Dan

It is sadly just not a realistic proposition. If I was offered a few dreadful years to 'fix' the club I would take it, but I don't think it really works like that. In reality all we become is Stoke - bottom half in the Championship year in, year out. Circling the drain, crowds dwindling, utterly miserable, unenjoyable experience for literally everybody. Very, very bleak few years ahead for this club. We're on an absolutely terrifying trajectory.

Some entertainment for those there at least.

We won't go back up.

Failure of promoted clubs is nothing to worry about (yet) The link to that Martin Samuel article above - ended up down a rabbit hole of reading stuff from him (he's great I think). Would be interested to hear his views after what's played out this season.

In all seriousness, yes those two are worse. I'd throw Blackburn Rovers and Cardiff City into this as well. I thought their grounds when I visited last season were staggeringly quiet, just totally on the floor clubs. There was a thread on Twitter from a Cardiff an the other day - eerie similarities to us. The caveat for me is how much stronger a position we were in than any of those to begin with. Now we are still stronger than all of them, but we really could become a part of that group. I went to a Stoke game around 2019 time and it was depressingly bad. Ground about 40% full, just a really miserable chore of an experience. Since that day I've been worried that we could become this if we're not careful, and we really are going that way. I'd actually find supporting Reading less frustrating than this. Reading's fans have really mobilised against their issues and they have a team that are fighting and punching above their weight. Would be a genuinely incredible achievement if they got promoted. Although they are in a worse state than us, and weaker than us, I'd find being a fan in that scenario not even close to as frustrating as this.

Triple post here but I know a Newcastle fan who says these things to me in that a lot of their fans became incredibly apathetic about things as well. As low as I feel on us it isn't just us. Though it does feel unique to this country.

I thought this as well. Quite comparable in a few ways. You could tell he could relate to our frustration having likely gone through very similar.

Came in here to say the same - thought he was really, really good.

Come on Como.

It could be argued that their incompetence is why it happened now rather than a year ago which would've been more suitable. I'll save it for if he joins somebody like Aston Villa and has the sort of impact that could've been had on this season. I'm saying this as somebody who is probably club critical in about 80% of my posts these days.

Completely agree the more I think about it - really hope they don't do it, even though he is almost certainly not going to be beaten.

West Brom should rename their away end.

I'm hoping he gets to this so we don't have to have him go out at Bournemouth. Couldn't have had a much more miserable way to go out than already relegated in front of 10,000 fans.

Sincerely hope you're right. MLS hopefully. Would be an excuse to go over there for me. Wouldn't entirely shock me if a PL club did what we should've this season with some effectiveness - had him as backup.

He's already done it once and was pretty influential last time. He was very much a part of this season but it's a more damning indictment of those above rather than him. As gutted as I'd be to see him end up somewhere like Villa, maybe that would make it hit home for our fans what's happened.

Will be so, so pissed off if he goes to a Premier League side as backup, like a Villa or an Everton for a year. Or Wrexham.

Unforgivable for me that he goes out already relegated away at Bournemouth. As dreadful a way to go out as you could've imagined. We need to get him to 200.

It's time. Well to be honest, it was a year ago. Will be absolutely gutted if it's another English club. Fingers crossed for the MLS.

I'm happy not to hear from that lot if it increases the chance that they're off. It baffles me how many people fell for it two years ago. Some pathetic statement playing the victim and blaming people for criticising the most avoidable relegation in Premier League history, followed by the protagonists behind it marking their own homework. I'm amazed anybody thought the upturn in 2023/24 was anything other than playing a load of teams we had multiple times the budget of, rather than those involved becoming sensible. This blindness has done exactly as I feared it would do - left us in even more damage two years later. Where will it be in two years under the same people? Do you expect them to develop self-reflection and accountability? Who is making them?

Been so disappointed by him since he signed. Just never been good enough.

I just cannot believe we still have to ensure this phrase. How much worse does it have to get?

I bet the manager who doesn't want to be here and hasn't for months still starts players like Soumare and Faes.

Absolute fraud and a bum. At least Soumare was a useful method for identifying who never to listen to.

The same as the last few years - nothing. Continue to indulge players who couldn't give a shit about the club or city. Continue to be shit. Continue to have nothing going forward, continue to be as easy to score past as Bonnie Blue. Will probably spawn a result against Southampton or Ipswich. Some people will fall for it as well.

People are probably only pointing out the League One once point because the "once" is soon to be redundant. This crook could take us from arguably our strongest ever position to our weakest.