mozo

Have you ever considered a career as a motivational speaker? We will win 5-0. Mark. My. Words.

26.5k was mentioned in the GM interview I think. So that looks right

I think the bittersweet element here is that if we, by some minor miracle, finish top 6 next season, then the board could argue that they were justified in bringing in Manning when they did and managing the budget how they did.

Fair enough. It won't happen anyway The kind of apology you would get from Steve L is "Maybe we could have done things differently but..."

To bring us closer to some sort of closure, I think Steve Lansdown should, and could easily, front up when the season's over, and just apologise for poor messaging around the Pearson sacking. That needs to be followed by a glowing appraisal of the work Pearson did (and best wishes to him). That mea culpa and act of gratitude would make a world of difference to the relationship with the fans. But unfortunately, I don't think many ludicrously wealthy people feel they have to apologise for anything, or accept other people's best interests. At least not this one. Literally all we need is a couple of minutes of grace and selflessness, and then we can draw a line under it.

That's a valid argument, albeit I'm not sure I buy it. But it still comes back to the question, if tactics are the problem, why were we dropping points unnecessarily pre-Manning too (even before the injuries stacked up)?

Yes, but closer to free than his true value.

I've got no issue with people doubting Manning. What I was pointing out to Mr Seagull, was that his assessment that Manning should have won certain "winnable games" is a daft way to assess, because all managers drop points against teams they should beat.

I appreciate no one wants a Nige v Liam debate (sorry guys!!), but it's the easiest way to point out your double standard.

If anyone has seen the brilliant TV comedy series, The Thick Of It, that's kind of how I imagine the sacking of Nige. First of all, the board members, led by Jon, probably passed on the message to Nige in a vague and cowardly way, then scarpered and hid in a store cupboard whilst Nige stomped around the HPC demanding answers. After Nige drives off, they come out to brainstorm how they're going to communicate the sacking without pissing off the fans, which of course spectacularly fails.

Really?! I actually would guess next year. I'm hoping you don't have any intel there!!

The points gap to top 6 is not the barometer that everyone else uses. Everyone else looks at league position and points accrued. This means that we have currently improved on last season. But you conveniently found a metric by which you can criticise. We were good enough to beat Stoke and Birmingham under Nige, but we didn't. Does that make Nige a failure? You and I both know that football is not played on paper.

If you had to guess do you think he'll leave on free next year?

Yeah they bloody should do, and they did through his long covid tbf, but 'feels' like it was part of their thinking (not that I ever know anything!)

At the point that Scott had been sold, and it became clear that we weren't going to splurge any of the profits, I'm pretty sure that the consensus was that we'd be upper mid table, but not on a charge for the playoffs. I do agree when Nige says Liam inherited a good situation, in that we have a young squad, full of potential, all with a great attitude, very hardworking and obedient. Manning doesn't have to cull or overhaul. That's a good footing. But it doesn't therefore mean that the expectation should be playoffs. I don't believe Nige would have got us in the playoffs, but you and I may differ on that? I think this confirms that Nige was sacked for the reasons that we all thought: relationship with owner and NP's health. He rightly appears pissed off about it.