Miella27

It’s so worrying how bad we are. Our team that got promoted was a weak Premier League side, but from that team the folllowing players won’t be playing tomorrow; Hermanson, Ricardo, Vestergaard, Dewsbury-Hall, Winks, Fatawu, Mavididi How many players playing tomorrow do we have that are as good as, or better than any of these? El Khannous - that’s about it.

I think West Ham and Everton changing managers brings them back into it. I firmly believe that Dyche would have kept Everton up, I wouldn't have Moyes down as a quick fix manager and could see them getting sucked into it. Also without Antonio, Bowen and a new manager, it could go either way for West Ham. I'm not saying we'll definitely stay up, but i think this helps us. Wednesday is huge for us, it could really kick-start our season. We've got winnable games coming up and lots of teams around us are earlier in their transition than us (Wolves, Soton, WHU, Everton). We must make it count

Vards hardly ever plays on Boxing Day. I think he's started 1 out of the last 5. Purely speculation, but I suspect there's an agreement in place. When he went down in the last 5 v Wolves, I thought this would happen... (or he could just be injured again at Christmas!)

Our squad is as weak as it has been for 10+ years, however there's enough there to make it competitive. We've just got to be better than the teams around us, who are all equally rubbish - Soton, Ipswich, Palace, wolves, Everton I think these players would play a significant part in the squad of 10-12 prem teams - Mads, Okoli, Buonanotte, Fatawu These players would be in and around the matchday team/squad of the bottom six sides - Vardy, Ricardo, Vestergaard, Coady, Winks, Skipp, Ndidi, Mavididi, That's enough to make a go of it, we just need someone to give them a bit of structure, confidence and hope.

Danny Ward has just kept a clean sheet and saved 3 penalties! That is absolutely mind boggling. Stranger than fiction!

I was of the opinion that Cooper was a good appointment and we would at least be competitive. However, I watched the full game today and it is difficult to express how poor we were without sounding hysterical and dramatising it. We simply couldn't make 2 passes unless Madds was one of those passes. We couldn't get out of our own defensive third, let alone our own half. I am also concerned by Cooper coming out and telling everyone we need new players. Yes, we do, but it screams of Rodgers and refusing to take responsibility for the job. He signed up for it, we all know where we are, but alienating the only people that can get us moving is the wrong way of going about it. A very bad day today, let's hope it galvanises us to scrap for every ball next week, because I don't think we can rely on our quality on the pitch to stay up.

Undoubtedly, it is going to be a very tough season; however, are we going to be any worse than the year we came down, even with a 4-6 point deduction? Whilst we had far more able players in Madison, Barnes, Tielemans etc, there was a huge question mark over their application and efforts over the season. Coupled with Ward, Amartey, Thomas and Soumare playing most weeks, surely we are in a slightly better position than then. We also don't have a manager in charge with the hump and imo, playing for a pay-off. Faes was probably our key centre back that year, we would have loved to have Coady and to have signed a young and keen centre back. Yes, it'll be tough but bring in a No.10 and/or a striker and we're well in the mix. I predict we'll keep our heads above water and float around 13th-17th place

Wowzers, I know everyone's got an opinion, but if we're going into the Prem with JJ, Kristenson and Vesty at the back with Hamza protecting them, it's going to be a long season 🤢

Steve Cooper for me. He did a great job within the England Youth set-up, and would probably still have enough contact with England to persuade young players aged 18-23 with something to prove to join. He did a great job at Forest. Bottom of the Champ when he joined, they're certainly no better off without him. He also had to mould a team out of 25 new players when they went up, many of whom he didn't want. Not too dissimilar to what he'd need to do here. With his coaching expertise, he has the set up here to really make a difference. It would really annoy Forest as well if he came here and was a success.

Gary Megson was poached by Bolton.

He should be hailed as one of our greatest ever managers for winning the Cup and the 5th placed finishes, I felt all year he was playing for the sack. Top Premier League managers don't play Ward, Thomas, Amartey etc and expect to pick up results, he knew exactly what he was doing.

They may have played more than once, but these spring to mind from the late 80s/90s: Steve Holden Pat O'Toole Pat Gavin David Puttnam Grant Brown Jon Stevenson Paul Bedder - did he make the bench once, but didn't get on.

He's been great so far, but today I felt he got it wrong. I was sure he would have taken Casedei off at half-time and bought Choudhery or even Praet on, just someone either a little more defensive or more experienced. They could have tucked in and broke from the right, and we'd still have had an outlet with Mavididi. As it was, we didn't offer any threat after h/t. Disappointing, but it's only one game.

I'd imagine you are trolling, either that or you have no idea about the FA/league rules at each of these periods you refer to.

Yeah, I know but it's still a business and if we were to implode this season, an extra £5-10 million could be a lifesaver. We've got to insure ourselves against not going up and the parachute payments drifting away.

It would perfect sense for them not to appeal. The Prem this year has 3-4 terrible teams in it and Everton will probably only need about 33 (43) points to stay up. It makes you think though, if we hadn't have reined in our spending so much and stayed up, we'd be financially a lot better off. Everton will probably only lose 2-3 places of TV money (£5m-ish). We might as well try and sue them for a few million pound. It won't change anything but might pay for a player or two's wages.

The count has started.... 15 wins from 36 games = 45+27= 72pts That's 45 pts from 36 games, bottom half form. That would probably get us a play-off place. 20 wins from 36 games = 60+27=87pts 60 pts from 36 games, that would probably be enough for a top-2 spot. Every game we win makes it look a little bit easier!

Sounds about right. Everyone says it's like an 'effin holiday camp, why not chuck 25 fit females athletes in there whilst they're training? That'll teach 'em!

Well it's all about opinions, isn't it?! If we're going up to Newcastle to win the game, I'd be backing Youri to come good one last time and get us over the line, rather than hoping Soumare or KDH develop a footballing brain overnight.

Youri has always been a confidence player, that's how we managed to get him in the first place, his confidence was shot. He looks laboured at the minute, but he's capable of pulling out a worldie like he did at Everton or Wolves, and one of a few number of players that can make telling passes in the final third. I agree with the criticism of Soumari and Ndidi, but I think Youri deserves a little more respect from us. I think he genuinely tries, despite some poor performances this season

Of course I realise it and i have addressed it. Deficiencies in defence can often (Not always) be overcome with hardwork, desire and organisation. Breaking teams down and creating chances is more difficult, we have the resources at our disposal to do that. There's no reason we cannot win tomorrow. Newcastle are no better than Arsenal or Liverpool, and teams with weaker players than ours have ground out results against them. We've just got to want it enough. Nice of you to address the player who pinged a 25 yarder in the top corner of the FA Cup Final as a Pie Lover. You know, its not like you waited 69 years for that moment, is it? 🙄

It's incredibly frustrating, if we win the last 2 games, we stay up. No ifs, buts or maybes. We've beaten far bigger odds than this, yet it appears everyone, including the players, have given up. We've got attacking players that could hurt any team Maddison, Tielemans, Barnes, Iheanacho. Far better than the shite Everton, Leeds and half the Premier League have got going forward. All we've got to do is defend for our lives and want it more. Unfortunately, I don't believe our players want it enough.

I thought he was alright today. He looked like he could make something happen. When you've spent all season watching Ward, Amartey and Thomas look so far out of their depth, I feel the criticism of Tete is a little harsh. Granted, he's not been great for us, but I think he's got something to contribute until the end of the season. Personally I thought KDH had a bit of a stinker when he came on.

I started going in '88, so not much to cheer about for a few years. Oxford 1-0 and Cambridge 5-0 were great, the old main stand was rocking! It won't please many of a certain age, but IMO despite our success in the nineties, the atmosphere at Filbo wasn't great after the Carling Stand was built. The CS didn't seem to create or retain noise, the North Stand only held about 400 and the East Stand was 70% away fans. So unless you was in the Kop/DD, i never thought it was that good. Arsenal 3-3 stands out and the Villa 1-1 when Brian Little returned was incredibly loud and intimidating. I loved it as a teenager, even if it does seem a bit misplaced now. I remember our first year in the Walkers and thinking how much better the atmosphere was in the new ground, Wolves (1-0) sticks in the memory despite it not being a game of significance. Man Utd (5-3), Liverpool (2-0), Seville (2-0), Athletico (1-1), Everton (3-1) in fact almost every home in the second half of the title winning season was incredible. For me, it's threads like this one that make you realise how good we've had it recently, and our fans generally do raise it for the big occasion (excluding the Eindhoven game). Final thought, Liverpool (1-0) at Xmas is underrated, that might have been down to the 8 hour pre-drinks though.

Claridge is a really good shout. After we were relegated from the Prem, and McGhee left us for Wolves, O'Neill struggling in the job, we sign a 29 year old journeyman who hadnt played top flight football. Its fair to say he proved me wrong.