TDarwall

And Stones... The Blue Aeroplanes

I'd wager Pompey will have a serious crack at getting in the Prem before we do.

No Williams or James is a worry.

Agree with lots but not this bit. The media work is under scrutiny because of the results. Monotone, duplicitous, robotic etc would all be fine if we were winning all the time. I reckon I've been reading the forum 20ish years & struggle to recall many positive threads about the managers pre/post match press interviews when the team is doing badly.

His communication style is fine. His results are the problem. If we'd won the last 10 & his interviews were as they are now, he be lauded as a genius & anyone that dared criticise him would be derided as a fool.

Spot on. There's a great gig on Sky Arts currently.

The reason the finance option is over 9 & not 10 payments is that Steve wants Jon to really stretch himself on his maths skills.

Joe Williams threatening a 2 footed tackle for non renewal is probably the best bet. Not sure Liam is cut out for a career in telesales & the nuance of the payment plan would confuse the Technical Director.

Power & pace are huge assets. Its hard to know where Antionne's ceiling is, but i thinks its realistic that he could do better than the likes of West Ham, Palace etc. i

Whilst I entirely concur, I go back to my mantra of the result is everything. In his 1st season in charge we got well beat away (Sheff Utd, I think) & Cotts did a post match rant about it not being a "Steve Cotterill team" out there. From memory, the forum wasn't full of praise for his honesty & passion, he was ridiculed for referring to himself in the 3rd person. The truth is, you can be studious as Wenger or as emotional as Warnock as long as you're getting the right results.

Always surprised me that Cotts has struggle for good jobs since leaving us. Having seen what he achieved with a few quid to spend in League 1, I'd expect any "big" club in that division to be thinking he could replicate it with them.

Into the valley - The Skids

That joke isn't funny anymore, The Smiths

This is true, however, it's also true that due to our lack of sqaud depth, if we get a "normal" amount of injuries, it impacts us more. For our model to work, we need fewer injuries than the norm, however it's a vicious circle as being short on no's means players probably get overplayed & are more likely to get injd. Had Dickie picked up a 3 month hammy, we'd have been well & truly screwed.

The whole "losing the fans" is a movable feast. If we start next season like an express train he'll win the fans back. For most fans, their judgement will be predominantly on result, if his results don't improve, he'll go, simple as that. However, if his persona stays exactly the same & we're doing well all thoughts of him being a robot/unable to connect to fans & players etc will fade away. If we were entrenched in the top 6, folk would be on here lauding his interview style & loving the fact he doesn't get too high/low after a game. 2 rules of football: 1) results are everything; 2) never forget the 1st rule

But without Jody, who was going to organise the players Xmas party??

Can't believe he's gone for a box of Quality St. Schoolboy error, doesn't understand what the occasion means to mums, surely today is the day to go for it with the continental option of Ferrero Rocher.

I often think there is a touch of alchemy to managerial appointments. Sometimes you just get a combo of right manager @ right club @ the right time. Had Cotts joined us 12 months earlier, how would he have done? Danny Wilson got Bansley to the top flight in his 1st managerial gig but couldn't get us promoted to the 2nd level on arguably a bigger budget. Who would have guessed G'ON would make such a brilliant start but will he be able to replicate it at a bigger club with greater expectations?

Not there today but will definitely be renewing. I view it as "our" club, the fans are the only constant everyone else from players, manager, board etc are just passing through.

Eustace is odd in that a)decent career, b) decent managerial Job @ Brum, c) not trying to play like Pep, yet struggling to get a tune out of what looks a 1/2 decent Blackburn squad.

Have a vague memory that 1 game we had a 3 man midfield of Tinnion, Orr & Clayton Fortune!

Bob Taylor in as manager? Brave move.

The 2 opposite ends of the scale!

You would think after the debacle of his managerial stint, he'd appreciate a more low profile role doing something he (appeared) to genuinely enjoy & would shun anything too high profile. I do think though there is something in the psyche of a pro sportsperson that they don't think like the average bod. So many times you see players doing really well at Club A & then move go Club B where its obvious they'll be cup game fodder & no more. Yes, the £££'s come into it, but I do think where a lot of us see a natural ceiling to our ability (& are broadly comfortable with that), to get anywhere in pro sport you need a certain level of arrogance that makes you think you're capable of things well beyond you.

3 of the last 4 games have been awful. The 4th, was an awful result but actually a decent performance. Just have to hope we take the decent performance rather than the awful result into Sunday. I always think, bad runs rarely end with a sparking performance, it just needs to be a win to reboot a bit or confidence.