Badger

Wouldn't necessarily disagree with you, but probably a bit too 'ambitious' for LR don't you think ?

Wonder who will be available in goal. I expect we'll see Fraser hobbling about for it rather than risk Lewis or Taylor. McCarthy having fallen out the picture completely.

Dugout pioneers also lose at home.

Perhaps this is something developed and built on from on the training ground. I've been a supporter of Puel to give him time etc, but clearly something is wrong at the club at the moment.

Useless bunch of c^nts. No backbone, or mental strength when it matters. Other teams come to SMS and effectively 'park the bus' for 90 minutes and shut us out, we can't see out 4 minutes to half time at home to WBA or see out the injury time against Norwich.

This reminds me of the Lowe era in that on reading this, and the Puel in/out thread, many seem to have worked themselves up into the state of frenzy in the expectation it's going to get worse in order to stay interesting.

Agreed. I told a Swansea supporter earlier this week that could be their turning point as we had already capitulated to the likes of Hull, & Palace. That was before their win at Palace, appointment of a new manager, and the more recent rumours of discontent coming out.

I remember seeing that character on the Archers Rd terraces in the late 70's/early 80's. Always looked capable and prepared to lump an opposition supporter if the need arose. I recall one incident c 1985or6, home to Millwall in the FA Cup. We were coming out from The Dell and saw a lot of charging and activity up Milton Rd after some Millwall fans came round from the Archers away end. Police separated the fans, and pushed the Saints fans back. Saw him and another, a maturing, probably one of the original 1960's skinheads in the middle of the fray. Skinhead seemed to fall after a bit of a 'push', only to get up and say to matey "cor, this is a bit like the good ol'days...". Last saw bloke with birthmark at semi-final at Villa Park, complete with what looked like wife and family in tow. Mid-life respectability comes to us all.

I thought his main position was a left sided wing back, do we need one of those ?

If we're in negotiations with Hoffenheim perhaps we can bring their manager in as well.

Where does that come from, this time of night ?

I wonder if they were given a picture of a train as a momento of their visit to Doncaster. If so it'll probably be on ebay tomorrow raising money for the club funds.

So will that have helped or hindered Eddie's audition for the Arsenal job?

I have read his name, and he has been identified as an outstanding coach but can you imagine the furore if we appointed someone of his age with limited experience? Some said Eddie Howe didn't have enough experience last summer, but a bloke of 29, with experience in England also.

Perhaps we should nip in for this bloke ahead of Celtic, http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/38502272 just cut out the middle man as it were.

I was considering the Chris Nicholl comparison last week when talking about Puel although I hadn't considered it in the context of having hard act(s) to follow. I think Puel, like Nicholl sufffers from poor communication. After Lawrie's golden performances in front of a camera or microphone, Nicholl always seemed to stutter and struggle in this aspect. The main difference though is that with Nicholl you could at least see what he was trying to do on the pitch. The other consideration about the Chris Nicholl episode that always springs to mind is the lesson learnt over 'carful what you wish for'. Like many I thought by the end of his time with us he'd run out of steam, and wasn't motivational, so a change was required. Don't think any of us would really have swapped Nicholl for the calamity that followed.

I'm standing by my initial view that it should be reviewed at the end of the season, and voting "in" for now. Main reason being, I think we'd have a better chance of selecting the right person for us at the end of the season, rather than who is merely available now. That said, if results continue on a downward spiral it would be no surprise if he's out by the end of January. Good post Turkish - although I've fallen the other side of the fence and voted in, you've made some interesting pints there, and if true - esp losing the dressing room - then that would change my view,and I suspect Reeds.

Probably they know they might want, but that could be very wide of who is available, and willing to take it,

Great minds and all that.

I saw that article linked, and immediate thought was this it was a 'face saving' leak to the French media, probably for when he leaves by 'mutual consent'.

Nothing much has changed then. No proven goalscorer we can rely on, good job we signed Redmond, and an error prone defence.

Did the trick then Ralph. Unless you were telling them they were playing for Puel's future.

Wouldn't be so bad if it actually worked Claude.

Howe - might be good if we could entice him away. Only concern is that just as the club previously looked at continental coaches to see if there was any track record of working in more than one country, Howe's sucess is only at one club. Who's to say he isn't the new Alan Curbishley, "great job at Charlton" as was always pointed out, but a disaster elsewhere. Dyche - not convinced, although he is doing a good job at Burnley. Rowett - no particular track record, and sacked from a championship club. By comparison with the last two, Adkins does not appear such a bad or unrealistic option. (although personally I think that would now be a mistake to go back).

Dave Jones I think.