The9

Its the closest they're going to get for at least 3 years.

To be "Turkish" for a bit here : Is there much being made in the press about it ? Source ?

As it happens, I saw a comment from Matthew Le Tissier (not that one, the poster on here) saying "my only criticism is that he can't speak English" in another thread just now. I didn't come on here that much last Friday so not sure I did get it from here - and also I know better than to believe anything on here. Pretty sure the translation element of the press conference on Friday is where the "myth" was built.

God not this again. You can replace 1/11th of the team with someone of similar ability with minimal impact. You cannot replace 100% of the management staff without long term effects (though you can get away with it for a little while, as Adkins' team proved yesterday). If you were to replace 100% of the match day team, you would see a significant difference. Therefore it is perfectly reasonably to replace a player on a whim but not to do so with a manager (or an entire team).

I will readily state that I was under the impression that he didn't speak a word of it, so I must have got it from somewhere. In fact last night I was wondering why he was yelling stuff at the touchline if he couldn't communicate with most of the players, until after the game where my mate who sits near the dugouts said he was speaking (and shouting) in English throughout. As for the pre-match interview with interpreter and note-taking on Sky, that was an absolute bleeding debacle, and he must have known how bad it would look.

I am torn, I'd love Bradford to get the upset, but at the same time Villa being distracted by a Cup Final can only be good for us as it'll probably contribute to them filling one of the relegation places.

They have computers now ?

I'm going to call him Mauricio Pochettino, it's not exactly hard.

I'd say Richardson, but I saw him play CB at Stevenage, and he's no CB any more. So we basically didn't have one. To be honest I think we asked Hooiveld to play injured, knowing we didn't have an alternative. He was injured VERY early, and also obviously suffering after the shot through his legs late on.

Would depend on his promotion bonuses, he would surely have started on a less than a 2004 Premier League manager as a manager starting in League One.

Could have paid for free car parking or match ticket booking fees for a few years...

He's bloody awful at judging balls over his head though !

Hooiveld was obviously carrying a groin injury from the first 10 minutes and still feeling it late on, so given the difficult nature of groin injuries in terms of resting them, I wouldn't be surprised if he's not even fit for the next home game. Interesting that Forren didn't even make the bench - is he not fit, or not in the country at the moment ?

Right, here's my list. Additional ticket charges on top of stated prices. Car parking costs which impact on both Megastore and Ticket Office purchasers. Has banned people (who had criticised him) from buying tickets. Ignored the Football League-wide fans charter. Fallen out with Le Tissier. Worst kit for years. Tried and failed to ban photographers for licensing reasons. Echo ban and banning reporters from the ground. put himself on the cover of the programme. Implementing a ticketing system which prevents disabled fans from buying tickets online. Seasons without a payment plan for STs and the short notice of ticket costs from 2011/12. Overseen the "loyalty points" debacle. Sacked a successful (and popular) manager for... um... vague promises about the next level. Former managers persona non grata in subsequent match programme Banners not featuring offensive or insulting comments removed from fans. Where's the Markus flag again ? I accept that some of these are opinions (eg worst kit), but he's chosen to do most of this for no tangible financial gain means he's not remotely bothered about what the fans think, when with the cash he should have access to he could "be a businessman" AND be popular. I think he consciously chooses to make unpopular decisions just because he can, there are certainly cost-free or negligible methods of doing all the things above whilst running the business which would get fans far more onside for when he wants to make a risky "footballing" decision. No wonder they appointed a new PR person a month ago...

Thanks to Steve Grant linking this to me, I can dump my Facebook ramblings here too - suffice to say I also think there's a load of revisionism in the article and some outright mistruths, though the overall desire to play 4-2-3-1 is clear nevertheless : "utter b0110cks ... claiming we've only lost one match (away to Liverpool) where Ramirez has played through the middle of a 4231. Absolute cobblers... he played there against Everton too. We didn't play with more than one striker in [most] matches. If anything the argument is what constitutes the 5 in midfield - if the article is claiming Cork's return is a 4231 and Schneiderlin with Ward-Prowse or Davis isn't, well that's just to fit his agenda, we've played mostly the same formation, it's just Cork sits deeper naturally." Then later "I keep going back to it just to find more holes. "suddenly Ramirez was deployed on the left of a 442"? No, Lallana got injured and we played Guly in the hole instead in the same formation. The only times we've been close to 442 has been when Rodriguez and Lambert both start, and that's very rare. Even Mayuka got dumped on the right wing just as Rodriguez often got dumped on the left." Spookily enough, last night we brought Rodriguez on... to play on the left of our 4-2-3-1. It was by no means the first time that happened this season (Man U as well, when it was was roundly criticised by a number of people who seem to have been fine with it last night).

Ha, I wonder where this came from ! As I (also) said on Facebook last night, "Disappointed at the availability of white paper towels in the Northam toilets, Cortese's facade as all-conquering despot is slipping. Hitler never would have overlooked this." and " My main complaint with him is that he could do all the things he does to get us success and just act normally the rest of the time regarding fan policies etc and he'd be utterly adored." He's just so difficult to like because of the petty stuff, and it would be SO easy for him to just do the fan-friendly thing and keep all of us happy without impacting negatively on "the business". There's no "either/or" regarding good business decisions for the club versus fans' wants, the two should go hand in hand. Just compiling my list of Cortese's questionable decisions and I'll be back...

As for the OP, Viafara always had my awe for the match where he lost a load of teeth when conceding a corner and then not only played on but headed the corner clear. Excellent athlete, alright Championship standard footballer. And ex-Skate, let's not forget.

Bloody hell, you get points for remembering that ? That Pele foul is surely burned into the mind of everyone who saw it ? 20000+ thinking "LET GO OF HIM, FFS", but no, he clung on inside the box until the inevitable fall and penalty.

If he was able to tell us which manufacturer was making the kit that might be helpful - and if he knows the colour he almost certainly knows who's making it. It would stop me posting stuff like "this is the new Internacionale third" : ...for all but the correct manufacturer anyway. I'm guessing I'll be posting kits from the African Nations Cup next, Angola's does a good job of showing where the different "pieces" are on an adidas shirt for next season (and Morocco have the same massive V as Spain).

No, but good luck with that. I have nothing against Pochettino.

After they'd sold all of his players for under him for 2 years, Coventry-style. I don't have a problem with who has been appointed, just that it's happened at all.

He's killed someone ?

Actually no, because I couldn't give a shiny sh01te if she was alive or not and it didn't affect my life in any way. This however, this impacts on what I do most weekends, and right now I am tangibly disillusioned with the whole charade.

What do we want ? Not sure but it's something to do with integrity. When do we want it ? Most of the time.

Is it just me or is anyone else thinking about the nature of their support following Adkins' sacking ? We all know the Prem is all about money, and Cortese's driven and not the most sentimental of people, but until today I'd at least been hopeful that despite all the money he gives us access to, we could remain something resembling a club with an ethos which supported the basics of grass-roots hard work and success - the stuff about bringing the kids through was positive, if not altogether realistic, and we had a core of people who were prepared to start in the lower leagues and work their way through. And now this. It raises a number of questions for me : 1) Fan relationship with the club. Do I just follow the club, right or wrong ? Why ? What's the basis of me wanting them to be successful ? If it's all about Cortese at the expense of things I regard important like rewarding effort, teamwork and integrity, why should I care ? Adkins was successful by any measure – I assume from the OS comments that the idea is for greater success but at what cost ? There's a disjuncture between what he's done and how he's been treated that people are finding distasteful. Many are upset as this reflects poorly on the club – I accept the decision was made "for the better” but what does that even mean ? More wins, more success ? It's not like there's a guarantee that Pochettino will do better than Adkins. Is that gamble more important than having integrity and rewarding Adkins' successes ? Is behaving in an appropriate manner where success is rewarded not more important than success for success' sake ? Do fans even have any justifiable right to want the club they follow to be run in a way they approve of ? The money we put into the club is now far less than tv companies contribute - is it right for the chairman to do what he wants even if it's contrary to the vast majority ? How does that affect how bothered we should be by what happens to that club then ? If we turn into the greatest team ever, does that justify this ? Will protesting against Adkins' treatment just make us look like luddite Chelsea-types who applaud Di Matteo and are against the current manager and apparently Chairman, despite the success they've had ? Should we just tut and carry on with it ? More importantly, what should protesting even attempt to achieve ? The manager is Argentinian – some will probably have issues with that due to the Falklands. Whilst nationality probably shouldn't come into it, but for some it will, and again raises questions about links between club and community. There's also question about the general cynicism of south american tactics and how that impacts on integrity ? 2) Modern Football This is a symbolic moment in our move from "local club" to "global branding experience". We want to be seen as successful, so we employ someone "international" to raise our profile and attract better players. We have a ton of money, so will we go down the route of throwing money at it. If we are going down the money route, is Pochettino even a big enough name, or should we expect Chelsea's conveyor belt ? 3) Footballing reasons We're Chelsea lite - if success doesn't guarantee reward, what's the incentive to be successful ? You're getting paid shedloads more than most people anyway, right ? Pochettino doesn't speak English. What's the point of having all the knowledge he has if he has all of it filtered through an interpreter ? Is he up to speed with the technicalities of, say, the 25 man squad rules ? We know he has no knowledge of the players beyond what he might have seen on the tv, and he won't have the same relationship with the players that Adkins had, and Adkins took many of them to uncharted heights. That loyalty will have taken a hit and motivation is vital to performance. Timing : it has to be assumed that Pochettino knows little of English football and we are barely clear of the relegation zone. Will we lose points in the transition period ? There was a reasonable expectation Adkins would probably keep us up, the players were feeling positive, were working for him, there is a huge risk in bringing in a manager with no experience of Prem and it will be a hugely costly mistake if relegated. No answers, just a lot of questions at this stage - like I said, is anyone else re-evaluating whether they should even be bothered ?