DJ Barry Hammond

I get the feeling with the Cooper appointment we possibly didn’t have many concrete options. And we were clearly in a different situation; we couldn’t expect to play champagne football last season, so going for the ‘hard working, hard to beat’ style manager makes some sense. This time round - although we might be expected to challenge at the top end of the league… if we start on minus 6 or 8, that makes things a little trickier. And you know - we have no idea what the squad will look like when the season kicks off. So maybe mid-table safety… plays offs at a push, is the boards more realistic hopes/expectations for this coming season - and there might be a feeling that once again a pragmatic decision in terms of results first over desired ‘team style’ has to be made.

Yes, but that’s life and indeed football ‘business’ in a nutshell. The person you ideally want - be it player or manager - may not be available for the fee/wages you want and so compromises have to be made. I have this same dilemma when shopping in Tesco’s. Do I get home brand chocolate - which does the job, but feels a bit meh? Do I go for a solid, dependable Cadbury’s bar - even if they do leave a glass half full? Or do I go balls to the walls and splash out on the outrageously lavish Lindt chocolate balls, the European top tier confectionery - knowing full well it will be delightful in the immediacy, but that it could contribute to a horrible PSR style hangover in my account further down the line. Anyway… if you actually read all this garbage, apologies… but I’ve typed it out so I’m hitting submit!

Of course there is also option 4 too… 4.) Both 1 and 2 are true to a degree, with the club having spoken to multiple candidates and agreed outline terms / plans with those that made a shortlist before making a final decision.

Really? Doesn’t Dyche prefer a 442, with direct, counter attacking play that utilises quick wide players / crosses into the box. If you’re a winger - you’re not going to be unhappy at that sort of tactical setup.

He’s not - for a start, no manager would be confident they could get 40/50 games out of him in a season. He’s only broken 30 appearances across a season twice to date in his career.

I would expect any incoming manager to want to sign a focal point centre half - one that’s been winning and helping keep clean sheets regularly last season.

Hoooorah! Lets make an empty point devoid of all context to bash the board once more - because there’s not enough of that on this forum. Look - I get the frustration and feeling amongst fans over what has happened, but I’m starting to fear that the level of negativity a lot of our own fans are projecting is itself having an effect on the club. And this sort of abject negativity is starting to get so tiresome because it’s not just us - it seems every fan base (of any sport) seems to be doing exactly the same thing over any little grievance or incident just to score social media rep points. Mean, how is starting a fan pole of “worst player over the last 25 years” in any way, shape or form a good thing to be doing in terms of the best interests of this club when it is clearly in a serious situation?

I’d say Vestergaard’s situation was a little different - albeit I’m expecting some sort of mutual termination to happen with him if he can find a club to take him over the summer. For me, I don’t see Soutter ever being the number 1 or 2 centre half for us going forward for any significant period of time - if he was, I think fans would be quickly identifying him as an area we could improve on. In which case, it’s time to let him get on and make a career for himself elsewhere - plus let’s face it, our whole defence could do with a fresh and new feel to it come the start of the season.

I’m not sure you can suddenly start playing someone that you as a club have largely discarded and shown little interest in for the prior 2 and half years of his contract. You know, it’s not just one manager that hasn’t fancied him, it’s what five on the spin now - included the guy he was supposed to have been signed for.

Cooper will get the Boro gig before Christmas I reckon. I don’t see Edward’s being a good fit for Boro.

Ruud had 6 games before the start of Jan - he picked up 4 points from a possible 18. That crucially included a damaging home defeat to Wolves - that left us 19th and on 14 points. The next 3 games were also defeats - including reverses at home against Palace & Fulham. That run made it 7 league defeats in a row. If you’re on the board and it’s already clear the PSR projections are tight - are you seriously sanctioning a significant January spend following a return of 4 points out of 27?

I’d suggest given where it is and it’s relative stature, Boro have often had to overpay players to convince them to sign; or take on players with little other options.

Throughout the year, the club would have been running PSR based financial projections on various scenarios of club performance. If retaining Premier League status looked a more realistic possibility on January 1st 2025 - that would have allowed the club to operate on a far more positive financial projection. It didn’t however; therefore a much more conservative approach was required.

An assistant manager has to row in behind the manager. The manager leads everything - the tactical direction, the team selection, the makeup of training, etc, etc, etc. The assistant role is much more one of a sounding board - you don’t get to implement your ideas, you help facilitate the managers ideas. If there’s aspects of the managers plans you don’t agree with… yes you could challenge one or two, but ultimately you have to maintain that working relationship - so you can’t be certain that BBM would be a bad manager because Ruud has performed badly and BBM was part of his coaching team.

That sounds like a breach of contract. Employment rules still exist in the football world.

It’s quite clear that Ruud needed to have gained a better points total/league position by the start of January in order to get that investment. That would have allowed the board to potentially take a punt on spending to survive (similar to what they did with Rodgers in that January window). That didn’t happen - meaning the board couldn’t reasonably sanction a January spending spree. I dare say, if Rudd had at least picked up positives results against Wolves or Palace in that mid January run we might have backed him with at least one in - as it was, we didn’t and it became increasingly clear we were toast.

Signing a good solid pro that will want to prove he can take his game to the next level. It’s the profile of player we used to go for and gained us a lot of success in the past. I don’t mind this link at all.

It’d be an Enzo style punt wouldn’t it. But it’s the sort of punt both we and Davide are in a position to take. On our side, it would feel an exciting appointment even if there are question marks to it; on Davide’s side, it wouldn’t be a bad job to take on, a team with great facilities and protection to do well. You’d also have to say - it’s be very disappointing if he was crap as a manager wouldn’t it!

No club provides a running commentary on these things. But one thing a lot of people have failed to consider… what if the reported lack of internal discussion with Ruud is because a key person that will be part of making the hiring/firing decisions going forward is not at the club yet? i.e. could there be changes to be made at board room level first?

Are they really yellow flagging for light rain at the Indy 500?

I think the clear problem is the track doesn’t have a clear, long, straight. Even the grid and tunnel are curved. In my mind, they need to rework the exit from the tunnel somehow so that it continues straighter for longer. No clue how viable that is mind.

That’s quite something - to come up with a new rule that made the procession even worse to watch as a spectacle.

Ouch - Waghorn at 80% - clear evidence if needed that fans as a collective know feck all!

Crap - Jota gets a goal or penalty.

Thomas has done really well so far… hope I’ve not jinxed him.