egg

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.

Oath

Based in what? Redmond came across brilliantly in the article posted on here, and would have nothing to gain. Seems clear to me that there's all sorts bubbling away behind the scenes, and the leaks/plants are calculated and coming from way above player level.

Stranger things have happened.

Agree with that. On the last bit, it'll be someone unknown or so keen to have crack at PL management that they won't be fussed about that. From the outside, it feels like a proper shambles though. I'll resist being the first to ask whether it really was worse under Gao.

I'd assume that Semmens is going too. Bloke comes across as an idiot, and all the noises suggest all is not well. We need a clean sweep on the football side - new DoF or similar, and a new manager with his own coaching team. The precise timing doesn't bother me as long as a) Ralph goes now (the Liverpool game is beyond us, and a caretaker can oversee the inevitable) and b) the new manager is here for the majority of the world cup so he has time to work.

Once you take the emotion out of it, the club is a business. The players and management are staff of that business. I can't think of any business where the board are expected to watch their staff work. You can still analyse results and performance without watching it. Aside of that, perhaps they were working tirelessly on sorting out a new manager and Semmens replacement.

In other news, the bench looks decent. Especially the pigeon.

A chocolate orange is my favourite fruit at Christmas. Don't quite do 5 a day though. With you on Terry's all gold. Shocking box of chocolates, but not as bad as dairy box.

Well, Aribo has been shit so I can sort of see the point of Walcott, but I'd have preferred AMN up there and Lavia in the middle. Not sure wtf the full back situation is all about though. We're fucked.

Bingo 👍

Who wants rid of him? Having the opinion that he ain't all that, is not wanting rid.

A tin of them, the triangles and the green block would have been my ideal for me. Cracking idea though.

Really good read, thank you. He comes across really well. This bit was telling though, pretty scathing: “But the morals and values I signed for, the longer I was there, the more I saw them slip away. “One was the style of play. I always appreciated my time with Ralph, because he saved us from something very bad. The next season we finished 11th but after that, we were just in a long, transitional phase. I don’t think we knew where he wanted to go".