kitch

Agreed, the squad wasn't good enough and a lot of managers would have struggled to keep us up, but that's not the issue with RM. He was a poundshop Pep who was in it for himself, and he took at lot of us in (myself included) because he talks well. The issue is that he put his 'belief' ahead of the good of the club, its staff, its players and its fans. He dogmatically refused to adopt any other means neccessary to grind out results here and there, which is what proper managers are supposed to do. Ipswich and Leicester ultimately failed, too, but especially in the case of Ipswich they did it with a lot more dignity than we did. The odds were against them, but they went down fighting. We went down with a whimper, packed with a squad full of emotionally damaged players who'd been hung out to dry and made to look like absolute clowns on the biggest national football stage in the world, all to satisfy one man's ego. We got away with it in the Championship, just, and nearly bottled it before scraping over the line with what must be the only case of him bending that I can remember. Even he realised his stupid approach wasn't going to work in the final, yet he didn't consider it might also happen in the PL, did he? It didn't matter that he got the boot when he did, the damage was already done. None of those players believed they could do it, thanks to him. It didn't help that SR replaced him with a personality vacuum who wasn't really any better, just in different ways.

Consistency is key.

He played his last game for Saints 10 years before I was born, and I'm middle-aged! 😆 Regardless of the semantics, the point stands. Tall Paul should be much better than he is in the air.

Agreed. Heading is much more than just the height you can reach, it's all about timing and awareness. He should be the best header of a ball we've ever had. As it is, he's worse at heading than you'd think he would be, given his size, and he's better at close control than you think he would be, also given his size.

You might get both 😆

Apologies if it's already been shared, but just caught this. Interesting viewing.

Very limited midfielder, which for an incoming manager who's reknowned for being very versatile, you'd think would be the end of his time at the club. Bang average, occasionally semi-decent in a strong championship team that dominates the ball, and absolutely hopeless at anything else.

Is it confirmed yet? Please, please, PLEASE let it happen 😆

Ones I'd want to keep for next season (regardless of likelihood or viability): KWP Matty F Ramsdale Dibling Charles THB Downes Robinson (and any of the other promising youth players that have been on the fringes) (eta: Edwards - forgot about him, he needs a run in the team) Ones I'd actively want to fuck off: Bednarek Smallbone Stephens Manning Sulemana BBD Ones I don't care what they do: Everybody not mentioned above. I know Arma and Archer score goals in the champ, but I'm just massively underwhelmed by them. Arma is like Bednarek in that he's been in and around one of the worst squads I can remember. Clean break wouldn't be a bad thing. Archer - meh, genuinely not arsed either way. Tall Paul is painful to watch, no idea how effective he'd actually be, so would be open to trying him but equally won't shed a tear if he goes. Ross Stewart I don't trust to stay fit, though ability-wise I think he'd probably be the best striker we have next season. Can't rely on him, though. Everyone else...I genuinely don't care. Will take a long time for any of that squad bar one or two to earn back the respect and trust of fans. Sad state of affairs to be completely non-plussed really, but here I am.

Will Smallbone, you're embarrassing.

WTF?! That's stonewall! Fuck off PL you biased cucks!

Just because PSG have never won the CL, doesn't mean the entire French league is poor. It's probably equal to Championship level, with a handful of prem-level teams, a host of champ ones, and a couple of L1 standard outfits. Not a bad place to have come from heading into the English championship with a strong club.

In the context of the season you'd give it to nobody (and not even hold an end of season award thing), but above that I believe Fernandes deserves some recognition for the shift he's put in. Class player, great signing, huge potential. The club almost doesn't deserve him.

Appreciate the kind words and suggestions, cheers chaps

Cheers, keep fighting the good fight!