egg

Who's the Peter Crouch lookalike to his right?

Cheers, hadn't seen it, the missus has put the bloody crown on.

BBC reporting that he's in the crowd, so it must be happening.

Assuming it's a back 4, Lyanco over Payne makes no sense to me. Disappointed to see that Ballard isn't involved - would have preferred to see him on the bench over Moi or Walcott.

442 I reckon with Lyanco at right back. Would've have preferred Payne there, Lyanco and DCC at CB, and Salisu given the night off.

Robert

I think we'll win this comfortably. Ralph's inevitable departure will have dragged down the players, and that's now dealt with. Whoever the new man is going to be, the players will want to play for their places. I'm hoping we'll see a few kids get some minutes as well. Seeing a few from Ballard, Payne, Morgan, Doyle, Turner would be nice.

I don't think there's any danger that he won't be welcomed or supported. He wouldn't have been my pick, but if he's appointed, he'll get my 100% support.

There's nothing antagonistic in there St louis - I think it's great that occasional posters are posting, and that differing views are being respectfully canvassed as should be on a forum. I get the point on the money side, but there's a line of mediocrity acceptance that I don't think we need to be crossing - we can do better than Jones and reliance on unproven kids from City imo. With that said, I hope that I'm wrong and that if Jones comes in, that he does a Frank and we move up the league. It's blooming risky though!

That I agree with. They've shown themselves slow to deal with Ralph though, and haven't yet addressed Semmens. That, and the dubious recruitment policy of quantity and hope, over quality and ability to deliver, doesn't give me any real confidence in them.

Agreed. There's no way whatsoever that the owners are contriving to get us relegated, that's a conspiracy theory too far for me.

That's a very good comparable to be fair, but it doesn't make me feel any easier that this guy is what we need right now.

I'm not complaining mate. As to why they did that, I think it shows poor judgement. That's being replicated with Jones.

Nowt wrong with hope. It's expectation that's the killer.

That willingness to accept that we're the Luton of the PL is exactly what's wrong with the club, and some of the fan base, in my opinion.

That's my take on it. It's obvious that the guy is committed to them, and he looked uncomfortable talking about his career to the media. I don't have any issue with that.

These are the people who brought Bazunu in as a PL starter, Larios as a PL ready full back, and provided Edozie and Mara to help us score the goals we need. Yep, I'll question their judgement all day long. Onto the actual question, an easy no. The blokes tactics are crude, his playing style awful, and he's only ever played and managed at lower levels. We need someone to hit the ground running. A mid season experiment when we're in the shit, is not what we need.

And Pellegrino wouldn't have ended up here, and Gao wouldn't have bought us, and, and, and. We could all point to examples good and bad. Regardless, we can all have an opinion on whether a bloke who did shit at Stoke feels like a sensible choice as our manager.

Of course it's not pony. Players either play for a manager or they won't. Managers need the respect of the dressing room, it's imperative. Sure, they can command or earn it a number of ways, but you're not convincing me that Jones will walk into the dressing room and command anywhere near as much respect as someone who's more of a name. He may get it over time, but time we ain't got.

Just because they may see something, it doesn't mean that it's something that'll work. Hopefully it'll prove to be an inspired move, but I can't imagine anyone thinks it's anything other than incredibly high risk.

Bingo. I was more inspired by our appointment of Dave Jones back in the day. The bloke may be great, but it feels like putting all your cash on 13 then spinning the wheel and closing your eyes whilst crossing your fingers.

I don't know whether or not he'd get the respect of the dressing room. As I've said, it's a risky experiment that imo we shouldn't be taking, and don't have to. I'd stake my house on the fact that Gerrard is much more likely to get the respect of the dressing room, and quickly, than Jones who was a lower league journeyman who couldn't cut it at bloody Stoke. As for the rest, you're comparing an apple to an orchard. My staff respect me, but a team of premier league millionaires wouldn't if i strolled into the dressing room.

SR people did their homework on the players we signed and some of them aren't PL ready so let's not assume that their judgement is solid. Moreover, we can't risk this - we're staring relegation in the face. We need a manager who'll command respect, and knows the league and it's players. Jones ain't that man imo. Don't get me wrong, Gerrard ain't the man I'd choose given the whole market, but if it was him or Jones, I see him as the least risky. Regardless, it ain't our pick, and I'll get behind Jones brand of 352/532 longball football and hope for the best.

What confuses you about preferring a manager with top flight experience in Scotland and England to someone with no such experience as a manager or player? Don't get me wrong, the option of tried and struggled or a high risk experiment ain't a great choice, but on balance, I'd have been slightly less concerned with Gerrard who failed at Villa than a bloke who failed at Stoke. What's Jones done that makes him more impressive to you than Gerrard. Was it his recent 4-O defeat to Watford?

I get all that, but he at least has top flight experience. If it was Jones or Gerrard, I'd grudgingly take Gerrard.