Lord Duckhunter

Lol

Could be a Bompey v skate cup game

The Blair/ Brown years were pure smoke & mirrors . PFI, minimum wage so low as to be meaningless , ridiculous spread of tax credits , devolution without addressing the west lothian question , overspending during a boom . Their chickens have well and truly came home to roost. I'm not saying this lot are any better as they're also shying away from the fundamental reforms needed , whilst pretending they are doing so. The public would not vote for a returning Blair anymore than they'd vote for Jeremy Steptoe .

I can't see Levy making it as easy to buy him out of his contract as Cortese did with his Saints contract . I'm sure he'll be tied down quite tightly & it'll cost them a few quid . Not that they're lacking money , but are they really going to battle/ cough up for a rookie ( never managed in champions league , never won anything ) . They also won't chuck Giggs overboard and Poch seems to have a gang of buddies he carries with him . The massive clubs will want to see how he handles superstars before they employ him. He's done a pretty decent job at Spurs & with us ,but managing that level of player ,is a long way from managing players that are more important to the club than the manager himself .

There is absolutely no doubt that Ron will expect players to leave when champions league clubs come calling and will factor that in when managing a club like ours . Only an idiot would think we could keep hold of these players . I thought one of the reasons we went Dutch was because their managers are used to losing their best players season in season out. I'm not convinced by Ron , so I'm unsure of this deal . We weren't as good as we thought last year , but aren't as poor as some make out on here. Not being a professional or close to the club it's hard to comment , but the side and individuals don't look as well coached as before . Unlike some I like the flexibility he shows tactically , although he does get it wrong sometimes . I have thought for a while that out style relied too much on Pelle and that shows when he's off colour or missing . That said , he seems like a calm stright sort of guy that will nring a bit of stability . He does need to move on or sign a new deal in the summer but I'd be happier if it was for 3 rather than 5 years

I don't think for one minute that he's been let down , lied to or misled about our spending , players sales or wages . Personally, I've no doubt that the board outlined our approach when speaking to him initially and he accepted them . I refuse to believe that they told him nobody would be leaving , or he was promised a certain amount and that's not been forthcoming . If anyone has moved the goal posts it's likely to have been Ron now he's under a bit of pressure . Perhaps the spending by other " also rans" has surprised him and he now feels that we should push the boat out a bit more . Equally I'm sure he had every intention of agreeing to our pathway regarding youth , but maybe they're not as good as he was led to believe.

The thing that his supporters don't seem to get is the complete incompetence of the man . Forget the fact that to win an election he needs to win Tory /Lab marginals , he's made balls up after balls up . Abandoned principle after principle & generally set the Labour Party back years . At least Foot was a serious political figure , even Livingstone was competent but wrong , this chump is just a student politician that never grew up . Anyone who thinks he'll do the lefts cause any good is deluded .

But are there Spurs supporters still banging on about how Solgado " clearly has talent" or going on about a particular game over & over again . Every club makes expensive mistakes , but I doubt their supporters are as doe eyed as the Gastonettes over these wasters .

**** me , is this the Gastonettes new line ? That somehow he kept us up . He did not make a blind but of difference , did not keep us up and has done absolutely nothing since . A monumental waste of money , one of the worst signings in my 45 years of watching the club .

I don't like the guy , but that's nonsense & Scouse friends of mine who go will tell you it's nonsense .

Spot on . The only " loyal" players at a club our size are ones nobody from a bigger club wants . Some clown on the train sat was banging on about Frannie's loyalty and questioning why our players aren't as loyal now . Only reason he was loyal was because nobody wanted him . Had SAF said " Frannie I want to build my treble wining defence around you , oh & quadruple your money " , he'd been gone quicker than a really quick thing . Matt Le Tiss , I hear you cry . Maybe, but what would he had done had Fergie wanted him instead of Cantona and for him to be the talisman for the class of ' 92 , would he have turned that down ? The only loyalty comes from us lot , end of.

Maybe Moyes with a younger man , with Moyes stepping into Les' shoes in a few years , handing the reins to the younger man .

Don't talk nonsense man . With the injury records of Remy & Austin , coupled with the wages they'd want , I'm glad we're not splashing the cash like that . Ask yourself why Shelvey is available , why Curtis , like Monk & Laudrap before him have had issues with him . If palace sign those 3 they really are entering the madhouse . One maybe worth the risk, but all 3 is lunacy

He didn't " fail miserably " at Burnley . Your post doesn't make sense . If he failed miserably at Burnley what was Monk at Swansea , a roaring sucsess? You put the caveat in that you want to se Monk at another club . Presumably if he got them to the premiership , let's say someone like Boscombe , you'll want him ? Anyway, as you rightly say he's pretty much dug in for the long haul and it'll take a bigger job than ours to get him out of there . Maybe a Spurs or Everton . Personally , I'd want an Adkins type , as in somebody who is not going to be offered a top top job and will see this as a long term thing . Not an introduction to the English game or a short spell to tick a few boxes . People go on about a Vardy , Alli or a Lambert coming from the lower leagues , there has to be a manager in the same boat. Howe would be ideal imo , but there's Robinson at MK or even Dyche at Burnley . This is where Les needs to come into his own . Cortese's signing of Poch was a master stroke that came out of left field , maybe Les can pluck someone with real potential out of the championship

Is Townsend a better play now than the nipper they brought on ? Of course he is , but what was better for the development of the club? I've no doubt Ron picks the best players. Reed isn't getting a look in because others are better . A straight pick between OR & Reed is a no brainer ability wise . But what if Ron trusted Reed , played him instead , coached and devoloped him around the first team. Maybe in 2 years time he'll be a better player than OR. It'll also encourage other nippers & other parents when choosing an academy for their kid. The question for me is whether it's the clubs job to provide players that are good enough for the first team and are then judged purerly on ability against the established pros or whether it is Rons job to take players that are not good enough yet and make them good enough. Surely one of our younger centre halves could have done as well as Caulker or Yoshida this season . Yes they'll make mistakes ( that they'll learn from ) but **** me Caulker & Maya made them anyway. I hate the new trendy word of " project" but that's what it is . We need a manager that buys into it. A manager that will play a nipper who is not as good as a senior pro , but could develop. I go back to my earlier point . Had we signed Alli , he'd have an appearance pattern similar to JWP this season, not heading to the euros .

Almost as depressing as Sat was watching that yesterday . The way Alli & Carroll played , had they signed for us they wouldn't have progressed like that. The way he's made Walker a better player , but the icing on the cake was when we were told that Toby had played every minute this season. Coincidence, maybe or maybe he's fitter . I agree about the sub , was there any way Ron would have put Seager on Sat , no he turned to Gaston who appears to be shipping out.

Laudrap had a great first season at Swansea , even winning a cup . The second season lack of disipline and general drift meant he ended up getting the sack . Look at the fall out between LVG & Ron . LVG was Dof & Ron manager , LVG wrote in his book about Ron being too soft with players and he tried to step in . I'm not saying this is right , but from the general drift of this season , who is to say there's no truth in it . I don't want Ron out , but that could change if we continue like this . Personally I think we'll get a few one off Arsenal type performances to stay safe . However, end of season will be a crossroads . I'm not so sure he's the man for next season , particularly if he doesn't sign an extension

" Brilliant" or lucky to have Morgan , Vic & Jose . My view is he was the perfect manager to manage the meltdown from last summer , cool headed & calm . This season I'm not convinced . Had we signed Alli instead of Spurs , would he be as good . Would he even be playing every week , he'd be in and out and people moaning about lack of ambition by only spending £5mil on an mk Dons player . Can anybody name one player that's shown major improvement under Koeman? It's not a fluke Alli is doing well , they didn't just put him in and he played well . He's been coached and managed fantastically .

My point is that maybe we could identify players of potential and then Koeman could coach them , devolop them & generally make them better . I see no sign that Koeman is making any of our players better and plenty of evidence that Poch does . It's very easy to blame the board , when does the manager take his share .

How much did Spurs pay for Alli

Some of the comparisons on here are laughable . For Scott Dann read Jose Fonte , who we kept . Cabaye couldn't wait to get out of Newcastle , and failed at PSG . Nobody lost the players we lost in 2014 & nobody will , not because of the different boards strategy or ambition , but because ours were an incredible set of circumstances. Leicester , Palace & Watford are overachieving with ok players adding up to more than the sum of their parts . We had exceptional individual talents , who it could be argued underachieved as a team . They were also English or " homegrown" , with the exception of Lovren , a massive attraction for champions league clubs . They had all also ( again with the exception of Lovren ) been at the club a number of years, whether in the first team or the youth . Who in the Leicester side is comparable to Adam Lallana , or Morgan . Who is home grown and played 4-5 years . Who is comparable to Luke Shaw at Watford , the exceptional young player of his position . Our players got better & better , showed they could play in the premiership . They were champions league standard . Who on earth in the Leicester side is? Palace , Leicester , Stoke , Watford are flavour of the month, but you wouldn't buy their players off the back of that . Come back at the end of next season and if they are still top 7 & their players getting better and better , the same ****ing thing will happen to them . If Harry Kane wants to go to Real Madrid and they want him , he will . Same with any Liverpool player . Even Utd , the keeper will end up there . If Barca come calling for Augero , he'll sign . Is that City showing a lack of ambition and "cashing in" , or is it the natural order of things . Every single gem we get will move on , get used to it, accept it and you'll all be a lot happier . Im grateful to Marcus & Kat that they set the foundations and ran the club in auch a way that I get to see these really good players for a part of their careers . I wouldn't swap our future with Stoke , Watford , Palace or Watfords and I wouldn't swap the way we run out club with theirs either .

And every single one went to a bigger club . When was the last time we finished above Arsenal , Spurs , Utd or Liverpool ? Not only did they increase their wages by a massive amount , professionally they furthered their careers . I can't see how anyone ( even that genius Nicola ) could have kept them

That's not their blueprint at all . If it was Vic would be at Spurs & Mane at Utd .

Exactly , what's up with these people . Every player that's gone wanted to go. There's no long term solution to that other than to get the best price . Nobody can name one player that wanted to stay but was sold by the board .

If we go down it will be 100% down to Koeman , not The Board