S-Clarke

This is exactly right, no one is saying Eckert is shit - he may be excellent, but he's never managed professional men's football and given our plight this is not the time to start playing again. If we were established and had a really good core of players, we'd lost our manager to a PL club, it may be more of a suitable time for someone like him to take the reigns with the foundation let behind - but we have no foundation. It's way too big of a risk. In many ways, we need a manager who can help rebuild this club from the bottom and that isn't a 31 year old.

This is an interesting shout and something which crossed my mind when I looked at Ekerts history. Viera is exactly the type of stature and reputation who'd command respect and call out the nonsense. He wasn't 'too bad' at Palace, nor Nice before that. We could do 100x worse and I feel his sort of experience and stature is what we need to pull these saps into line. I actually called for him back in 2023 before we got Martin, as I felt we needed some 'gravitas' and someone with stature. I could be totally wrong but he's the sort of guy who could shake it up.

The fans who are open to him returning really concern me.

I personally think there are a core of players who haven't been happy ever since their boyfriend was sacked. Evidence shows that with Downes throwing his toys out of the pram in January. There are a group of guys, I'd say Stephens, Downes, THB, Manning who have been anti anything Russ-Ball and I can see them as the sorts who'd make it difficult for anyone else. I felt sorry for Juric, he wanted to use Downes but he simply made himself unavailable. This is also why I feel the new guys have found it hard to fit in, they look like odd ones out as I genuinely think there is a toxic clique not making it easy for them to bed in. I may be totally wrong here, but it feels like that to me. My priority if I was involved at the club would be to rip that clique out, but it seems as if there is a genuine thought that we should appease them by bringing back their boyfriend. I'd be flabbergasted and it would trump anything that SR have done before, which takes some doing.

There's no way Martin is being considered, I just can't see it. He absolutely screwed us over and is a key reason as to why we are sat where we are today. We need some sense back at the helm, not more ego-driven possession for possession sake nonsense. I'm sure his multiple boyfriends still at the club would love him back, as they miss their days off - but the clubs priority should be shifting his boyfriends out of the club, not bringing him back to appease a toxic group.

There's a number 9 and a new GK in there somewhere.

The more I read the statement the more I think that is the plan. Usually you see the line 'Work is now underway to appoint a successor, news will be communicated in due course'' - but that line doesn't exist. That line exists on every manager sacking statement in the world, unless they hope the Interim gets it. I think it's nailed that he gets it if he gets 4/6 points. And I feel sorry for Tonda as he'll be scapegoated immediately, but the true anger needs to be at the ownership.

IF Tonda is seriously being considered then Rasmus hands are all over this. He'll be pointing to the time he brought Thomas Frank in from their 'B Team' coach to replace Dean Smith. Does he realise the entirely different contexts though? Dean Smith had built a strong Brentford, they had momentum and a good core - it was something a relatively inexperienced manager could adopt and grow with. If Tonda is put in place here it will end up as it did with Selles, there is no structure and nothing for an inexperienced manager to pickup and run with. He wouldn't have the nous to build it himself. This is a huge job and it needs experience and a proven head. It's similar to when Pards came in, we needed someone who knew English football and could call out shit. That's the only sensible appointment at this stage - experience and knowledge of Enlgish football, someone who will gain respect of the players and the fans. And that aint Tonda, he might be talented - but there's a time and a place for these sorts of ridiculous gambles, and it isn't now.

It's because Tonda is being lined up to take over full time, this is his showcase game - much in the same way as Chelsea away was for Selles.

Never been a manager in his life, until we appointed him U21 manager. He has history as Assistant at Geona, under Viera (could be one to watch) and Barnsley in the Championship. Other than that just analyst and coach roles for kids teams.

I do feel quite sad because Still is a decent bloke, we've just fucked him over by putting him in an absolute boiling pot. The recruitment didn't help him either. We'll see where he goes next, but the sacking of him shows up our ownership more than it does him. I have no ills against him.

Those sorts of managers are well out of our league now. We need to know our place in the chain now.

'Good around the dressing room' - a bit like Stephens I guess. That 'good lad' myth.

Hollow words. I think he's shit personally, the fact he's been our best defender says nothing - as we're 21st.

It'll be someone like Ekert, or Ramsay from USA. No change from what's gone before. It would be foolish to expect anything different.

It's exactly what will happen, which is why I'm not jumping in the streets celebrating. There's nothing to celeberate. We've just had to cough up another enormous amount of money to another sacked manager, and we all know how this plays out next. There's nothing to be excited about.

That's the truest statement the club have ever put on the OS.

Yeah he's gone, but nothing will change. We'll now lurch into the next disaster, it won't be a manager anyone 'wants' - just saying.

Yeah you've got it there. Don't ignore Carl Martin as well, sticks around under every manager like some kind of bad smell.

Saint_Loyal. I thin Parsons sent him a duff Dyson in the past.

This is Spurs though, their fans have a bizarre sense of entitlement. They think they should be challenging for the league. They are Top 6 on a good season, mid-table in a normal season. They need to sort their expectations out because they're really not as 'big' or good as they think they are.

I'm not saying the players are bad, it's just they're so ill-suited and don't mesh. Those 3 CM's are very similar in style. That won't ever work. You need alternatives and some power/physicality/experience in there, none of those give us that. We should have dumped Downes in the summer and that was one of the biggest mistakes, as we're now lumbered with his toxicity. We basically went into the season as I feared - putting our eggs in the Ross Stewart basket, someone who is always injured and it won't ever change. He was another one we should have released in the summer and cut ties with. I'd have saved the money we spent on Quarshie, Downs and Fellows and poured it into a proven number 9. That's almost £20m right there. We didn't need Quarshie as we had Edwards, THB, Wood, Stephens. We didn't need Fellows as we retained Edozie and couldn't shift him. We didn't need Downs as he can't play football.

I think they've made a mess of recruitment myself and have left us with one of the worst squads we've ever had. The rewarding of Stephens was a sign of things to come. It's bloated and full of mis-fitting players, but the critical areas such as CM, 9 and GK have remained unresolved. They've not done OK at all, they've failed us once again on building a team capable of being competitive.

We're in big, big trouble then as we're not getting promoted before the parachute payments run out.

It's what usually happens after bad news - try and silence it as much as possible and push it away from the conscious, they don't want to give their social media a platform for loads of negative posts. So they go quiet, in the hope we calm down, and then try again on Wednesday.