Dark Munster

With excellent help from the tail. The last 3 wickets almost doubled the score and gave them 4 batting points.

You can say that again!

Can’t blame them. It’s been a long season.

I’m sure his massive ego won’t let him sit quietly in the background and let others make the decisions without him. Which is bad news for us as he has that fatal combination of thinking he’s a genius while being a blithering idiot.

I don’t want to get into a tedious argument about this. I’m not criticising them, it’s a great podcast and they can discuss whatever they like. All I’m saying is I’m surprised they made no mention of most fans and pundits condemning the way we play out from the back.

They didn't address why those mistakes were being made (in all three matches), namely from the passing around back and forth and slow walking out from the back when under pressure, and the almost universal condemnation from fans and pundits alike. As I said, they don't have to agree with the criticisms, but I would have liked to hear their views on the matter. As I said, I am surprised they seemed brush it under the carpet. I'm sure they are well aware, especially as Steve Grant is one of the them.

I always enjoy listening to TSP, but I was surprised today that there was no real mention about the elephant in the room, RM's tactics of playing it around the edge of the box. Yes there were vague mentions about tactics, but not specifically about what is driving most of us nuts. Not only are most here on SW ripping those tactics to pieces (see Russell Martin and Brentford match threads), so were the match taters and many pundits. I'm not saying any of you should agree (in Alfie's case he probably needs to be diplomatic), but I was hoping you'd discuss it one way or the other. Has Glen been fired? He can be outspoken so maybe he would have given his opinion!

Also sent to RM for him to read.

This in a nutshell. We could argue one way or the other about the merits of high risk - high reward tactics. But RussBall is high risk - low reward. It's f*cking lunacy.

I see the legs have artfully been omitted from the photo

He’ll be back in 2 weeks I heard.

How tall is Tall Paul?

He an ego the size of Everest, so I doubt he'd want to emulate someone else's successful philosophy. He wants a new Ankersen way of running a football club that nobody else has thought of. Another book would come out of it too. Always remember, if it isn't broken, break it.

One can only hope that Dragan won't let Rasmus and co. make the same mistake again, and if RM continues losing matches because of his insane suicidal passing around the back, Dragan will let SR know that they need to pull the trigger. And get someone in who knows how to properly manage in the PL, not another SR vanity project manager.

That's what I fear. But I wouldn't call the investment commendable, it's not their money they are pissing down the toilet, it's Dragan's. And he seems to still trust Rasmus and SR with it. 🙁

As much as I wish that was true, I find it hard to believe for two reasons: SR stupidly gave him a contract extension this summer, and last year SR and Rasmus were reluctant to sack the Welsh lunatic, even forking out millions for TP for him near the end of his reign; they only binned him under massive fan pressure (every fan and their dog could see he was out of his depth, but not Rasmus and SR).

He made exactly the same mistakes yesterday as he did in the clusterf*ck at home to a very mediocre Forest team. If he does it again in our next match then as they say in America, three strikes and you're out. Palace binned de Boer after just 4 matches when it was clear he was out of his depth. They knew that they had to move quickly, and they ended up in 11th. SR need to do the same.

A formal complaint should also be made to our club about the suicidal passing around the penalty area.

And he has no real incentive to change. SR foolishly extended his contract before the season started, so he can say to himself sod it, the worst that can happen is I’ll get a juicy payoff if I’m sacked. He still had a couple of years left on it so why didn’t they wait before extending it?

I remember that well. A colleague at work followed English football ("soccer" here in the States) and had an annual bet with me that Saints would go down. Anyway, before that match he asked me "what's the difference between Saints and a cocktail stick?" "I dunno, what's the difference?" "A cocktail stick has two points!" Oh how I laughed. Not.

I think the 4 vs 5 at the back thing is a bit of a red herring. It's the tippy tappy, pedestrian, possession-obsession, suicidal playing around the back when 4 or 5 PL-level attackers are breathing down your neck that is the problem. Every fan and their dog can see it is tactically insane and a recipe for disaster, except RM (and SR too, it seems). Yes it worked sometimes last season against the weaker Championship teams, but guess what Russell, conventional football with better players would work against them too.

Two peas in a pod.

Frank de Boer was sacked after just the first 4 matches by Palace in 2017 (all defeats). Their Board had balls, realised their mistake, and took action early. They went on to finish 11th. If I had any control I'd give RM one more match. If they lose again by mincing around the back I would de Boer him immediately afterwards. Unfortunately knowing SR and Rasmus they'll probably wait at least until we're 10 points adrift at Xmas before they take any action. Maybe longer.

Isn’t that what Lowe did when we sold Bale to Spurs? Except instead of a higher fee he sacrificed the sell on for Tommy Fourpast.