Dan

This isn't all a result of some sort of redemption arc either - they're involved again because the team has declined and the standards are low. This squad is rubbish and I want anyone involved in that being the case booted as far from the club as possible. Which is the main argument for why Cooper did have to go. Rudkin still being in post is so laughable that you can only suspect it is some sort of dirt he does have on the owner.

The game was already lost anyway (well it was from the minute he named Ward) and people have no other way to express their dissatisfaction. The club have yet again taken the piss of the fans by playing Ward - how are they meant to react?

If Ward does play then people really should refuse to give them the viewing figure. I won't be. I'm not having my intelligence insulted again. I don't think it's hyperbolic to say if he does play that records could fall. The circumstances are there.

I'd love it to go bang but I fear it's just going to be a very drawn out thing. We'll just become Stoke.

He's better than anyone we have, but the pace thing is an obvious issue - that's the main issue with our defence and he doesn't fix it.

I wonder if there's any chance the Premier League could fine us for playing him. Didn't Blackpool once get fined for picking a blatantly stupid team before? That may be to do with changes but surely it's bordering on bringing the game into disrepute.

The owner.

Good on those who did boo - about time some accountability was taken at the club. It's time to go for the higher ups though. They're the ones who really need the heat on them now.

Yep. Carried by residue from an improbable ****up and an ambitious young manager. An ambitious young manager eh - no wonder he had no interest in sticking around this place. I increasingly agree that people like him and Whelan are only in post because they'll lift the lid on a lot of dirt if not. It's the most plausible situation really.

Only you have to pay £25 for it.

This is no joke. It really could happen. I don't think people grasp that this is a real possibility. It isn't hyperbole. We're 22/1 to win the game. That's San Marino type odds. Our only hope of not getting absolutely humiliated is that it's over Christmas, a busy period and that Liverpool may rest some of their better players, which should hopefully keep it down to 4/5. They have a much tougher game after us (West Ham, who are also shit).

Wonder how it compared against Wolves equivalent when we beat them 0-4 in 2022. Probably nothing close. No surprise then that they'll be in the Premier League again next season and we won't. You generally get what you deserve in football.

I think if you offered me a 4-0 loss right now I'd take it.

It's a continous thing. You're never totally insulated from a drop off. You only have to look at what's happening to Manchester United. Year in, year out they are lowering their own floor and ceiling. You only have to see how quickly Newcastle, Aston Villa, and now (ugh) Nottingham Forest and Bournemouth have gotten good too. Things can change very quickly in football. We've gotten away with it for years I think because we had the luxury of having an elite striker on our books year in, year out. Now he's slowed down the gaps are being exposed.

Yep fair enough. I agree with this - contrary to what some on here say I can take things not being perfect. I don't demand it's perfect every time. It's never going to be. But responses to setbacks are the real difference. You **** up, you make sure you try and rectify it. We allowed one of the most inexplicable ****ups in Premier League history in 2023 and we're still playing the players, and have the person responsible for these ****ups on our payroll. That to me is where I lose any heart, any passion for any of it. This is not a club that is trying.

Strike two for me. Ward plays at Anfield and it's Ruud out for me.

I can't go to games at the minute anyway (the club banned me for something I didn't do without any evidence that I did it - true story) but having seen that XI today I didn't even bother watching. Complete insult to the fans to pick Ward.

What's this referring to? Out of interest.

And not just win something - win a trophy we were only in contention for due to their own previous ****up. We should've made as little a song and dance about last season as possible. No pride in it at all. Like a bus driver celebrating having his bus pulled out of a ditch. Shows how superficial it is - the shamelessness.

Good. Never come back.

Would be a shame if people started turning up outside his wouldn't it?

There are literally none.

All part of the propaganda. The whole thing is quite reminiscent of an eastern dictatorship to be honest.

It shouldn't be controversial to say it. It's plain obvious. Name a single facet of this club that is run in a good way in December 2024. It's absolutely utterly shit. From top to bottom. It's draining. Time's up Top. You've ****ed it up. If you really care - then sell before any more damage is done.

We're Stoke / Sheff Weds in the making.