indierich06

"The application of not losing" could be the name of Cooper's managerial handbook. His first thought is never 'how do we win?' it's always 'how do we avoid losing?' - which explains his desire for 'experienced' players, his negative formations, his overly conservative game management, his negative substitutions. Palace was a prime example - they're piling forward and Steve's not thinking about how we play our way back into the game, he's thinking how do we soak up their pressure more - he brings on Coady and the rest is history. But hey, we didn't lose.

He just never got a sniff because Kasper played basically every single game during his time here, meanwhile he's sitting on a bench doing **** all - you don't play games, you lose that match sharpness. He went from not playing regular football for a couple of years to being expected to get up to speed over a summer break. Nonsense decision not to replace Kasper after he went.

Rudkin and basic competence don't mix unfortunately.

I do really feel for the bloke, because every time he comes out in an interview I think 'he sounds genuine, he wants to succeed - he seems to actually care'. You never hear him ducking, or making excuses, and he fronted up to the crowd's displeasure last night - it would have been easy to just throw out a bunch of excuses. But at the same time, it's just not working - and as nice a man as he seems to be, I can't see where this upturn in performances and results are going to come from.

I don't think he'd come, but Fabregas would be an interesting appointment, clearly has a tactical idea:

The only thing they will look at is the table, which says we're 15th and performing better than 5 other teams - they won't bother assessing performance or long term prospects, or fan opinion. All they care about is taking credit for the good, and shirking responsibility for the bad - so they'll all be sitting up in the boardroom convincing themselves that Steve's doing a good job, the fans are wrong and what a great appointment they've made. I firmly think Cooper is the wrong man, but I almost think what's the point in sacking him when you've got these absolutely inept, clueless morons running the club? A director of football who is a genuine idiot and a yes man, a CEO who has overseen business decisions that would have lead us to massive points deductions if not for a technicality, and an owner who is at best out of his depth, and at worst disinterested and incompetent. They've made some absolutely honking appointments, and this is one of the worst - they'd probably sack Cooper and spend a month trying to brig Graham Potter in again, before turning to Steve ****ing Bruce or someone like that. I can almost see the logic in appointing Cooper over Corberan if you're worried about how much you'll be able to reinforce the squad - it wouldn't just be £2m in compensation, it would be the fees for his staff too, and a manager can't be seen as an 'asset' in the same way as a player can... But then they go and spunk all that cash up the wall on a bunch of washed up PL journeymen who are holding back the younger and more talented members of the squad and offering nothing on the pitch.

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Reckon he will go with Skipp, Winks and Ndidi in MF again. Buonanotte and BEK on the bench. Probably one of Ayew or DCR benches Mavididi.

Oh yeah I agree entirely, they're all bastards.

It's generally overseas that the really bad stuff happens - in countries where it's easier for them to get away with it. By no means am I saying this is just Pepsico either, it's Coke, it's Nestle, it's most multinationals. Union busting: https://www.just-drinks.com/news/us-teamsters-unions-accuse-pepsico-of-unfair-labour-practices/ https://www.equaltimes.org/162-pepsico-india-contractors-sacked-for-forming-a-union Palm oil: https://www.thebureauinvestigates.com/stories/2024-04-18/snack-giant-pepsico-sourced-palm-oil-from-razed-indigenous-land There's plenty of stuff all over google if you search it. But we're getting off track - I think any companies that can afford to sponsor a PL club likely have unethical business practices at best.

It's swings and roundabouts, these gambling lot are obviously horrible dirty bastards, but the likes of Pepsico and Coca-Cola commit human rights violations, they're responsible for an astronomical amount of plastic waste, they're destroying the rainforests for palm oil, they employ trade union busters - and that's just scratching the surface.

Commercially this BC.GAME deal obviously makes more sense - they're obviously paying more. I would have preferred a Walkers sponsorship, but lets not kid ourselves that the likes of Pepsico aren't complete bastards too.

I think even considering all of this, most of us would rather have stayed up, taken a points deduction, and hopefully held on to our better players and the revenue that comes from being in the Premier League. We've certainly got away with one here, but I'd say the outcome of relegation has damaged us far more than a season in the PL with a points deduction would have. I'd be applauding this decision even if it wasn't us - these PSR rules are an absolute nonsense, and it's clear they're not applied fairly or reasonably. Rulings like this show just how little thought has gone into their development and application.

The real crime will be if we're denied a chance to make a chant about Monga to the song Conga.

Expert punditry. Buon and BEK both on the bench!

Do you genuinely think this side hits anything like 40pts? I think even without the points deduction I'd back us to go straight down.

Edouard has a better record in the PL tbf.

Oh **** got beaten to it

My captors are treating me well. All glory to the caliphate.

You have to laugh

Actually rate this signing. Think he's better than he's shown at Palace, and our football might suit him a bit better.

I'm still angry about him claiming we were in for Madueke a few years back

Sorry, never heard of Jordan Ayew. In unrelated news, I lobotomised myself with a hammer last week.

I know Percy has reported it too, but has Nixon EVER said anything about us that's turned out to be correct?