DJW1

On the positive side, let´s be grateful we had this golden period. A few years ago, Rochdale had been in the 4th tier for 40+ years without a promotion or relegation! Look at the shambles that clubs like Derby, Birmingham, Cov etc. have been in recent years, I thought that winning the League Cup twice with Martin O´Neill was going to be as good as it got. How wrong I was! In a way, winning the FA Cup made me happier than winning the PL, because it was something that I thought was possible and used to dream about.

If the coaches had got him to use his left foot he might have gone much further.

Holloway's Hungarians?

I think our FA Cup final would have been pretty boring for a neutral, although I´m not the best judge - I was too busy having a nervous breakdown in the last 20 minutes

I only saw Édouard "in action" against Bournemouth, when he came on as sub for 10-15 mins. If I remember righty, his only contributions were to give away a foul, then get easily shrugged off the ball by his marker and finally fall over when clean through on goal. Based on that I would give him -3.

You said you'd bring me on for the last 10 minutes

If we beat Ipswich and Bournemouth Ruud may get Manager of the Month for May

I hope you weren´t swinging on the cross-bar!

Perhaps this is a bit off-topic, but I still have the programme from May 1980 when we clinched promotion at Orient. In it, the Supporters Club section reported on the player of the season award, the winner receiving a 100 quid cheque from the fans! I wonder how many Leicester fans would contribute this seaon!

Many of Martin O´Neill´s signings turned out to be bargains. Before that, Peter Weir, Nicky Cross, Steve Walsh, etc. Much earlier, Frank Clark was given a free by Newcastle and was going to sign for Doncaster in the old 4th Division before Cloughie signed him for Forest, where he won the League, European Cup etc.

The fact that this has happened says a lot about the coaching staff and managers. He wasn´t good enough for PL football when he arrived and now isn´t good enough for the Championship. Last season, in the games when he wasn´t playing he did seem genuinely happy when they won, whereas Cannon always looked miserable (understandable if Daka gets selected ahead of you).

Also, Wellens might be back here soon as manager

He was a centre half, on loan from Liverpool. Decent player at that level

I actually liked Wellens. He was always willing to hold onto the ball for a bit longer, waiting for the right pass to, say, Andy King

Albrighton, Fuchs, Okazaki......

Eduoard's cameo against Bournemouth

They could pick 11 15-year olds and play without that sponsor on the shirts

The players and the clubs are paying massive amounts for something (contract negotiation) that the PFA will do for a relatively small fee.

I am going to the game, travelling a long way to do so (calm down, I´m combining it with a visit to see family). At least this season there´s no tension about whether we might stay up. I thought we were down when we lost to Palace. I wonder what the audience does at the opera or ballet when the performance is poor. Do they sing "You don´t what you´re doing" at the conductor and "You´re not fit to wear the leotard" at the ballet dancers"?

Is Ruud drinking 2 pints or has Rudkin gone to buy some crisps?

They have tactics? There are 2 possibilites: 1. Some of the young players are better than the current first teamers but Ruud doesn´t want to "rush" them, which would be worrying. 2. The young players are worse than the current first teamers, which would be very worrying

I´ve already booked my return trip to Mars in 2043, on Elon Musk´s SpaceX football special, for the inter-galactic (northern area) play-off 2nd leg

Options 2 and 3 are basically the same as we will not be able to get rid of many high earners. We should sign several promising players from lower leagues to combine with home grown players and the senior players that stay. I hope that if things are not going well then the crowd doesn´t turn on the players, particularly the younger ones. I think the booing of Ayew and McAteer, among others, is disgraceful. Perhaps they are scapegoats and the fans are really booing the owners and the coaches and recruiters, but it doesn´t achieve anything.

The players have been asking Vesty´s dog how to hold onto a lead. He (or is it a she?) told them not to worry about that as it would require them to score a goal