CanadaSaint

I buy into Cortese's vision and that includes the structure he has set in place to achieve it. I'm not 100% convinced by any means but I certainly think he's on the right track. However, I don't think he's been unfairly treated - other than by a few anti-Cortese zealots. He has brought a lot of the frustration and criticism on himself with p*ss poor communication, and I'd fault him all the more for that because he is capable of doing it extremely well - as the invited fan session demonstrated. The silence comes across as arrogance and contempt, and that perception is - if anything - magnified by statements that are obviously prepared by a PR firm or a lawyer. I'm not asking him to breach confidentiality or divulge information that is best kept confidential, and I rather like him holding his own counsel instead of yapping all the time. I'm just asking him to talk to his club's fans like a human being more often - especially when he makes decisions that significantly impact them. And if he doesn't want to do it through the media, he should do it through the OS. Until he does, the sh*t will continue to fly.

That's a completely different situation because the deal was done and Hoddle left. It is unprofessional (and even unprincipled) to blab about a deal that wasn't done. All you do is embarrass a variety of people (including the person who does takes the job) for the sake of a cheap laugh or ego tweak. That, as I said yesterday, can come back to haunt you in later dealings. If you don't see that or agree with it, fine, but don't compare it with the Hoddle situation because the two are night-and-day different. (Besides, Rupert - and the Club - ended up looking rather silly over that little outburst.)

I'm not seeing those hands up in the air. See, I couldn't be guilty because I've had the same screen name since Day One, years ago - unlike some people who have to keep chopping and changing in a futile attempt to rehabilitate themselves. Come on - squeeze those words out: "Sorry, Canada, I was wrong."

Yeah, I was pretty wowed by that, too. All the more so for the fact that this mentazm1974 dude doesn't seem the kind to fabricate stuff. Given his understandable contempt for the media, I wish Cortese would feel that he could talk directly to the fan base a little more often. He comes across well, even if he's delivering unpopular stuff, because his rationales are normally sound. But the silences create suspicion, a perception of arrogance, and the feeling that he feels contempt for the fans as well. And I mean him talking - not some PR and communications firm.

Keith Legg? Of course you were wrong. How the hell could I be Keith out here? It's 4,270 miles, you know. What on earth could have given you that impression? See, wrong yet again!

Dune, my buddy, he also said "The best way to win an argument is to be right in the first place." I think you might have missed that one. But I still find you entertaining and provocative and, as I said elsewhere, I always read your posts. Especially when you've been on the sauce.

I just wonder what the dressing room thinks. I mean, it's one thing to watch Coronation Street and another thing entirely to be in it.

I think he said "implacably" when I hope he meant "impeccably".

I completely agree. Oh, the excitement of your first erection.

If it suits him, yes. Or, more likely, f*ck you up, if that suits him.

You never know when you'll need a favour - especially from a neighbour. A behind doors friendly, a vote in a league meeting, a loan player, a cup of sugar.

Regardless of the reason he did turn down/may have turned down the job, it is really not very cool for that to be leaked. It's either a disrespect to a fellow chairman (if your chairman leaked it) or a disrespect to the fellow manager who eventually gets the job (if Howe leaked it). The mature and dignified thing would have been to stay quiet. And the smart thing, too. You're now on Cortese's sh*t list, just in case you need a favour down the road.

But in fairness, Norm, the thread title wasn't very clear - "Eddie Howe Turned us down?"

Art, notwithstanding the results since he left (we weren't getting results before that) I'm far from convinced that the players "respected Alan Pardew". And I would bet that this "physio come manager" is on an entirely different plane to Pardew - tactically, motivationally, intellectually, conversationally and just about every other way. So how about giving him a chance to prove it?

And, with that article, I suspect that any prospect of a repair of the Echo/Cortese fence has disappeared.

And all these years I thought that was his "bit on the side".

He's "a principled person" - those are his own words. If you expect principles from our manager, don't begrudge him doing the things he feels he needs to do before coming here. You've made it clear that you don't want him but for God's sake don't start questioning his loyalty and commitment before he even arrives.

True - I should have excluded that Burley phase from the comment, but it took us to the playoffs and the brink of a return to the Premiership. Most of the rest of the way (starting with the killer period, post Cardiff, and continuing post-Burley) it was cheap option all the way; that, more than Burley's profligacy, is what started the spiral and kept it going after Burley left. But I agree with you regarding Adkins. I've felt since Monday that he was perfect for us and, having just listened to his press conference, I'm even more convinced.

Now I'm even more convinced that he's right for us.

Taking the cheap option (failing to improve the squad after Cardiff) and ending up losing WGS, which started the downward spiral. (Do you remember when the general view on here was that all we needed was a left-sided midfielder?) We then compounded this by hiring cheapo managers/signing cheapo players that kept the spiral going ever-faster until we plummeted into the third tier. Looking only at unemployed managers - rather than trying to hire the best we can attract - would be another false economy.

It's starting to look more hopeful and you can almost sense where things went a little pear-shaped. Cortese - not unreasonably - wanted a quick commitment and an early morning start. Adkins - not unreasonably - wanted to square things properly with the Club he's been at for 16 years, discuss things with his wife, and make sure that everything is acceptable to his right hand man (and probably friend) who - it's clear - is "part of the package". He seems to have stood his ground with Cortese and yet he's still in the running. This is all dropping Scunny in the mire so I think "a reasonable premium on the contract value" is entirely appropriate. They - not unreasonably - seem to have stood their ground and yet the deal is still on the table. This may turn out to be a very good day in teaching Cortese that he's right to fight for his team but that there are times when he needs to back down.

Oh, God. Let's not return to the land of the false economy. That's what got us in this sh*tpile several years back.

There is a relatively short list of people whose posts I always read - because they're challenging or interesting or controversial or well informed (usually) or generally a voice of reason. You're on the list for one or more of the reasons outlined above, and so is Duncan. I just didn't expect to see you, of all people, advising another poster to "step back and stop being so negative for the sake of it". Without a winky thing.

No, it's "oop in the air".

"Adkins says it can still happen but it has to be on the right terms for the Club (Scunny)."