Bad Mongo

10.

Smith starts? Ouch.

Oh, come on. Even though that nonsense is a genuine quote, no one believed any such thing. Most supporters expected more than we got, though, as that was what we were made to believe.

If we get a proper thumping from Manure and lose to Hull, they may have better goal difference than us as well as being at least 4 points ahead, with Wigan, Portsmouth, Middlesbrough and Sunderland coming up.

Only Nile Ranger.

Middlesbrough have about 9 winnable games left (including against us), Blackburn, Portsmouth and Stoke 7 or 8, we have 6 at best (including Middlesbrough). Statistically, we should go down.

This is as bad as under Big Sam.

No, based on the fact that no one else seems to get £9M when being sacked from their clubs. It doesn't seem like reasonable compensation.

I assume he might not get the full £9M, even if he wins.

Exactly. A court case will also make the facts of the situation public, whereas a settlement will come with a gag order for Keegan. Why would Keegan accept a settlement if he could get more in court? As well as getting his chance to tell the fans of the club he supposedly loves what happened? Why do you think he would get more in court?

No one can gag Keegan unless he agrees to it, and the only way he will settle quietly is if his case isn't watertight (which it obviously isn't). A settlement is an agreement between the two parts, so Keegan will of course have to agree to it. But you have no reason to assume Keegan will accept it only if his case isn't watertight. They may chose to pay him more in a settlement than he could expect from a court case, rather than risking a PR disaster, and Keegan might think money is worth more than publicly humiliating the people at the club. We don't know. But basically, a settlement means the club think they may have more to lose by letting the case go public, and that Keegan think he has no more to win, or small chance of it, by taking it further.

Exactly. A court case will also make the facts of the situation public, whereas a settlement will come with a gag order for Keegan.

So why did he jump at the ball with his two feet? Unless he was about to show us some sort of ball control that had never been seen in the premierleague. He was never going to get the ball with that sort of movement. Regardless whether he was to get the ball or not, it was a criminal challenge. He didn't. I've been looking at the "tackle" frame by frame from the only video I could find on the-video-clip-site-one-must-not-name (downloaded via keepvid.com and converted to still images), and it's clear to me that he gets in between the player and the ball, but Anichebe launches into a tackle at the same time. Nolan also bends his knees to minimise the impact, which he wouldn't have done if he'd meant to injure him.

How the hell was Nolan going to predict Anichebe's leg would be in such a perfect stomping position when he left the ground? There was absolutely no time for that. He misjudged the situation and landed on his leg, that's all.

That's the kind of situation Butt can get away with; he just trundles around and gets in the way to good effect. When we have to actually pass, move and play he's utter dogshit. Until Nolan went off, that was exactly what Butt did. Actually, he did for the entire first half.

I thought he did well. Very well until 75 minutes.

No, he can't, or he shouldn't. He has to show that he's got the utmost faith in him, just like Keegan did with the players. Confidence means a lot in football, for the manager as for the players.

TBF, he's only supporting his manager. It's not like he can go out and say "no, Kinnear is something of a clown and we obviously didn't know what we were doing when we hired him. We'll get rid of him sharpish". He probably sends deep-fried Mars bars to Kinnear at the hospital.

We've done these so far. Question is how Willow got hold of Mike Ashley's business plan.

Hughton's other games as a manager were right after Kevin Keegan had left and the players and fans were deeply upset. He might do better now.

Not only as a brand, it will help attract players as well.

No one has ever claimed Shepherd spent his personal wealth on the club, Ian W.

No compassionate at all you lot from over the other side of the water. "Look, Tooj, no point feeling sorry about Kinnear. It's a kindness. Like a blind old incontinent sheep dog, he's had his day. Take him out to the barn with a double-barreled shotgun and blow the mother away. And I'm only saying that because I'm so fond of him."

Yeah, or it could mean there's 8 million depending on sales, just like last time when there was money to spend.