Ted Bates Statue

Reminds me of that time our Director of Football Operations signed his friend as manager, just before handing in his notice to leave at the end of the season. I wonder if Matt Crocker can make room for Nathan Jones at his next role.

Another massive talent slipping right through our fingers thanks to our manager for the moment, when what these young hungry players really need for their development is a run in our relegation-threatened side at the foot of the table. I cast my mind to another shining star of our academy, now free of the shackles of the cult of Ralph, which was so determined to hold his development back and prevent him from gaining a foothold on the fabled pathway. We can now only watch from afar as the career of Alex Jankewitz goes from strength to strength, just as the forum sages predicted not so long ago.

Jones' performance in press conference is completely trivial while his points per game average remains at less than half of Ralph Hasenhuttl's record in the run of games which led to his sacking. Nobody would mind so much if he came from Timbuktu or worshipped the devil, if only he got us onto an even keel. As it is, we are literally twice as bad as we were since we sacked the last incumbent, so it's not entirely surprising that just about anything he says ends up grating on the fanbase.

That's an interesting angle which I never considered. I still feel it is possible that we would let him go, but only once we have identified a prospect who is actually interested in joining us. Not aware Thomas Frank would have much input on our board, if at all - unless he and Ankersen are close?

I've waited long enough for my pie. I will have to console myself with sandwich instead.

Going to guess OP might be well-intentioned, but is relying on betting odds for his source. Trouble is, everyone in football has seen or heard that post-match interview so I reckon that will be due to neutrals making reasonable assumptions. Happy to return and eat humble pie in 2.5 hours.

There were two co-directors of football at Brentford, and we ended up going with the one with all the style, and none of the substance. Phil Giles seems to be doing just fine on his own (although his phd was in statistics, so it's best that we steered clear of him then) Under those two at Brentford they were at least prepared to admit quickly when a mistake had been made - Marinus Dijkhuizen lasted nine games - so perhaps we can hope Ankersen learned from that experience.

Even he realises his son-in-law is the biggest load of pony of all time.

Mark Hughes did it too. Five years of this bullshit crossing multiple regimes.

Oh wow I didn't know that. I just made an assumption that the team-mates pictured next to him were either really small or standing further away from the camera.

Exactly, wait until the novelty wears off (for owners and supporters), or they stay in one league for an extended period of time.

Yes, and shot down on here as being a completely ludicrous idea... I think these feasibility studies happen all the time and just because it's being considered, it doesn't necessarily mean the ball is going to get rolling. Nonetheless, interesting to hear that these sort of ideas are being looked at.

I agree with your overall point, although it would take some doing to be as bad as we were in 2005 when we only won 6 games all season, even with a vastly superior attack. We are currently on 4 wins with half the season gone and I would be surprised if we only got two more wins. The trouble is that we need about 10 wins in total, plus a few draws and we struggle to get either.

He saw our Palace match and was the only pundit to tell it how it was and admit we were rubbish.

I'll accept two

I think we had to sell Reed to fund Che Adams from recollection. Targett has done well since leaving but don't forget we also had Sam McQueen coming through who the club clearly decided was the heir apparent to Bertrand at LB. Sadly it didn't pan out the way it should have done.

Thought I should reply to your comment here. Nice song, not heard of it before. https://youtu.be/V6X0kYbx8Gg?t=22 for those who haven't heard it either. It probably helps that their song is coming to the fore while they are in their first title challenge in yonks, while Shane Long's song preceded a prolonged period of sub-mediocrity that we are still enduring. The line "We'll never stop, 'til we reach the top" sticks in my mind, and might have been a situation of promising a bit more than could be delivered. Hold my beer. "Southampton forever Whatever the weather These streets are our own..." You're welcome. (Note: Must be sung at 2x tempo to remove any phrasing and pacing from the original song - very important detail)

Currently his win percentage in the league is 16.6%. Currently level with Pellegrino, but not quite as bad as Hughes. Looking on the bright side however, if you disregard all the games we lost, we have a 100% win record. We are going to walk this relegation battle.

I heard they would have preferred to get his brother Mickey Mousinho, but they couldn't buy him out of his very lucrative long-term contract.

Come off it, nobody in red and white feels smug about us being shit. Even if we were 0-2 down tonight, the way we are playing is enough for most of us to feel encouraged.

I think we needed a third in the first half to have a real chance of going through. Very nice to see us looking this good though.

Could've sworn someone said that about AMN about a week ago. Having said that, sounds like several of them are letting their body language on the pitch do the talking.

I understand The Chapel was originally our designated singing area but I think it suffers from also being our family stand. I don't know if that happened later but I don't see how anyone could expect it to achieve both. Pretty sure Palace do the same thing as I believe the Sainsburys end is their family stand. Looking at the Leicester layout shows shows how crazy it is that we give up so much behind the goal, I can't believe how generous we are to away fans, second only to Fulham when they used to have their 'neutral' end (i.e. away support overflow).

Mark Hughes pre-empted Sports Republic by preparing for the 18-19 season doing 3 at the back and winning fuck all, so I guess he would fit right in here. A genuinely competent managerial return candidate would be Claude Puel. If you lot are going to talk bollocks, so can I.

So have you been told that this is happening, or are you thinking like myself, making an assumption that it is now inevitable?