oldaker the game-time he needs, Gillingham can then track the young midfielder’s progress and see how well he plays, and then if Darren Oldaker is playing really well between now and January, then Gillingham can always recall Darren Oldaker back into The First Team if and when Darren Oldaker should be required.

But as far as any tactical changes go for The Second Half, Because Mikael Ndjoli has come on to replace Regan Charles-Cook In The First Half, I cannot see Gillingham making any substitutions at the break, But Steve Evans might wait for fifteen minutes before deciding on whether any changes need to be made to try and force Gillingham back into this match, But what we need to see is a massive second half performance from The Gills, and let’s hope that is precisely what we see and Gillingham can battle back from 1-0 down to 1-1, and maybe, just maybe, push on and flip this match on it’s head to try and find the winning goal - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

SECOND HALF:

And when both teams came out on to the pitch for the start of The Second Half, Neither Mark Robins or Steve Evans had made half time substitutions at the break, with both manager’s perhaps waiting to see what happens for the first fifteen minutes of The Second Half before looking to make any changes, If Gillingham were to equalise, that might change which players we want to bring on, And if Coventry City were to double there lead to 2-0, then Mark Robins might look to make defensive changes to see the rest of this game out.

And Stuart O’Keefe gets this second half underway by passing the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who kicks the ball long down the right side of the pitch, and although Brandon Hanlan wins the initial aerial challenge, the ball goes out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, and from the resulting throw on, Brandon Mason throws the ball short to Jordan Shipley, who passes the ball back to Brandon Mason, And Brandon Mason is intercepted by Alfie Jones in Coventry City’s Final Third, And the second ball runs kindly into Brandon Hanlan’s Path, And Brandon Hanlan fires in a low cross which is cut out by Wesley Jobello and Mark Byrne gets on to the loose ball and passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie takes a few touches in possession of the ball before clipping the ball long down-field and Michael Rose headers the ball clear and Mark Byrne headers the ball out-wide to Barry Fuller, who headers the ball towards Stuart O’Keefe, But Sam McCallum was in the right place at the right time to header the ball clear and down the line, But Mark Byrne was able to get on to the second ball and pass the ball through to Mikael Ndjoli, who losses out to Liam Kelly and the ball ricochets to Alfie Jones, who passes the ball forwards to Mikael Ndjoli, And Zain Westbrooke times his challenge to perfection and Michael Rose tries to pick out Wesley Jobello with a threaded through-ball, and Lee Hodson slides to make a crucial interception and Mark Byrne cleans up and passes the ball back to Jack Bonham.

And From Here, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the aerial challenge up against Brandon Hanlan and Alfie Jones wins the aerial challenge up against Jordan Shipley, and Liam Kelly smashes the ball long down-field and Wesley Jobello is penalised for handball when going for a fifty / fifty challenge with Barry Fuller and Gillingham have been awarded a defensive free kick, But the next passage of play see’s the hosts looking to double there lead to 2-0, Because from the resulting free kick, Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Dominic Hyam wins the aerial challenge and Alfie Jones and Stuart O’Keefe win the next two aerial challenges, and Liam Kelly kicks the ball long down-field and Connor Ogilvie headers the ball clear and Mark Byrne’s attempted flick on is cut out by Liam Kelly, who passes the ball out-wide to Wesley Jobello, And Wesley Jobello tries to take on Barry Fuller and Barry Fuller times his slide tackle to perfection and Barry Fuller then gets up and kicks the ball long down-field, And Barry Fuller won Gillingham’s Player Of The Season Award Last Season, Now If Barry Fuller keeps putting in consistent performances again this season, then Barry Fuller is going to be a contender for the main award again at the end of this season.

Forty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Coventry City were looking to score the second goal they believe they needed to give them a much stronger chance of picking up all three points, Jordan Shipley has possession of the ball down the left side of the pitch in Gillingham’s Final Third, And Jordan Shipley tries to pick out Brandon Mason with a pass down the line which is cut out by Mikael Ndjoli and Coventry City have been awarded a throw on, and from the resulting throw on, Brandon Mason throws the ball short to Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila, who manages to retain possession of the ball, And Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila passes the ball back to Liam Kelly, who passes the ball square to Sam McCallum, And Sam McCallum almost losses possession of the ball to Alex Jakubiak, And Sam McCallum manages to regain possession of the ball and kick a long ball down-field towards Matt Godden, And Jack Bonham was quick off his line to make a very brave save to prevent Matt Godden from getting through on goal.

Forty Nine Minutes Into The Match, And Barry Fuller takes on Zain Westbrooke down Gillingham’s Left Side Of The Pitch, And Barry Fuller see’s his pass down the line towards Brandon Hanlan cut out by Michael Rose and Gillingham have been awarded a throw on in Coventry City’s Half Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball back out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller passes the ball down the line towards Brandon Hanlan, who manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball short to Stuart O’Keefe, who wins Gillingham another throw on after a challenge from Liam Kelly, And From The Second Throw On, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Brandon Hanlan, who passes the ball back to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller’s pass down the line is cut out by Sam McCallum, but the loose ball comes back to Barry Fuller, who passes the ball forwards to Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak manages to retain possession of the ball and lay the ball off to Stuart O’Keefe, who manages to run down the left flank in possession of the ball, and although Stuart O’Keefe is double marked by Zain Westbrooke, And Sam McCallum, Stuart O’Keefe’s cross is charged down by Sam McCallum, And Gillingham have been awarded a corner kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Stuart O’Keefe whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge to header the ball towards goal and Dominic Hyam is well positioned to header the ball partially clear, But Mikael Ndjoli is on to the second ball inside Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Ndjoli works his way to the byline and Mikael Ndjoli see’s his cross towards the near post saved by Marko Marosi.

And From Here, Marko Marosi rolls the ball short to Michael Rose, who takes a few touches in possession of the ball, And Michael Rose passes the ball square to Dominic Hyam, who runs forwards in possession of the ball and passes the ball out-wide to Brandon Mason, And Brandon Mason see’s his pass down the line intercepted by Alfie Jones, who passes the ball short to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe passes the ball forwards to Brandon Hanlan, And Brandon Hanlan manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball out-wide to Alfie Jones, who plays the ball down the line to Lee Hodson on the over-lap, And Lee Hodson goes on a decent run forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball inside centrally to Alfie Jones on the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Alfie Jones see’s his attempted through-ball ricochet off Liam Kelly and Marko Marosi is able to gather the ball with ease.

Coventry City had the chance to capitalise on A Gillingham Defensive Error In The Fifty Second Minute, Jordan Shipley manages to intercept the ball from Alfie Jones, And Jordan Shipley runs forwards in possession of the ball and Jordan Shipley passes the ball through to Matt Godden down the left side of Gillingham’s Penalty Area, And Matt Godden fires a low cross across the face of goal to try and pick out Jordan Shipley. But Max Ehmer was in the right place at the right time to kick the ball into touch for A Coventry City Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, And we all thought for a moment that Coventry City had gone 2-0 up, Sam McCallum throws the ball throws the ball short to Zain Westbrooke, who passes the ball back out-wide to Sam McCallum, And Sam McCallum whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Matt Godden’s glancing header narrowly goes wide of Jack Bonham’s Far Right Post - And had that header been on target - Then Coventry City would have gone 2-0 up.

And having almost conceded at one end of the pitch, Gillingham had the chance to get back on to level terms a minute later, Jack Bonham passes the ball short to Max Ehmer, who takes a touch to control the ball, And Max Ehmer runs forwards in possession of the ball and waiting for support, and with few passing options, Max Ehmer kicks the ball long down-field and Brandon Hanlan does magnificently to get the ball under control, And Brandon Hanlan has three Coventry City Players around him and Brandon Hanlan passes the ball short to Stuart O’Keefe, And Stuart O’Keefe manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Lee Hodson, And Lee Hodson manages to keep the ball in play and pass the ball short to Stuart O’Keefe, who is intercepted by Brandon Mason and the ball ricochets all the way back to Max Ehmer, who passes the ball centrally to Mark Byrne just inside Coventry City’s Half Of The Pitch, And Mark Byrne passes the ball short to Connor Ogilvie, And Connor Ogilvie passes the ball forwards to Alex Jakubiak, who retains possession of the ball and passes the ball square to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball square to Alfie Jones, And Alfie Jones passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, who manages to pick out Alex Jakubiak with a first time pass down the left side of the pitch on the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Alex Jakubiak shifts inside centrally and see’s his shot towards goal blocked and the ball ricochets back to Alex Jakubiak, who passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne manages to pick out Mikael Ndjoli with a pass down a right / central area on the pitch, And Mikael Ndjoli takes a touch to control the ball before firing a low effort towards goal which goes well wide of Marko Marosi’s Far Right Post - Gillingham have got to move the ball quicker to create better and more clear cut goal-scoring opportunities.

Fifty Six Minutes Into The Match, And Every Gillingham Supporter had a heart in mouth moment because Sam McCallum kicks the ball long down-field for Matt Godden to chase and Jack Bonham comes rushing out of his goal-line and allows the ball to bounce over his head and go out of play for A Gillingham Goal-Kick - Unconventional to say the least, And I genuinely thought that Jack Bonham had completely mis-judged the flight of the ball - But we will take the goal-kick decision all day long, just don’t do that again please Jack Bonham.

And In The Same Minute Of The Match, Alex Jakubiak slipped and Gillingham were awarded a free kick, neither Alex Jakubiak or Sam McCallum had got on the end of Jack Bonham’s Long Ball Down-Field, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick, Now all we need to see is Gillingham capitalise on this free kick by scoring the equaliser, and from the resulting free kick, Mark Byrne whips in a high and hanging cross-field pass and Michael Rose manages to header the ball clear and away from danger and Lee Hodson gets on to the loose ball and manages to pick out Connor Ogilvie with a cross-field pass into a central area on the pitch, And Connor Ogilvie passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne passes the ball out-wide to Alex Jakubiak down the left side of the pitch in Coventry City’s Final Third, And Alex Jakubiak whips in a dangerous low cross and Dominic Hyam headers the ball clear and Brandon Mason can only header the ball towards Alex Jakubiak, who passes the ball down the line towards Mar Byrne, And Mark Byrne whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross which is comfortable for Marko Marosi, Decent skill from Mark Byrne to work his way into a crossing position, But the cross was comfortable for The Coventry City Goalkeeper To Save.

Fifty Eight Minutes Into The Match, And Sam McCallum has to kick the ball into touch for A Gillingham Throw On, But Coventry City Players And Supporters thought that Brandon Hanlan should have been penalised for a foul there, and from the resulting throw on, Barry Fuller throws the ball short to Alex Jakubiak, who passes the ball back out-wide to Barry Fuller, And Barry Fuller works his way towards the byline and digs out a cross towards the back-stick and Marko Marosi manages to punch the ball away from Mikael Ndjoli and Brandon Mason kicks the ball partially clear and away from danger, and Lee Hodson wins the aerial battle to header the ball back to Mikael Ndjoli, who manages to retain possession of the ball before passing the ball back to Alfie Jones, And Alfie Jones passes the ball forwards to Stuart O’Keefe, who passes the ball square to Mikael Ndjoli on the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area, And Mikael Ndjoli passes the ball out-wide to Lee Hodson, who works his way into a crossing position, And Lee Hodson whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Alfie Jones has been penalised for hand-ball and Coventry City have been awarded a defensive free kick.

And on the hour mark, the hosts were awarded an free kick in there own half, because Alfie Jones was penalised for his challenge on Jordan Shipley, and from the resulting free kick, Dominic Hyam kicks the ball long down the line and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila wins the initial aerial challenge and Max Ehmer manages to header the ball clear and away from goal, and Matt Godden wins the next aerial challenge up against Mikael Ndjoli and the loose ball runs through to Brandon Mason, and although Stuart O’Keefe wins the ball from Brandon Mason, he losses possession of the ball to Liam Kelly, And Liam Kelly allows the loose ball to run through to Brandon Mason, who runs down the left flank in possession of the ball, and Brandon Mason works his way towards the byline and digs out a cross towards the near post which Max Ehmer manages to header partially clear and away from danger and Wesley Jobello gets on to the loose ball, and Wesley Jobello manages to whip in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila see’s his attempted pull back across the face of goal saved by Jack Bonham.

And In The Sixty First Minute Of The Match, Gillingham manage to win themselves a corner kick, Jack Bonham rolls the ball short to Mikael Ndjoli, who passes the ball inside centrally to Alfie Jones, And Alfie Jones kicks a long ball over the top for Brandon Hanlan to get on the end of and Michael Rose has to come across and knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Stuart O’Keefe whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Matt Godden headers the ball partially clear and away from danger and Lee Hodson is on to the loose ball and passes the ball out-wide to Stuart O’Keefe, who has to pass the ball back to Barry Fuller in Gillingham’s Half Of The Pitch, And Barry Fuller takes a few touches in possession of the ball before playing a cross-field towards towards Max Ehmer down the left side of the pitch, And Max Ehmer flicks the ball on down towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak forces Michael Rose to knock the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick - Coventry City Supporters believed that Michael Rose had been penalised and Coventry City should have been awarded a defensive free kick, But Referee Martin Coy points towards the corner flag - And from the resulting corner kick, Stuart O’Keefe whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the back-stick and neither Brandon Hanlan or Connor Ogilvie could header the ball on target and the ball goes out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick.

And once the ball goes out of play, Steve Evans makes Gillingham’s Second Substitution Of The Match after Sixty Two Minutes, Because Elliott List comes on to replace Stuart O’Keefe just to give Gillingham something extra in attack, and with Brandon Hanlan, Mikael Ndjoli, Alex Jakubiak and Elliott List all on the pitch at the same-time, we’re hoping that those four as Gillingham’s Front Four can do enough to salvage a point for The Gills, Because a point from this situation with less then thirty minutes to go would be an excellent point for The Gills.

Elliott List coming on was a substitution to try and impact the game in a positive manner for The Gills, However, After that substitution, Coventry City could have gone 2-0 up, Marko Marosi kicks the ball long down-field and Wesley Jobello wins the aerial challenge up against Barry Fuller and the ball diverts out of play for A Coventry City Throw, And From The Resulting Throw On, Sam McCallum throws the ball short to Zain Westbrooke, who passes the ball back out-wide to Sam McCallum, And Sam McCallum lays the ball off to Zain Westbrooke, who passes the ball centrally to Liam Kelly, And Liam Kelly passes the ball square to Brandon Mason, who takes on Mikael Ndjoli and manages to slide tackle the ball through to Matt Godden, who takes a touch to control the ball before firing a low driven effort towards the bottom right corner of the net, And Jack Bonham saves and then gathers the ball at the second attempt before Zain Westbrooke and Jordan Shipley can get on to the re-bound, and that save has kept Gillingham in this match at 1-0 down.

Coventry City see Wesley Jobello penalised for his foul on Alex Jakubiak and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick in a decent goal-scoring opportunity, and from the resulting free kick, Elliott List whips in a high and hanging cross and Michael Rose manages to header the clear and away from danger and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, And From The Resulting Throw On, Lee Hodson throws the ball short to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball back out-wide to Lee Hodson, And Lee Hodson passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, who passes the ball square to Connor Ogilvie on the halfway line, And Connor Ogilvie takes a touch to control the ball before running forwards in possession of the ball, and Connor Ogilvie tries to pick out Barry Fuller with a threaded through-ball down the line, And Sam McCallum has done enough to shield the ball to prevent the ball from reaching Barry Fuller and Sam McCallum gets the ball clear and away from danger and Alfie Jones headers the ball to Alex Jakubiak, who slips underneath the challenge from Liam Kelly and Gillingham have been awarded a free kick.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Lee Hodson passes the ball square to Mark Byrne, who see’s his first time cross cleared by the first man and Barry Fuller has to quickly run back to the loose ball and pass the ball back to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field towards Mikael Ndjoli, who was flagged for offside by The Linesman and it is infuriating when Mikael Ndjoli is looking across the line and he is still flagged for offside.

Once this stoppage in play ensued, Callum O’Hare comes on to replace Zain Westbrooke as Coventry City make there first substitution of the match, And I am looking at Gillingham’s Remaining Substitutes, And Mikael Mandron and Mark Marshall are both attacking options that Gillingham could look to bring on to try and change the match in our favour, and given that we need someone who can be a focal point in attack, then I think that Mikael Mandron needs to come on sooner rather then later, the other out-field substitutions are Ousseynou Cissé (Who would be a good player to bring on if Gillingham are looking to see out a 1-0 win) and youngster Henry Woods, who I cannot see coming on given that Gillingham need a goal to try and get something out of this match.

While this substitution was being completed, Referee Martin Coy stopped the match for a drinks break, and Steve Evans and Paul Raynor could use this stoppage in play to relay any tactical instructions to the players and give the players a bit of motivation to try and turn this 1-0 deficit into a 1-1 draw, Because If Gillingham were to find the equaliser between now and the full time whistle, then A 1-1 Draw away from home against Coventry City would be a decent point.

And when play resumed, Sam McCallum throws the ball short to Callum O’Hare, who takes a touch to control the ball before playing an over-hit pass back to Sam McCallum, and the ball goes out of play for A Gillingham Throw On, Only For A Coventry City Throw On to be awarded instead, much to be bemusement of every Gillingham Supporter In The Away End, because that was quite clearly A Gillingham Throw On, And In The Seventy First Minute Of The Match, Brandon Hanlan is penalised for his late challenge on Liam Kelly And Coventry City have been awarded a defensive free kick.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham had a half chance to try and get themselves back on to level terms, Dominic Hyam passes the ball back to Marko Marosi, And Marko Marosi passes the ball square to Michael Rose, And Michael Rose runs forwards in possession of the ball before kicking the ball long down-field and Lee Hodson headers the ball back to Jack Bonham, who gathers the ball with ease, And Jack Bonham kicks the ball down the line and the ball goes out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, In Coventry City’s Final Third Down The Left Side Of The Pitch, And From The Resulting Throw On, Brandon Mason throws the ball long down the line and Max Ehmer headers the ball forwards towards Elliott List, and although Liam Kelly wins the initial aerial challenge, the second ball drops to Lee Hodson, who kicks the ball long down the line towards Brandon Hanlan, who gets to the ball first ahead of Dominic Hyam, And Brandon Hanlan tries to kick the ball against Dominic Hyam to win Gillingham A Corner Kick, But Brandon Hanlan slips at the crucial moment and the ball goes out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick.

Seventy Three Minutes Into The Match, And Sam McCallum whips in a dangerous low cross and Connor Ogilvie was in the right place at the right time to kick the ball into touch at the expense of conceding a throw on, which is much better then conceding a goal, because all the while Gillingham are still in this match at 1-0 down, then Gillingham have got a chance of picking up something out of this match against Coventry City, And From The Resulting Throw On, Sam McCallum throws the ball down the line towards Wesley Jobello, And Wesley Jobello losses possession of the ball to Barry Fuller and Barry Fuller passes the ball back to Connor Ogilvie, who kicks the ball long down-field and Sam McCallum headers the ball down the line towards Wesley Jobello, who manages to retain possession of the ball and spin past Barry Fuller before whipping in a cross towards the near post which was saved by Jack Bonham.

And From Here, Jack Bonham throws the ball down the line towards Mikael Ndjoli, who runs down the right flank in possession of the ball, and despite the challenge from Jordan Shipley, Mikael Ndjoli manages to retain possession of the ball, although, Referee Martin Coy had already given a free kick in Gillingham’s Favour, And From The Resulting Free Kick, Lee Hodson kicks the ball long down-field and Brandon Hanlan lays the ball off to Mikael Ndjoli, who initially losses out to Jordan Shipley, And Jordan Shipley kicks the ball into Mikael Ndjoli and the ball ricochets towards Alfie Jones, who passes the ball square to Elliott List, And Elliott List is bundled down to the deck by Callum O’Hare, And Gillingham have been awarded a free kick right on the edge of Coventry City’s Penalty Area in a central position, and this is the chance for Gillingham to hopefully (and potentially) score the equaliser.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Mikael Ndjoli tries to pick out the top left corner of the net with a powerful strike and Marko Marosi does brilliantly to prevent Mikael Ndjoli from scoring by making a fantastic save and Max Ehmer headers the ball towards Brandon Hanlan, and the ball ricochets through to Marko Marosi, who was able to gather the ball, all be it, with some difficulty - Everything Mikael Ndjoli did for that free kick was correct, a powerful accurate free kick which was on target and only a fantastic save from Marko Marosi has prevented Gillingham from scoring the equaliser.

We did wonder before hand who was going to take the free kick, Because Luke O’Neill signed for AFC Wimbledon in the summer and Luke O’Neill scored some fantastic free kicks for The Gills Last Season, including the equaliser against Luton Town at Kenilworth Road, One Player who scored a fantastic free kick against Faversham Town in pre-season was Nathan Thomas, but he re-signed for Carlisle United on loan before the season started and there are plenty of players who can put themselves forwards to take free kicks for The Gills throughout The 2019 / 2020 Season.

Seventy Seven Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham were pushing for the equaliser, Connor Ogilvie plays a long ball down-field towards Brandon Hanlan and the ball runs all the way through to Marko Marosi, And In The Seventy Ninth Minute Of The Match, Connor Ogilvie runs forwards in possession of the ball before passing the ball down the left flank towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak flicks the ball around the corner for Elliott List to run on to, And I thought that Elliott List was harshly penalised for his challenge on Liam Kelly, And Coventry City have been awarded a defensive free kick.

And before play could resume, Coventry City make a double substitution, as the hosts look to see out the rest of this match, Amadou Bakayoko and Charlie Wakefield come on to replace Matt Godden and Wesley Jobello, And while those substitutions are going on, we are looking across to The Gillingham Bench thinking that one of Mark Marshall or Mikael Mandron should come on, And maybe, Gillingham gamble by substituting one of Lee Hodson or Barry Fuller and bring on one of Mark Marshall or Mikael Mandron and just throw everything into attack to try and score the equaliser.

Eighty Two Minutes Into The Match, And Connor Ogilvie’s Pass Out-Wide To Mikael Ndjoli is under-hit and gone behind Mikael Ndjoli and out of play for A Coventry City Throw On, And From Here, Brandon Mason throws the resulting throw on down the line and Barry Fuller wins the initial aerial challenge and Brandon Mason kicks the ball high down-field and Barry Fuller wins the first aerial challenge, Callum O’Hare wins the second aerial challenge, Max Ehmer wins the third aerial challenge and Mikael Ndjoli flicks the ball on towards Elliott List, And Elliott List gets the ball under control before going on a decent run down the right side of the pitch, And Elliott List was twisting and turning and waiting for support, And Elliott List was tripped by Liam Kelly in Coventry City’s Final Third, And Elliott List does brilliantly to win Gillingham a free kick in a promising position on the pitch.

And From The Resulting Free Kick, Gillingham had the chance to score the equaliser, Lee Hodson whips in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick, and Alfie Jones wins the initial aerial challenge, and the second ball drops kindly to Connor Ogilvie, who see’s his shot towards goal deflect off Jordan Shipley and the ball loops up into the air and Marko Marosi punches the ball clear and away from goal and by doing so clatteres into Brandon Hanlan, and Sam McCallum manages to clear the ball away from goal for Coventry City, I know Marko Marosi has jumped over Brandon Hanlan to punch the ball clear, but if the situation was reversed and Jack Bonham jumped over Matt Godden to punch the ball clear we would be saying good goalkeeping, even though as Gillingham Supporters we are willing the ball into the back of the net for an equaliser.

Eighty Five Minutes Into The Match, And Gillingham make there third and final substitution, Because Mikael Mandron comes on to replace Brandon Hanlan, And Mikael Mandron could and perhaps should have come on ten minutes earlier, And I also think that Brandon Hanlan and Mikael Mandron could have played alongside each other, with Elliott List, Mikael Ndjoli and Alex Jakubiak being the three attacking players behind that front two, But Mikael Mandron has come on, and hopefully, Mandron can contribute by scoring or assisting a last gasp equaliser for The Gills.

And when play resumed, the ball has gone out of play for two successive Gillingham Throw On’s, However, In The Eighty Seventh Minute Of The Match, Coventry City had the chance to double there lead, Brandon Mason passes the ball forwards to Callum O’Hare, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, and Callum O’Hare is twisting and turning and waiting for support before whipping in a high and hanging cross towards the back-stick, And Charlie Wakefield manages to keep the ball in play before turning back on himself to face goal-wards, And Charlie Wakefield runs towards the byline in possession of the ball before seeing his attempted cross charged down by Barry Fuller at the expense of conceding a corner kick, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Jordan Shipley whips in a high and hanging cross towards the far post and Dominic Hyam headers the ball back across the face of goal and there was Max Ehmer in the right place at the right time to clear the ball away from danger, and Callum O’Hare passes the ball short to Charlie Wakefield and Charlie Wakefield is intercepted by Alfie Jones, And Alfie Jones passes the ball forwards to Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak manages to retain possession of the ball before threading through a fantastic through-ball through to Mikael Ndjoli down the right side of the pitch in Coventry City’s Defensive Final Third, And Mikael Ndjoli passes the ball back to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne waits for support before passing the ball out-wide to Lee Hodson, And Lee Hodson threads the ball down the line towards Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak’s cross was disappointing, because the ball swerves out of play for A Coventry City Goal-Kick, and that was a wasteful goal-scoring opportunity for The Gills.

But Gillingham are still pressing for the equaliser a minute later In The Eighty Ninth Minute, Because Barry Fuller tries to pick out Mark Byrne with a dangerous in-swinging cross towards the far post and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila has to header the ball out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick and the atmosphere from the away end raised in volume, And From The Resulting Corner Kick, Elliott List passes the ball short to Lee Hodson, who lays the ball off to Elliott List and Elliott List passes the ball out-wide to Lee Hodson, who see’s his cross charged down by Callum O’Hare and the ball deflects out of play for A Gillingham Throw On In Coventry City’s Final Third, And From The Resulting Throw On, Mark Byrne hurls in a dangerous long throw and Gillingham were penalised for a foul instantaneously, much to the infuriation from The Gillingham Supporters situated in the back of the away end.

But despite this match going into added time, and there was not much time left before full time, Gillingham were on the front-foot looking for a very late equaliser, Coventry City had a throw on in there own defensive final third, And Brandon Mason throws the ball long down the line, and Max Ehmer wins the initial aerial challenge while Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila wins the second aerial challenge, and the loose ball drops kindly to Callum O’Hare, who was looking to kick the ball long down-field, But Mark Byrne intercepts the ball from Callum O’Hare, and the loose ball falls kindly to Connor Ogilvie, who passes the ball back to Jack Bonham, And Jack Bonham kicks the ball long down-field and Mikael Mandron flicks the ball on and Sam McCallum kicks the ball clear and away from danger, and Max Ehmer is on to the loose ball and Max Ehmer’s long ball down-field is headed clear by Michael Rose and Jordy Hiwula-Mayifuila manages to keep the ball in play before kicking a cross-field pass to try and run down the clock, But Barry Fuller manages to header the ball forwards to Mark Byrne, And Mark Byrne passes the ball forwards to Elliott List, who goes on a driving run forwards in possession of the ball, And Elliott List passes the ball out-wide to Alex Jakubiak, And Alex Jakubiak cuts inside into a more central position, And Alex Jakubiak see’s his shot deflect off Liam Kelly and go out of play for A Gillingham Corner Kick.

Elliott List goes across to take the resulting corner kick, And Jack Bonham has come forwards into Coventry City’s Penalty Area, and this is last chance saloon for The Gills, And Elliott List whips in a dangerous in-swinging cross and Mikael Mandron’s looping header was comfortably saved by Marko Marosi, and that was the final noteworthy goal-scoring opportunity and the final noteworthy moment of the match, And Referee Martin Coy blows his whistle for Full Time and Coventry City have won this match at St Andrews by one goal to nil.

FULL TIME: COVENTRY CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM

I applauded the players who came across to applaud The Gillingham Supporters who had travelled to Birmingham City’s Ground for what was a disappointing defeat for The Gills, Coventry City deserved there win against Gillingham, but we were hoping that Gillingham scored a late equaliser, which may not have been fully deserved based on the balance of play, but you want to see Gillingham picking up as many points as possible in the early stages of The 2019 / 2020 Season, So that Gillingham are not looking over there shoulder at The League One Relegation Zone after ten league games or fifteen league games.

I got speaking with Colin after the full time whistle, And Gillingham just didn’t offer much as an attacking threat against Coventry City, and our best chance to score was Mikael Ndjoli’s Free Kick, which was brilliantly saved by Marko Marosi, Coventry City could and perhaps should have gone in at half time 2-0 up or 3-0 up and all the while the score-line is 1-0, then Gillingham have got a chance, Second Half was much better for Gillingham, But we couldn’t have played as bad as we did In The First Half during The Second Half.

I also got speaking with James and Brad post match as well, and the main talking point we were talking about was, when you see your football club bring in a new manager, new staff and new players, the sensible argument would be that you give the new manager time to implement those idea’s, time for the squad to settle and gel, time to try and turn things around during the season if the start of the season see’s Gillingham towards the bottom of The League One Table rather then challenging towards the top, But given how divided Gillingham Supporters are regarding the appointment of Steve Evans As Gillingham Manager - and the mixed chants in the away end for Coventry City V Gillingham suggests that there is a dived - then Steve Evans isn’t going to get that time, especially as he has come in to try and help Gillingham challenge towards the top end of The League One Table.

And while we may well be just four league games into The 2019 / 2020 Season, there is already a few cracks appearing which are very concerning, Because if not naming Darren Oldaker and Miquel Scarlett on the bench for Tuesday Night's Match against Blackpool is a ploy by the coaching staff to try and force The Chairman's hand to strengthen the squad, Then I cannot see that going well, Other problems are seeing the likes of Josh Rees, Callum Reilly, Dean Parrett and Darren Oldaker released from there contracts at Gillingham Football Club, Because paying up player contracts isn’t going to be cheap, and in some cases, the players being paid off are going to be expensive to get off the wage bill, especially Darren Oldaker who had two years left on his contract, And I would have liked to have seen Darren Oldaker sent out on A Season Long Loan To A Conference National Club, which would only enhance Darren Oldaker’s Development As A Player.

And there are other concerns as well, Gillingham not winning any of there first five competitive matches, not keeping a clean sheet in any of those five matches, And Gillingham have opened the scoring against Doncaster Rovers, Newport County, Blackpool and Burton Albion, and in those three matches, Gillingham have drawn two and lost two, Granted, The Newport County Game see’s Gillingham lose on penalties, But Gillingham lost out on a lot of revenue, Because Gillingham V West Ham United In The Second Round Of The League Cup could have generated over £200,000, and some of that money could have been used to strengthen the squad as well.

I said c ya to James and Brad before speaking with two other Gillingham Supporters, who also had difficulty getting to the game because of train problems, they didn’t arrive quite as late as we did on The Kings Ferry Coach, But all of us have experienced difficulty getting to St Andrews for this match, and it was strange seeing Coventry City and Gillingham both playing away from home in A League One Fixture, and we do hope that Coventry City can sort out something regarding The Ricoh Arena, Or, Coventry City can build there own football stadium, which could well be the better alternative.

I said c ya to The Two Gillingham Supporters, Because The Kings Ferry Coach was about to leave, So I got on the coach and took to My Seat Towards The Back Of The Coach, And I mentioned to Stephen On Facebook that we had both got our predictions spot on for The Gillingham NoirCat Prediction League, Ann and Diane had also predicted defeat in there predictions, I have got My Predictions Spot On For The Doncaster Rovers and Coventry City Matches, and if you get half your predictions spot on, then your going to be there or thereabouts at the end of the season, Ann has incredibly got four predictions spot on out of four.

I then sent the following status updates on Twitter and Facebook,,,,, FULL TIME: COVENTRY CITY 1-0 GILLINGHAM - Gillingham were much better in the second half, and had Gillingham picked up a point today, It would have been a undeserved point but a much welcomed point. A disappointing result on a day where I just about arrived in time for kick off. - Peter then came up those of us sitting at the back of the coach, and Peter mentioned that we won’t be stopping off at the service station on the way back and we will look to get back home as quick as possible.

I re-tweeted Gillingham’s Tweet On There Twitter Account which mentioned that Barry Fuller had made his 200th appearance for Gillingham Football Club, And I also replied to Shane’s tweet mentioning how generous Gillingham can be even though we are playing against Bolton Wanderers Youngsters Next Week, And I replied back with the following,,,,,, I know it is too early in the season to be using the phrase 'A Must Win Game' But I really do think that Gillingham V Bolton is turning into a must win game simply, so that Gillingham can try and get there League One Season up and running.

The League One Table see’s Gillingham In Nineteenth Position, AFC Wimbledon and Southend United are both below Gillingham and they have played a game more, But Rotherham United have picked up six points from just three League One Fixtures, It is going to take time before The League One Table is settled, and it’s too early in the season to be talking about who is challenging for promotion, who is pushing for the playoffs, and who is looking over there shoulder at A League One Relegation Battle, But two points from four matches puts Gillingham in a less then ideal situation, A Win against Bolton Wanderers is needed just to get that first league win of the season and to give the players a confidence boost.

Gabriel Sutton had posted his Post Match Thoughts On To Twitter ( And I recommend you give Gabriel A Follow Here @_FootbalLab) And I re-tweeted Matt’s Video Clip Of Barry Fuller getting stuck into a sliding challenge, as usual, It is those combative challenges and consistent performances which saw Barry Fuller named as Gillingham’s Player Of The Season For The 2018 / 2019 Season.

Looking at results from elsewhere, Gillingham Town managed to win 2-1 against Dorchester Sports FC despite going down to ten men, While I posted the following on Twitter,,,, Feel free to ask me any questions you have about today's match #Gillingham #Gills - I then had a look of the video clip of Coventry City’s Goal which was posted by Matt On Twitter, And the goal has to go down to A Goalkeeping Error From Jack Bonham, and that is the goal that has made the difference between the two sides, Matt also shared the video clip of Mikael Ndjoli’s Free Kick which was saved by Marko Marosi, And I shared that video clip with the following comment,,,, If only Mikael Ndjoli had scored Gillingham's Equaliser from this free kick.

And looking at other results from elsewhere, Tooting and Mitcham 1-0 Faversham Town see’s Faversham Town knocked out of The FA Cup, So No Faversham Town V Gillingham In The FA Cup This Season For Stephen, But Faversham Town are still In The Kent Senior Cup so that is always a possibility, Taylor had replied to one of my earlier tweets and I had replied back with the following,,,,, The first half was very poor and Gillingham were lucky to go in at half time 1-0 down, And had Gillingham managed to earn themselves a point today, It would have been a undeserved point, but a most welcomed point and something to build on for The Gills.

I was then asked a question about Gillingham’s Attacking Options and who should started against Bolton Wanderers Next Saturday, And I replied back with the following,,,, I think Mandron and Hanlan can link up with a decent strike-partnership, But it would be harsh to drop Jakubaik, Because he is Gillingham's Top Goal-Scorer, We also have Ndjoli and List. Gillingham do need to sign a replacement for Eaves, someone who is the focal point in attack - And I think looking to sign a replacement for Tom Eaves is important, not just in-terms of goal contribution, But someone in attack who can hold the ball up, flick the ball on and lay the ball off to a team-mate, Because going long with Hanlan, Jakubiak and Ndjoli on the pitch just isn’t going to be very effective.

Someone had asked how many signings had Steve Evans made as Gillingham Made So Far, And I mentioned the following,,,,,, Bonham, Hodson, Jones, Ogilvie (on a permanent basis) O'Keefe, Cisse, Willock, Ndjoli, Marshall, Mandron, Jakubiak and Thomas have been Gillingham's twelve signings so far - Thomas had left Gillingham on compassionate grounds and signed for Carlisle United instead.

Comments From Steve Evans had just started to come through regarding Gillingham’s Performance Against Coventry City, Perhaps the most interesting comment from Steve Evans was his comments about Gillingham being very active In The Transfer Market, I disagree with Steve Evans Comments about only one team trying to win the game In The Second Half, I know Mikael Ndjoli’s Free Kick was saved and Gillingham were better In The Second Half, But I don’t think we have severely tested Marko Marosi in goal for Coventry City, But a stat also appeared online which showed that Coventry City had conceded just eleven shots on goal in five League One Matches, which truly is a remarkable stat.

Gillingham had then thanked the supporters who went to the match on there Social Media Accounts, And I asked Nicholas the following questions,,,, Would you like to see Mikael Mandron start for Gillingham in our next match against Bolton Wanderers. ??? And would you look to make additional changes to the team that started against Coventry City Today for next Saturday's Match??? And Nicholas replied back with the following,,,,, ONE: I think that I'd go with the 4-1-3-2/4-4-2 diamond formation that we used against Blackpool, and that Mandron does perhaps deserve a chance to start, so I'd perhaps go with him alongside Jakubiak up front, who has been the most impressive of our forward options so far in AND TWO: my opinion. Other than that, I'd potentially give Willock a shot in the CAM role instead of Charles-Cook, depending of course on whether he's fit or not. The line-up could of course also depend on whether we are able to bring in any new players during the next week.

I mentioned to Ben the following,,, A Dreadful Performance and Result For Gillingham Today, And combine Gillingham losing against Coventry City with the traffic problems on The M1 and arriving at the ground at 2.30PM, It's not been the best away game for The Gills. Next week is now A 'Must Win Game' For Gillingham, And Ben agreed that Gillingham V Bolton Wanderers is now a must win game for The Gills, I also saw a few pictures that had been posted from Coventry City V Gillingham, While Hollands & Blair FC Won 1-0 against Lordswood In The Southern Counties East Football League.

Peter came round asking everyone who is booking on the coach for any of the up and coming away matches, I mentioned that I am not sure what is happening regarding Tranmere Rovers Away, But I have booked on the coach for Bristol Rovers Away, I needed to speak with Stephen about his plans for traveling via car to Tranmere Rovers, Tranmere Rovers Away would be a new ground for Stephen to go to, and I think a new ground for quite a few of our supporters to travel to as well.

We arrived back in Kent around 9PM and we started to drop everyone off at the various drop off points on the way back home, with the majority of Gillingham Supporters getting off The Kings Ferry Coach Out-Side Priestfield Stadium, And I Said C Ya to the lads on the back of the coach who were getting off the coach, and as the next drop off point was out-side The Cricketers Pub In Rainham, I made sure that I had everything on me, And Me and three other Gilingham Supporters got off the coach in Rainham at 9.45PM, And I made the fifteen minute walk from out-side The Cricketers Pub to back home again.

All in all, A Dreadful Journey, A Dreadful Performance And A Dreadful Result, and despite the fact that we are only four league matches into The 2019 / 2020 Season, there is already question marks surrounding Steve Evans and whether he is going to be Gillingham Manager, and two draws and two defeats from our opening four league matches of the season, and the fact that Gillingham have been knocked out of The First Round Of The League Cup Against Newport County meaning that Gillingham missed out on A Money Spinning Second Round Home Tie Against West Ham United have also raised a few doubts.

And not only that, there has been concerns raised over the departures of Josh Rees, Callum Reilly, Dean Parrett and Darren Oldaker and Gillingham have failed to win any of our three home matches in all competitions so far, And with Gillingham conceding six goals in three home matches and Gillingham winless at home, It puts a lot of pressure on Steve Evans to try and turn Gillingham’s Home Form Around, Hopefully, Gillingham can do that with back to back home wins against Bolton Wanderers and Colchester United, While The Colchester United Match Is A Football League Trophy Match, Any win will do to give the players a morale and confidence boost going into some difficult league matches in September - COME ON THE GILLS!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!

[thegloober]

Shawn Poindexter Makes Most Of Production; Needs To Stay Hot Against Colorado

The high point in Arizona’s season to-date is no-doubt Saturday’s big homecoming win against a ranked Oregon team. The win pulled the Wildcats to within two games of the PAC-12 South lead (although USC has the head-to-head tiebreaker). So, in an impressive victory that spanned all three facets of the game, let’s see how the Wildcat’s top prospects did on Saturday.

Khalil Tate, QB

Game Stats: 19-33, 189 YDS, 3 TD, 1 INT, 7 CAR, 26 YDS.

The Arizona offense was sparked by the return of quarterback Khalil Tate, who threw three touchdowns and led the Wildcats to their best win of the season after taking down the top-25 Oregon Ducks. The blowout win over a nationally ranked team no-doubt helps raise Arizona’s perception, but Tate’s prior struggles were still visible.

In Saturday’s win, Tate’s 57% completion percentage was right in line with his season average of 54%, and Tate still has not flashed the running ability that made him one of college football’s most exciting players last season. The Arizona quarterback has been hampered by ankle injuries all season long, but we have to assume that if Tate is playing, he is healthy. Right now, Tate is only a junior. Best case scenario – a big win over Oregon sparks a month of dominant play that peaks with a big bowl win that puts Tate into the later rounds of the draft. However, realistically, Tate has been slowed by injuries, learning a new offensive system, and even when healthy, has posted a QBR this season that is 38 points lower than last season.

Gameday Grade: B   

Current Draft Stock: Undrafted Free Agent

Next Week: Khalil Tate and the Wildcats now get to host Colorado, a team that started out 5-0 before losing three straight, including blowing a 31-3 lead to basement dweller Oregon State. This, and a Buffs passing defense that is middling, could set Tate up for nice performance, and hopefully, the second win in a row.

Shawn Poindexter, WR

Game Stats: 2 REC, 30 YDS, 2 TDS

For a two-catch performance, this was about as good as Shawn Poindexter could’ve hoped. Both catches went for touchdowns, and both capped off long scoring drives of 75+ yards. The senior wideout now has four touchdowns in his last two games, and finally is starting to become a threat in the red zone after producing yards but not putting up points over the first month and a half of the season.

Poindexter has had to deal with a new offensive system, and a starting quarterback that has battled injuries and ineffectiveness, but still has managed to haul in a team-best 582 yards, also good for sixth-best in the conference. Arizona’s top receiver has recovered from a mid-season slump and is now in great shape heading into the final month of the season.

Gameday Grade: B

Current Draft Stock: 2nd Round

Next Week: The Wildcats stay in Tuscon for a week, where Poindexter has averaged a touch over 40 yards per game. A favorable matchup against a CU secondary that gives up over 260 yards per game provides Shawn Poindexter a chance for a big game next week.

Layth Friekh, OL

With Layth Friekh back in the lineup and finally looking healthy, the Arizona offensive line dominated the Oregon front seven and opened up massive holes for J.J. Taylor, who turned in his second game of the season with at least 200 yards on the ground. After a two game NCAA suspension to begin the season, and a series of ankle injuries, Friekh showed his chops in controlling an Oregon defensive line that likely features NFL talent across the board. The big tackle has shown flashes of NFL potential against Oregon State and Southern Utah, but this kind of performance against a ranked team speaks volumes. The Wildcats pummeled the Ducks on Saturday, and the running game powered by Friekh and the offensive line was the biggest reason why.

Gameday Grade: A-

Current Draft Stock: 6th Round

Next Week: It is a good thing Friekh is back and looking healthy for a showdown against Colorado in the desert. While CU has lost three straight, the defense can get after the quarterback. The Buffs lead the PAC-12 with 23 sacks on the season, and Mustafa Johnson is second in the conference with seven sacks and can play all over the defensive line. Arizona’s success on Saturday will be largely based on how Friekh and Co. can hold up against the talented Colorado pass rush.

Kylan Wilborn, DL

Game Stats: 1 Tackle, 1 Solo

After missing last week’s game against UCLA, speedster Kylan Wilborn returned to help the ‘Cats down the Ducks by chipping in a solo tackle. The win and defensive dominance help the draft stocks of all Arizona defenders, but for Wilborn, Saturday was the fourth game this season in which the edge rusher had just one tackle.

Wilborn was able to impress last season with exceptional speed from the edge, but it is looking more and more like opponents have figured out how to neutralize his trademark speed. While there was no stat sheet stuffing in the blowout (easier to do from the edge than the middle of the line), Wilborn still managed to make an impact in the game, recovering a Chacho Ulloa blocked punt and getting down to the six-yard line to set up a Josh Pollack field goal.

Gameday Grade: B-

Current Draft Stock: Undrafted Free Agent

Next Week: Colorado is in town, where the Buffs season has quickly fallen off the rails following a 5-0 start. This sets up a decent matchup for Wilborn – Buffs quarterback Steven Montez has taken 16 sacks this season, third most in the conference. If Arizona can get an early lead, Wilborn could unleash his speed and get to the quarterback if Colorado is forced to throw the ball to try to get into the game.  

Dereck Boles, DL

Game Stats: 4 tackle, 4 solo, 1 Tackle For Loss

Defensive tackle Dereck Boles has been a machine over the past five weeks. Arizona’s most productive lineman registered four stops, all solo, and had a tackle for a loss for the second week in a row. Boles consistently stuffed Ducks running backs at the line of scrimmage, helping the Wildcat defense hold Oregon to 84 rushing yards – more than 100 yards below the Ducks average coming into Saturday’s game. While the Arizona defense is one of the worst in the conference, Boles has been productive and playing well all season, and is ready for the NFL. Boles only has one sack this season but has been able to control the line of scrimmage and fill running lanes – something that will be big at the next level.

Gameday Grade: A-

Current Draft Stock: 5th Round

Next Week: After an impressive win over Oregon, Boles welcomes a Colorado team that averages a healthy 177 yards per game on the ground. While this is only the sixth best in the 12-team conference, the Buffs are second in the PAC-12 with 17 rushing touchdowns and Travon McMillian ranks fifth with 778 yards – so Boles and the defense will have their hands full.

Jace Whittaker, CB

Game Stats: Did not play

Cornerback Jace Whittaker missed his ninth game of a 2018 season that is now halfway over for Arizona. Surprisingly, Arizona was able to shut down the Oregon passing game without its top cornerback, but it shouldn’t take away the impact that a cover corner who can also line up as a safety over the top can have on the season. Whittaker has only seen action in one game, and with the new NCAA rules, there is a possibility that Kevin Sumlin could make this into a redshirt year and return next season with a healthy Khalil Tate on offense and a top cornerback to lead the defense.  

Gameday Grade: Incomplete

Current Draft Stock: Incomplete

Next Week: Colorado receiver Laviska Shenault Jr. leads the conference with 780 yards, even though he has not played in the last two weeks. Shenault is exactly the big-bodied receiver that can give any secondary nightmares, so Whittaker can make a big statement if he can return next week and shut the door on the CU passing attack.

Source: https://bloghyped.com/shawn-poindexter-makes-most-of-production-needs-to-stay-hot-against-colorado/

[zeroviraluniverse-blog]

Ultimate guide to Saturday's conference tournament championship games

Visit Now - https://zeroviral.com/ultimate-guide-to-saturdays-conference-tournament-championship-games/

Ultimate guide to Saturday's conference tournament championship games

Champ Week is drawing to a close and Saturday features tournament finals in four top leagues.

Here’s what you need to know for these league title games:

ACC

No. 12 North Carolina (25-9) vs. No. 1 Virginia (30-2) 8:30 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App

NEW YORK — Six weeks ago, North Carolina was on a three-game losing streak and dropped to 5-5 in the ACC. The Tar Heels were never in danger of falling too far in the national scope, but they also weren’t anywhere close to the conversation about the nation’s best teams.

Fast forward to Saturday, when North Carolina will have a chance to make its case for a 1-seed in the ACC tournament championship game against No. 1 Virginia.

The Tar Heels a 1-seed? With nine losses? With a home loss to Wofford?

If Kansas loses in the Big 12 tournament final and North Carolina beats Virginia, the Tar Heels will absolutely be in the discussion. And with what happened on Friday night — Xavier blowing a 16-point lead to Providence in Manhattan and North Carolina beating Duke on the other side of the East River in Brooklyn — the Tar Heels are already putting pressure on the teams on the top line.

Right now, North Carolina has the most Quadrant 1 wins in the country with 13. A win over Virginia — the No. 1 team in the polls and the RPI — would give the Tar Heels a 14th Quadrant 1 win. There’s only one other team (Kansas) that even has double-digit wins in that category. North Carolina has a top-five RPI, a top-10 nonconference strength of schedule and the No. 1 overall strength of schedule in the country. The Tar Heels have two wins over Duke, a win at Tennessee, wins over Michigan and Ohio State, and a win over Clemson.

The pluses on the résumé are absolutely there. While it’s true that no team has ever received a 1-seed with nine losses, most nine-loss teams haven’t possessed this many good wins and a conference tournament title.

Of course, all this is predicated on North Carolina beating Virginia on Saturday night. Given the Cavaliers have lost twice all season and beat North Carolina by 12 in Chapel Hill in January, that won’t exactly be easy.

“They’re the No. 1 team in the country,” North Carolina coach Roy Williams said. “They are the No. 1 team unanimously, and they beat us by 77 points or whatever. So we’ve got to go in there and try to play the perfect game and play as close as we can possibly play to that, then we’ll have a chance to win.”

In the first meeting between the two teams, North Carolina scored just 49 points — the Tar Heels’ second-worst offensive outing of the season. They turned the ball over 19 times and shot 8-for-31 on 2-pointers. At the other end, they allowed Virginia to shoot better than 50 percent inside the arc.

North Carolina is vastly different than it was two months ago. The Tar Heels have received more consistent contributions from guys not named Joel Berry II and Luke Maye, with Theo Pinson becoming more of a factor every game. Williams also has gone to a smaller lineup for longer stretches, with Maye, Pinson and Cameron Johnson handling the frontcourt duties. They’ve won nine of their past 12.

“We’ve just got to make sure we’re taking good shots and making sure we’re moving them on the defensive end,” Berry said of Virginia. “They’re great defensively, and we’ve just got to make sure we limit our mistakes. If you make a turnover, you know that you’re going down and you’re about to play defense for 30 seconds, because they keep moving the ball until they get what they want to get. So, we have to limit our turnovers and make sure that we’re getting great shots on the offensive end.”

North Carolina receiving a 1-seed on Sunday is still not a likely scenario, all things considered; but given where they were at the end of January, Williams and the Tar Heels will relish their opportunity against Virginia on Saturday night.

— Jeff Borzello

Big 12

No. 18 West Virginia (24-9) vs. No. 9 Kansas (26-7) 6 p.m. ET on ESPN/ESPN App

KANSAS CITY, Mo. — Maybe it was good for Kansas on Friday night that Kansas State exposed the Jayhawks’ soft interior defense.

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Because if not Friday in the semifinals of the Big 12 tournament, it was going to happen on Saturday against West Virginia in the championship game. It still might, in fact. The Mountaineers are rugged and determined and motivated after a 66-63 victory over Texas Tech in the second semifinal Friday at the Sprint Center.

The Mountaineers are still feeling the sting of a loss last month at Allen Fieldhouse in which Kansas overcame a 12-point, second-half deficit and shot 35 free throws to the visitors’ two.

West Virginia has never won this tournament, losing last year in the final to Iowa State and in 2016 to the Jayhawks.

Arguably, Bob Huggins’ team has more for which to play on Saturday, what with the Mountaineers bidding for a spot among the top four seed lines in the NCAA tournament and Kansas perhaps locked into a No. 1 after its 26th win.

“No, no,” Bill Self said to that suggestion. “If you play, you might as well win.”

Kansas didn’t roll to 14 straight Big 12 regular-season titles by resting on its accomplishments and looking ahead to the Big Dance. Self, the coach in his 15th season with the Jayhawks, finds plenty of motivation within the daily minutiae of the season.

On Friday, it was all about how the Jayhawks performed in an 83-67 win over the short-handed Wildcats.

“If I sleep two hours tonight,” Self said, “it will be more than what I think I probably should after how we played.”

Kansas State lost All-Big 12 forward Dean Wade to a foot injury suffered Thursday. And one minute after the tip on Friday, Wildcats guard Barry Brown, tied for the team lead in scoring with Wade, went down hard from an arm to the right eye from Devonte’ Graham and never returned.

Still, the Wildcats chopped a 16-point lead to two points midway through the second half. K-State forward Makol Mawien raced past his career high with 29 points on 13 of 19 shooting. Young Kansas post players Mitch Lightfoot and Silvio De Sousa, filling in for injured center Udoka Azubuike, offered “no resistance at all,” Self said.

“I hope I’m pronouncing it correctly,” Self said of Mawien, “because he was by far the best player in the game. And he whipped us.”

Lightfoot got the message.

“I played bad today,” he said. “We’ve got to defend better.”

Graham said Kansas took its collective “foot off the gas” when Brown exited.

— Mitch Sherman

Big East

Providence (21-12) vs. No. 2 Villanova (29-4) 6:30 p.m. ET

NEW YORK — Two of the Big East’s old guard will tangle on Saturday night at Madison Square Garden, with a trophy at stake.

Villanova (29-4, 14-4) surely has already sewn up a No. 1 seed in the NCAA tournament, and Providence (21-12, 10-8) is now a lock for the field of 68. But a Big East tournament title will be on the line — a crown the Wildcats will be looking to win for a fourth time and the Friars for a third.

It has been easy work this week for the second-seeded Wildcats, who blew out Marquette in the quarterfinals, 94-70, and did the same to Butler in the semis, 87-68.

Jay Wright’s bunch raced out to a 19-0 lead against the Bulldogs on Friday night and never looked back.

Some teams are comfortable. Some aren’t sure things for the NCAA tournament, but should still feel good about themselves. And some have work to do in the final hours before Selection Sunday.

“That was one of our best defensive performances,” Wright said. “We played well. They’re a really good offensive team.”

It has been a different story for fifth-seeded Providence, which needed overtime to knock off Creighton, 72-68, and played five extra minutes again to complete their stunning upset of regular-season conference champs Xavier, 75-72.

Ed Cooley’s Providence crew is only the second team in Big East tournament history to win back-to-back overtime games. And the Friars erased a 17-point second-half deficit against the Musketeers on Friday night — led by senior guard Kyron Cartwright, who scored 12 of his 15 points after halftime and also had a game-high six assists.

“Seniors have to step up to the moment and help the team,” Cartwright said. “And I thought I did that tonight. And I’m going to try to do that tomorrow night and hopefully try to will my team to a championship.”

Villanova is spearheaded by juniors, in particular Mikal Bridges and Jalen Brunson, both named to the All-Big East first team. They led the Wildcats with 25 and 21 points, respectively, against Marquette, and then scored 18 and 17 against Butler.

But all five Villanova starters finished in double figures on Friday, and that was nearly the case on Thursday — after freshman forward Omari Spellman came up one point short. This is a talented team across the board.

“That’s really the key to our team is the balance, when we have balance,” Wright said.

Villanova will obviously be the favorite, and it will be playing in its fourth straight Big East championship game. But these teams split their two regular season meetings, with Providence winning at home 76-71 on Valentine’s Day. The Friars also split with Xavier, before knocking the Musketeers off for a second time on Friday — making Providence the only team to defeat both of the Big East’s beasts this season.

Can the Friars do it one more time? Cooley said “we’re built for the moment” after their victory on Friday.

Another big moment awaits.

— Kieran Darcy

Pac-12

USC (23-10) vs. No. 15 Arizona (26-7) 10 p.m. ET

LAS VEGAS — For several months, Arizona and USC have lived somewhat parallel existences.

That was already going to be the case, to a degree, for the pair of preseason top-10 teams.

But everything changed Sept. 26, when the FBI arrested USC assistant coach Tony Bland and Arizona assistant Book Richardson as part of an investigation into corruption in college basketball. There would be no avoiding it: The arrests would hang over both programs for the rest of the season.

For the Pac-12’s two most talented teams, though, that dark day had no bearing on the goals in front of them: Win the Pac-12 and make as deep a run in the NCAA tournament as possible. They would simply have to move on without their well-liked assistant coaches and USC without star guard De’Anthony Melton, who was suspended — first indefinitely and eventually for the entire season — due to his association to the ongoing investigation.

Arizona won the only regular-season matchup between the programs on its way to finishing atop the Pac-12 standings, while USC finished second. Their paths will cross again Saturday in the championship of the Pac-12 tournament at T-Mobile Arena.

Pac-12 commissioner Larry Scott, asked about the possible matchup Thursday, said he wasn’t concerned by the potential perception it could create for the conference by having its championship game feature a pair of teams wrapped up in the scandal.

“I know both the schools are, at the highest levels of the university, treating the allegations very, very seriously,” Scott said. “Both those schools have taken concrete steps with assistant coaches — in the case of USC, a player that they deemed ineligible to play the whole year and has since left the school. Arizona obviously sat out their coach while they were investigating and looking into the situation.”

Arizona (26-7) advanced to the championship game on the back of freshman center Deandre Ayton, who turned in one of the most dominant performances in college basketball this season as the Wildcats beat UCLA 78-67 in overtime. Ayton’s career-high 32 points came on 13 of 16 shooting, as he strengthened his case for national player of the year.

“He’s a special talent,” Arizona guard Rawle Alkins said of Ayton. “I see it every day in practice, so it’s nothing new to me. But to you guys, you know, you guys can see what we see every day. It’s just another day in the office for him.

“But there’s no doubt in my mind that he’s becoming in talks for the national player of the year. He should be player of the year in the country. I don’t see anyone playing better than him right now.”

After Friday’s performance, it’s hard to argue against it.

USC (23-10) reached the final with a 74-54 thumping of Oregon, a Final Four team a year ago, in what some viewed as a must-win game for the Trojans’ NCAA tournament hopes. The Trojans would take the selection committee out of the equation with a win against the Wildcats, but even if they lose, USC coach Andy Enfield is confident his team has already done enough.

In fact, he felt that way even before the Trojans beat Oregon.

“We came in second in the Pac-12 this year,” Enfield said Thursday. “Our RPI is in the low 30s, and that’s enough said.”

— Kyle Bonagura

[hyperbolog]

2018 Oscar Predictions Pt. 3

Adapted Screenplay:

Will Win: Call Me By Your Name Could Win: Mudbound Should Win: Call Me By Your Name Should Have Been Nominated: I, Tonya

With the weakest Adapted Screenplay field in recent memory, James Ivory’s brilliant adaptation of Call My By Your Name is one of the evening’s few sure things. This is Ivory’s fourth career nomination, with the previous three all in the Directing category, and his script is the only adaptation also nominated for Best Picture. Armed with a monologue for the ages delivered by a criminally overlooked Michael Stuhlberg, Ivory’s script will continue it’s award season winning streak come Oscar night, in the process joining fellow octogenarian Agnes Varda as the oldest recipient of a competitive Academy Award.

Original Screenplay: Will Win: Get Out Could Win: Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri Should Win: Get Out Should Have Been Nominated: Phantom Thread This is the toughest of the major races, with all but one of the nominees also a Best Picture candidate written by the director. Usually this category is a chance for the academy to award an film that will not win Picture or Director, however this year that applies to Get Out, Lady Bird and Three Billboards. Get Out won the WGA, which is a strong indicator, far more so that the Globes, which went to Three Billboards. Gerwig’s terrific, insightful script seems to be getting squeezed out by the momentum of aforementioned pair, and The Shape of Water has some controversy surrounding plagiarism and was never really in the conversation. McDonagh’s Billboards has a real strong shot here, as he is not nominated for director and his film has received 7 total nominations, so this is the only chance to reward him personally. Peele’s Get Out outclasses Billboards in every aspect, and hopefully the recent shake up of Academy members in the recent years, including an emphasis on youth and diversity, propels his film to victory McDonagh’s risible, ill-formed, deliberate provocation.

Best Supporting Actor Will Win: Sam Rockwell, Three Billboards Could Win: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Should Win: Willem Dafoe, The Florida Project Should Have Been Nominated: Michael Stuhlberg, Call Me By Your Name Three Billboards is a film so sloppy and poorly executed that the director/writer had to make a public statement clarifying his position on Rockwell’s character. If you have to publicly state that your film isn’t aligning itself with it’s central racist, you haven’t done a good job as a director. Rockwell is pretty much incapable of giving a bad performance, it’s just a shame that he will win for this film, as his role is surely more deserving of the Oscar for Least Earned Redemptive Arch in a Major Motion Picture. Dafoe is marvellous playing against type in The Florida Project, a film that should have earned multiple nominations for it’s cast and crew. Despite the backlash against Billboards, Rockwell has won every award, including Globes, SAG and BAFTA, and will definitely get the win come Oscar night. Unless your conscious demands that vote differently, have him on your ballot.

Best Supporting Actress Will Win: Alison Janney, I, Tonya Could Win: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Should Win: Laurie Metcalf, Lady Bird Should Have Been Nominated: Holly Hunter, The Big Sick It appeared that Metcalf had this category locked up, but Janney took the Golden Globe and hasn’t stopped winning since. They’re both great performances, but Metcalf’s Lady Bird matriarch is an All-Time role for one of the industries most beloved, yet unknown, quantities. Janney steals every scene she in, and her presence casts a shadow over I, Tonya, a common trait of most performances that win Supporting Oscars. Of all the major categories, this is the one that is most primed for a Tomei level upset, as there has been a lot of recent love for Manville among the voters. Could Janney and Metcalf split their respective votes allowing Manville to swoop in? Probably not.

Best Actor Will Win: Gary Oldman, Darkest Hour Could Win: Timothee Chalamet, Call Me By Your Name Should Win: Daniel Day-Lewis, Phantom Thread or Timothee Chalamet Should Have Been Nominated: Adam Sandler, The Meyerowitz Stories (New and Selected) It’s a shame that the recent improvements the Academy has made in membership has not impacted this race at all. Gary Oldman’s Churchill is the kind of stuffy, over-reaching schmaltz that has littered the Best Actor landscape for decades. It is not indicative of the quality of the other nominees work, nor the diverse crop of films that represent the best of 2017. While Day-Lewis is phenomenal in what, reportedly, is his final role, the real standout performance belongs to newcomer Timothee Chalamet. As natural and moving as Oldman is artificial and stale, Chalamet’s portrayal of Elio calls to mind film’s great performances, that of Brando, Dean and De Niro, so strong is his physicality and choices as an actor. If ever I was pining for an Adrian Brody-esque upset, it would be this year. However, this is not to be. Oldman has swept every major award leading up to the Oscars, and there is no indication that anyone else is gaining momentum. Of all the presumptive winners in major categories, his victory is the most assured.

Best Actress Will Win: Frances McDormand, Three Billboards Could Win: Sally Hawkins, The Shape of Water Should Win: Saoirse Ronan, Lady Bird Should Have Been Nominated: Vicky Krieps, Phantom Thread Historically, a film winning both Best Actress and Best Picture is a very rare occurrence. It’s only happened 12 times in 90 years, while Actor and Picture have coincided 26 times. This year, four of the five nominated performances are from films also represented in the Best Picture category, which is an unprecedented ratio, even in era of the expanded lineup. This means there is a solid chance that Actress and Picture could line up, but that would require either Three Billboards scoring big at the end of the night, or Sally Hawkins stealing away McDormand’s presumed victory. I’m not sure that the Three Billboards backlash has stolen away any of McDormand’s heat coming into the ceremony, so it’s safe bet to stick with her, as she has won every major precursor award. Ronan and Robbie are sure to be nominated again and, in Ronan’s case, it’s only a matter of time before she is anointed with her very own Oscar. Hawkins performance is the exact opposite of McDormand’s acerbic, monologuing, shit-kicker, yet it is infinitely more powerful, as she manages to supply the emotional anchor for Del Toro’s film while not uttering a single line of dialogue.

Best Director Will Win: Guillermo Del Toro, The Shape of Water Could Win: Jordan Peele, Get Out Should Win: Paul Thomas Anderson, Phantom Thread Should Have Been Nominated: Sean Baker, The Florida Project McDonagh’s exclusion from this category really shakes up the entire proceedings, as not getting a director nomination is a huge knock against your film winning Best Picture. Del Toro has pretty much swept the Pre-Oscar awards, including the DGA, which has predicted all but five Best Director winners of the past two decades. The only real competition he has is Jordan Peele, who won Best First Time Feature at the DGA’s, but it seems like he’ll take Best Original Screenplay as a consolation prize. It’s hard to imagine a scenario where Anderson is rewarded for Phantom Thread, as it’s such a idiosyncratic and strange film, but his inclusion here as a welcome surprise, as he continues to craft the most impressive catalogue in modern American Cinema.

Best Picture Will Win: The Shape of Water Could Win: Get Out or Three Billboards Should Win: Get Out Should Have Been Nominated: The Florida Project It’s taken a few years, but the expansion of the Picture lineup is starting to pay dividends, as it is finally resulting in closer races and genuine upsets. With the recent influx of new members to the Academy, it has become increasingly difficult to rely on past precedents when making predictions, especially as the new membership was designed to be far more inclusive. The last two years have seen true upsets, with Spotlight ousting The Revenant and Moonlight absolutely stunning La La Land. This is a huge step forward for Best Picture, as both of those films are actually very good, especially Moonlight, which ranks high on the list of best films to ever to win this award. Making matters more confusing, is that the ballot operates under a ‘instant runoff’ system, designed so that the winning film is one with the widest consensus, as the voters rank the nominated films from most preferred to least preferred. This preferential system does not benefit divisive films, such as Three Billboards, which may land on top of several ballots, but will also, certainly, rank much lower on many others. This balloting system heavily favours The Shape of Water as, while I do not know anyone who is raving about the film, it does not have the same vocal detractors as Billboards. What separates 2017s lineup from the past few years is that a third contender is in the mix, as Get Out is picking up steam. Peele’s brilliant horror-satire is the type of film primed to take advantage of the preferential ballot system, as I can see it being in the top three on a lot of voters rankings. This is a very strong year in terms of good to great films being nominated, with nary a Blind Side or The Help in sight. Still, Three Billboards would be a very poor and disappointing choice. If it wins it, the backlash towards the already polarizing, thoughtlessly incendiary film will rise to that of Crash-level resentment in the years to come.

[yahoo-roto-arcade-blog]

Week 16 fantasy wrap: Ezekiel Elliott returns

Ezekiel Elliott’s return to action may have been too late to help his fantasy owners (AP Photo).

Seahawks vs. Cowboys: Dallas wasn’t kidding about making Ezekiel Elliott a workhorse immediately upon his return from suspension, as he saw 24 carries and seven targets, which resulted in 118 yards against a Seattle defense that played far better this week than last. Elliott had a scoring chance vanish late in the second half when the team refused to run at the goal line, and the Cowboys are now officially out of the playoff race. Elliott will end his 2017 campaign in a tough matchup in Philadelphia next week, but he’ll enter 2018 as a consensus top-five overall fantasy pick…A possible shootout instead saw the quarterbacks get 5.0 YPA and take seven sacks with two interceptions, including Dak Prescott’s fourth pick-six this season…Jimmy Graham has two catches for two yards over the past three games and is on pace to finish with 58 receptions and 507 yards. And also 11 touchdowns. Graham made the Pro Bowl, but Harrison Smith didn’t…Seattle became the first team since the merger to win a game with more penalty than offensive yards.

Lions vs. Bengals: Facing a Cincy team that entered with a three-game losing streak, including getting outscored 67-14 over the last two, the Lions lost a must-win game in which they entered as near TD favorites…Eric Ebron was one of the most consistent and productive tight ends throughout the fantasy playoffs…A.J. Green’s run against tough corners finishes in Baltimore next week, although at least Jimmy Smith is out…Joe Mixon’s up-and-down rookie season ended on a sour note, as he left early with an ankle injury. Giovani Bernard totaled 168 yards with a TD in a big RB performance on fantasy benches in Week 16.

Chargers vs. Jets: New York recovered an onside attempt on the first play of the game…Antonio Gates took advantage of Hunter Henry being out, turning eight targets into 81 yards and a score, while Robby Anderson had a long TD catch called back thanks to OPI…Bilal Powell had a big game, also likely on most fantasy benches…The 8-7 Bills have been outscored by 63 points this season. The 8-7 Chargers have outscored their opponents by 63 points.

Rams vs. Titans: Todd Gurley totaled 276 yards from scrimmage with two scores (highlighted by this screen), becoming the first player since Herschel Walker in 1986 with at least 100 rushing yards and 150 receiving yards in the same game. Over the last three weeks during the fantasy playoffs, Gurley averaged 197.0 YFS with eight touchdowns in a memorable stretch. He’s the current favorite to win MVP and be the first pick in 2018 fantasy drafts…Sam Ficken was an immediate big downgrade at kicker, missing a FG and an XP. It’s more than a slight concern for a team trying to win the Super Bowl.

Browns vs. Bears: DeShone Kizer threw another two picks, as the Browns haven’t won a game on Sunday over the span of the last three Star Wars films…Let’s hope Josh Gordon has a competent quarterback throwing to him in 2018…This marked the first time the Bears have won as favorites under John Fox.

Buccaneers vs. Panthers: Cam Newton got 6.4 YPA, while no Panthers running back got 40 rushing yards and no receiver 50 yards. The 11-4 Panthers sure don’t seem like they have much upside to go deep into the playoffs…Chris Godwin paid the DFS bills with 98 yards, but Cameron Brate disappointed with no O.J. Howard in the lineup…Devin Funchess is playing hurt, while Sunday marked the first 100-yard game of the season for Mike Evans.

Falcons vs. Saints: Devonta Freeman ran for just 36 yards and lost a fumble at the goal line, while Tevin Coleman got only 2.0 YPC during his return. Drew Brees put up an all too familiar modest line with 239 yards and one score, as New Orleans’ defense continues to play well…Last year’s MVP hasn’t thrown for more than two TDs in a game this season and has just four TD passes over the past five contests…Here’s Marshon Lattimore making the interception of the week.

Broncos vs. Washington: For all of Denver’s faults, its defense had been playing well, so give credit to Kirk Cousins for getting 8.1 YPA with three touchdowns despite a shaky offensive line and a running game that produced 3.0 YPC. How this Cousins situation has played out has essentially been a worst-case scenario for Washington…Over the final two weeks of most fantasy seasons, C.J. Anderson averaged 145.5 yards from scrimmage with a score…Josh Doctson had a TD but somehow caught just two balls on 13 targets.

Dolphins vs. Chiefs: Facing a KC secondary that entered having allowed the third-most fantasy points to wide receivers, DeVante Parker got just 6.3 YPT, while both Jarvis Landry and Kenny Stills were held to fewer than 55 yards and lost fumbles. Jakeem Grant, meanwhile, busted this screen 65 yards to the house…Tyreek Hill is on pace to finish with 1,262 receiving yards on just 112 targets.

Bills vs. Patriots: Tyrod Taylor has now taken 28 sacks over seven road games…The Patriots entered as huge favorites at home, thin at running back and with Chris Hogan out, so the setup was right for a big Brandin Cooks game. Instead, he managed just 19 yards on five targets…Tom Brady has been picked off in five straight games and has a 4:5 TD:INT ratio over his past four contests. It’s clear he’s missed Jimmy G…This Kelvin Benjamin TD catch getting overturned was highly questionable…Dion Lewis took full advantage of Rex Burkhead and James White being out, totaling 153 yards with two scores. Lewis, who entered ranked No. 3 in Juke Rate (40.4%) and No. 1 in yards created per carry (2.76) should be treated as a clear RB1 any week in which he’s New England’s lead back…This Rob Gronkowski catch was ridiculous.

Giants vs. Cardinals: These teams combined for 24 rushing yards at halftime, and hopefully Evan Engram leaving leads to keeping his price tag down some at draft tables next year. He’ll be someone to target.

Jaguars vs. 49ers: Keelan Cole continued to act as the team’s clear No. 1 wideout (13 targets), while the 49ers continued to defend the run well, holding Leonard Fournette to just 2.7 YPC…Jacksonville blocked an extra point and returned it for two points (and also got an onside kick), while San Francisco scored a first quarter TD for the first time since Week 3 (during the first opening TD drive allowed by Jacksonville this season)…Blake Bortles hadn’t thrown an interception during December before being picked off three times Sunday…Jimmy Garoppolo got 8.1 YPA, leading San Francisco to 44 points against the league’s best defense. The 49ers are going to be ridiculously hyped entering 2018.

Follow Dalton Del Don on Twitter. 

[i-am-the-entertainer]

An Attempt At A Comprehensive Review of RWBY Volume 4

I did a couple of posts reacting to RWBY4 as it was coming out, which you can find in the rwby4 tag on my own page. But I figured now that it’s been a few weeks I can write a more comprehensive review.

FULL SPOILERS FOR RWBY VOLUME 4. And sorry this is long.

First thought: IT WAS SLOW AS FUCK.

I mean sweet jesus, that dragged. If I were to think of the whole volume as one long movie, I could count a full hour of content going by without a single fight going on. Which, I mean, you can get away with in a full-length movie, but with a show like RWBY, which was co-created by a guy known for his fight animation, that comes out in 20 minutes spurs every week? That’s really, really bad. I mean, I guess they sort of got away with it in past volumes (not really though), but that’s mainly because the episodes were a lot shorter. And the World of Remnants coming out at seemingly random points made it all the more worse. I mean, I sat down and watched the whole thing through recently, episode by episode, and honestly it was alright. But watching it in process? That was torture. Plus it didn’t feel like the more interesting arcs going on were getting enough development time.

Second thought: Pretty good world building

Okay, slowness aside, for me the World of Remnants painted a fascinating picture of...well, of the world of Remnant. A lot of thought was definitely put into the mechanics, and Vic’s voiceover as Qrow getting increasingly drunk made them all the more entertaining. But again, I’d prefer it if they came out concurrently with the episodes rather than in place of an episode. As some have noted, that doesn’t build hype, it pisses you off.

Third thought: Meh Fight Choreography

RWBY’s was interesting to me in the first place because of the fight choreo, though I stuck around because I wanted to see what happened with the characters. Since we don’t have Monty and Shane on hand anymore to animate RWBY, their animation which to some extent was RWBY’s signature is gone. Of the fights in RWBY4, I felt that only two felt like something resembling Monty or Shane’s work––the character short and Qrow v. Tyrian, though both of these fell flat.

Fourth thought: Animation style and design was beautiful

Barring the snore-worthy fight choreography, the switch to Maya this season definitely improved the quality of animation drastically. The animation in Volume 1 was deplorable, the animation in Volume 2 was better but still kind of lacking, Volume 3 was an improvement but they could still have done better. With Volume 4 the design elements were done really well, and in the Maya engine they came out in ways I don’t think Poser could have achieved.

The Grimm this year were especially terrifying. I loved the added touch of the black smoke they emitted, and the Nuckelavee Grimm was pretty cool.

But again, I think there’s a problem when you at first have good fight choreography and poor animation, and later have good animation but poor fight choreography.

Fifth thought: Too Many Plotlines

Six different stories and about 3 hours to tell them? Really, really bad idea.

This is something you do in a show like Game of Thrones. I get that RT Animation is fairly small, but if you’re gonna have this many plotlines you need much, much longer episodes, at least 30 minutes per chapter I reckon. But 10-20 minutes means a plot that starts one episode doesn’t pop up again until almost a month later, by which point you’ve forgotten about them or ceased to care.

Sixth thought: Underdeveloped Plotlines

I would call this a side effect of the previous one. I think the first...three or so?...episodes introduced quite a few compelling plotlines (at least to me). Cinder’s recovery following the number Ruby did to her at Beacon, Yang learning to live without her arm, Blake running away from her problems, Weiss dealing with her parents, Oscar.

But as the season dragged (and boy did it drag) a lot of these plot points were seemingly dropped or at most didn’t serve as much importance as the first few eps implied. For example, I thought they would have more about Cinder’s recovery or how the team was dealing with Pyrrha’s death, but most of it only appeared in a few eps and would be brought up––sometimes randomly––several episodes later. Yang’s arc felt especially truncated––the prominence in the opening made it seem like it would be a major point this year, but they had only two episodes of her dealing with PTSD, and all of sudden she has the arm and is all better. I mean, I liked what little I saw, but I really really wish they’d shown more. If you’re gonna take on a topic like that you need time to show it, and the way this season was set up there wasn’t enough time.

The thing is, the way this year went you can sort of tell when Miles and Kerry went, “Oh crap, we went in over our heads.” I think it was around episode 4, when we had a World of Remnant, a RWBY episode, then another World of Remnant, which I think is the first time a WoR has appeared so soon after a previous one. To me that inconsistency signals a point where the team realized they were nearing the halfway point and the plot wasn’t going fast enough.

That’s a failure of the production structure: if you’re gonna take the show to an epic scale like this, you need to have everything ready before the first episode, or at least somewhere in advance. RWBY is largely produced as it’s being released, and the result is they don’t have enough time to review everything and realize when something’s not working. If Rooster Teeth Animation doesn’t have the capabilities or the time to take a plot to its full potential, that plot needs to be dropped.

The only really good plot this year I thought was Weiss’s arc. Well-written, good performances by the voice actors (more on that later), and fairly well-developed. But it was stretched out over a long period of time, so in retrospect that made it a little difficult to follow.

Seventh thought: Voice Acting Was Great

Maybe it’s experience or the fact they hired more professionals, but the voice acting this year was really good. All four of the Team RWBY voice actors were great, but I’m singling out Barbara Dunkelman and Kara Eberle for best performances, as I think their arcs provided the best range of emotion for them to portray; this especially shows in comparison to their performances in the first volume, which I rewatched back in December while this season was in full swing. I think ultimately though Yang’s plotline was too truncated for us to see how much Barb has improved since 2013. Kara, after portraying Weiss’s icy personality in the first few volumes, really showed a surprising range of emotion for Weiss’s realization of just how vain her family and acquaintances are.

The real MVP of this season was Neath Oum. He’s by no means a professional voice actor, but knowing he took on the character in honor of his younger brother and the surprisingly substantial role Ren and Nora served this year, he honestly killed it.

Minor thoughts

The best moment I thought this season was Qrow and Raven’s discussion in Higanbana in “Chapter 4: Family.” Great voicework from Vic Mignogna and Anna Hullum, well-written dialogue, good camera angles, and an interesting way of developing the plot. Only problem is it was a few minutes in an early episode, and the discussion was never brought up again––hopefully next year?

The best episode was “Chapter 10: Kuroyuri.” I thought the voiceover work for young Ren was kind of eh, but I liked that we got more of Ren and Nora’s tragic backstory, which was only alluded to in the first few volumes. We get a glimpse of Ren’s semblance and the start of their friendship, plus a genuine glimpse at what kind of enemy the Nuckelavee is. But I think it happened too late in the season––at that point I was just too invested in what would happen to the other characters to really want a flashback episode. The stakes needed to be raised earlier, and though we got hints at the Nuckelavee in Chapter 2, there wasn’t enough in the rest of the episodes to make us aware how big of an enemy it was.

Moving on/Too Long; Didn’t Read

As a general assessment, this season had vast improvements from previous seasons, but overall the result was a disappointment. Too much going on with too little time to tell it. Moving forward I think RT’s best decision is best case scenario make longer episodes, worst case make more episodes. I suppose a better in-between ground is reuniting Team RWBY, but at this point that’s probably not gonna happen until the end of Volume 5.I was, again, disappointed, but I was invested enough in the characters that I want to see what happens to them next year...this September...whenever the hell they start up. So for now I say goodbye to RWBY proper, and look forward to whatever ridiculousness they bring to RWBY Chibi this year.

[junker-town]

NASCAR Homestead-Miami 2017 live stream: Time, TV channel, starting grid, and how to watch online

Here’s what you need to know to watch Sunday’s NASCAR Cup Series championship finale at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

NASCAR will crown its 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series champion Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway, site of the Ford 400. The final race will see Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski and Martin Truex Jr. vie for the championship with whoever finishes best among them winning the title.

The four finalists earned spot by advancing through the previous nine playoff races featuring 16 drivers, either by winning or points accumulation. Busch, Harvick and Keselowski are each seeking their second series championship, with Truex his first.

Denny Hamlin, who was eliminated in the semifinals after a controversial run-in with Chase Elliott, will start on the pole Sunday. The Joe Gibbs Racing drivers posted a 173.980 mph lap around the mile-and-a-half oval in qualifying on Friday.

Truex qualified second, with Busch third, Keselowski fifth and Harvick ninth. Truex and Keselowski are both winless at Homestead, while Harvick (2014) and Busch (2015) each have a single win on the South Florida track.

The Ford 400 will be televised on NBC beginning with the network’s pre-race coverage at 2 p.m. ET, with the green flag scheduled to wave at 2:46 p.m. ET. Rick Allen will handle play-by-play duties and be joined in the broadcast booth by analysts Jeff Burton and Steve Letarte.

Time, TV channel, and streaming info

Time: 2 p.m. ET (green flag: approx. 2:47 p.m. ET)

Location: Homestead-Miami Speedway, Homestead, Fla.

TV: NBC

Radio: Motor Racing Network

Streaming: NBCSports.com

Homestead-Miami news

Cup Series championship final preview

Yet it is the one finalist who’s never won a title, Martin Truex Jr., that Keselowski, Harvick, and Busch each believes is the clear favorite. The Furniture Row Racing driver has been the standard barrier throughout the season, leading every major statistical category and his speed on intermediate sized speedways, like Homestead, is especially overpowering with six of his seven victories having come on mile-and-a-half-tracks.

The role of favorite is not something Truex shies away from, instead he embraces the prospect of being the driver everyone else is chasing. This is his second time qualifying for the Final Four and when he did so in 2015 he was the decided underdog, which ultimately bared out on the track. He finished fourth that year, with Busch narrowly defeating Harvick for the championship.

“If I'm the favorite, perfect, I like that,” Truex said. “I think it's a better position to be in. I was the underdog before and I finished fourth. So bring it on.

“I feel like we're in a whole lot better spot as a team than we were the first time we had a shot at it. We're going to go out there and just do the best job we can do. I've got a lot of confidence in our team right now and what we're doing.”

Longtime friends Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth prepare for retirement together

Since then, Earnhardt and Kenseth have been seemingly indelibly linked. After competing against one another in the Xfinity Series, they advanced to the Cup Series where they have gone on to start more than 600 races together.

And fittingly, the close friends who frequently go on cycling rides will conclude their eventual Hall of Fame careers together. Each making what is likely their final Cup Series start in Sunday’s season-ender at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“We supported each other and enjoyed seeing each other have success,” Earnhardt said. “Matt, I love his sense of humor, I love the person he is and the person he has become, the father he is.

“He has always had an influence on me as far as how I race or the person I want to be or become. … It’s going to make Homestead even more emotional because we came in together.”

But how Earnhardt and Kenseth reached this juncture in their careers and how they’re leaving came about due to widely different circumstances — which in Kenseth’s case he had little control over.

Martin Truex Jr. not lacking motivation to win championship in emotion-filled season

But the juxtaposition between balancing success on the track with life events off it is something FRR unfortunately is well-versed in this season. Truex’s longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, is battling a recurrence of ovarian cancer, crew chief Cole Pearn’s close friend died unexpectedly from a bacterial infection in August, and last month crew member James Watson, 55, died after a go-kart team outing on the race weekend at Kansas Speedway.

“It's definitely been tough at times and rough, but we've always been there for each other and made it through,” Truex said. “I think that shows a sign of strength, and hopefully we can rely on that this weekend if things get tough at some point in time.”

Kyle Busch seeking to silence his critics by winning second championship

And if Busch can secure another title on Sunday it would make him just the 16th driver to win a second championship in NASCAR’s premier division. Perhaps then his critics would quiet down.

“There's a lot of arguments being made that we didn't deserve the first one, we should never have been there for the first one, but the fact of the matter is we executed and did our job with the rules that were given to us, and we achieved,” Busch said. “This would just kind of put ourselves in another elite group of guys and drivers and teams that have been really, really good over the years that have been able to go win championships.”

Kevin Harvick locked in on championship after playoff surge

“We were late bloomers to the party just for the fact that we had a lot of work to do,” Harvick said. “We had a lot of change and we had a lot of things that we had to navigate and maneuver and get to the point of being competitive like we are right now.

“So we feel good about where we are. We won Texas, and have run good really at every mile‑and‑a‑half racetrack that we've been to, and we're back to the point of being able to lead laps, and that's when you can win races is when you can lead laps.”

Brad Keselowski wants second championship to secure legacy

"It's almost a certainty that two gets you into the Hall of Fame," Keselowski said. "Multiple championship drivers always will be. So I see this my chance to make it into the Hall of Fame. That's something I don't want to take for granted.

"I literally only have to beat three people to do it. That's somewhat hard for me to digest or comprehend with all the different scenarios in front of me."

Homestead-Miami qualifying results

[junker-town]

NASCAR Homestead-Miami 2017: Schedule, results, and news

Everything you need to know about NASCAR’s Cup Series championship final on Sunday at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

Four drivers are left and one race remains in the playoffs to crown the 2017 Monster Energy Cup Series champion. Whomever finishes best among Kyle Busch, Kevin Harvick, Brad Keselowski, and Martin Truex Jr. at Homestead-Miami Speedway will win the title on Sunday.

Truex enters the championship final as the favorite with six of his seven wins this season coming on mile-and-a-half tracks, the same size as Homestead. But Harvick won the last race on a 1.5.-mile track two weeks ago at Texas Motor Speedway, passing Truex in the closing laps, and believes his team holds the advantage in the Ford 400. Truex has also never won at the South Florida oval, while Harvick and Busch each own wins at Homestead.

Busch, Harvick, and Keselowski each are former series champions, while Truex is seeking his first title in NASCAR’s top division. Were Busch, Harvick, or Keselowski to win Sunday, they would join seven-time winner Jimmie Johnson as the only active drivers with multiple championships.

NBC will broadcast the Ford 400 on Sunday. The network’s coverage begins at 2 p.m. ET, with the green flag scheduled for 2:46 p.m.

Homestead schedule and how to watch

Practices

Session 1: Friday, 12:30 p.m. - 1:55 p.m. ET

Session 2: Saturday, 10 a.m. - 10:55 a.m.

Session 3: Saturday, 1 p.m. - 1:50 p.m.

TV/streaming: NBCSN (Session 1 and 3), CNBC (Session 2); (session 1 stream) (session 2 stream) (session 3 stream)

Qualifying

Time: Friday, 6:15 p.m.

TV/streaming: NBCSN (live stream)

Ford 400

Time/green flag: 2 p.m/2:46 p.m.

Distance/laps: 400.5 miles/267 laps

TV/streaming: NBC (live stream)

What to watch for at Homestead

Cup Series championship final preview

Yet it is the one finalist who’s never won a title, Martin Truex Jr., that Keselowski, Harvick, and Busch each believes is the clear favorite. The Furniture Row Racing driver has been the standard barrier throughout the season, leading every major statistical category and his speed on intermediate sized speedways, like Homestead, is especially overpowering with six of his seven victories having come on mile-and-a-half-tracks.

The role of favorite is not something Truex shies away from, instead he embraces the prospect of being the driver everyone else is chasing. This is his second time qualifying for the Final Four and when he did so in 2015 he was the decided underdog, which ultimately bared out on the track. He finished fourth that year, with Busch narrowly defeating Harvick for the championship.

“If I'm the favorite, perfect, I like that,” Truex said. “I think it's a better position to be in. I was the underdog before and I finished fourth. So bring it on.

“I feel like we're in a whole lot better spot as a team than we were the first time we had a shot at it. We're going to go out there and just do the best job we can do. I've got a lot of confidence in our team right now and what we're doing.”

Longtime friends Dale Earnhardt Jr., Matt Kenseth prepare for retirement together

Since then, Earnhardt and Kenseth have been seemingly indelibly linked. After competing against one another in the Xfinity Series, they advanced to the Cup Series where they have gone on to start more than 600 races together.

And fittingly, the close friends who frequently go on cycling rides will conclude their eventual Hall of Fame careers together. Each making what is likely their final Cup Series start in Sunday’s season-ender at Homestead-Miami Speedway.

“We supported each other and enjoyed seeing each other have success,” Earnhardt said. “Matt, I love his sense of humor, I love the person he is and the person he has become, the father he is.

“He has always had an influence on me as far as how I race or the person I want to be or become. … It’s going to make Homestead even more emotional because we came in together.”

But how Earnhardt and Kenseth reached this juncture in their careers and how they’re leaving came about due to widely different circumstances — which in Kenseth’s case he had little control over.

Martin Truex Jr. not lacking motivation to win championship in emotion-filled season

But the juxtaposition between balancing success on the track with life events off it is something FRR unfortunately is well-versed in this season. Truex’s longtime girlfriend, Sherry Pollex, is battling a recurrence of ovarian cancer, crew chief Cole Pearn’s close friend died unexpectedly from a bacterial infection in August, and last month crew member James Watson, 55, died after a go-kart team outing on the race weekend at Kansas Speedway.

“It's definitely been tough at times and rough, but we've always been there for each other and made it through,” Truex said. “I think that shows a sign of strength, and hopefully we can rely on that this weekend if things get tough at some point in time.”

Kyle Busch seeking to silence his critics by winning second championship

And if Busch can secure another title on Sunday it would make him just the 16th driver to win a second championship in NASCAR’s premier division. Perhaps then his critics would quiet down.

“There's a lot of arguments being made that we didn't deserve the first one, we should never have been there for the first one, but the fact of the matter is we executed and did our job with the rules that were given to us, and we achieved,” Busch said. “This would just kind of put ourselves in another elite group of guys and drivers and teams that have been really, really good over the years that have been able to go win championships.”

Kevin Harvick locked in on championship after playoff surge

“We were late bloomers to the party just for the fact that we had a lot of work to do,” Harvick said. “We had a lot of change and we had a lot of things that we had to navigate and maneuver and get to the point of being competitive like we are right now.

“So we feel good about where we are. We won Texas, and have run good really at every mile‑and‑a‑half racetrack that we've been to, and we're back to the point of being able to lead laps, and that's when you can win races is when you can lead laps.”

Brad Keselowski wants second championship to secure legacy

"It's almost a certainty that two gets you into the Hall of Fame," Keselowski said. "Multiple championship drivers always will be. So I see this my chance to make it into the Hall of Fame. That's something I don't want to take for granted.

"I literally only have to beat three people to do it. That's somewhat hard for me to digest or comprehend with all the different scenarios in front of me."

Homestead qualifying results

Non-playoff driver Denny Hamlin won the pole in a qualifying session that saw the four title contenders each qualify inside the top 10. Martin Truex Jr. will start second on Sunday, with Kyle Busch third, Brad Keselowski fifth and Kevin Harvick ninth.

Truex held the provisional pole until the final seconds of qualifying before Hamlin turned a 173.980 mph average lap around the 1.5-mile track. It was Hamlin’s second pole of the season and 26th of his career.

Hamlin was knocked out the playoffs when Chase Elliott deliberately ran him into the wall last week at Phoenix Raceway, puncturing a tire on Hamlin’s car that a few laps later blew and sent him crashing into the wall. Elliott was retaliating after Hamlin intentionally wrecked him two weeks before at Martinsville Speedway, costing Elliott a win that would’ve advanced him to the championship final.

Had Elliott not ran into him at Phoenix, Hamlin would’ve likely transferred to the championship round. Instead, Hamlin, one of the most consistent drivers through the playoffs, was eliminated in the semi-final round for a second straight year.

“Love this racetrack, wish we would have a chance, but it’ll be another day and another year for us,” Hamlin said. “I want to win, that’s all I care about.”

Homestead race results

This section will be updated upon the completion of the Ford 400 on Sunday night.

[junker-town]

What to expect from Tiger Woods in his return at the Farmers Insurance Open

We’ve waited 17 months to see Tiger Woods back on the PGA Tour. Now he’s set to play four times in five weeks. From the best case to the worst case, here’s what to expect at Torrey Pines.

The little hit-and-giggle game last month doesn’t really count. Sure, it was nice to see the Big Cat playing golf back in front of a camera in the Bahamas but this week marks the return of Tiger Woods to the PGA Tour. The Farmers Insurance Open first round on Thursday will come 521 days after his last official round on the PGA Tour, August of 2015’s Wyndham Championship.

This week’s event at Torrey Pines, a place Tiger knows so well and where he’s dominated, does not carry some great weight for Woods. This is not the Masters. But that doesn’t mean we won’t watch and dissect it shot by shot. It’s hard to know what we’ll get from Tiger after such a long layoff, but here we go back-and-forth on some of the best and worst case scenarios (and what it might mean for the future) at Torrey Pines.

Best Case

Kyle: New Cat is same as the Old Cat, and he wins his first real PGA Tour event he’s started since the 2015 Wyndham Championship. With a swing and body reconstructed for the fourth decade of life and freed up from subpar Nike equipment (yes, I said it), Tiger’s primed for more sustainable success than we’ve seen since the Perkins Restaurant & Bakery era. If he’s able to shock the world and win against all odds at Torrey Pines, would you really...

[puts on monocle]

[puts cigar in mouth]

[lights]

expect anything different?

Brendan: That was a highly entertaining revue and best case argument, but here on planet Earth, even the best case scenario cannot be an actual win, right? It’s fantasy, and because it’s Tiger, we might entertain such fantasy more than we’d care to admit with any other player. I think the best case scenario for Tiger is a top 10 finish. Maybe he’s in what we in the golf media like to call “contention,” that constantly malleable term that could mean you’re doing pretty ok out there.

But does that mean he’s going to win? No. The best case would be playing in the third or fourth-to-last tee time on Saturday and Sunday, finishing 8th and under-par, and catching a jet to Dubai in good health for take two.

Tiger’s driver is not reliable yet and this rough, both off the fairway and up around the green, where he’ll have to chip from, is gnarly for such an early season regular PGA Tour stop. Tiger’s been away too long and he’ll get an up-close look right away at what he needs to do to make up ground when he tees off with Jason Day and Dustin Johnson on Thursday afternoon. It may be a little overwhelming to watch those two, No. 1 and No. 3 in the world right now, launch rockets into the La Jolla sky.

The best case is just being around on the weekend and posting a backdoor top 10, while showing NO signs of the chip yips.

Worst Case

Kyle: We’ve seen this go bad before. The last time Tiger teed it up for early season golf in the winter out west, it was a disaster. No good Tiger fan, hater, or biographer will be forgetting his front nine 44 (!) at TPC Scottsdale in 2015. Of course, that was also two years ago. The short game issues that seemed to plague him at that time looked relieved in the Bahamas in December, but there’s far more cameras and attention this week. Can his short game hold up?

Brendan: Yip. Yip. Yip. YIPPPPP. This is the worst case scenario, now and for the rest of Tiger’s career. More than the health issues, the chip yips scare the hell out of me if I am a Tiger fan. There may not have been any sign of them in his start last month at the Hero World Challenge, and he hid them for most of the summer of 2015, when we saw him last.

But the yips are always there, deep down in some dark recess of your golf soul and always capable of popping back up to destroy your golf psyche at any moment. There’s no predicting when they may come back. They may never conspicuously materialize again, but that doesn’t mean they went away.

We often hail Torrey Pines as a course that Tiger has owned throughout his career. It’s one of those handful of venues like Doral, Firestone, Bay Hill, and Muirfield where he’s racked up a majority of those absurd 79 PGA Tour career wins. There are many good memories here, no doubt. But it was also the scene of perhaps the lowest moment of his golf career (note: on the actual course!). After yipping the ball all around the greens in the most embarrassing fashion at TPC Scottsdale in 2015, Tiger showed up a week later at Torrey searching. We saw him hosel rocket ground balls on the Torrey Range under the watch of Pat Perez and Billy Horschel during practice.

He’d yip a few more in his first round just a day later, then withdraw in the middle of it after grimacing in pain throughout. The blame was assigned to some “deactivated glutes,” an all-time Tiger explanation that added to the ignominy of that brief Torrey stay.

The worst-case is obviously something that approximates that last visit to this venue. It can’t be that bad, but it would go something like a missed cut with the continued wildness off the tee and several signs of the chip yips as he tries to play out of some testy lies around these Torrey Pines greens. Even the biggest Tiger cynic or hater shouldn’t want this.

What’s realistic?

Kyle Robbins: Tiger likes the dramatic, and I think after the troubles of early 2015, it would have been too much for his ego to come back too early and suck. He seems to have also reached a point of self-security in life, where he’s far more comfortable off the course than ever before with his new TGR ventures and so forth.

What point am I making? I think if Tiger didn’t feel like he really had it together, he wouldn’t play this week. That’s exactly what he did at the Safeway last October. Now, I think he’s ready.

Though I’m not reading too deep into anything anyone does at Albany, Tiger looked the part at the Hero World Challenge. He may have stumbled at the end and finished near the bottom of a small leaderboard, but isolated doubles & big numbers were mostly the cause.

But the birdies of his stellar third round, his refined swing, his better equipment ... it all leads me to believe making the cut this week is easily attainable, and a Top-15 finish would be a major realistic success.

Brendan: I am with you Kyle on the optimistic side this week (we’ve written too many sad and so very depressing Tiger things in recent years). I took more good than bad away from that week at the Hero. There will be sloppiness off the tee that probably keeps him from actually contending against a field with many of the best players in the world. That will keep some of those double bogeys on his scorecard.

I think Tiger is in a good place, however, and ready to make the cut in his first real PGA Tour event since August of 2015. Given that layoff and the despair of recent years, a made cut is a success. I think he plays the weekend and finishes somewhere between 20-25th at Torrey Pines.

Photo by Donald Miralle/Getty Images

This first stretch back may mean more for the next 10 years of his career than we realize.

What does this week mean for the future of Tiger’s career?

Brendan: Not much. I think the next five weeks may have a more outsized impact than we think, but this very first week should not matter much for the rest of Tiger’s career, which is hopefully another decade. I think if he has an awful week, there are several easy and understandable reasons to explain it away. Now if the next five weeks, which includes four starts, an uncharacteristically rigorous stretch for Tiger, are a total mess, you worry that Tiger might devolve into the “there is no light at the end of a tunnel” phase we got around this time last year.

Every shot is shown. Every round is analyzed blow-by-blow. No one plays under this microscope. So four bad tournaments in a row becomes a much, much larger burden and seems like four months. Tiger says he never cares what outside “noise” may be surrounding his game, but he has to feel it and knows the scrutiny is intense. This week’s result is not important — you can’t get too discouraged in your first start back. But I do think there is more riding on the stretch that starts now than we may realize.

Kyle: You shouldn’t read too much into January golf. But I think this week could have a huge impact on what remains for Tiger if things go south. The last time Tiger was teeing it up on Tour early in the season, he looked dang-near like a 15-handicapper skulling it to-and-fro across the greens. This week matters for Tiger’s confidence. He needs to know and believe he can still come out and Do It. Something around just above or below the cut line is just fine. Throwing it in the tank and flirting with DFL might have him questioning if it’s worth playing this game anymore.