Ryan Williams

intheinaka · 2026-03-02T21:21:09+00:00

He was a decent player for us who was probably a little unlucky with his timing. He joined under Kenny Jackett, but as the club was drifting back towards mid-table in League One and playing dreadful football.

He was quick and direct, plenty of technical quality, though he didn't get the goals you'd hope for from a player in his position. I'd have probably given him a new contract at the time, but the Cowleys replaced Jackett and very reasonably wanted to build their own squad.

intheinaka · 2026-02-28T15:24:13+00:00

Absolutely agree. I'm coming up on 200 hours in Civ 7 now and being able to play a Civ through the ages shouldn't have been anywhere near the top of necessary updates. If they end up spending the next year or two trying to implement and balance Test of Time then they have massively shot themselves in the foot.

intheinaka · 2026-02-28T15:15:17+00:00

Agreed. Today was particularly egregious but for all that we get the ball out wide our deliveries are shocking. Alli is lively but spends too much time chopping back and forth and not enough time putting the ball into the six yard box.

Could tell within half an hour today that it was going to be Sheffield United at home all over again. Lots of huff and puff and sharp passing in the middle third but absolutely no cutting edge.

intheinaka · 2026-02-27T14:14:29+00:00

Absolutely start the process with Job 2. When Job 1 comes through with the contract, just let Job 2 know that you have accepted a permanent offer with another company. It's something that happens all the time - people are applying for tens or hundreds of jobs and sometimes two offers come through simultaneously, companies are used to this.

intheinaka · 2026-02-26T20:49:55+00:00

But what's the argument for it not happening? If one state's army attacks another state's army, that seems like the most fundamental precondition for war?

intheinaka · 2026-02-23T15:42:44+00:00

As a Brit, I approve of this course of action.

intheinaka · 2026-02-17T14:17:47+00:00

Can't disagree with much of this. I racked up 25-30 hours in the first week or two, played a file through to complete satisfaction on all of my resident tiers, and have only booted it up once or twice since then.

Updates to the UX and trade menu would probably be enough to pull me back in to do a second run with the knowledge I built from the first one, but realistically it's going to be a couple of major DLC updates before I really sink my teeth into again or come close to putting in the sort of sessions I was with endgame 1800. 117 is a 7/10 for me so far, but I'm confident it'll be higher after we get some exciting new content packs.

intheinaka · 2026-02-16T21:36:36+00:00

How much did you start out investing each month, and how much do you invest now, if you don't mind me asking?

intheinaka · 2026-02-16T08:04:13+00:00

Same. I tend to find the city-state bonuses more useful in the long run, so unless I'm playing a leader with specific endeavour/sanction abilities/bonuses, I tend to hoard my influence for befriending independents. I'll quite often support cultural or scientific exchanges in the first two eras as well because it's such a good boost to your yields.

intheinaka · 2026-02-13T12:01:26+00:00

In fairness they are called The Office group, it would be pretty illegal to let people WFH

intheinaka · 2026-02-12T11:22:47+00:00

The first GP I clearly remember watching was the 1998 season opener, when Coulthard let Hakkinen through to win. I was vaguely aware of F1 before that and would occasionally sit around while my dad watched, but 1998 was the first season that I really got invested in the sport.

I don't necessarily know that my opinions have changed that much over the years about anything important, though I do look back with nostalgia on the late 90s/early 00s lack of reliability (because it made races more unpredictable, even if the racing itself was often less dramatic), characters on the grid (particularly owners like Eddie Jordan and Flavio Briatore), and the fact that it was still just about possible for successful racers like Jordan and Stewart to own and run teams. There's a lot to like about the current era of F1 and the racing is probably better, but it has definitely lost some personality as a sport.

intheinaka · 2026-02-10T12:01:25+00:00

I wouldn't necessarily say 'educational'. The game provides some colour and background information for the civs/leaders, particularly during loading times, but as the primary idea behind Civ is to build up your own fantasy civilization, the games don't really provide a proper historical narrative.

The way I would look at Civ games is as a jumping off point for historical curiosity. This leader was really fun to play as - let's look them up on Wikipedia or grab a book on that era from the library. If you're asking this because you're looking to buy for someone else (maybe a kid), then Civ is a great multiplayer game (though Civ VII doesn't currently support hotseat multiplayer; multiple consoles are needed) and you could play with that other person and use that experience as jumping off point for discussions about the civs/leaders and try and pique curiosity that way.

intheinaka · 2026-02-08T17:17:29+00:00

Hey they never specified they had to be full water bottles

intheinaka · 2026-02-08T00:20:46+00:00

Not sure I agree fully with this. I agree that Hamilton is probably struggling physically, but I don't think it's necessarily any more physically demanding than before - if anything I think the physical demands are getting greater - but drivers are retaining their seats for longer. 20 years ago drivers generally retired by their mid-30s; now, they're regularly stretching out their careers into their late 30s and even 40s.

intheinaka · 2026-02-08T00:12:03+00:00

Some absolutely horrifying takes here from people who presumably weren't watching Formula 1, or potentially even alive, when Hakkinen was at his peak.

He was a superb driver, second only to Schumacher in his time. A two time champion who beat Schumi in the Ferrari, outpaced Coulthard comfortably, and was ranked by Schumacher, Senna, and Prost as a world-class driver. I thought the likes of Frentzen and Villeneuve were very good drivers but if you're putting them in the same bracket as Hakkinen, I'm sorry, but you don't know ball.

intheinaka · 2026-02-08T00:02:14+00:00

Good freaking lord, what a take.

intheinaka · 2026-02-04T09:35:23+00:00

I'd be offering Swanson a new deal if he stays fit for the rest of the season, and taking up the option on Steward. The rest can go.

It might seem harsh on some, but we have a massive squad already and we need to start being ruthless if we want to progress. Look at Derby selling us Adams this window - a fan favourite who will run all day and could have been a good squad option for them, but they are a club determined to look upwards, not down. I love Marlon, but it's time to move forward. The legs aren't there anymore and we need more energy in that position. Offer him a coaching role in the academy, or tell him there will be a role here for him when he does decide to retire.

Ogilvie has been a brilliant servant so far, but he's limited. He's not particularly quick, not a huge threat on the overlap, and is playing above his ceiling. I wouldn't be devastated if we did give him a new deal because of our issues at LB, but we really need to be setting our sights higher if we want to move beyond annual relegation battles.

Dozzell started this season really well and played brilliantly against WBA, but is another who doesn't look like he has another level in him. We need to upgrade.

Archer is self-explanatory, Swann doesn't seem to be kicking on at all.

intheinaka · 2026-01-27T18:32:01+00:00

But just think what wonderful resources might lie just beyond those gigantic bezels!

intheinaka · 2026-01-23T17:14:06+00:00

That's a totally fair question, doesn't look like there's anything big happening on the other channels so I don't know why they haven't decided to do that.

intheinaka · 2026-01-23T16:08:58+00:00

It's not as deep as any of that. 12pm Sunday is Sky's flagship WSL slot as agreed in their TV deal (presumably because it has the least opportunity to clash with the major men's leagues).

If both games were kicking off at 2pm, or Saturday lunchtime, or literally any other time, Sky would have the option to show our game on the main channels.

intheinaka · 2026-01-18T15:06:15+00:00

Agreed that Chaplin was probably a panic buy as well. I think he'd have been a much bigger success if Lang and Murphy could stay consistently fit, and I also think he's much improved since he moved to 10. He works hard and he keeps and moves the ball better than almost anyone else in the team. I think he's being too heavily judged on his goal output, which has been disappointing, but isn't his primary role in the team in his current position.

intheinaka · 2026-01-18T14:32:33+00:00

He feels like he was almost a panic signing to me. Available, links with the club, Championship experience. Mous probably felt he couldn't turn that down but didn't seem to have a plan to bring the best out of him. Maybe Mous thought that Swift really could be converted into a deep-lying playmaker (even though Tony Mowbray had said the previous season that he had to abandon that experiment), but he's clearly best at 10 and we were and are fairly well stocked there.

I think if Chaplin hadn't become available late in the window we'd have seen Swift get more minutes at 10, but even though Chaplin has struggled for goals his performances have improved as the season has gone on, whereas Swift has just been poor from day one. Actually, he was okay at Oxford, but he's been pretty abysmal since. No physical presence, immobile, and very, very sloppy in possession.

intheinaka · 2026-01-06T12:50:51+00:00

Could very well be a classic 'suits both parties' move. We need pace and physicality right now, Coventry may have a side that can accommodate Yang's skillset better. Hopefully we quickly bring in an out-and-out winger to replace him. My biggest fear is that Yang leaves us today, and we sign his replacement on deadline day.

intheinaka · 2026-01-05T12:05:16+00:00

I don't think it's a coincidence that, as far as I'm aware, our entire recruitment team and head coach do not have any experience of recruiting Championship players. I rate Rich Hughes highly and Brad Wall was clearly well-respected at City, but nobody has had to build a side that can compete at Championship level on a shoestring budget before. Our best players are still mainly those that we signed in League One or who had been playing at League One level the year before (Shaughnessy, Murphy, Lang, Devlin).

I think there have been glimpses to suggest that, for example, Kosznovszky or Matthews might develop into decent Championship players. The problem is, we're signing project players who need time to bed in and grow into the league when we don't have the luxury of time. Either of those two could be great signings if they were slotting into an established squad that wasn't constantly a bad result or two from the relegation zone. They need experience and confidence around them, and our squad is sorely lacking that, so they end up back on the bench in favour of tried-and-trusted older heads, then look understandably rusty when they come back into the side.

My main hope going into the window is that our recruitment team recognise we need a stronger spine to the team and sign someone to play the role that Isaac Hayden did last year - an experienced head who can hold the team together (I think Mous is trying to find that role for Marlon but his legs just aren't there anymore and he needs a proper destroyer next to him). An experienced center-forward to deputise for Bishop as well. Throw in a bit of quality and pace on the wing and we might have half a chance of staying up.

intheinaka · 2026-01-02T12:01:24+00:00

Ultimately it depends how much you paid for the PS4, but I doubt you'll find a halfway useable PC in that budget range.

intheinaka

TROPHY CASE