CB Fry

Well, there is one thing we have learned this week. Turns out that using the media to get your own way, and feeding favoured journalists little snippets for them to work up into strategic sh* t stirring "crisis" stories to entrench your own position is now apparently a brilliant thing to do. Masterful, even. Funny really, because reading this forum for the past three years I could have sworn that this was a simply awful thing to do, the kind of thing that Redknapp and Lying scum hacks did. You know, like, really bad. So its fantastic that as a forum we now seem to appreciate the role journalists play in helping deliver positive outcomes. Here's to celebrating sh* tstirring in all its forms over the summer.

You think "fair aim" was "6th - 9th". You said it. You did. No one else. If you think 6 - 9th is a "fair aim" then you must think it is possible. If not, why say it? Why not say "fair aim" 2nd? Or 10th? Or 3rd? And this post rationalising of "I meant the clubs aim" is garbage. You don't work for the club. That "fair aim" was your opinion. You said it. Why did you express your opinion that the club should "fair aim" for 6th if you had no belief at all they could do it? Are you saying the club are idiots? What is the point of the "fair aim" in that context? You got caught cha tting sh it. Well done.

Why do you keep saying you haven't said something that you actually dig up and quote yourself saying on the same thread? "6th to 9th" includes sixth. "Current squad" means current squad. "Mentalist" means NickG.

We'd probably owe a wedge of cash, and probably not finish top four either. That's the point.

If I was the Leibherrs I'd run a mile. Top 4? That's just turning the club into a money pit for one man's ego.

Beckham.

By "blood from a stone" I guess you mean spending what we had. Still not sure there was a "value for money" argument for spending XX million on players back then, or indeed now. Intangible football success? Maybe. The start of a "we just need two more quality additions" six-monthly money pit addiction? Certainly. Value for money? Really, nope. Personally I would be quite happy if we just spent what we made - the TV pot is huge now.

If we signed Messi etc (or the equivalent levels of mental "investment" ) and won the Champions League, I seriously doubt we'd turn a profit that season. You do seem to be labouring under the assumption that the family place any value on football trophies. I am pretty certain the trust have looked at the TV money for next year and said to Nicola "why on god's earth do you need more money than that? Shut your whinging get on with it." Needless to say Nicola has not stopped his whinging.

Non-story fed to the media by our chairman. You calling it a non-story means you are questioning our chairman's judgement in what he decides to brief to the media. How dare you, you ungrateful sod after all he has done for our club. If it wasn't for him we would still be in league one or not exist or something.

I am Leo and I'm hilarious.

I'm Brian.

Yeah. That is definitely happening.

Who's your agent?

Obviously we would not have "certainly gone down". I'll file this alongside the rest of the consistent horsecra p you post on this forum.

There you go then. I didn't bother checking, just kind of knew it. Just how it goes in the Prem.

Both of those managers pretty much lost as many games as they won at Saints. As I've already said the likes of Swansea and WBA will go three, four, five without a win and still finish 8/9/10th. But if that was Saints you'd be having an epilectic fit and pronouncing us down and "fuming" after two games without a win. So don't denand consistency. You won't get it in this division from us.

You thought we would go down when we were fourth at Christmas under Strachan? That was our last Premier League season but one. And prior to that the preceding three had us with no genuine threat of relegation either. Oh well. Anyway. Mission accomplished this season, my hope was we would still be in it on the last day, and we beat that by a week. And delighted we have done it with players that seem "ours" rather than bought in mercenaries, Ramires notwithstanding. Morgan and Cork best embody this, but we have it all over the pitch. Gradually building on that core and spirit is essential next season. As it stands I am unconvinced by MP, we shall see how he fairs with his own team and pre season. But next season I do not expect "consistency". At best we'll be top eight (well, eighth) and frankly even clubs at that level are inconsistent: West Brom and Swansea have put in some rotten displays this year. As long as we hit a three month spell of amazing form, like those clubs seem to, we will be fine for solid mid table.

Plenty of us knew 39 was enough without being "we're off to the Champions League" mentalists.

Of course it was. Just a parade of bedwetting fu ckwits thinking it wasn't.

...or to sell the club to. Really not convinced the family are in football for the long term. Certainly if it means spending any more money than the club can generate themselves.

I doubt his wishes in his will were "keep my hobby going, come what may, forever". It may have been "keep my hobby going until a particular target/level is reached". Like, established in the Premier League. Like, now.

Markus may well have done that. Markus is dead.

....which Cortese and the Leibherrs have shown no interest in doing so far, not sure why they are going to start doing it now. What businesses have they got that they would want to promote to Sky Sports viewers in the UK, anyway? Genuine question, I have no idea.

Selling the club now makes brilliant business sense. The investment in the future (training ground) is sporting investment, not necessarily business investment. Selling now maximises return and the family are well out of the six monthly treadmill of "we just need two or three quality signings" that, say, Randy Lerner soon tired of. It's all cost from here on in.

For the family this is the optimal time to sell up for maximum return. The club have now been established in the top flght and the family could at this moment hand over the infinitely more difficult and expensive task of climbing into the top six. They can get out, heads high. Funnily enough I did predict that for this season but had assumed I was wrong and they were staying. Maybe, maybe not.