CB Fry

Control freak on commercial activities, yes. That was his job. Football he knew fu ck all about, which is why he was shrewd enough to employ Les Reed who then did the business and did the business big style. In the area Cortese was control freaking he managed to generate less commercial revenue in the Premier League than then-second tier Watford. Hopeless.

Yep, just a banker. Kinda like why the only times he waded in the actual football, it was catastrophic. Hello Gaston. #warnock

He was a fantastic lower league bean-counter/admin guy but pitiful once we got close to the top table. Very much the Neil Warnock of football administration, with the only difference is at least Warnock proved he could do it again and again.

Except Les didn't get "all the credit" because there was a certain cuban-heeled italian media whore who went out of his way to ensure he hoovered up any credit/publicity/fawning media articles all to himself. His name escapes me but it'll come.

A true true true Cortese cultist then. Absolutely batsh it. Nice chatting to you.

Personally, I idolise him and hate our players and managers.

Of course, if we had sold him, we can only imagine your delight and how supportive you would have been of that move.

Obvious troll is obvious.

Can you name even five directors of football who are truly better than average, if "slightly better than average" is two straight promotions, then 14th, 8th, 6th, 7th, 8th for us. In fact, just five clubs who over the the last five years have performed genuinely better than average and not just as a one off. I'll accept Leicester and Huddersfield but not sure who else. Are there three more? (hint - all of the top six clubs have performed, compared to your jolly high standards, no more than averagely in this timescale). That's a whole heap of strawman there. This is, pretty much to the letter, exactly the stated ambition of the club. It's precisely what Les and Ralph have said over and over and over again. Aim for europe, ideally the CL, but do it our way, not overspending and will likely require the big clubs to have a off season. I'd say that having that stretching objective is why we have finished 8th and 7th and 6th which I think is pretty bloody good and you think is "slightly above average" for us. Bizarre. The club sacked Puel not the fans. Funnily enough he didn't meet with our ambition. Do you understand how this works yet? No idea what any of this has to do with anything but there you go.

Winning the league cup is not breaking the glass ceiling, neither is winning the second tier. Usual drivel from you. And neither, quite frankly, is a freak win of the Premier League. They came completely out of nowhere during a very patchy season for the big guns (which we also took advantage of) and last season slumped back to 12th. They did great, but no glass ceiling broken. The general whinging from Saint86 on this thread was about how we have failed because we haven't "built on" our excellent finishes. But Leicester haven't built on their achievements either. We're supposed accept the premise that finishing 8th then 7th then 6th then 8th again is apparently some kind of failure for our club, but Leicester finishing 12th is just fine and wouldn't it be great if we'd smashed the glass ceiling like Leicester. I'm saying this is utter pony.

Who has put you on ignore then? I can't see anyone on this thread saying they have. Odd.

We weren't anywhere near the relegation zone at any point all season, they were. Well, of course - they've broken the glass ceiling, that Leicester City, whereas we haven't. I look forward to seeing them smash the ceiling once again this season.

So, just to confirm, you berate our football club for failing to build on 7th and 6th place by delivering a paltry 8th place. You are so offended by us "going backwards" and how we could have achieved so much more. But Leicester City building on their phenomenal and bank account busting performance in 15/16 by spending the following season stuttering and stumbling around the relegation zone before rallying to, err, twelfth place at the death is apparently "breaking the glass ceiling" what we should be emulating them. Clear as fu cking mud. Yey yey yey I wish we could finish twelfth like Leicester.

..

LOWE IN.

In fairness, in those pictures he does look a bit fuming.

There's some really, really special little guys on this forum. But you are probably my favourite.

Post of the decade.

Whatever happens we're fine until January - we've signed a front line centre back, Yoshi is as good a third-banana CB as a team like us can get in the Prem, and young Jack has a half season behind him in the top flight and is coping very well. Plus we have Bednerak and Gardos if we are suddenly hit by an injury crisis. So if VVD refuses to lift a finger we just can act like he's injured and cope perfectly well. Of course a fit and performing Virgil can take the team up a notch but if we don't have him it's a storm we can weather.

Those days are gone forever, over a long time ago. Oh no. RIP

Well, we've played in four matches and he's featured in two. Maybe if he's applied himself against a Championship team's reserve side he'd be in better contention for the first team, maybe have forced himself into the first eleven that weekend. Top class footballers see their chances and take them.

In summary, Tadic is not playing well so stop selecting him for matches because he's only going to continue to be rubbish. Boufal is also not playing well but please start selecting him for more matches because then he will turn out to be brilliant.

If those two are that bad then it should have been an absolute doddle for Boufal to come in and make a starting position his own, shouldn't it. The fact is, while Redmond and Dusan aren't on top form, they do at least play with a discipline that suits our possession-based game. Boufal playing tends to lead to chaotic play and no more "banging in the goals and creating chances" than the other two.

This does seem like the Gaston defence. Perpetually people saying Gaston never got "a chance" and that he should have just been picked and picked and picked and picked and that in itself would make him perform. Sorry, it doesn't work like that. Boufal lhas his "chance" every day in training to impress the coaching staff and he has his "chance" every time he gets on the pitch for the first team. He's shown some class, in places (Swansea away LY I think he was excellent). He needs to change games when he gets the chance - that's why he gets picked first choice and also why he gets sent on as a sub, to change things. If he's not doing that, he isn't good enough. I am still hopeful he will come good but it ain't about giving him some free run in the team and hoping. The chances are there - it's up to SB to take them.

We can only hope and pray we might sign a "great" player like what WBA and Swansea have one day. Until then it's just an impossible dream.