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Stoke away in April 2008. We were second, Stoke were third going into the game and we never showed up. Had we won that, we’d have gone up in second. Stoke went on to finish second, we lost to Hull at Wembley. Walsh cracking the post in the League Cup semi-final second leg at the Gate must be up there for those who went. Before my time, though. I remember Miller missing that sitter at Swindon very well.

You don't think Cotterill deserves credit for identifying those players on the up, getting them through the door and moulding them into a promotion-winning squad, all while getting the best out of underperforming players who were already here? For me, that group of players was one of the best City teams in my 28 years of following the club and Cotterill deserves credit for that. If an buts - we don't know what went out behind closed doors but I know Cotterill isn't one to get splinters in his arse and am sure he 'had a chat behind closed doors' that we're not privy to for obvious reasons. As I previously said, I agree with you it was odd to go in with one less sub - but I can only offer my interpretation of why he did it. One that made sense.

What difference does it make if you give an academy player their debut or not? If they're not up to scratch, they shouldn't be playing. The same applies the other way round. I don't think you can gloss over the role Cotterill played in developing the likes of Bryan, Flint, Pack, Freeman or Ayling - all of whom have gone on to bigger and better things than us. It was clear at the time we had the nucleus of a very good team. Getting a few quality additions in over the summer of 2015, and doing them early, would've made all the difference. It was baffling he left a spot on the bench going spare, but I could understand the logic and interpreted that at the time as a message to the board that he wanted more backing as the existing youngsters were either not ready or not good enough. At the start of 2015/16, Morrell was 17, Kelly was 15. Let's not forget that LJ still thinks Morrell's not ready - five years on. Kelly didn't make his debut until 2017. Neither were ready when Cotterill was manager, IMO.

It's hard to believe anyone could claim Cotterill wasn't giving the youngsters a chance when he was the one responsible for bringing Joe Bryan through, developing Luke Ayling and Luke Freeman (who were both sold for apittance), and Aden Flint. They were all in their early 20s at that time. From memory, most of the youngsters we had coming through at that time were nowhere near ready for the first team which makes it an odd stick to beat him with.

Cotterill hits the nail firmly on the head with his “identity” comment. I’ve always through bleating on about that is a complete load of bollocks and belongs in David Brent’s handbook.

Absolutely. Think Bassett’s either the only one, or is certainly a member of a very select few managers, to win every league title into the Football League. Sure he had other promotions (play-offs, runners-up) on his CV, too.

Echo that. I compared Morrell to a poor man’s Xavi that night, and I didn’t mean that as a negative. The way he demanded the ball, always looked forward, played it on the deck was a breath of fresh air. I thought he deserved a run in the league after that. He was ready for the Championship then, so it’s no surprise to see him be a star in the league below.

I always thought Fawthrop was onto a good thing, same with Benny. Wilson and Cotterill were both hard done by, but they were my favourite managers since '92 as they played football how I like it to be played. If either of those two were given the cash or the blind faith handed to LJ, we'd have enjoyed the ride a damn sight more that the turgid stale guf served up at home over most of the last four years (2017/18 excluded).

Liverpool 0-1 City, 25 January 1994. Cardiff 1-3 City, 29 December 2001. I was fortunate to be at both games and had a ticket for the Mansfield game in 2002 but was as sick as a dog and had to listen on the radio - the only game I missed in 2002/03 and it still annoys me now. We played proper football back then.

I was there that day, too, sat along the side of the pitch in the grandstand. My first visit to Edgeley Park and one of the friendliest away grounds I’ve ever been to. Can’t remember who scored the goals that day, but I do recall one save Bo Andersen made flying to his right to keep a rasping strike from distance out of the top corner. Absolutely top drawer. Phillips was No.1 for most of that season, so Bo didn’t get a crack of the whip until we were all but down towards the end of the season. Possibly after Phillips let in a ridiculous own goal at Wolves a few earlier when the ball bobbled over his foot on a beach of a pitch.

For every bargain we bought in that time, there was an equal amount of dross (Smith, Savage etc). The only player I remember us selling for a profit in that time was Carle. Don’t underestimate the lasting financial damage done by signing the likes of Sno, Saborio, Velicka etc. If my memory’s right, Velicka cost us £500k, bust his knee five minutes into his debut at home to QPR - and he was only on loan.

I’m pretty sure Ashton is the one who’s in credit, seeing as he sanctions every transfer deal. LJ is paid to coach, motivate, man-manage, oversee tactics, forge an identity and develop players. He’s only delivering on the latter, consistently failing on the rest.

Palmer looked classy at the start of the season when he had Afobe, a quality striker at this level, making probing runs ahead of him. It’s no coincidence his form dropped after Benik got injured. There’s no other striker in the squad who’s on Kasey’s wavelength. Maybe Wells is but we’ve yet to see it. Sometimes players, especially maverick ones, need an arm around the shoulder and to be encouraged instead of being made a scapegoat by a manager who barely played a game for anyone else than his old man.

I’d be very happy with Jokanovich but doubt we’d be able to tempt him back to England from Qatar. The Liverpool assistant, Ljinders, would also be an exciting appointment if we could lure him. A left-field shout could be Carlos Coberan, a highly-rated coach’s working under Bielsa at Leeds. I’d take Hughton if he was willing to come, and Moyes if he was up for working under this structure. The sad reality if and when LJ gets the boot is it’ll be someone like Clement. I see nothing to suggest SL has a Pat Lam up his sleeve for us.

That’s exactly how I’ve seen it for far too long now and I cannot agree more. It’s not a personal thing, he’s just nowhere near good enough to be managing a team that supposedly has genuine aspirations of promotion to the Premier League and he never will be.