deep blue

I sent the board 2 letters in that season, one after the first few games and another after Christmas, detailing how Rodgers was dragging the club down and concluding that relegation was a real possibility. The letters were acknowledged but ignored, of course. I was (unfortunately) proved right while the board only revealed their total ignorance and ineptitude. I applaud your intentions, but I wouldn't waste the effort again.

What rumours, and how solid are they?

Rodgers was the issue.

Of course you can. In the last few minutes of a game he brings on a defender in a key position who is not properly warmed up or into the flow of the game. When faced with non-stop pressure and an attacker who is fast and balanced, in the box, it is the most likely outcome that he will misjudge the situation and stick out an incautious leg. An experienced manager should know very well the risk. It was a most foolhardy substitution.

I can't understand this apologetic response to our situation re PSR. Talk about "technicalities" and "loopholes" is nonsense. We abided by the written rules; full stop.

My immediate thoughts too. Interesting coincidence of timing that the league are currently bringing our players to book over their behaviour last Saturday but, of course, no taking into account the deficiencies of the ref. I think the Prem will be out to get us at every opportunity this season.

Hard to see how Cannon can be less effective than any of our current strikers (barring Vardy in his good moments). And he has youth on his side, so if Cooper is as good as his reputation in coaching youngsters then Cannon is likely to improve, which you can hardly imagine possible for any of our other strikers.

I'm hoping the reason is more along these lines and, as others have suggested, JJ was seen as the best option against Son. Against other opponents the it may be that Riccie is seen as the better alternative. There is also the consideration that Ricci has to be handled with care given the effect of his previous injuries. We will just have to wait and see.

Ah, obviously we won. BBC website got stuck Well done lads.

What's going on? Score stuck on 284 after 48.2 overs for 15 mins.

Makes no odds. I was at the match and his 2 finishes were pure class.

Agree with this. I don't think Maguire's lack of especially was exposed too much when he was with us before. He's v solid and reliable defensively, and would add a much-needed attacking threat at our set pieces. Admittedly, wages could be a problem.

For me, this sums up the situation perfectly. I think it's a risk we can't afford not to take.

I'm not convinced by the "unattractive" tag. The Prem is surely still the most attractive league in the world. There are only 20 teams in it. We appear to be able still to offer higher salaries than other leagues, Possible downers - - no European football, but then that applies to all but a chosen few - high possibility of relegation, but a player that has performed well will be the immediate focus of a bid from a surviving prem team, and will be a good value buy as clubs can play low ball with a relegated team - points deduduction; I don't think this is as relevant as some think because (a) I don't think it will be as steep as many fear and (a) the worst consequence of that would be relegation, which is not of much concern for the player's future for the reason given above.

That's a good point. You would hope that Cooper knows exactly what type of player he wants, knows Shkipp's capabilities, and has confidence he can improve him in the direction he wants.

No, it isn't.

Not that "first past the post" is truly democratic as the number of seats doesn't reflect the number ofvotes cast. In fact, you could argue that FPTP has for decades produced tactical voting. It has produced a two party system, such that most people tend to vote for Labour or Conservative not because they positively favour the party but they believe that voting Libdem, Green or other will have no impact ... so it's a negative rather than an affirmative vote.

Sums up the situation perfectly.

With regard to the "lack of vision" of the appointment, whilst this appears to be true I think that at this particular time, given the situation we are in, it is a moment where we need to address the immediate precarious situation and steady the ship. Once that is achieved we can attempt to look at a longer term view. With regard to the worrying views on here about our spending and points deductions, "potentially for the next few seasons", I think that is an overly negative prediction. The Prem is getting so much flak from all sides about the complexity and inappropriateness of the rules, and an increasing number of threats of legal challenges, that I can see possibly the collapse of it all or, at the very least, a face-saving softening in the penalties handed out.

On the other hand, any manager could look upon it as a "no lose" challenge. Given the difficulties under which he would be working, his stock wouldn't be reduced if we were relegated under him. I share the concern that if we are truly waiting for an answer from Potter, and he keeps us waiting much longer, then our ability to find an alternative may get harder with each passing day. For example, I've seen it said that Corberan is in daily touch with the WBA hierarchy about their plans for next season. If true, then the further down the line we go the more likely he is to become welded to his West Brom plans & future and less likely to be tempted away. Meanwhile, the other viable alternatives may have lost patience with us and signed up elsewhere.

We need to be aiming for 50 points next season (with all the flak & problems the football authorities are facing I get the feeling that even another PSR breach will only receive a very small points deduction, so 50 points should be enough).. To achieve that we need our players to be absolutely battling for us and fitting well into the team so that we can optimise our resources. So on balance I think we should keep our best and most committed players even if that causes us to break PSR rules again. I.e. hold onto KDH unless we're offered an insane price (which is unlikely).

From reports I've read there must be question marks about Pearson's suitability because of his health problems. Also, he performed best alongside Shakey & Walsh so would have to be able to bring in some v astute adjutant choices. My feeling is that he would make a brilliant DOF but I don't see that position becoming vacant any time soon. I have limited knowledge of the present alleged candidates but am not enamoured with Potter as I think it's time to move on from the sterile passing approach, and more than anything we need a manager who is astute and flexible in his game management, and someone who can get the best out of our talented youth players. For those reasons I would be reasonably happy with Cooper, although some of the other touted options look a little more exciting. (but definitely not OGS).

You have to take into account the ineptness of the manager they were playing for ... whether he played them out of position/didn't pick them often enough/gave them poor instructions on their role/coached them badly etc etc. The fact that Victor had a good season abroad shows that he must be better than many on here thought. He's a young lad, made a big move to come to a wrecked team, was positive in his loan to a new club in another country where he performed well. A year on from leaving us it's likely that he's matured a lot and has learnt much on the playing side. As long as his playing style matches well with our new manager's wishes then I can see no argument about giving him a second chance with us.

You could equally argue that with the quality of our strikers we should have scored more but our style of play limited the number of chanches that were created for them.

He was continually crocked playing for Rodgers. There are probably a few managers other than Enzo who could keep him injury-free.