Verbal Kint

I wasn't having a dig at you personally, i find Delldays and Alpine far more tedious. I think it's staggering that people who don't go to games can attack Lallana. People at the game yesterday said he was outstanding, and it's mind blowing that some 'fans' would rather have Lloyd ****ing James in the team than him. Lloyd James will never make it as a decent footballer, Lallana will. AP is still learning about the team as an attacking force. He sorted out the defence and now he's starting on the attack. AL isn't a wide player and i hope we never see him there again. He's either played just off a striker or as a central midfielder, and i'm sure AP will be looking closely at him to see where he's more effective for the side. A bit of time and a bit of patience isn't much to ask for

Thank god this forum wasn't around when MLT broke into the side.

Why not Lloyd James, or Paterson, or Gillett, or Mills, or Mellis????

Agreed

Look at the goals we've conceded this season. A very high proportion have been from set pieces. Whilst Gillett is a good player we had to sort out the size issue in the side, and now that we see to be getting on top of that it's now time for him to try and take Lloyd James' position off him. I don't think there's any bad feeling from Pardew's point of view, just the fact we needed some more height in the side and so gillett made way. Simple.

Someone please explain to me why we can't simply play Lallana as a central midfielder? He has a great engine on him so let's ask him to be the box to box midfielder that we need alongside Hammond. Forget playing him wide, or 'in the hole', just play him in the middle of the park for 2 or 3 games and let's see if he can start controlling games, because at the moment he's being wasted and it's to the detriment of the team.

Spot on except i think Lallana should be playing in the middle of the pitch with Hammond. He has the talent, so let's play him in a natural position for him to actually have the ability to influence and control games. He must be fed up being played out of position week after week.

Kelv Murty Thomas Trotman Harding .......Hammond Schneiderlin ................Lallana Mellis...........................Holmes ...............Lambert

The problem is a lack of height throughout the entire side. Practically every goal we have conceded has come from a cross into the box. I'm guessing that's a big part of why Gillet isn't getting a look in. We need 5 or 6 players, and they all need to be 6ft+ so we can start defending set pieces properly as a team.

I really like Dowie as a manager. Hope we speak to both him and Tisdale and work from there.

I'd love to see Dowie brought in as manager, bringing Tim Flowers as his assistant. I still think Franny Benali may have a role somewhere. He wasn't the best of players, but there was nobody fitter and maybe he could play a role on the fitness side of things, as he certainly kept himself in very good condition. Anyone know what Chrissy Marsden is up to these days?

3:10 Goodwood Illustrious Blue 3:55 Redcar King Charles e/w double

There have been 2 major events that has caused the club to go into administration: Relegation from the Prem cost us tens of millions in revenue. And the spending by Wilde's executives, particularly signing people like Euell on stupid wages, a signing LC objected to at the time, was reckless and unsustainable. Everything else is mickey mouse compared to the two above. And LC was not responsible for either of those. If it wasn't for Crouch's money over the last few weeks there wouldn't be a club at all right now.

Souness?

And i'm guessing quite a straight forward answer. When Crouch came in it's clear he was in dialogue with a consortium (fulthorpe etc) about taking over. When a takeover happens at any football club they tend to want to bring their own people in, and especially the manager. It would have been a little bit reckless to hand NP a 3 year contract if the consortium you were in discussions with made it clear they wanted their own man, especially when money was so tight. Also, surely handing NP a short term deal was almost an incentive for him to gout prove he was up to the job? He hadn't had much management experience before joining us and it would have been a bit of a gamble to go around handing out a long term contract which may have had to be terminated that summer, and therefore incurring a massive payoff if things had gone wrong.

Even with Redknapp Lowe was appointing Woodward etc and therefore was interfering and trying to run the football side of the club in his own vision I don't think it can be disputed that Lowe did not Harry manage the club the way he wanted to. Lowe always tried to force his 'visions' on everyone else. The next board have to appoint a manager and trust him to get it right.

I'd say the fact he knows what this club is about, and what the fans want from it, better than anyone else means he has a lot to offer. For too long the club has had a very negative presence due to Lowe and his team and it's about time someone came in and united this club properly, and injected some positivity back in. There's no doubt in my mind Matt's presence would do just that, and i also think the fans are able to trust him in terms of always doing what's in the best interests of the club. Maybe having someone we can trust run the club would focus fans minds on th actual football.

I think the most important thing when it comes to selecting managers is their relationship with the Chairman, who effectively acts as a go betweeen from the manager to the board. Whoever comes in as manager has to identify someone they think they can work with, and most importantly someone they trust to do things their own way. That, for me, was Rupert's main problem when appointing managers. With the exception of Strachan, he seemed to appoint yes managers who would run the team in his vision. There are two stand out names for me, and both represent different angles. Dowie i think has been unfairly treated in all of his latest jobs, as the stats will tell you, and i think he has a good level of experience. He's been pretty successful wherever he's been, except Charlton where he wasn't given enough time, and he just needs a club who are going to give him time to do things his own way (unlike at Coventry and QPR). The other is Tisdale, who's record so far cannot be faulted. He's had as near a perfect start to his managerial career as you could hope for, and i don't think it can be disputed he has huge potential to go on and be a very successful manager. Those would be my two, but whoever it is needs to be given a lot of time to get things right. Not one or two years, but four or five years to rebuild the club the way they want it.

Absolute nonsense. His first touch is worse than Brett Ormerod's was for christ's sake. He will never make it beyond an average championship striker

I never said he was "influential with respect to Barclays" so i'm not going to explain something i never said! I said he was influential. If you look at his CV i think you'd probably agree with that. I never said he was 'influential with respect to barclays' as i have no idea if that was the case. HTH

You're missing my point i think Jonah. WHAT he did is not the point i'm making. He didn't come into the club shouting from the rooftops and demanding a seat at the table. He was asked to come and help by LC. I don't think it's fair in the slightest, therefore, to call him a tyre kicker when he never suggested he was going to invest. He was only ever involved in the club because he was asked to be in an advisory role. Why should you apologise? Simply because it would be polite. But i doubt any would lose sleep over it so why don't you just carry on attacking Stanley or whoever else is on your hit list. I'm guessing probably Alpine.

So now you're taking what's written and rumoured on a messageboard as the truth??? You've come on here and criticised a man for being a "tyre kicker" when he has never once spoken about investing in the club. He was asked by LC to help out and he did just that. Why don't you just accept that, and apologise for the statement you made?

Get your facts straight. Salz was ASKED by Crouch to help the club out in an advisory role, particularly in relation to the club's relationship with Barclays. He has never suggested he wanted to be involved in purchasing the club. So wind your neck in and have some respect for the inluential fans we have who are/have helped the club out in it's hour of need

what a load of rubbish

Any manager, and i mean any manager, who describes Ryan Smith as having "world class" potential is not fit to be a manager at any level of football.