foxile5

Broader problem to fix too. It's all well and good hiring and funding new teachers but what about the older, more experienced staff who are still paying off the frankly ridiculous costs of training to teach. They're going to need some kind of renumeration when it comes to retention. Otherwise there'll be tonnes of unrest as lots of new staff are paid into the profession whilst those training them are paying to be in it. It's not a quick solve and the issue of retention and recruitment has always ran deeper than 'get some more through the door'. There's a really bleak attitude towards teachers in the country and - the irony being - this is primarily held by the people who would most benefit from support. The sector of society without proper education in their history who have decided that qualifications mean nothing and you shouldn't listen to people who are - by every measure - more educated than you. Instead you call them arseholes on social media and encourage your children to dismiss what they have to say. These people need addressing at the root before any real improvement to the profession can be considered - the whole attitude towards education needs repositioning in the minds of society. It's why the current tory party haven't done anything to improve education - they don't want the workers educated. They want them squabbling between themselves whilst they tax them.

Unfortunately, the Premier League is absolutely ripe for this. In the nineties we opened the gates to fans from all over the world to feel part of the UK game. Sadly, in the 2000s we realised the true monetary value of these fans and began to start to tailor the game to maximise the income from Africa/China/South East Asia - third kits. Annual kit changes. International Memberships. Overseas TV deals etc. The natural step in this is to start taking the product to them in order to squeeze every last penny we can out of those markets. Yes you buy the kits. Yes you subscribe. But how much would you pay to SEE a Premier League game - don't worry about the costs of the flight and accomodation...we're bringing them to you and for much less than a holiday to the UK would cost. Within 5 years this is happening.

Piper might be. Owynn definitely isn't. He's still starry eyed at being allowed a bit of access at the club. They could serve him a turd, call it a meat-log and he'd eat it. Let's not pretend he's some kind of proper journalist.

Anyone had any success stories yet? If I remember rightly, last year they were emailing at something daft o'clock with the computer system not being able to hack it!

I've been pointing to the Americanization of football for years and people either a) don't want to listen or b) are in thrall to the idea of Americanization. It's been death by a thousand cuts. Little incremental changes and a show procession of ownership movements. Reynolds and McElheny at Wrexham has been particularly gauling. They've enough front to present 'we're in love with this' in a way that people lap up. Essentially, though, it's another football club that's Americanized. The game isn't ours anymore.

Surely he's there

Someone smells upcoming Premier League hospitality from the club...

And - although it pains me to say it - it's a decent type of ground. It's proper. Bit of history. Good for the supporters. Right on the banks of a river. It really is a top notch ground. I'd be wanting to develop the ground if at all possible.

Good luck to him if he can get a contract at Villa. I'd be absolutely staggered if he played anything more than a bit-part in lower cup games for them. He's not better than what they have and I'm not sure it would be worth them disrupting their forward line for someone who hasn't managed any more than a goal every 3/4 games for us.

Staggering that he's been here for so long without any real impact. Glad his wages are off the boards but frustrated that he's ran down a clearly way-too-lucrative contract. Money out the door. I like how he's frustrated at the lack of football. Just not so frustrated that he'll compromise his income a bit. Italian clubs are hardly going to pay him peanuts. Which is it that's important, Dennis? Football or mega, mega bucks?

Yeah - fully into it again. Great fun, isn't it?

It's like anything fun or good to watch. This would be EVEN BETTER WITH CELEBRITIES! Countdown - great game. Fun to watch. Better do it with celebrities. They're more important. They're better. Look, John Richardson is being silly about liking the game with a bit of anti-comedy. Masterchef - great idea. But surely celebrities can cook better than the normal folks. And they're just better. Because Tom Skinner says 'bosh' and 'laverly jaberly' and that's much better than a boring NORMAL person just doing their best. It's endemic and it's to feed the rampant egos of these people who just HAVE to be looked at and watched.

Think last season was 37. Only really leaves 38/9. Interesting to see what the retention is like after recent developments.

Where have you read this with reference to the late thirties for this season? It seems about right but I was wondering.

Hahaha thanks. It means a lot. I'm not bitter. Just never really warmed up to the fella. For the sake of balance - I enjoyed his friendship with Wilf.

Oh it's not selfishness at all. It's just the view that he believed himself to be much, much more important that he actually was to the club. He thinks we'll sit around naval gazing about the good times and was happy to promote this attitude when the whole stadium were thanking a striker who ACTUALLY was important. Imagine how you must perceive your own importance to be like that. It's nothing to do with him being selfish - which I think, like you, would have been a major benefit - but to do with the fact his own view of his virtues was entirely skewed. Ta-rah Kelechi. Cheers for the goals on the way to the FA cup.

See ya. In about five years I'll pop up on his Twitter to show him that t-shirt and remind him that his most successful time he ever had was at Leicester and that, perhaps, he should reflect on whom misses whom. Missed too many sitters. Looked half-arsed in most his matches. Had about 8 months of productivity where he looked like he could have a future he.

Get rid if he's got time on his contract. He'll try to walk it down and make the most of it so we need to capitalise on the asset. He was also woeful and I don't think he'll ever be up to the standard we should expect from a midfielder.

I've got no ****ing Clue man. I think the Rudkin comment was unprofessional and could have really compromised himself. I would not have said that. However, I'm not Jamie Vardy.

You’re enjoying just quoting posts, aren’t you? For Wilfred - goodbye and thanks. You were imperious, then brilliant, then useless, and finally useful again. It’s time to part. Thanks for the stoke goal and some really, really good tackles. All the best.

You’ve read me wrong, STUHILL, I’m afraid. I do have some opinions on the ownership of the club, and I’ll gladly share these with you but that wasn’t what I was thinking. I was more thinking about the departure of Vardy and Albrighton coupled with another promotion. When we went up under Pearson it was off the back of a good few seasons of relationship building. Instead of transient playing squads that included - but were not limited to - the likes of Stephen Hughes, Gareth Williams, Danny Tiatto, Peter Canero and so on we seemed to find ourselves with the generation of a spine. Instead of players just turning out and playing we had players COMMITTING. They wanted to be here and seemed to hold genuine affection for the club. This lead to a decade of recruitment and retention of a playing - and coaching - staff that seemed to buy into the values of the club and the community. We had some real success and the backdrop of this was players that seemed to love the club and enjoy playing for us. We built a culture and it was wonderful. It was like the O’Niell years but with even more success and better players. Saturday - and Sunday - saw, basically, the last vestiges of Vichai’s dream. Vardy and Albrighton look set to leave and we’re again promoted but this time set against a backdrop of unrest and dischord. The players, whilst some are likeable, don’t seem to be fully committed to us. We’ve got plenty walking out of the door as testament to that. Fatuwu and Winks are definitely exceptions though. It seems like the hierarchy of the club (and crucially I don’t mean Top here) aren’t aligned with the fans at all. It seems like we’ve made a retrograde step in terms of delivering football matches to something scripted and sanitised. In short, it seems like a culture shift has taken place and I feel distanced from it as a result. It might be I’m spoiled by the success of the past. It might be that I’m older and more disenfranchised because of it. But that’s how I see it. It’s a contrast. My thoughts on Top/Thai ownership I’ll post in the relevant thread. It seems weird and telling that you thought it was my intention.

This is unhinged.

Remember guys - we've got history and when he's gone you're gonna miss him. I think wearing that kind of ridiculous manifestation of hubris on the day the club potentially waves goodbye to two of its best ever and most loved players really sums him up. Dim beyond belief but totally convinced of his own importance.

I'm not going to advocate either way for their presence but I'll say that it's an indicator the club isn't a club anymore. It's an asset owned by an international businessman. Lots are nowadays. And some people don't mind that. If you're okay with us being owned by an international businessman and used in that way then you won't mind. If you prefer us as a community club you will.

I've got some thoughts on today and the last week. I'll try and collect them. But - to point at a theme... This was the end of something special. It's the start of something else and I don't whether or not that's something I'll love. But it's definitely the end of something today.