LeePhilpottsBaldSpot

Wishful thinking... Russell Martin played for Norwich for about a decade. And no Premier League club with half a brain would touch him

I love Muzzy but this is a stretch He obviously should have played for England but there have been much more complete midfielders in the English league. At the same time he played, Vieira, Keane, Lampard and Gerrard were all a level above him as complete midfielders.

He won't be all bad, just like Dave Challinor wouldn't be all good. Really hope the fans get behind the new boss and give them a fair shake. The toxic atmosphere helps nobody.

Schmeichel Pereira Morgan Huth Fuchs Izzet Tielemans Kante Mahrez Vardy Okazaki 2015-16 really ruined these games for me

Would genuinely be interesting to see how this team would do... Stolarczyk Aluko Nelson Gray L.Thomas Choudhury Braybrooke Monga Page Alves Evans Subs: French, Wilson-Browne, Cartwright, S.Thomas, Briggs, Opoku, Hutchinson

I've been dreading this seemingly inevitable appointment for years, but if he comes I'll get behind him. Managers who are wanted are often shit and the ones people have initially rejected sometimes go on to be great. Obviously lots who we thought would be shit turned out to be shit (especially recently). Fingers crossed all my instincts are wrong and he turns out ok.

I'll get behind him if he comes, but his record is poor, his style is boring and he seems to be a complete bellend.

****s sake

I live in Oxford and follow Oxford United on social media. They aren't doing anything spectacular but their posts are all about the coming season - where the training camp will be, announcing friendlies and the new pitch they're laying. I'd much rather we also have the impression we're preparing for the year ahead rather than posting Simon Grayson's recollections of 32 years ago and Stephy Mavididi's birthday.

It's the same pattern of inaction that has led to a death spiral with 3 relegations in 4 years. There is a shit load of work to do, and we can't afford to piss around. Other clubs are appointing managers we could have appointed, leaving us with the dregs. Other clubs will be agreeing deals with players their manager wants who we could have signed. We were relegated in April and it's now June. The concept of an appointment being "rushed" is already long gone. Shall I continue?

While I'd prefer pretty much anyone to Russell Martin, this would feel almost as bleak.

Don't worry about what others think. Everything around it has been a circus but I'm sure the afternoon itself will be a nice trip down memory lane. More importantly - sorry to hear you're going through all that. Sounds too much for a person to process, and I hope you have support in place for yourself (in addition to a deserved break at the football today). Football can be a great support. Leicester have provided a similar service for me in the past. It's weird to say but one thing I found helpful when I have had a few periods of overwhelm is feeling a shared purpose with a crowd. Whether happy, sad or laughing, it's therapeutic to share that emotion with thousands of other people - especially when you feel like you're experiencing shit things alone in your 'real' life. Hope the day goes well and you get a much deserved respite from traumatic events.

Yeah - quite remarkable really. I work in comms and this is a disasterclass.

Suspect it will be another loan. Why pay a fee when he'll be free in a year and we have no bargaining power

The harmonious era when a player was sacked after an alleged race-related brawl with teammates (Wayne Brown) and our manager told fans berating him to **** off and die? I love the Nigel Pearson era (and want another one!), but we can have selective memories and look back with rose tinted glasses. Ben Marshall podcast made it sound like a pretty terrible culture. We've always been chaotic, even when we were very very good. Vardy casino incident, youth players with Thai prostitutes, Ulloa and Mahrez on strike... Fans are much more forgiving of such things when you win on a Saturday.

Still no credible rumours. Darren Ferguson still bookies' favourite off the back of one weird online article based on congecture I know seasons are still going on, but it's been 3 weeks since we got relegated (and longer since it became inevitable). Maybe I'm being harsh but it feels like the club are more focused on '10 years on' PR than actually sorting out the shit they've created. New boss needs to be in asap to work with whatever donut does the transfers (we don't need more defenders who can 'break the lines' but can't defend), sort out the training debacle and prepare for a massive season.

I wouldn't say he's a "fraud", it's that he's been fighting depression since his son died. Career was shaping up well but has understandably struggled since then. I don't get the impression he's looking for any work right now.

I really hope we can find a better appointment than Ferguson, but having lived in Peterborough and known lots of Posh fans I can see the logic. His teams have been promoted 5 teams (3x from League One) and he's won 3x EFL Trophies. At 54, he's hardly a dinosaur either. He's a pragmatic manager - can be defensive when playing a better team, but when he had good attacking talent he'd play really attacking football (especially when he had Mackail-Smith, McLean and Boyd - 'the Holy Trinity'). Not afraid to use younger players as well. (But hopefully we can get somebody better!)

Where have you got this figure from?

Yeah this is my assumption too. I'm sure Rowett would be better after moulding the squad to his tastes and having a pre-season with them, but he doesn't feel like a manager to lead a title push - which is absolutely what we have to be aiming for. Also sends out the signal of yet again not realising we need to move in a new direction.

Not saying he's my first choice, but you've got to remember the context behind these numbers. Previous Newport manager had 4 wins out of 22 games (18% win percentage). Fuchs got 9 wins in 31 (29% win percentage). He took them from rock bottom to fifth from bottom. It's impressive for somebody in their first job to take over mid-season and turn around a club sinking like a stone, especially despite losing what many have described as their best player in Sammy Braybrooke.

I have some hope for the u23s but not as much as others. Stolarczyk, Choudhury, Nelson L.Thomas and S. Thomas don't exactly inspire confidence for the youth set up... I know he's ludicrously young but I haven't seen what the hype is about with Monga so far. But it's so widespread I trust people who know how to spot potential can see what I haven't yet!

Where?

TBF we love Okazaki. 14 goals in 4 years (playing with better teammates too).