doubledeckerderek

Not a crazy stat at all when you think about what’s going on at our club at the moment, but just let this sink in (it’s quite a stat)… In 136 years of football league history since 1888 (12 teams for 4 years, 28 teams for 23 years, 66 teams for 24 years, and 92 teams for 74 years - not including this season which is all but finished, [when it is it’ll add another 92 teams to the equation] - and after adjusting for WW1 and WW2) 9084 teams have played in the EFL/EPL. Until now, none have lost 8 consecutive home games without scoring. 😡😡😡

It’s over 60 years since I went to my first game, and this is definitely the worst.

Walked out when Bilal was hooked against Fulham, and won’t be going again until Rudkin and co leave the club. Will renew my ticket in the summer (which will be my 36th consecutive year as a STH, and my 50th season ticket since my first game in September 1964) but the seat will remain empty as a silent protest. This is every bit as bad as the McLintock season, and the Hamilton/Pleat years. I’m still open-minded about RVN, because he’s walked into a 5hit-storm with no resources to change it, and I’ll reserve final judgment and see what he can do with a close season, some fresh blood, and a new coaching team around him. In any case, no point changing the manager when the absolute melt Rudkin is still involved in the recruitment. Have been in the careful-watch-you-wish-for camp as regards the owners, though I think I’m about ready to welcome a throw of the dice. If the family don’t sell, at a minimum Top needs to clear the decks at Board and senior management level and recruit competent replacements in all key roles, and step away from any operational influence (because he appears to know **** all about how to run a football club). Traditionally, football club owners had 2 main jobs (a) to provide a solid financial base (Top and the family still need to do that) and (b) pick good managers. In the EPL that now means having the best people infrastructure, with experts in the various roles rather than simply those who’ve hung around for years, headed by a DoF who knows what they’re doing. We’ve never had one.

PL prize money is worth 1.7m a place. Would another manager who we could realistically attract get us 5 places higher than Cooper? I think they would. That’s gives us £8.5m to sack him and his coaches which should be enough, unless their contracts are all Rudkin-specials. Trouble is, those contracts probably are ☹️

Spot on. I cba to re-post it here but I said something similar in the “How do you feel about Cooper” thread

Yes; on that scenario the blame should fall on those above him running the club because but for them, he would have achieved his main objective. You’d like to think that in that situation Top would finally give Rudkin the boot, if only because he’d want to make him a scapegoat rather than taking any personal responsibility for continuing to pi55 his Dad’s legacy up the wall.

24 hours on from the news breaking, I’m over my initial underwhelmed feeling and I’m ready to get behind the manager and give him a fair chance to prove himself. SC will be the 30th permanent manager we’ve had since I’ve been supporting us. Other than the outliers who were either really good and transformed us when we most needed them (Bloomfield, Jock, Little, MON, NFP) or were really bad and seriously set us back (McLintoch, Taylor, Holloway) I’ve always thought managers get too much abuse when things go badly and too much credit when they go well. This will probably be no different. He’s got a good reputation as a man-manager, and team-builder, and his coaching and tactical skills were good enough for LFC and the FA (where he succeeded in both jobs) so comparisons with his stats at Forest are pretty meaningless. Different context, different time, different players. As for the concern that his appointment doesn’t fit with the Chairman’s view of how he wants us to play, we all think the Chairman is an idiot and out of his depth, so what’s wrong with that?

https://football-italia.net/italian-newspaper-blames-leicester-city-for-collapsed-sensi-transfer/ This is an interesting take on why the Sensi deal didn’t go through. If, in addition to the probable incompetence, there was any dragging of our heels because Rudkin and others weren’t convinced with Maresca’s choice, we must enjoy him while we can because he’ll be off to bigger and better (particularly better-well-run) things in the Summer.

I want our club back. Beats even 2002/03 as the most unnecessary relegation ever. We’re clogs to clogs in 2 generations rather than the usual 3. Rodgers is an absolute c***t but this is all on the people above him.

I’m ok with that. For some reason I think we’ll win. Just needed to avoid both Mancs

Thanks all. All sorted now. We’re on our way…..

Bought tickets online for me and my mate whose supporter number is linked to mine. An email from [email protected] attaching my ticket has come through (eventually) but neither of us have had an email attaching his ticket. We fly to Rome tomorrow. I've emailed the club and will begin the usual vain attempt to telephone the ticket office tomorrow, but we know how that ends. Anyone else having similar problems?

I’m done with Rogers. He may improve some players with coaching away from game time (though some are going backwards e.g Soyuncu) but so much is going wrong in the aspects of the role that are directly the manager’s responsibility (organisation, motivation, in game changes). He’s just a highly paid first team coach.

Really poor from Marriner. Turned his back on the action and was starting to whistle looking into the stands. The ref has got to be looking at where the ball is at all times

Can’t go into the detail of why I saw both sides of the schism but objectively speaking (difficult after 57 years of obsession about and rapid support of our club) “The Gang of Four” were a class act compared to the other side of that dispute, as proved by what followed.

Just ridiculous

Look on the bright side. The last time we ended their 63 game unbeaten home record, we gifted them the lead with an o.g

I thought BR sounded a bit unconvincing and vague when he said Wes would be back in training in the next few weeks and Benkovic this week. His answers could have been more directed towards Juve than the twats at Sky

That’ll do. Shame about the late drama at villa park and the oil stadium would have settled for that on Friday

Putting the emotion aside, as referees are supposed to, again shows what a rubbish referee Atkinson is. Not sure it was even a yellow. But horrible accident. Similar to the David Busst injury. Also shows what absolutely classless/we’re victims wankers everyone from Liverpool (ok- slight exaggeration) are. All the boo-ing from the Gladys St end. Melts...

Thanks and thanks to @Renart for organising again. Having an interest in the other results helped keep at bay the anger at some of ours these last 4 months. I’m working on my winner’s speech. Should bring it in within the 500mb limit

It’d be good if you could publish the final main table. Just saying like....?

I got off the Puel bus after the Southampton game. I think the owners are likely to be reaching for the get rid button because if the PR and news articles at the time of his appointment are to be believed, he got the gig because he persuaded them that he could get so much more out of these players, and impressed them with his knowledge of the squad. If his pitch to them had been that he’d need to completely change the tactics, bin most of the current squad because they can’t play to his style, and would need a huge transfer budget (at least by our standards) to bring in players who could, all in order to improve marginally on last season’s final position, I doubt he would have got the job in the first place. That all said, I’m glad I don’t have to make the decision because there’s no obvious replacement who is available and/or who would be likely to come. Worrying times.

Played with 10 men. Never want to see James start again. Apart from the header which hit the post near the end, he wasn’t mentioned in commentary for the last 30 minutes