Legod Third Coming

Ah, now the real agenda comes out... we should aspire to be like Mancs in the Stretford end? I would rather slice my own gonads off with a rusty blade, thanks. Or should I go and dig out my Happy Mondays album and pretend it's 1985?

It depends on what value it is for aap3 to be seen by half of Delhi and Beijing??

I couldn't get to the Middlesborough game because I was hosting an 18th party, during which a host of 18 year old girls told me universally how impressed they were with the balloons - the 18, the Happy Birthdays, even just the plain old coloured ones with the twirly ribbon... Chances are, your aversion to inflated latex is causing you to miss out

Now that is odd...

There you go - prima facie evidence. You scream I'm an inidvidual on a message-board of a football club to someone you have never met with no shared interest other than said football club which you somehow fear showing any association to... In a consulting room this would be costing you £200 an hour. I hope you know that?

While I don't concur with his approach, I do agree with Turkish that it is important for any business to cultivate a positive relationship with its press. I heard the CEO of a massive hampshire employer tell his communications staff 'why do you care what the press think of us?' This is a bonkers attitude. There will be a day when you want your story presented your way. It might not be today or tomorrow. But the day will come. The above approach is one reason the company concerned cannot get a more positive press no matter how hard its communications executives try... You can't treat anyone with contempt and expect them to respect you. It does not mean you have to accomodate every request, but you do need to cultivate and maintain a really positive channel between you and your customers - and customers can be anyone: shareholders, the league, sponsors and ultimately supporters.

I loved the fact that there were flags, balloons and a see of red and white (of which I was an XL contributor - 14.5 stone, so not a lard arse just yet). It felt like a cup final. And so it should. It was. If you don't wear colours, you're deluded. You want acceptance, you want to be a cog in the football machine, you want assocation and affinity, but you believe by somehow erecting your own 'fashion' perimeter you maintain an air of authority. But sadly for you it's bo ll ox. It's psychological repression. It's a barrier you erect because you fear rejection from the pack. Your sub-conscious is protecting you from your own insecurity. The rest of us don't fear rejection because we don't require any form of 'vindication' from anyone. Happy to help - professional fees extra...

What I will say. Best moment - for pure adrenaline and 'grrrrhhh get in factor' - Billy's flick on the corner to go 2-1... in the 89th minute Worst - Norris' volley, two minutes later... Like coming home to find the woman you love on the threshold in all the gear, with a wicked smile, bright red lipstick and her gorgoeus best friend... Only for her to greet you by using those 4 inch stilletos to kick you in the balls!

No chance will we spend that. We spent £4.7 million last summer to come within a gnat's co ck of winning the Championship. I reckon £10m well spent and well directed on promising young stars who people have scarce heard of and who turn out to be half-decent... Think about it. Which positions are you filling? CF - Lambert, Sharp, Chung, Guly (+1?) - assuming Barnard will be off, even? MF - Morgan, Cork, Adam, Chaplow, Hammond, (Punch) (+1?) DF - Richardson/Butterfield, Fonte/Martin, Jos/new, Fox/Harding (think it's apparent Jaihdi is too old) GK - KD, BB (+1?) Whether you think any of the players listed above can cut it in the Premiership is moot - the manager might!

Gone are the days of 'genuine' million pound sponsorship deals. Times is tough...

Agree with OP, I thought our play against Reading was outstanding and few teams in the Premiership would be able to live with our open play. If only we hadn't gifted the opposition three goals! After that, Middlesborough at home. After that Ipswich away - although that was a bit open. Pass of the season? Morgan's flick in the above game! Sensational!

Norwich has always been our parallel and nemesis. Who can forget those 4-3, 5-4 games - losing to them in the latter stages of the league cup, but beating them en route to Wembley for the JPT - thanks Holty, your rolling about bought us the injury time winner..? They/you were relegated with us and Manchester United when we became the first side ever to be relegated from the top flight as the third bottom team (before then it had always been the bottom two teams). And now we've emulated them/you straight back from League One to the big time. Great parallels but I'm hoping we don't emulate the Canaries next season. Personally, I'd be disappointed not to be challenging for a Champion's League place...

Merson "Tell 'im there's a bargain bucket in it..."

Hmm not sure it's thoughtful in the way of him 'thinking about what he was saying' - when you watch it, he's clearly emotional. And rightly bloody so!

I should add that I, for one, hope it was simply him being tongue-tied and nothing other than that! Someone posted a thread about the bloke being the next Fergie and while he has to prove himself at the top level, why shouldn't he?? He's succeeded at every level of the game, served a 'proper' apprenticeship and in that respect is in the model of, oh... Alex, Arsene, Jose... not bad company let's be honest!

I've just achieved part of the five year plan two years early, as a manager I have reached the Premier League and I'm already talking about departing??? That's not pathos. He wasn't asked about his future. He just suddenly came out with it and then talked about it being 'done the right way'... You might not find that odd, but as CB says above, it's like talking about death at a Christening or wedding.

Hmm, Premiership footballer wary of wannabe-WAG shocker...

It could be, or could be in relation to Fat Sam saying that he was going to be in Vegas on Play-Off Final day and had no intention of cancelling (ie. he expected to go up automatically)...

No disagree. It is very odd. "I hope it will be done in the right way"... Tell me again it isn't odd to talk about that when you're ve just been promoted??

FFS, these are supposed to be professional sportsmen??!!

Could watch this forever... http://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/0/football/17880384

To be fair, we're only saying here what could be said to my missus and while it seems 'disrpesectful' to talk about off-loading players, a) that's nothing to what has been said throughout the season! b) it's not like they're going to read it and think what a disrespectful bunch of internet warriors and c) we have ZERO influence on who is actually retained/released...

Saw that this morning on iplayer - made me chuckle!

Exactly - although Chung looks like he has a bit.

I really want QPR to stay up. I can be there in 25 minutes!