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The absolute rank hypocrisy of the Premier League bleating on about rules being applied in the way they are intended on THE SAME DAY they approve Chelsea's PSR calculations based on the sale of hotels to a sister company for £76.5m in order to avoid PSR sanctions! I'm not quite sure if it's all deliberate and the PL intend for the big clubs to be able to use loopholes and their networks to avoid sanctions, or there is just a total lack of self-awareness and intelligence in their statements and actions.

In our current position we would be daft to not re-sign anyone of Wilf's ability. So what if he's gone out to the market to see his worth? He's in the prime of his career. Anyone here would be mad not to seek out better jobs for them in the circumstances. It doesn't mean he won't be an important part of the team next season or that he won't care! If there's one thing you can't level at the bloke it's that he doesn't try or has an awful attitude. Yes, injuries and fitness may have hampered him in the past but he's been an important part of the club for a long time. I really think he could be a great asset in the way Cooper would like us to play and adds a bit of steel to Midfield we are lacking.

I'm pretty sure I remember reading that players' meetings were a regular occurrence during the Pearson era...

Sevilla, Everton, Man United 5-3, Liverpool at home in title win to name a few that come to mind...

The difference being we go 4 points clear with 2 to play whereas Arsenal put a bit more pressure on to go 2 points behind, ending up 10 behind by the end of the season!

Statue, stand, keys to the city. Give him everything. Just when you think he might be done and his legs are going he resurrects to go on a scoring run. Tonight his all round game was just phenomenal. We won’t see a striker like him grace this club again. One of a kind.

Enzo absolutely nailed that tonight. The way we pressed them and won the ball high up the pitch set the tone. They were turgid but partly because we did the above so well. We were a joy to watch. Get in!

I should have said my point was also considering the fact of our financial situation. No way we can just pick up Sara when we have such a loss deficit to balance up

Think it might be a bit early to write him off to be able to produce good numbers at PL level. Not sure he played the role he does for us now when we were up there. Will certainly be watching with intrigue as to who takes a punt on him. But I am probably with you in the fact his technical ability gives him a ceiling. In the right team and system he would be highly effective.

Szmodics hard done by there. Doing it in a team struggling in the league. Summerville benefitting from the Leeds love in it seems…

Not sure I agree with that at all but fair enough. I would be interested to know realistic players we would get in that would have the impact he has had this season. Like most of the team he has largely been missing the last 10 games but he has also still chipped in with crucial moments.

We will sorely struggle to replace him in the summer. Excellent player, great engine and will thrive in a mid-table prem team or higher.

Rutter!!! Very good player at the level but striker of the season!? The rest I can see. Shame our defence has absolutely bottled this half of the season because not long ago Vestergaard would have been a shoe in.

“Running out the same person”. As if he’s on a game by game contract and we have a ready made replacement who will win us the last few games rather than a manager who has worked with these players all season to largely impressive results. It’s not “hoping” ourselves over the line it’s working with what is realistic and possible. It’s a case of backing the team in the real circumstances of 4 games to play with everything to play for still and everything in our hands, not crying for the manager to be sacked and some unknown or magical messiah to take the helm and guide us to glory…

To some extent I understand that. However, look at the rest of the results. Leeds and Ipswich both consistently fluffing their lines too. Granted, we started from a much higher base. However with the end of the season nearing it seems those in the mid-lower portion of the league have really switched on and upped their game. The threat of relegation has really given them a rocket and they are defending for their lives and playing better than ever, such as Millwall and Plymouth this week for us. Those teams seem to have temporarily narrowed the gap in terms of quality through pure desire and desperation. It’s frustrating we haven’t been able to unpick two poor teams but it’s not just us facing this problem. Anyway, we all want Leicester to get there in the end (most of us anyway) and I am just flabbergasted at the “sack the manager” line and insults thrown about here.

If you think I’ve cheered the last few weeks you’re sorely mistaken. Your statement about a “winning” mentality meaning change the manager with a few games to go is just based in absolutely no reality or practicality whatsoever.

I get that but at the same time that kind of thinking is based in absolutely zero reality. How does bringing someone in for 4 games guarantee a better result or position. It’s more likely to disrupt the team yet further. The team are clearly playing for the manager and have adopted the style, it’s just not worked out of late. They don’t look like a team that needs a new manager but one that is bereft of confidence in front of goal. Yes, the manager can have some input in that respect and I think he could and should be doing more to bring about that change. However, it’s just beyond illogical to be demanding a new man in charge now given where we are. As fans we just need to back the team last few games and help them over the line. Ask the hard questions and dig in to them when the football is over and done this season.

Deary me. Which serial winner are we going to bring in right now? Jose? Zidane? Conte?

That's not what this is though is it? It's a thread with many calling for the sacking of the Manager a few games before the end of the season who has us in a position the majority, if not all, of us would have bitten your hand off for at the start of the summer. This club was, and still is in many areas, in utter disarray. Quite frankly he's done a good job already turning us around from where we were to where we are now. You think my response is an overreaction and yet the majority of the posts in here are along the lines of "get him gone" and even phrases such as "fraud" etc etc... Yes, like many, I'm devastated we've let the lead slip. However, resorting to "sack the manager" jibes and the other embarrassing sentiment I've seen on here IS pathetic. That's my opinion and I really don't think it's an overreaction. We've become an extremely entitled fanbase, disappointingly, and to some extent I think the vocal dissatisfaction with the style, even when storming the league, has had some contribution to our current position. Notwithstanding some strange decisions recently and the turmoil off the pitch. Maresca is a young manager, it was always the risk that he could show inexperience and make poor decisions at times. He's been frustrating of late but calling for the sacking of him is just plain daft and not constructive in any way So yes, I will maintain that this thread is 100% embarrassing, entitled and pathetic. Much like elements of the fanbase who couldn't wait for us to hit a sticky patch and dig into the manager and the team!

Absolutely spot on. Can't believe the volume of hatred on here. It's actually pathetic.

Personally think this is an absolutely embarrassing thread given where we are in the league and where we thought we'd be after a tough summer. Enzo made a rod for his own back with how good the first half of the season was. Lately we've been shite but it's not even close to being sack-worthy. The entitlement of many on here is astounding.

Completely agree. I was going to dig out the number of players that left in the summer as well but you've beaten me to it. We had a massive turnover of players, alongside supposed relegation clauses in many contracts to shrink the wage bill. It's interesting to see the revisionist attitudes of many (internally and externally) who went into the season thinking we could do well and had a decent squad but that it would be tough and many have gone down and struggled before. All of a sudden, we initially sprinted ahead and it's a "premier league-level" squad we deliberately kept together to break the rules. Even those "premier league-level players" we kept had a significant question mark over them following the relegation season. Had we toiled away all season in the play-off places I don't think we'd be getting this sort of heat from the EFL. They were probably genuinely upset that it looked like we were making a tough league look easy early on...

I think it's probably somewhere in between. The owners will have had the best legal advice (they can afford it) so that will be guiding our approach, both publicly and privately. However, it does feel like the tactic is to ensure that any sanction comes next season to give us the best chance of promotion this season. All this whilst also having a pop at rules that appear to be manifesting in securing the anti-competitive oligopoly where only the "Big 6" (TM) can afford to cherry-pick the talent they want from the lesser-revenue / profit generating clubs because they all have to sell to comply with rules that inhibit genuine ambition. Obviously our case is nuanced but as an example how ridiculous is it that the EFL have been so public about their intentions and our finances this season (which hasn't yet even nearly finished from a financial point of view), which in turn will completely hamstring us in getting good value from sales of players to then be able to comply with the rules? Yes, you can argue we brought this upon ourselves (we should take a large portion of the blame) but to do what they are doing without the season being finished shows malicious intent IMO. As I've said in another thread, with respect to the EFL it is an old grudge against us from 2013/14 and maybe even back to 2002. They've already been proven to be straying from their own rules in our case.

Whilst I agree to some extent, from what I gather some of our argument (largely around the timing of things) is that we didn't sign up to the new rules around expedited process and we want things to happen at the rate they should not based on what the teams this season agreed to. It does seem we are taking the route of "your rules are written appallingly and ambiguously, please can you deal with us at the appropriate and proper time and not try and make an example of us". Much the same with our response to both the EFL requesting a business plan (on which we were backed by an independent panel) and yesterday putting us under embargo despite not having finished the season or accounting period yet where plenty of time remains to try and comply. 23/24 ends at the end of June so they are massively over-reaching to try and make an example of it and we are standing our ground. There's been plenty of talk back from the club about authorities reaching outside of their jurisdiction or power but at no point has the club said it refutes the allegations of breaching the rules for the PL. I am sure the acknowledgement of rule breaking will come (alongside evidence of how hard we tried to mitigate) but you wouldn't put that in public whilst opening legal cases / defences against both the EPL and EFL! Add to this that the rules are changing again from next season (I think!) for the EPL and it's just a complete shitshow on both sides to be honest.

Clearly the EFL are absolutely desperate to sanction us. First, the desire to impose business plan, and now, embargoing us before the 23/24 season (accounting period) is even finished and when we've only spent several months in their league and have the ability to sell at the end of the season to try and comply. Seems to me there is still a dislike of us and want to punish us from 2013/14 and, going further back, 2002. We have been managed woefully for the last few years. We shouldn't get distracted from the horror signings and bloated wage bill, which are both a big contributing factor to the current situation. Nevertheless, the way we are also being treated and the way the rules are purporting to shaft ambitious teams is also something that needs addressing and combatting. A riveting few months ahead...