Mark Holmes

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Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 411 total)
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  • in reply to: The final nail #1636254
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Hi fellas,

    Clitheroekid mentioned you’d asked after me, Selby, so I thought I’d pop on to say hello.

    My wife gave birth to our second child and first son the other day so the last week has been better for me than most Stoke fans! I’m a bit worried that I was born just after we were relegated from the top division last time, though – hopefully Harry doesn’t have to wait 23 years for us to get back!

    If I was to write about what I think has gone wrong this season I’d be here all day so I’ll just say I hope you’re all well and philosophical about relegation.

    We’ve still got a team to support on a Saturday and I won’t enjoy us winning games any less. Hopefully we’ll win a few more next season, too!

    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Glad you liked the article guys. We’ve got an interview with Scott Minto about that team/season tomorrow which you should enjoy. He specifically mentionee that Zola goal v Wimbledon too.

    Great times!

    in reply to: 21 photos that show the heart and soul of Liverpool FC #1446380
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Lovely to hear. It’s still early days for us so there’s a lot more we want to do, but the feedback so far has been amazing.

    From my perspective, it’s so much more enjoyable to be writing about the positive side of football for a change!

    in reply to: 21 photos that show the heart and soul of Liverpool FC #1446360
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    I’m not sure if that’s a compliment or not, CM, but I’m glad you like it!

    in reply to: Planet Football #1419191
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Haha you won’t be visiting then, Knotter?!

    We don’t expect it to be everyone’s cup of tea, but to describe is as ‘typical media’ is way off because what we’re doing is the polar opposite of what everyone else is.

    in reply to: Planet Football #1419116
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Thanks, NB.

    TTG, the Monday Moan was never my idea, but you do what your boss tells you to.

    Planet Football is all me. It’s been in the planning for 12 months, and I believe there’s a gap in the market for it.

    As you correctly say, everyone else is doing outrage/negativity, not to mention clickbait and regurgitation, but everyone I know is sick and tired of it all. We’re not going to be an overnight success because we won’t be churning out lots of sensational headlines to get people in, but in time I hope people will keep coming back us because they love football and want to read good stories about positive things.

    in reply to: Planet Football #1418903
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    notnice, it was a tough, brave decision to make not to host a comments section, but the site is supposed to be a celebration of football. Unfortunately, comments sections don’t lend themselves to that ethos.

    In time we may publish readers’ mails instead.

    in reply to: Planet Football #1418732
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Cheers lads.

    Shinehead, I don’t know too much about that to be honest, but check your junk folder as a first job because there’s a sporting chance it could land in there as we’re a new site.

    in reply to: Stoke v West Brom #1241748
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    I agree with every word of that, Selby. A perfect summary.

    I’m a lot less worried about us after yesterday. The manager got everything right (apart from perhaps the subs), the players showed they’re fighting for him, and the crowd showed its ready to do is bit if needed.

    We’ll probably lose next week, but I won’t panic. We’ll be fine.

    in reply to: Stoke v Spurs #1217151
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    I wouldn’t play Grant against Palace, but if he has a good game against Hull in the cup it will be interesting to see if he keeps his place for the next game.

    He’s no world beater, but he has age and height on his side when compared to Given.

    But, as Selby says, what we really need is for the players ahead of the keeper to offer more protection. We need Butland, Johnson and Shaqiri back, but I really think Hughes can solve a lot of problems by playing a midfield of Whelan, Allen and Bojan on Sunday.

    in reply to: Stoke v Spurs #1213710
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Hi fellas.

    I saw Clitheroekid at the game on Saturday and half-heartedly promised I’d post soon so here I am!

    I don’t agree with everything in your opening post, Selby, but I absolutely agree that our biggest problem is in midfield. Yet again, we were ridiculously disjointed in the middle third and so, so easy to play through. The amount of space Spurs players were getting in the final third was nothing short of a disgrace.

    For me, Mark Hughes has made a real mess of things in this area. He spent £18million on Imbula, but the midfield has rarely looked right since the moment he first slotted in. He’s undoubtedly got some talent, but he seems to have no awareness whatsoever of what’s going on around him.

    Allen is a good, energetic player, but I didn’t think we should have signed another midfielder in the first place. To make two changes in central midfield within the space of six months is risky, but the fact that Hughes clearly bought Allen with the intention of switching to a midfield three just makes his decision all the more bizarre.

    Bojan has rarely been at his best since his injury, but even when he’s not playing well he improves us as a team because of the space he finds between the lines. He’s also able to support the striker, but with three in midfield the gap to the striker is far too big. We’ve brought in a very good centre-forward in Bony, but he was as isolated on Saturday as Crouch and Diouf were before him.

    Hughes simply has to revert back to 4-2-3-1, which means dropping one of Allen or Imbula. Some will argue Whelan should drop out but, although he’s started the season poorly, I’ve got a lot of sympathy for him because he’s often doing the defensive work of two or three players. Adam perhaps deserves a go in the DM role soon, but for now I’d like to see Whelan with Allen behind Bojan. If Hughes persists with 4-3-3 at Palace and we lose again, serious questions need to be asked of him.

    Frankly, it’s not the only mistake Hughes has made this season or even on Saturday. Why, for example, he changed half of the back four after they’d played reasonably well at Everton is a mystery to me. Martins Indi had a decent debut, but Cameron was frankly horrific at right-back.

    There’s a million other things I could write, but I have to say, Selby, that I don’t think Given was as faultless as you do. While none of the goals were howlers on his part, I’m certain Butland would have saved the third. I’m fairly confident he’d have stopped the second too. It’s not Given’s fault that he’s not Butland – and neither is Grant – but there’s no doubt in my mind that Butland’s continued absence is costing us points.

    The next two games are absolutely huge. Fail to win either of them and Coates will have to seriously consider a change. I’m hopeful Hughes will address the problems this week and guide us to a good result at Palace, but there’s no hiding from the fact that we’re in dire straights at the moment.

    in reply to: Problems with the website – Report them here #1177884
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    I don’t actually work for TEAMtalk anymore as I think most of you know, but I was made aware of the issue Rob has raised (I’m still available on e-mail if anyone ever desperately needs me) so have just sorted that as it was only a quick fix.

    Generally, though, please continue to e-mail editor@teamtalk.com with your problems so James and his team can deal with them.

    in reply to: Problems with the website – Report them here #1106559
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Hi everyone, I was made aware of the problems on here so have stepped into bat for you!

    As you know, I passed on a list of improvements to the development team before I left. They’re now working through those improvements but have clearly pushed some live before they were properly implemented.

    I raised the issues with the team earlier today and see they’ve now returned the numbered pages and temporarily removed the ability to reply directly to a post. That feature will be available soon, though, along with lots of the other things I asked for.

    I’ve also just removed the ability for users to post without being logged in. I’m not sure how that happened, but it was a mistake as opposed to a planned new feature.

    I also spoke to James earlier and asked that he and the team tried to keep you more informed. I believe James has since posted a message or two, and I know he’s replied to some e-mails too.

    PS. My new venture, Planet Football, now has over 12k likes on Facebook. Give us a few more! facebook.com/fcplanetfootball

    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    For anyone interested in what we’re getting up to on Planet Football, here’s Rob on his two weeks at Euro 2016.

    Give us a like on Facebook!

    in reply to: And it's goodbye from me #1056645
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Thanks for the latest messages lads, you’re all very kind.

    As promised, I wanted to point you in the direction of my new project, Planet Football.

    We’ve only really soft launched, but we’ve published a video on our FB page this morning to give you an idea of what you can expect. Likes, comments and shares would be massively appreciated to help spread the word! http://www.facebook.com/fcplanetfootball

    We’ve got some great competitions coming up in the next few days so please give us a like and get your entry in.

    Cheers!

    in reply to: And it's goodbye from me #1048122
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Thanks for all the messages lads. I’m amazed nobody has said ‘good riddance’, but I suppose there’s still time!

    I’m just finishing up now so you’ll have to find someone else to complain to! You can get James Marshment at editor@teamtalk.com

    Re. Planet Football, we’re only launching on social media initially, but I’ll pop back on here next week with a link. I’m really excited to get my teeth into my own project and do things my way! We’re going to be focused on nostalgia and the culture of football so hopefully a few of you might find your way over to the social channels and the website when we’re online.

    Cheers

    in reply to: And it's goodbye from me #1046723
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    CM, yes, it’s permanent so I’ll no longer be moderating on here. That’s why I appointed club mods a while back; I just couldn’t say at the time.

    Planet Football won’t have a forum, but hopefully one of the other lads will take on the baton of keeping an eye on things, though I can’t promise anything as I did it because I enjoyed it, often outside of working hours. Not everyone has got the same passion for the Your Say!

    Thanks to you, Nil and 999 for the kind comments.

    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    No need to apologise, Aguerooooo as I know it’s an honest mistake, but the problem is that copying the full article means it is viewed by duplicate content by Google, which damages the ranking of both sites.

    Posting the full article also means there is no need for anyone to click the link through to the MEN. They haven’t actually complained, but they’d be within their rights to take action against us.

    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Agueroooo, sorry to have to bring this up again, but you really can’t continue to repost articles in full from elsewhere as it damages both sites and breaches copywright rules.

    in reply to: LVG sacked #1029760
    Mark Holmes
    Mark Holmes
    Keymaster
    • :

    Louis van Gaal has been sacked as manager of Manchester United.

    [See the full post at: Van Gaal sacked as Man Utd manager]

Viewing 20 posts - 1 through 20 (of 411 total)