sadoldgit

God knows there have been enough threads about other things just as "important". For example, even though George Burley left a long time ago and we hve had 4 managers since then you can bet your bottom dollar that someone on here will drag him up again for some spurious reason. Cortese is still relatively new here and people aren't sure what to make of him. He hasn't had the best start what with his childish spat with the Echo and his unfortnate lack of nous when dealing with the press. Hopefully he will learn from these mistakes. The last thing we need is anothre arrogant "non-footballing" CEO with no idea about the media

No doubt DD. Now that Cortese has had a taste of sucess/the limelight perhaps he fancies the job himself? It would be good to have someone take the pressue off of Pardew though. He has a tough job if he is still her next season. He is expected to take us up and if he doesn't he will get the same scorn that some still like to heap on Burley. It doesn't help when the CEO joins in!

I agree, we were strong at the back and up front but weak in the middle. A better side than Carlisle would have exploited that more.

What evidence do you have Weston? And what experience does Cortese have in this department exactly? Isn't this what Lowe was pilioried for? Running a football club with no knowledge of football? Strikes me that Cortese has a lot to learn in this department - backing his manager publically being top of the list. After the last year most of us would have been delighted at a Wembley win and a decent showing in the league. So what has Pardew done to deserve such scant respect exactly???

Infracation points maybe?

All Cortese has to do is come out and say somehting supportive of Pardew and it will be all over. He made a rod for his own back from his earlier comments and is now finding out that you have to watch what you say in this country or the media will be all over you like a rash. Surely, now we have actually won something, he can find a few words of support???

Agreed, it was a tremdous team performance but I would give the MotM award to Lambert as he was outstanding all round. Harding too played very well. He looks awkward playing on the right side and is very one footed, but he was excellent too.

So its okay to have a pop at Northerners and Scots but not at you Krauts????

I have only just seen the match this morning which is a bit bizare but did cheer up a wet Monday in Kent. Many congratulations to Alan Pardew and the team who did what they had to do. It was good to see us put the match away with some key players out. As AP inferred, it is not the FA Cup but we have still won a trophy at Wembley and this gives us something to solid to build on. Hopefully Mr Coreste now will support his manager and let him get on with his job. Even MLT was bigging him up saying that he is the best manager in our division. Whether he is or insn't he is still doing a good job and deserves the support of the fanbase and the senior management. If we don't make it this season we shall be a force next season. I just hope he stays!

How does it help losing BA more money by striking though? They also need to become competitive and cannot afford the huge daily running costs. Many of us here have seen there companies makes big cuts. We have 10 staff leaving next week that we can ill afford to lose. BA aren't playing games and the staff will be worse off when the dust settles.

Is this thread for real? After the last few years of losing and relegation finally something goes right and this is how it is perceived, as a distraction and thank goodness it will be over soon? You couldn't make it up. Lets just hope we get thumped eh to put some icing on the cake!

I am trying to make it easy for Alpine to get his head around it Dune. But it is that simple isn't it? For all of the column inches in the Mail, or here, we just spout opinions. What do they matter? What will be will be.

Whatever The Mail says, Cortese will ultimately succeed or fail. If he succeeds no one here will care if he is a "buffoon" or not. If he fails he will get the usual grief from the disgrunted fan base and Samuel will no doubt be saying, "I told you so." Time will tell.

Because I don't? Can you grasp that simple concept? Do you know exactly what went on with Sturrock? Even he seemed to admit that he should go. Feel free to tell us about all of the times he came out in print and slagged off (or failed to support) his managers. If money guarantees success why haven't teams like Tottenham won anything for ages? They have spent a fortune. How much have Man City spent this season? Hardly Barcelona are they? How much did Roy Keane spend at Ipswich earlier this season? £8m. Where are they? It is not how much you spend, it is who you buy. As I keep trying to get through to you, our best players over the years have not been our most expensive. Doesn't that say anything to you? Probably not because you just seem hung up on cash. You like Cortese because he is the same kind kind of knee jerk reactionary that you are. No doubt he went to the same charm school too. Perhaps you woul like to tell us exactly how much it costs to get promotion from Div 3? Then all we have to do is to tell Mr Cortese what he needs to fork out to guarantee automatic promotion next season.

"The passengers are paying for the Management machismo" Who exactly have withdrawn their labour? The Management? The business is there to make money. By making money they can pass some of that on to their staff. If their staff do not work the business does not make money. They will not be able to pay their staff. They will lose business and will need less staff. Dos this really mean anything to the Unite Top Dogs who have a political agenda? Doubtful.

Precious little support either. I agree that calling him a buffoon was a bit strong, but then we have had CEOs who have been called far worse!

I don't think I have ever heard him saying anything complementary about Pardew and our season. Let's face it, it has been our best season for years. Yes of course any team can always do better and I am sure every one of us who would rather be higher up the league, but there is no corrrelation between spending money and a higher league place and that is what NC doesn't seem to grasp. It is going to take time and he would do well to back his manager in public, even if he might have words behind closed doors. For all of LOwe's faluts he did not hang his managers out to dry (and he had a few!). He took te attitude that it was better that people had a pop at him and left the manager alone. I get the impression with Nicola in that he is making damn sure from day 1 that no flak goes his way!

I think he got the essence just right. It is the about the money. We were on our knees and Pardew is rebuidling. If you look at the stats we have had a good season so far given the starting point but no mention of that at all by Cortese. Cortese speaks like the sort o disgruntled fan on a website who thinks that because he spend some cash you should automatically win matches. As we all know, it doesn't actually work like that. Fair play to Samuel for backing up Pardew. Something that his boss seems unable to bring himself to do.

For Christ sake just move on and enjoy the season can't you??? The past is just that, past. Several people conspired to leave us in this mess but they are no longer here. We won again. And were are going to Wembley on Sunday. Enjoy!

That sounded very tongue in cheek to me!

He actually writes in praise of Pardew and our season so far doesn't he?

Doesn't seem unreasonable at all. Pardew has done a good job so far and Cortese doesn't see that. Cortese, like Lowe, is not a football man and speaks like a businessman expecting an instant return on his investment. That is his right of course but really he should shut up, stay in the background and support his manager. Good article from someone I don't usually care to read.

Its is like a time warp back to the 70's. Unite have obviously learnt nohting from the coal miners and print unions (where are they now?). BA are out to win at all costs and they will. It is chilling to hear Unite officials crow about how much this strike is costing BA. Where do they think this money will come from? Yep, more cuts to staff and wages. It is very sad to see so many people put their faith into a bunch of dinosaurs. The days when the Union Barons called the shots died out years ago.

Next season we will start with the same points total as everyone else. We shall (hopefully) have a stable management structure and team which, again hopefully, will be strengthened in the summer. We shal be more savvy of this division and well prepared for the campain. All of these were not true going into this season. No matter what happens for the remaining games we have had the best season in years. The club is looking forwards with optimisim. Why some people are still not satisfied with our progress beggers belief.