ClaphamFox

Actually tinpot_fox misspoke. It is, in fact, for you to solve. Can you revert with your plan by tomorrow COB?

Harris was always a terrible choice and a massive risk for the Democrats, but I hoped that prospect of Trump regaining power would persuade enough Americans in swing states to hold their noses and vote for her. Unfortunately it wasn't to be. Now we have four more years of this cognitively-impaired narcissistic thug in charge of the most powerful country in the world. Oh joy.

Dean Smith comfortably improved our points-per-game record. The only way Rodgers would have kept us up would have been for the team to have suddenly improved, and there was no sign of that happening when he was sacked - in fact, we seemed in freefall at the time.

It's amazing how often what happened with Rodgers is cited as a reason why the board will dither over Cooper. If we slip into the bottom three and the threat of relegation becomes very real, they'll sack him. The real question is how they'll respond if we continue to stumble along unconvincingly while picking up enough points here or there to stay in 15th/16th...

I am aware that it is the total over three years that counts. I’m saying that we will have either narrowly avoided a breach for 2021-24 or breached by a small amount. That seems to be the general consensus, even among the media outlets that have been hostile to us on this issue. If it turns out that we’ve breached by £2-3 million, I’d love to see the PL argue for a major points deduction when Forest only got four points for breaching by £34.5m. I’m not sure that “Yeah it’s massively over the top but they did make us look stupid before” carries much legal weight. And the sanction isn’t up to the PL anyway - it’s determined by an independent legal panel. I have a feeling we’ll have just avoided a breach. But if it turns out we’ve marginally breached, we’ll get maximum two-point deduction.

Not the official highlights from them, but delicious nonetheless. The commentary on the build-up to our goal (starting around 16.15) is brilliant: "How's that not a foul? How's THAT not a foul? Oh no...."

I would know to bring on another attacker if the opposition goes a man down. So would virtually every poster on this board. That doesn't mean any of us would be any good at managing a PL club. Cooper has his strengths. He seems to be able to generate a team spirit/character that is strong enough for us to remain in games where we could easily get left behind, and mount impressive comebacks from losing positions. This should not be underestimated - team spirit and character are very important, and plenty of managers lose the dressing room because they're disliked by their players. I just think that you need more than that over the long term.

Unfortunately, I don't think Cooper possesses the deep understanding of the game and tactical sophistication that would enable him to make intelligent tweaks to the system during the game. He's capable of throwing on more attacking players when we're chasing the game, but it always feels a little bit desperate and reactive. Contrast this with Nuno's proactive changes for Forest at half-time against us that resulted in them winning comfortably. I think in Cooper we have a manager who the players like well enough to put in a shift for, but one ultimately lacking the tactical intelligence to cope with the kind of challenges that come in the PL. I hope he proves me wrong.

The money received from Chelsea for KDH and Maresca would have brought us very close to complying. We’ll either have just avoided a breach or breached by a small margin. So either no deduction at all or a small one.

Before the cup game on Wednesday I had a strong feeling that we’d get something from one of our two trips to Old Trafford and get soundly beaten in the other one. Well the sound beating has already occurred, so on that basis I’m convinced we’ll win or at least draw next Sunday. You’re all very welcome.

I’ll be very surprised if Ange is still there at the end of the season.

That was the crap half, right? That means we’re going to boss it in the second half. Right? RIGHT?!

I’ve not watched on a stream for a while but am looking for one today. Where can a decent one be found these days?

It will be entirely dependent on results. If we continue to stumble along without much of an identity but somehow picking up enough points here or there to keep us out of the bottom three, he won't be going anywhere. But if we lose a few on the spin and slip into the relegation zone, he'll be gone very quickly.

Amorin starts on 11 November - the day after we next play them.

That will not happen. I think that after the abject second-half showing against Forest, we'll revert to our tried-and-trusted strategy of being utterly woeful in the first half and heading into the break 2-0 down, then massively improving in the second and getting back to 2-2. Sadly no last minute winner tomorrow but we'll take the point.

It's like Sophie's Choice, isn't it?

Isn’t it strange how poorly-coached teams are so much more prone to making silly mistakes?

We never had much chance tonight after they sacked ETH and whatever hopes we did have were extinguished when the teams were announced. But bloody hell - if there was any semblance of coherence in the way Cooper is coaching our defence, surely it would have been at least partially visible, even with a makeshift back four. But no: it was an absolute chaotic mess, as in previous games. He’s a defensive-minded coach with zero ability to coach a defence. Not a good combination.

It will be very boring indeed, made up of fringe players such as Ward, Thomas, BDR, Soumare, Vestergaard, McAteer, Edouard etc. So no real attempt to progress in the competition but no exciting chance to see youngsters in action. I hope that has whetted your appetite...

Just carry a tourist guide and a phrase book with you. You'll fit right in.

Somebody should spread the word among the travelling fans tonight to sing "Vitor Bruno's blue and white army". If we all act like he's already the manager, the club will have literally no choice but to appoint him.

Yet if you scroll down there is a picture of Steve Cooper with the caption, "Steve Cooper is the current manager of the club."

That's a fair point re: the defence, but I still think that, overall, that team should not have got relegated. Dean Smith was able to come in at the end and increase our points-per-game ratio to 1.125, which would have brought us 43 points over a whole season and 13th place in the table. If he could achieve that in such a short spell, it suggests the quality was always there to survive.