dmayne7

Some people saying it could be a long contract with a shorter notice/payout period which is true. But if that's the case, that would also work the other way round and therefore even if he had 4 years on his deal, the compensation would cover the same period (12 months for example). Would be very unusual to have that weighted all in the employers favour and even moreso when you're trying to convince a manager to take the job

Obviously results were but I also think people forget this. We played lots of good football, maybe only lost by more than 2 goals once? We just made mistakes at both ends of the pitch. We got a bit of luck thanks to that goal from Andy King and that was it. Claudio was a perfect storm. Wouldn't have won it with Pearson but equally I think we'd have established ourselves as a top 10 PL side and probably best of the rest under him

He was but our classically crap development planning has completely stifled him.

Not invested in this at all. Too many narrative changes to pin your hopes on one guy so I'd rather save any enthusiasm (or anger) for when it's been confirmed or at least unofficially confirmed. Because of our situation, as long as the appointment isn't completely uninspiring, I don't think the manager is going to give us a huge seesaw change in expectations, unlike if you're mid table and the appointment affects the hope for challenging for Europe, or being in a relegation scrap.

Bang on with everything here mate. I used to slam Pep's football but it's not half as structured or slow as it used to be. Not unusual to see Ederson launch it forward to mix it up. I don't think any rational fan expects their team to be full throttle for 90 mins but if you took Enzo's style, it needed to be playing at a really high tempo for 10 mins, then taking a breather for 5. That would have made a massive difference to the enjoyment for lots of people. Hearing him refer to football as a game of chess is so stupid; it's only that if you complicate the life out of it.

Nuance is key but if you're talking about the tiki taka being possession above all else (which it isn't) Vs direct (which doesn't mean route one either), then it's direct every time. Even at their extremes, what would you rather; passing it about sideways for 5 mins or launching the ball into the box when you need a goal? Some of the best football we played was probably under Pearson in terms of entertainment because it had a bit of everything. I suppose playing with conviction and a positive mindset is above everything else.

https://x.com/Xbox/status/1799869701704892823 The Xbox showcase was a joke... And not in a bad way for once! So many big games or returning franchises showed off. Only thing was a lack of actual gameplay but that makes sense just because of the quantity of games they showed. Miles ahead of anything Playstation have done for a while. Only need another 5 of these and they might actually be able to compete

Of which there basically isn't any. I'd say the recent evidence would clearly suggest he's not capable of being a squad player at this level so if the need is for somebody on a free, why not just go and pursue somebody else. A younger player would be a more calculated risk in both financial and playing terms. You're basically suggesting we've been held to ransom by Jannik Vestergaard and no matter how bad our situation is, anyone with vague competence wouldn't allow that to happen.

One of the better players in that system. If he's not in the same role, his effectiveness will diminish massively. Like many, I have major reservations he'll be up to it this year, especially with Enzo gone but I think it made a lot of sense to keep him for a year so no problem with that. But 3 years?! There's no sense in that. If we go back down, you shop for somebody appropriate for that market, in which case you could get plenty of players for the fees you've quoted and probably less on wages. It makes so much more sense to take a punt on a younger player because they only have to be half decent to be a far better financial investment. I'm sorry, there's no way you can spin a 3 year deal for a soon to be 32 year old who was beyond awful when he last played in the prem, as 'understandable'. Making that decision without a manager is crazy and also shows that JV is far more bothered about the money than anything else (as he's proven before).

If he's halved his wages then that's fair enough but if he's taken a big cut, he could still be on £60k or something silly. It's a 31 year that has massively struggled in this division in the past, so it's most likely a crap deal

I know it's one player but it shows in a nutshell why they need to go. 3 years for a guy who's clearly not worth it (debate if 1 year is even worth it) and more crazily, done when there's no new manager in post. Gross mismanagement

Which England player is that? The only one I can think of has actually handled it pretty well and admitted their form wasn't good enough...?

The integration point is fair but he had some very good games and some not great games, certainly not one of the worst performers. As for the attitude, he was about one of the only ones who understood the situation and was actually up for the fight. He had just turned 20 years old making a massive step up the PL, joining our shambolic situation so I'm not sure you can expect much from a young defender in that situation. If we move away from inverted full backs, I hope he's brought back into the squad unless we can make a big profit (which wouldn't be in this year's accounts anyway)

Would assume it's 30th June or whenever the loan expires. Generally how it works

The point was you described what is objectively, a good achievement (much better really) and said it was bang average. That's nonsense. But if you get into the context of it, he kept Forest up when they were a complete s*** show and from a promotion they were completely unprepared for. Constantly had job uncertainty when he was there. I completely understand why people don't want him or aren't very enthusiastic about it (me included) but why does everyone have to try and peddle a narrative on one end of the extreme, as though it's fact?

Ignoring the context of the money spent, how an earth is taking a team from the bottom to promotion, in a matter of months 'bang average'?

Do we need to get you some help buddy?

Form has been nowhere near the last couple of years for us. You can't objectively say it was fair when you look who was picked ahead of him for the squads back then. Injury and a dip in form means it's probably fair enough but it totally depends who else makes the cut. Will no doubt be somebody less deserving. More versatile than given credit for as well

Something seriously wrong with anyone who prefers a hard boiled egg compared to a runny yolk.

Ancelotti has basically said he has no set philosophy, or at least he's not wedded to one style of plan. That's probably why he's the most successful manager in Champions League history because he prioritises adaptability above all else. Having a broad philosophy is great as long as you can adapt and make compromises otherwise it's just predictable and will lock you out of success in certain scenarios.

Yeah but you can't get angry about other people's not using facts and then bring your own opinions and biases into an argument that you're claiming is a breakdown of facts

A good post as you're right that they have done enough good to give them the chance to turn it around. I think it was just the spectacular nature of the relegation and slow dismantling of everything good we had done that was so infuriating. The ownership massively culpable for that and it was utterly bizarre to be breaking those things apart. The unforgivable are basically what you have highlighted at the end: - Rudkin was probably fairly logical at first for a bit of inside club knowledge and continuity but how he survived after the Adrian Silva debacle and several other things since is disgraceful. Callous that they binned off Sadler and Stowell (who give you that continuity with minimal interference, especially important in situations like now, i.e. no manager) but Rudkin survived. Others have mentioned it but KP have enough other interests that they could easily move him on to something else if they really don't want to get rid of him. - The commerciality has been pathetic. Felt it at the time but looking back it was absolutely shocking how little we capitalised on the title win. Not saying we'd have been able to get Man United levels of sponsorship but they could have got short term sponsorship, at a premium, during the run in and then surely much bigger deals the next year. I get wanting the KP brand exposure but there were so many avenues to increase revenue. The fact we were so low on the sponsorship for many years, against similar sized clubs (and probably lesser given recent history) was an abject failure. That held us back so much. On top of that, the decision to prioritise the training ground over the stadium was also incredibly short sighted. The stadium development equals more revenue, does more to raise the profile of the club etc. And this is without even mentioning the contracts, fees paid for squad players, letting players go free etc. The fact we are behind a club like Palace (whom we're definitely much bigger than) shows how badly they have messed up. Sadly, we've seen little sign of them actually willing take accountability and give us an action plan of how things are going to be sustainable going forward.

Was very close to my childhood neighbours (in Gillingham) and some of the little things he did for them were absolutely class. He'd lived with them when he played for Gillingham as my neighbour was a coach there, and the guy who picked him out (Micky Adams also lived with them when he played for Gills for a while). Always came back to visit. When I met him once at a party (was probably 14) he was such a nice guy and had some banter with me as we'd just played Birmingham that day and I think Elvis Hammond scored . Said it so many times on here but he rated Muzzy Izzet as one of the absolute best he ever worked with or played with which is some going. He was a really good manager but the game has moved on from guys like him and he's just become tainted unfortunately for him.

We've really declined if that's who we'd be after. Did pretty well at Wednesday but a 4th place finish at Braga is par for the course. Way behind the top 3 in terms of budget but then there's a huge gap between Braga and the rest. It's very much a top 4 there of which they're slightly on the outside. Had a decent career but with all the younger managers out there, he'd be a dreadful choice.

The one after we thrashed them was a a cracker. Absolutely delusional about his side's performance in the first half and then had a total meltdown. He's so overly emotional and not in a fiery way but he speaks with no composure and comes off like a whiny little child