dmayne7

Stansfield? The guy who ran straight past him to score

Oh look, Harry Winks not tracking his man

Daka's pressing caused an injury

What do you actually expect? I don't think he's the answer either but he's been handed more than just a bad hand. The application/pressing has been way beyond anything we've seen this season but obviously we can't do that now and we'll have to sit in and accept our fate.

That's not a red Bloody stupid though so he can't really complain

Yes but look how much better the pressing is when he's playing. Obviously I'd prefer a striker who can actually score

That goal comes from pressing as a team (led by Daka)

Bloody hell. That take was unbelievable. We've actually showed way more intent

So it's not his fault so far then. Thanks

Not at all. Wasn't like he had a chance to shoot earlier, he genuinely had 3/4 better moments than the one he choose

How is this his fault? Genuinely curious?

That was Mavididi's fault. Had so many chances to shoot

Mavididi can feck off. Had about 4 chances to shoot before he actually did

That was a pen, soft as it was

And a booking for that? This has got disaster written all over it

Jesus. That's one of the worst mistakes we've seen for a while (and plenty of competition)

Unfortunately yes. So another failing of the club, and in that context, King's shaken it up a lot

Nobody has forgotten but what Daka does at least offer is the ability to stretch the pitch and pin the opposition back a little. Without checking, it feels like some of the more promising displays have been with him up top. Better than Ayew and BDR sitting on top of each other for 70 mins (though some people might be into that)

No we didn't? He described Richards as a winger

Yeah, definitely should have picked Ayew

Probably because he's paid vastly over what he should be and is absolutely bulletproof. Even if he was amazing, why an earth would you ever leave a job like that?

Those things aren't too mutually exclusive are they? Of course we should have sacked him sooner and that may (probably would) have alleviated the issues but we probably also would have needed some players coming in to freshen things up, especially since a big chunk were leaving on a free 6 months later. My point is that when we were in that situation, it was understandable they saw that as a calculated risk. Can you imagine the reaction if we hadn't brought a single player in? And lest we forget that they wouldn't sack Rodgers because they couldn't afford to (supposedly). The financial damage was done long before then so I'm not excusing them for that but I think spending in Jan as an attempt to undo some of the damage was a fair response.

Unfortunately, there is a defence for that Jan window. We needed something to give us some impoteus to avoid the drop, and the general feeling in the footballing world at that point was to take the points hit and overspend as the sanctions were lighter. Obviously they didn't work out and just screwed us further. No excuse for what continued to follow. If you actually look back at the transfer spend, it's pretty comical/depressing that we were ever in the position where we could sell a player for £70m, barely reinvest, yet still be capable of failing the financial regulations. Buying the crap players for too much is annoying yes, but it's so far below the fact we never commercially capitalised on our change in stature/gave out mental contracts without any attempt to gain a sporting advantage.

I'm absolutely happy to put my hands up and say that I have thrown out the 'we don't know what he does line'. But not because I don't believe he is at best, way out of his depth, and at worst, incompetent and a poisonous influence. I've said that because: a) it highlights the sheer lack of accountability and transparency at this club that after a decade in post, we still actually don't know what he does. b) the only way Rudkin leaves (maybe this will change now but doubt it), is if Top leaves as he's not sacking his BFF. All these failings and he's still here. c) even if he goes, does anybody actually think Top is capable of getting somebody competent in, and somebody that will challenge him? d) what we can say with certainty, is that Top/the board are absolutely to blame, even if not fully. If for no other reason, they have kept Rudkin in post, but they have ultimate control over recruitment, budgets, sponsorship etc. So I've really challenged people to direct their ire at Top as he is the only person we 'know' he's cocked up, and we get real change when he's gone, not Rudkin Interestingly, to the point of not knowing Rudkin's role Top did actually allude to what he was responsible for in one of the interviews last week, and it was a frankly mental remit. Talked about being with the players, doing logistics, commercial things; a remit that even the most competent person would struggle with. Please don't take this as a defence of Rudkin, as I want him gone just as much as the next person and I find it implausible that he's not heavily responsible for these things, but it's become clear over time that the only change we get is when Top/KP clear off and I know with absolute certainty, he/they are to blame. There should still be pressure on Rudkin but I don't understand the people that blame Rudkin over Top. Doesn't make any sense.

Yes, we should never have been relegated with the squad we had which caused a snowball of our issues financially, but we'd have been punished for failing FFP/PSR if we had stayed up so why is that? I'd direct you back to the point I made at the start of this thread about the overspend on wages when there was no need. The opening line of that statement is absolutely spot on; it was not us flying too close to the sun, we simply paid crazy wages to players who'd never have demanded it, including the contracts handed out to existing players. Our net transfer spend would show you that we didn't show lots of ambition really. And even if you want to blame the players, then the board/ownership takes all subsequent blame. Why was Rodgers sacked so late (and straight after an international break) when he had been slagging off the board, fans and players for months? Why didn't they have somebody lined up to replace him? How did they let so many valuable players leave on frees? Why was there no clear strategy with player or manager recruitment last year/this year? Those are all massive factors in the continued financial decline of the club? Crazy to not see who the common denominator(s) is