ian__marshall

"His form during 2026 has been remarkable". Hmm I wonder why??? This video has convinced me that Top and Dragan are the same person in disguises. Either that or they both went to the same school rated by OFSTED as requiring 'Urgent Improvement'.

Financial fiddle by the looks of it. If they sack him now they'll have to pay compensation which will have a negative impact on their books. Wait until his investigation is completed and he receives a lengthy ban and they'll have grounds to terminate. Interesting also that BBC ran a story yesterday with the full details of what occurred. I wonder if Southampton have briefed the press so to increase awareness of Eckert's role so that when the inevitable happens he has less wiggle room. Having read the BBC piece yesterday, his position is completely untenable so they can't genuinely think he's the man to lead them forward. That said it is Sports Republic who I think have signed up to the same social experiment as Top and Rudkin to assess the impact of taking a stable team from the PL to non-league as quickly as possible, so who knows.

I agree that defensively his sides aren't the best. That said we were horrendous defensively last season and had he been in charge I don't think we'd have conceded more goals. The upside to his style of play is his teams score a similar amount of goals than they concede. Both Hull and Wrexham conceded a similar amount of goals this season as ourselves, but scored as many as they conceded. One made the playoffs and will now play PL football, the other missed out on the playoffs by 2 points. Yes, we were seriously crap at the back last season, but arguably our failing wasn't defending, rather our inability to score goals.

As per my previous post not a huge fan of RM but for balance, they got relegated the season prior with an awful team who had all the hallmarks of a Nathan Jones side so I wouldn't describe them as a team of riches. Yes, a lot of those players cost decent money, but that doesn't necessarily equate to good Championship players as we have discovered this season. He got a very average group in terms of technical ability playing some decent football at times. With regards to Leeds, for context they beat Leeds 3 times over the course of the season, whilst we lost twice, so not exactly a fluke in the final. I'd agree that he stuck to his guns in the PL much to his detriment, and that could well be a concern longer term if he somehow managed to return us to that level, but a) he's acknowledged that with hindsight he was too loyal to the group and felt they had earned the right to have a crack at the PL when maybe he should have made more changes, b) it was his first time managing at that level, c) I'd snap your hand off right now to be faced with the dilemma of whether he could keep us in the PL. The Rangers spell was weird. Started calling out the players far too early on in my opinion, then lost the group so was a dead man walking. I think if he hadn't done that then he'd have probably gone on to do quite well as I just think he needed time to get his ideas across. As I said before, he wouldn't necessarily be my first choice, but again I do think we could do a lot worse given the clowns making the decisions.

Not sure what's wrong with me. I previously hated the thought of RM being our manager, but I think given the sh*te appointments over the past 2 years the board have weirdly got me thinking it wouldn't be the worst appointment in the world. Totally get the sideways and backwards concerns, but at least he has a style of football/philosophy unlike all of the useless managers we've had since Enzo left. He does know how to coach a team even if he's a stubborn idealistic tw*t, so I'd have him over Gerrard, Rooney, etc. any day of the week. Will also do my head in listening to his BR inspired soundbites. It's not an endorsement, but we could do a lot worse in my opinion especially with dumb and dumber making the decision.

You're right, the club is a real mess. Can't even find an intern to type in 3.45pm properly

That email assuming it is genuine makes zero sense. If this group of fans attend every game regardless of date or time then they will have already bought tickets so won't be able to take the club up on the offer. If they haven't bought a ticket then clearly they don't attend every game regardless of circumstance. I personally don't mind Jim, always come across as a decent bloke whenever I've met him, but the tone of that email is just odd. Makes those being offered free tickets sound like robots.

I watched the results presentation last night live and did hear the details. For the record my views are not to be interpreted as criticism. The survey is an unbelievable undertaking and as others have mentioned the sample size is absolutely a strong indicator of fan sentiment in my view. However, seeing the response from the club, has not surprised me. Yet again I have little faith that they will embrace the feedback and hold themselves to account. Rather they'll shrug off the results and take minimal action citing misalignment of views following consultation with other groups. I wholeheartedly agree that the sample size is significant and cannot be ignored. However, to say that other supporter groups were alerted to the survey, and yes some of their members may have completed the survey, is not the same as saying they were consulted on their views, and they collaborated with the Trust to fully endorse the survey and stand behind the results lending their name to the outcomes presented. I would also agree that statistically given the number of leaflets distributed, a near 30% response rate is towards the higher end. But it's all about perspectives and the lens through which each party views the results. You and I will see this as a great response and a true representation of fan sentiment, the club on the other hand will likely argue that the sentiment portrayed isn't as strong as suggested if two thirds chose not to engage, regardless of the statistical significance. I appreciate the efforts of those involved, everyone is doing a good job especially as it's voluntary work taking up personal time. I would personally like to thank each individual for trying to create change; it's important given the current state of the club. I just think that there will be learnings on this journey and it's important that they are considered moving forwards to avoid giving those at the club who are accountable for listening and affecting change any excuse to dismiss or reduce the significance of the information put before them.

But the issue isn't the number of responses as per the clubs comments to the media. Their viewpoint is that the results are only representative of one groups members and aren't necessarily the views shared by the wider fanbase. I agree that the sample size is good in comparison to other surveys, but the point I'm trying to convey is that because the results are only aligned with one group there's an argument that they are biased regardless of how many guardrails have been applied to prevent such bias. By engaging other groups and getting their backing, you effectively eliminate that argument. Do I think the argument is fair? No, however the opportunity has been presented for the club to find a way of devaluing the results and has taken it with both hands. The next survey needs to close off any opportunity for easy excuses and bring the focus firmly back on to the topics in hand.

Typical generic response from the club. Frustrating that they are taking the stance that the Trust are one of many fan groups they are consulting, thereby diluting the value of the survey as the argument is simply that it represents only one cohort of the fan base. As a suggestion to the Trust for future surveys, it would be worth networking and collaborating with other fan groups to distribute any future surveys across multiple groups. It would then be representative of the broader fan view and dismiss any argument by the club that the results are limited in their scope. I realise that the survey was not restricted to the Trust's members and in terms of demographic representation was all encompassing, however it's too easy for the club to pass the results off as only a minority view despite the sample size. Being objective, whilst the numbers are good for a survey of this type, they only represent c. 18% of the match going fanbase and probably less than 5% of the overall fan base, so whilst an indicator there will always be an argument that without consultation and support of other groups the feedback is limited in its scope.

If that goal had stood we 100% lose that game. They were piling on the pressure and it was simply a matter of time.

Emery and Glasner have both shown Rodgers to be the massive fraud that he is. Serial loser, who was bailed out by a dodgy VAR decision much to our detriment. Why we put so much faith in him I'll never know. He along with the incompetent buffoons who gave him the keys to the kingdom have destroyed us.

Jon, Anthony... you said All Stars, what time do Ronaldo and Zidane arrive?!?

They must be giving seats away to friends and family, schools, charities, etc to get bums on seats. No way they've sold an extra 3000 tickets based on that All Star line up.

I think without major change there's a real possibility we do go down again. We need a manager in ASAP who can prepare the players for the season ahead. We also need a complete overhaul of the fitness team. Technically we'll be miles ahead in League 1 but there is a jump in opposition desire and work rate as the lesser technical players in that league compensate for their deficiencies. Add in the fact that we'll be seen as the Man City of league and a major scalp for every opponent and every team we come up against will put run faster and harder just so they can say they once defeated a club that won the PL. Sadly with the lack of communications and even rumours coming out of the club I can very well see a repeat of last year.

Quick question as someone who recently joined the Trust as a paid member. Why are the results being presented to the club before the Trusts members? Surely it would make more sense to present to members, gather feedback and then present to the club. There may be comments or guidance members can offer on how best to communicate and hold the club to account which could be highlighted before any such meeting. Feels like a missed opportunity presenting to the club first and they really don't deserve the courtesy given their attitude towards the fan base.

The John Lewis end of Highcross is nice, and Fosse Park is pretty decent these days, but the area between the clock tower and the train station has just died. Such a shame as I remember back in the 90s it thriving. As someone who only visits the Clock Tower area probably once every 6 months, when did the Clock Tower get taken over by preachers and dubious political bodies? Such groups make the City feel very unwelcoming as crowds of similar minded people gather around. They certainly don't foster community spirit, and to be quite frank, they make me want to stay away from the area as I don't want to be bombarded with such nonsense when I'm out shopping with my family.

I wonder if the promotions of certain individuals inside the club was an indicator of Top's openness to a sale. Position his mates in more senior roles so that when a sale is concluded and the inevitable boardroom changes occur they depart with nice big pay offs. His way of looking after those who are close to him.

Read about this case and sentencing yesterday. Genuinely disgusted that these girls could be treated this way and then humiliated after the events, with the perpetrators free to walk away as if nothing has happened. What was going through the judges mind! I understand his concerns about criminalising them at that age, but I'm sorry the message sent to both them and future offenders is completely unacceptable. They committed very serious crimes, destroyed two innocent people's lives, and have no deterrent to not re-offend in the future. The fact the judicial system even provides them with anonymity is a farce. At the very least they deserve to be outted for their crimes. In 5 or 6 years time they may go on to marry someone's daughter who will be completely oblivious to their past. This sentencing has set a very dangerous precedent in my view and the judge should take a long hard look in the mirror and ask himself whether his judgment is really a fair reflection of the crimes committed.

Sad news, RIP. Remember him coming in and being quite excited we'd managed to sign a player from Celtic given the level we were at. Not the best technically but wore his on on his sleeve and gave his all. Our current bunch of muppets could learn a lot from his attitude and work rate.

The only way to settle this is to promote the top 2, relegate 2 from the PL this season, scrap relegations and promotions between Championship and League 1 this season, then promote 4 from Championship next season whilst relegating 4 from the PL, promote 5 from League 1 with Lincoln and Cardiff guaranteed automatic promotion next season, and have 5 teams relegated from the Championship. Simple! 🤣😂🤣

I keep saying it, but we've got, and have had serious issues with player fitness since Rodgers walked through the door. What on earth do they feed the players down at Seagrave, Sausage Rolls?!? Tielemans looks about 3 stone lighter than the overweight version we had running through treacle. Haven't watched Villa for a while but barely recognised him. Until we overhaul the fitness team we'll continue to struggle I'm afraid.

Begs the question... if Soton went to such lengths to send someone to their opponents training ground for spying, have they bugged dressing rooms to listen in on opponent team talks? The whole situation is a shambles, and surely goes beyond just the playoffs.

You just know Top and Rudkin will spend the whole summer harbouring delusional thoughts of appointing Pep, only for reality to kick in the week before the season starts leading them to frantically appoint Iain Dowie on a 3 year deal.

I usually couldn't give a damn about the SPL, but I've followed the Heart's story this season romanticising over a giant killing. Could this season get any worse. Arsenal finally about to break their duck, Villa likely to win a major European trophy, Spurs likely to avoid relegation at the last minute due to a dodgy refereeing decision, Forest staying up and reaching a European Semi Final, Cov winning the league, Ipswich and likely Southampton who both finished below us last season being promoted, us getting relegated, Lincoln being above us for the 1st time in history. Feel like I'm in a simulation where someone's trying to test how far they can push me until I break.