murphy

So that's 9-1 on aggregate against Southampton this season. Sounds familiar.

I'll be gutted if we finish second. We have seven second tier titles, the joint record with Man City. One more takes us clear.

but the latter also guarantees the title, barring something miraculous with goal difference.

Apparently we have used the least players of all clubs in the Championship after Cov, Preston, Bristol C. and Watford. No wonder Harry and others are looking jaded and it goes to show that contrary to popular belief, our supposed riches have not bought us squad depth even at this level.

There can only be one reason, to my mind, that we can go from a club steamrolling the division, setting records as we go and then suddenly turn into Rotherham over night and it's not arrogance. This run of 13 points from 12 games coincides with the emerging points deduction threat. I strongly believe that many players can no longer see a future at the club and have mentally checked out. I can think of no other explanation. It's that lack of character and moral fibre again that has dogged us for years.

I think that the players see it the same way and I suspect that this is what is behind our sudden decline in form.

2016 was hands down the most stressful season for me. As The Don himself put it, as we neared the final straight - "Now, or never more" We would never get that chance again. This season doesn't come close. Perhaps because II can't see a decent future in the short term, whatever happens, it looks like fire fighting for a few seasons before we can build again and perhaps its because I am becoming less and less engaged with the club, the players and this style of football.

I can see something similar. We blow promotion. lose players and face a transfer embargo. I can see us dropping divisions and having a complete overhaul as a club, rebuilding through the academy. We will rise again and part of me is quite excited at the idea. League 2 could be fun. As long as we don't go under, its just another chapter and I tell myself that at least we made our greatest era pay. We won the league and the FA Cup. We played in The Champion's League. If the price of that is another stint in the wilderness, it is a deal that I would have taken in a heartbeat.

Yes, I agree with this. I wonder if the prospect of transfer embargoes and points deductions has turned players' heads. It is difficult to see any kind of short term future for us and many may have an eye on the exit door. We have seen in the past how performances drop off when players want to walk.

If we went up and EPL also slapped an embargo on us, I wonder where that would leave us with obligations such as Fatawu and possibly Yunus? Could we be sued for breach those agreements? And if we went down again would EFL be ready to ambush us with this embargo then? Perhaps an embargo or a points deduction wouldn't be such a bad thing if we went up. We could balance the books with TV money and expiring expensive contracts and come straight back down, but also we could put all of our energies into finding and developing youth talent. Something that we have been pretty good at in recent years, whereas our recruitment has been pretty shambolic. I really think that expanding our resources into development and scouting is the long term answer for us.

I dipped into this thread because I am feeling at my lowest ever ebb. For me however, there is a reason which I don't really want to go into and compounded by my own stupidity, so it is not really the same as depression, I think. Anyway, I just wanted to say that this thread has put a knot in my stomach and I have very little to contribute other than I just want to say, to everyone who is struggling that I really wish you all well.

I'm in need of some tax/accountancy advice. I'm a self - employed sole trader in the Harborough area, can anybody recommend anyone and whether it would be better to go for a freelancer or a firm? Thanks.

Today was a sad day. Today Robert Huth lost his most outrageous and comical free kick title to Raheem Sterling. Our thoughts are with you Robert.

Ordinarily, I can't abide the international break either, but this one is very much a bonus for us, to give tired players a rest and to give Ricardo time to recover.

Tbf, I once won a meat hamper in a raffle, so I have won more than Hull City.

Well we have a week off after, so full strength I would have thought. Get some more minutes into Wilf

Deliberate?

Did we though? Fact remains that when we were relegated, we sat bottom of the five year net spend PL table for all clubs that had PL status for that period. During that period, we have had the likes of Barnes, Thomas, Hamza, Chilwell and KDH all coming through for free and got our goals scored by a one million pound striker and saved by a one million pound keeper. I think that we had a great model that allowed us to compete. Buying potential such as Maddison and Fofana and selling an asset each year. When we were going for CL qualification, no one could accuse us of having 'bought it'. We regularly out performed money clubs. I think it went wrong because our recruitment went wrong. First thing Rodgers did was to overpay to sign Perez, which did not suit the model that had served us so well. I strongly suspect that was a Rodgers' deal. We had several terrible windows during Rodgers' tenure, compounded by spiralling wages for mediocre players that made them impossible to shift and allowing the contracts of our assets to run down.

Imagine the scene, in your dotage, grandkids on your knee - "Tell us again about the time we won the FA Cup grandad..." It will never be: "Tell us about the time we got promoted and then struggled in the PL with a period of sustained mediocrity grandad". I think that anyone that chooses promotion over a hypothetical FA Cup is lacking a little romance in their soul.

Yep. I'd take that. We would rebuild and return, but yes, I would swap bobbling along at the top of the championship or lower end prem for one big, fat, shiny FA Cup. In the grand scheme of things, no one will remember plodding along but that trophy would be in the bank forever.

Yes. Yes it is. As long as the club didn't go under, I would take that deal.

I think it depends whether the potential financial mire of non promotion, threatens our existence or not. If not, The FA Cup for sure. I'd take a decade in the wilderness for that. Fortunes come and go in cycles, trophies are forever and that is the ultimate aim for any club. Anyway, an FA Cup win is fantasy for a Championship club in this day and age and given current form, our big Wembley day out might end up being a play-off final.

I think that everybody should calm down and relax. The play offs are fun.

I think this is going to finish about ten to five. Don't ask me how I know, just a feeling.

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