Guy

Indeed, it seems to have coincided with our complete drop off in form...

Amazing how we crept into 6th and the play offs on the final day really for the Watford play off drama semis that ended sourly of course! I think we were top in January still too!

He ended up in non league surprisingly soon after this 2013 period after going onto have some time at one or two other clubs : Millwall, Blackburn and Wolves included I think. A bit of a short lived journeyman I guess!

As others have remarked then what a bench! Kane (Daka-esque crap at the time though!), Vardy, Drinkwater, Ben Marshall, not so much Conrad Logan though!

He's probably paid too much per week to give a shit for any of that sadly!

I think it's a tad naive to be "pint half full" after that display and in turn just write QPR off as a bogey team regardless! Yes, it's still very close down there but 'F' me, losing 7-2 on aggregate to a mediocre Champ. team like QPR (who also won at KP when Enzo was here two seasons ago lest we forget), is embarrassing - yet deserved this season! Scarily bad display after such a good one in relative terms v Bristol on Tuesday.

When Enzo was last here I think!

At least no Marti in the dugout this time doing his old team a favour!

Yep, LCFC - the gift that keeps on giving!

Cooper Blooper signed those players thinking he was here for the long haul too I think (3 years or so possibly), naively thinking he was buying a prime Ayew, BDCR for their experience to keep us up - and a 'huge potential' Skipp who we paid about four times his actual worth for, makes you wonder what he and the recruitment team after Enzo left were on!

In all honesty it's only the points deduction that's since put us where we are, in a real relegation scrap - and I think that has also had a detrimental affect on the players' collective confidence unfortunately, as much as Rowett has played any of that down while claiming that the team aren't concerned about that, "it's out of their hands", etc! Looking ahead as well as back then it's sad to think that you felt people were doom merchants when predicting mid table mediocrty for this season and a rebuild and the fact that now if we were offered fourth from bottom we'd happily take it! Dear oh!

As others have said the only let off was the fact that Pompey and Blackburn both lost, while we could do with Oxford and WBA drawing obviously....

Surprised they sold Sargent to Toronto, probably got home sick!

To me this changeover kind of feels like when Shakey took over a "second season syndrome" Ranieri : re getting back to basics - and around this same crucial time of the season. Had we persisted with Marti I think we'd gave gone down this season, likewise had we done so with Ranieri 9 years ago....albeit in different divisions of course.

Yes, one half decent season under Enzo in the Championship (in a better team than we have now obviously) and that's about all we've seen from him, with his chipping in with the odd goal here and there, Ayew style!

Horrible to conceed at the death when we did but swings and roundabouts as we've scored a few late ones ourselves to deny the opposition in the days when we weren't losing every game - but we needed that win really, draws in our predicament aren't great. That said hopefully the much improved second half under Rowett will give the lads some collective confidence back as a team rather than the late goal knocking the confidence out of them. Here's hoping - and hopefully it's not the hope that kills us! Crucial game next up v Canaries of course.

Lol!

One of the much maligned Peter Taylor's better signings of his inaugural season IF he gets the job - who'd have thunk it?!

Yes, echoes of us I guess three years ago re Stowell/Sadler for those two games instead of Dean Smith sooner!!

Definitely better and more suited to the role than 'Interim King'.....although the proof will be in the pudding as he didn't keep Brum up two seasons ago of course....

Indeed, very true. I think both Rodgers and Ranieri were 'found out' when it came to both making their own player signings and some staff choices, etc as you say, Rodgers in particular. Both regimes were very culpable re their mostly bad signings a short period after success when given cash to splash about, sadly on both occasions most of it was on utter dross as we all know. Ranieri to his credit added the magic dust sprinkling to enable the Premier League title win though whereas Rodgers rode on the coattails of the Puel era's great recruitment as regards players.

I think the post was meaning we'd never have won the FA Cup that year had Covid restrictions not been on going and in turn normal crowds had been present in the grounds....somewhat I concur with that as that altered the atmosphere entirely and probably the teams too. I know it was the same for all the teams but every game must have been like a training session in front of the cameras for the players who weren't subjected to the artificial crowd noise like we were on the box at home! Somehow I think all that worked in our favour for that one off occasion. As for the defence of it less than a year later at Steve Cooper's Forest under Rodgers - er, no comment!!

Indeed, Puel and his scout's recruitment was pretty sharp - which set it up for Rodgers to follow on successfully for two seasons of course...something which made him look better than he actually was as a manager. The same as Ranieri after Pearson ... arguably!

It didn't do the Blades any harm mind!

I thought so - Puel debatable to some (he was just not popular I think), as was the start O'Neill got off to but overall great! Gordon Milne's disastrous start to 1983-84 had some calling for his head too from memory!