Silvio Dante

Didn’t realise Alan was that attractive.

Yeah this. Joe is very much part of the “establishment” at the club and also isn’t a professional journalist a la Geoff Twentyman. They look the right questions but again, a pre recorded (and assumedly) sanitised version with a friendly face as opposed to fronting up in a proper interview is a small step forward but it’s not exactly holding yourself up to scrutiny is it?

Ain’t no doubt.

“Only Fools and Horses” ”Lager Top” ”Haven’t given it much thought but my dads a carpenter so I’d have probably gone into that” Etc.

Ok let’s tease that out. If health reasons were a consideration, what we know is that we don’t know at the moment. Pearson is awaiting a diagnosis and undergoing tests. It could be serious, it could be not. Now, we can see that Tinnion and Lansdown think they have more medical knowledge than Dave Rennie, but I don’t think either of them (in several ways) are neurological masters. So, if they’ve let him go for “health” reasons they’ve done so in the absence of a diagnosis (and Pearson has always been honest in the media so I have no reason to doubt him here in that he’s awaiting a diagnosis). If it was medical then the sensible thing to do would have been to give him a leave of absence. Euell and Curtis (hell even Tinnion helping) running things in the interim. When Nige got a diagnosis, if it was serious, part ways on medical grounds. If it wasn’t, back on the horse. Its not medical. Edit: If it was medical and they didn’t want it getting out unless Nige has leprosy and Dave Rennie and Euell caught it there was no reason for them to also go. Game. Set. Match. As for sounding out managers, respected ITK posters such as Harry and Kid have confirmed that was the case. Even if they didn’t, any multi million pound company would have succession plans and if they haven’t, they’re totally incompetent. Unfortunately all roads here lead to a very very incompetent and gutless hierarchy.

“My names Nigel Pearson. I had an accident and woke up in 1973. Well I thought it was based on the wage and transfer budget available”

I think it’s becoming apparent there was no plan, other than they needed an excuse to jettison Nige. Had they lined a manager up, he’d be here by now - Eustace/Lampard if wanted are available and we’ve clearly been sounding people out for weeks. The mealy mouthed rationale, the not fronting up, the doing it at this juncture and the no movement on replacement suggests that they sacked Nige as they had to go before winnable games and players back from injury. If Lansdowns and Tinnion had one inch of courage, they’d have still sacked him after a win - but that wouldn’t play to their bullshit narrative. I have no issue in taking time over an appointment to get it right. However, as @Kid in the Riot says, the clock for finding a replacement didn’t start last Sunday - it started some time ago. It’s wholly plausible also we’ve lost some candidates who don’t want to report to an illiterate Geordie and a know nothing Nepo baby, and the interviews/the way they’ve handled things have tipped people over the edge. No plan. No clue. No credibility.

Evening Post stating not under consideration.

Now said his goodbyes on Twitter.

Big fan of Rod Hull I’ve heard.

Man U fans going on about Glazers. The amount of cash Ten Haag has had is obscene, yet he’s created an unlikeable, disjointed side. They’d have a heart attack if they saw Lansdowns current stewardship of the club (re investing in the team and supporting manager), and god knows how they’d react if they were fans of a Wednesday, a Reading or a Scunthorpe. Antony for 80 odd million is probably one of the worst signings I’ve seen, but more than that it’s the culture of the team (not the club necessarily) - support Greenwood, support Antony, ostracise Maguire, ostracise Sancho. Its objectively funny at least to see the Mancs “struggling”

Ah the Joey Barton argument. Top clubs give loan players to teams who pay them the most fees. And it’s not a market we’re shopping in allegedly so is moot. If that’s what we’re hanging our hats on with Lampard then it just shows what a nonsense appointment it would be.

Doesn’t stop Wally claiming he’s well in at Chelsea though.

The new man undoubtedly has a job on his hands, appeasing an unhappy fanbase while dealing with interference from boardroom and training ground personnel, all in handling a small squad with high expectations. It’s not a job for a light individual and therefore the only man for the job is former Leeds United frontman Arthur Graham.

Firstly - I wouldn’t be surprised if Lampard was interested. His reputation currently is such that he needs to look at this level and he is more of a coach than a manager. Albeit not a very good one. Surprisingly, as he is quite an intelligent man, I’ve always found his football intelligence lacking. If you look at that Golden Generation side, the reason him and Gerrard didn’t work is because Lampard just couldn’t play CM - he kept trying to play on top of the front men (as he did with Chelsea where it was one up top and him behind) and it left Gerrard isolated in the centre and overrun. Basic intelligence on positioning - other than in the specific role he played for his club - was lacking. That lack of intelligence has been carried forward into management - I’ve found his teams to be set up naively and without any real nouse, relying just on an individual doing well (as happened with Derby). Very good player in a specific system. Shockingly, no real nouse for the game outside of that.

I’d love to go to this but don’t own any Gary’s. Shame.

To be fair, if my posts were that long I’d only have the time and patience to post once every three years…

Okay, separating Eustace from Nige for a moment, and caveating that I really wish Nige was still here, it isn’t actually a bad choice on paper. He did well and was lauded for his football style at Kidderminster, so the Brum slightly more abrasive may have been horses for courses. I’m not dismissive of his 17th place finish last season as they were favourites to go down but he kept them up comfortably. Seemed also very well thought of by the squad there, and did start well this season - I thought at AG they played a bit less of a “spoiler” game than the prior season so it plays to the theory that he adapts dependent on what he has. Hes familiar with the division and will know some of the players from Ireland. Hes not Nige, who I’d rather have. It’s still Lansdowns out. It’s still Tinnion out. But my feeling is we could have been saddled with a lot worse

It’s an analyst fight! My moneys on Dave…

This looks to be the source. Fairly reliable - no shags, but fairly reliable:

I think your biggest hint to how the players will react is a lesson from history, namely Leicester. Nige built that side and when he left and Ranieri came in, the quality of the people and the spirit involved meant they didn’t think about giving any less than their all for themselves, their team mates, the fans, the old gaffer and the new boss. He’s built a side with that character here and I fully expect them to react as Leicester did - maybe not by winning the league but certainly by leaving it all on the pitch.

It’s clear the decision and the management of the response has gone down like a cup of cold sick. So, the question now becomes if the current regime (Lansdowns and Tinnion) can ever regain the faith of the fanbase, and if so, how. All options are fraught. If they sell, it’s likely to be a protracted process and they won’t be giving due care to the club while ongoing. If they give a new manager cash it’ll be sullied by the fact they wouldn’t do it for Nige, and if they ever reappointed Nige it’d render them neutered. So, is there now any way back, and how?

The key thing there is the name of the stand - the Williams stand. Named after a chairman who took charge during dark times, was at the tiller as we recovered and was part of a team where everyone worked together - things like TC driving to Darlington to pick Walshie up. We had bugger all money for a while but the club was together. The stand, known as the grandstand previously, was renamed after Des. I look forward to its rightful name being restored.

But the signs were there. Not just on here, but on the more rabid social media like Twitter and Facebook, and importantly in the ground, it was clear Nige still had the backing of the vast majority. The players clearly backed him and a decent “dof” type (hi Brian) would have gauged the changing room and fed that back. In any business you do your research. If they didn’t expect this reaction they’re even more incompetent than we all feared.