mrfahaji

As much as your post is at least a tiny bit tongue-in-cheek, it is a legitimate reason for getting in behind and whipping the ball across goal, and one of the reasons many have been calling out for Tadic on the left.

No he isn't, he's always been terrible in the air and had suspect positioning.

Pretty much how I feel.

Would it be possible to be undeserving of your position based on results? Seeing as it's exactly your results which determine your position...

I do understand the view of some that the atmosphere a protest creates doesn't help the team. But it does also feel like these suggestions are acts of desperation from fans who can see their club being relegated - something which should have been totally avoidable - rather than a disgruntled minority who can't understand why we're not challenging for the title. A lot of people have been thinking "the board will act soon, how can they not? There's no need for the supporters to start kicking up a fuss, because he will be sacked anyway." And this has gone on for weeks, all the time we are playing matches and dropping more points. At what stage do the supporters say "ok, enough is enough"? No-one wants to reduce our chances of winning a game when points are at a premium this season, but given we're not likely to beat Spurs anyway, maybe it's a more acceptable game to risk (rather than, say, home to Brighton). And crucially, there isn't any time to lose now.

That just sounds like we should be ok with relegation because at least another group of fans somewhere get to celebrate staying up. I think a lot of people would have 'been ok' (as much as possible) had we been relegated in our first season back up, because we expected to struggle, as all promoted teams do. But after our recent success it is pretty unforgivable that the board have allowed us, whether through poor player or manager recruitment, to crumble to this situation.

That's one of the worst things about this season - one of the best kits we've had in years is going to be associated with relegation :-(

Ok, so van Dijk was injured the second half of last season. Rodriguez was sh1te. I'll give you Davis, but would rather Lemina over him in any case.

How is it worse? I don't think we've lost anyone since then have we? van Dijk was injured, and he's the only one I think makes a big difference (i.e. him at his best vs him going through the motions). In addition, Austin has been fit (for some of the season at least), Boufal has been fully fit, and we signed Lemina and Hoedt.

Yes, hence why I put 'overpaid' in inverted commas.

All three have at some point demonstrated they have class. Some people would argue that when they play they look like our best players. Lemina certainly, Boufal occasionally, Gabbiadini historically. I'm therefore not sure they can be labelled poor signings.

Correct. I believe it was Hull who 'overpaid' for him in January, only to sell him to us for double the price 6 months later!

It's a fair question, not one I have the answer to tbh. I do also feel that we were playing a lot more cautiously then too, but that then leads to a chicken-and-egg scenario. Maybe Gabbiadini's low-key performances were stifling our play, rather than the other way round. But what I am sure about is that he is capable of being class. In the same way that Hojbjerg and Lemina both showed when they arrived, yet Redmond and Ward-Prowse have never quite managed (even though both have showed signs of potential).

Lemina is quite clearly good enough. He's either not playing because he's not fit or because the manager's an idiot. (Or potentially a third option about not being motivated, not trying etc. Something which again is surely down to the manager).

Even though I don't necessarily disagree with the sentiment, I couldn't give a t0ss how the watching nation, pundits & sky think about anything if something is in the best interests of our club.

By now there are probably all sorts of motivational/effort/fall out reasons in the mix too, but I think the main reason Gabbiadini has fallen out of favour is that Pellegrino has a set way of playing, and it doesn't work for Gabbiadini playing up front on his own. I would rather a manager looked at the players and figured out a way of playing to get the best out of them - particularly the strikers - but that looks like a pipe dream with the Pelican in charge.

A bit harsh, but I agree I'd rather play for Allardyce than Pellegrino too.

I'm not a Les Reed fan by any stretch, but I'm not sure about some of these criticisms. 1. Are you saying we should be selling our players more often? The model works but at some point you need to hold a group (or the majority of it) together if you're ever going to improve. Maybe that's what we tried to do. Plus, the signings of Hojbjerg and Boufal last year, and Lemina and Hoedt this season demonstrate that players still see (or saw) us as that stepping stone club. 2. I think the long term contracts was about maximising their sale value to be honest. It's generally a good idea. The contract to Forster was bewildering though. 3. Part of the problem of Koeman not signing a new deal would be his motivation, and more importantly the motivation of the players when they knew Koeman was going to leave at the end of the season. Whatever happened since, it's understandable that they didn't want 2 good years under RK to tail off. 4. Agree but not sure quite how much impact that has had. 5. Agree, but there did appear to be some sense in picking Puel. He at least did do some positive things, more in line with the business model the fans understood (even if they didn't agree), i.e. more possession, giving young players an opportunity. 6. Agree to an extent. Even Redmond would still be worth a decent sum (double his cost?) if he maintained last season's form (which was only occasionally decent). I thought Lemina was exactly the player we needed at the time, and he is clearly quality. Just because Hojbjerg is now playing well doesn't change that. I can't think of many signings that didn't meet a need, it's just that certain things have been overlooked - in my mind the lack of pace is one glaring feature of our squad. 7. I don't really have enough evidence to comment on this, though agree on Forster and fitness. Is it not the manager's decision to train harder/longer though? 8 - 10. Agree, and would add that the amount of bullsh1t they've put out to the press in previous years suggests that they have an inflated opinion of themselves. Reed thinks he is a football guru but I think it's more that he has done some good things and been fortunate with others. To me Les Reed is the kid at school who gets Bs and Cs, but in one piece of work gets an A* and praise from the teacher. Because of that he lords it over everyone else and thinks he doesn't need to work for the rest of term. Then he fails the year-end exam and doesn't understand it.

It was only 0-5, and we had reached Wembley a few days before. Not sure where the consolation is coming from this time round.

that is also true!

If we agree that these three players are good enough to be starting (I think they are), then we have to acknowledge that it was the board/blackbox/scouts who identified them. It's the manager's decision not to play them. Either because he can't see their ability, can't figure out where to play them or how to play to their strengths, or because he can't get the best out of them. But, ultimately it IS the fault of the board that they appointed the wrong man and after 6 excruciating months are still too stubborn to make a change.

I felt I ought to include an emoticon in case people thought I was serious...

Yes, if you give the benefit of the doubt. I was prepared to believe that with Pelle, for example. And Boufal. But I'm less convinced on this one. And more to the point, as I don't think Pellegrino is fit for purpose, I'm not sure we should pandering to his needs in the transfer market anyway.

They will probably be sold because Pellegrino doesn't rate them, while the black box miraculously finds an ex-Alaves, ex-Estudiantes and ex-Valencia player to replace them with.

Are you a season ticket holder?