The Kraken

For Tino, not much for him, just would be nice for fans to see him get back on a pitch and come out of it unscathed. I don’t think he’ll be risked though. For the kids, there’s absolutely nothing to be lost by getting them involved with the first team squad. Nothing to lose at all, and if anything it might actually give them a little bit of a feel good factor after a year where we’ve had a bloated squad and very little sight of the youngsters. As reported by the athletic and various other outlets there’s been concern that the path to the first team squad has just not materialised, we’ve spent huge amounts on players and some of those signings have just ended up going training with the kids. So if it gives the kids just the tiniest bit of reassurance then I don’t see it as a bad thing personally.

Very much this. The new manager needs to be directing the recruitment team right from the off. Throughout all of last summer it felt like completely the other way round and it seemed to me like Ralph had little involvement with who we were bringing in. If we leave the club to it we’re likely to have a huge squad rotation and end up with a group of players that don’t fit the style of whatever manager we appoint. It’s such an important managerial change to make, it has to happen very quickly.

Would be great if Tino could get some minutes before the end of the season, though from what I’ve read it sounds like me unrealistic to expect anything more than a cameo appearance. Definitely need to start filling the bench with some of the kids, even if it’s only to given them 10-15 minutes at the end of a game. Also make sure players who are definitely staying are involved, we can give up on the likes of Theo and Elmo.

Can’t see that too many would be disappointed with Rodgers either? My only concern with him would be that it’s a bit too much of a project, the squad needs a complete and utter overhaul. I personally would welcome Marsch, I wasn’t too enamoured with him coming in to keep us up but I think with a running start in the championship he could be a good fit.

It’s not cherry picking at all. It’s demonstrating the run that we were on with Ralph before he was dispensed with. And I’ve already said I think Ralph would have had us closer to safety than we are now, which kind of gives it away that I think Ralph would’ve got more points than Jones. Not really sure what you’re arguing against other than two or three points here or there.

Agreed. We’d have been closer to safety I think, but I think all the signs were there that all was not well behind the scenes. A win at Bournemouth and draws against West Ham and Arsenal had papered over the cracks of what had been a very poor start to the season. We had 12 points from 14 games under Ralph and were just about to play Liverpool away, so all likelihood under him we’d have been 12 from 15 and on a run that had seen us lose 7 of our last 10 games. We looked on course to replicate the end to season 2021-22, which was an absolute disaster and should’ve seen the end of Ralph way before he eventually went. Theres far more to blame than just Ralph, but I don’t buy into this romantic notion that he’d have turned it round and kept us up. I do think we’d be going into the run in with a shot at staying up, but all signs I could see were that it was an under motivated squad who had run out of ideas. Anyway it’s moot, it’s all spilt milk under the bridge now.

Most of them will be putting more effort into finding a new club next season and ensuring they go into the summer injury free.

Fucking hell, this Fabrice fella makes MLG look interesting.

😬 this is awkward….

Same. Maybe I’ve been resigned to it for so long. Maybe I just don’t feel much of an attachment to the current bunch of overpaid chancers. 2005 felt like a kick in the teeth, it seemed like a big thing. This doesn’t feel like anything, I’m almost glad that the prats we’ve got playing for us have dropped down a division and hopefully dropped down in wages. And maybe the obnoxious bunch that are running the club have reached some sort of reality about how useless they are. p

Aribo is the very definition of the trainspotting line “this cunt’s no tryin”. But Maitland Niles gets my vote, utterly useless, on loan so supposed to be trying for a contract, and he gives that. Just not a top level footballer, he’s somehow cheated himself a living. He plays like he couldn’t give a fuck. Please just fuck off asap Ainsley, you waste of a shirt. Our managers have been the worst level of shit, Jones and Selles just massively out of their depth. But at least they sort of showed they cared. The two above didn’t.

He was, I saw him on my tv stream plenty of times. Bless him, trying to assure us commoners that he’s on our side. Such a titchy little weasel.

BBC have got it about spot on. I’d have gone with ‘barely a whimper’ but we don’t deserve more letters than we were given.

😆 Half our points from two teams. Good god, we’ve been utterly hopeless.

25% of our points came from Chelsea

18 defeats from 24 games. Absolutely spineless.

Here’s our form since the end of october, an absolutely disgusting run.

Yep. It’s been said many times but it’s so true. In the early years under Ralph we had a true identity, you could tell,what the side were about. Hard work, run for each other, hunt in packs, make life difficult. At the back end of last season we’d lost lots of that, by the start of this season we’d lost about all of it. Ralph out, Jones in, and he had about 6 or 7 weeks to get his ideas into the team and get them playing his way. Apart from some long ball rubbish there was still no identity. It only looked like getting worse, the players looked like they had no idea of how to play. So that was manager 2 gone. Selles made a good start but it was too soon apparent that he, too, had no real idea of how to get this bunch of players to consistently perform. Today summed it up: no drive, no desire, just utterly limp all over the pitch. Ah well. Championship here we come!

I’m amazed so many people have stayed to watch. The only place I’d be right now is the pub.

Well that was a pathetic first half. Fulham haven’t got out of second gear, I’m not sure we’re able to. Pretty abject from our whole first eleven, but I’m not sure if Onuachu being there is doing us any favours. Maybe if he had someone to work off him and do his running for him, but we don’t play like that. Plus he looks constantly knackered. Not much other option but to get Mara on there, but that won’t change much, the whole team needs to get a grip.

Not surprising. It’s had a pile of manure on it for most of the season. The old ones are the old ones….

AMN at left back again. Fuck off Selles. Loads of empty seats around the ground.

I said last week, I feel sorry for Bree. Obviously he was a previous favourite of Jones and once Jones was gone Bree hasn’t had a look in. He never looked a world beater but he did alright. AMN has been shit all season and had an absolute disaster of a game against Forest, just hopeless all game, so if Bree can’t get in ahead of that then he’s never going to under Selles.

If AMN is lining up at left back again i think I’ll scream. He was pathetically bad against forest. That said, with Perraud out, I think the best we can hope for is AMN on the right and KWP left, I don’t think Selles will play Lyanco at RB as I think he’ll fill in at CB for ABK; and I certainly don’t see Selles bringing in Bree, who must be close to forgetting what playing in a football match is like. Aside from that I reckon it’s pretty much the side that started against Forest.

Brighton likely won’t as they’ve spent what the guardian are reporting as £30m on Joao Pedro from watford. To put it in some context, he’s 21 and scored 11 league goals last year, he scored 9 in the championship in 20-21 and 3 in the Prem last season. https://www.theguardian.com/football/2023/may/05/brighton-sign-joao-pedro-agree-james-milner-deal Cant really tell these days what is a good transfer fee and what isn’t, but I’d guess that £20m for a Tella is pretty alright.