HawK

Cringe, couldn't even get the space in the right place

It's the Championship promotions, but he's had so many games it's basically the law of averages at this point.

It's like picking between Scrooge and Xerxes

I feel like I have to come into this thread or whomever our manager generally is, every 6 weeks to remind the few that seem to be 'surprised' or 'shocked' that Ashley would risk not sacking Bruce. I'll have to dig up my earlier statements, but it goes like this : Ashley will never, ever sack a manager for on-field reasons if the club is 17th or higher. The manager would also have to be 18th or lower for a prolonged period for this to happen. Our performances or 'style' mean nothing to him. So, right now we are 17th, he's going absolutely nowhere. If you want him gone, then it's the sackpardew.com route where he's pushed out by the fans. Unfortunately, after Pardew, I think most of the fans that care about the club have given up, and I don't blame them.

I'll have whatever you're smoking

Don't be daft, the net will be closer to -£25m as usual

£10 on Frasers Group, any takers?

Sure, I take the point that Benitez won't illicit the same sort of response from players as Guardiola did/does. Maybe it's a reputation thing, but I won't argue against bigger egos not listening - look at all the shit from Owen, Gerrard, how his Real tenure unravelled. It's a crying shame that some of the bigger players won't be told what to do, but not all of them are like this. He needs players who are willing to work hard and listen, and when Pros get to the absolute top of the game, there are really not many people they will listen to. See Zidane, Guardiola - legends of the game at the biggest clubs in the world (Zidane more so than Guardiola ), able to work with some of the biggest names in the game and get them to perform. Half the battle is getting the team to sing from the same hymn-sheet, and if they are all listening and pulling in one direction, it's arguably more important than whatever tactics/instructions are issued, as long as they are all followed. I don't think anyone would consider Zidane a tactical mastermind, but there's no doubt who's the manager of the team when they take to the pitch. I think it's less that you can't tell big players what to do, it's more that it needs to come from someone they respect absolutely. And even the biggest managers don't illicit respect automatically, see Staam under Ferguson or Anelka under pretty much anyone. Curiously, these falling-outs don't seem to happen so much if the manager at the top was a top player - Guardiola, Zidane, Mancini, rather than the more 'professional' managers, e.g. Benitez, Mourinho, AVB and so on. There seems to be a limit to how high a level these professional managers can go whilst demanding absolute tactical discipline from the players they manage. I think managers like Ancelotti just seem to let players go out and play, a more Keegan-esque approach, and instill confidence in players in themselves, rather than the system, to get results. This only works though if your team is that damn good they don't need a system to win, and your players have the flair and guile and intelligence to do it themselves. But if you get the two together, top players within a rigid system - Barcelona & tiki-taka, it's almost unstoppable. /observation

I'm not sure I agree, it's more the attitude of the players. There's an anecdote around when Guardiola was Barca manager, he would pull Henry into his office and ask him what he could do better next time. Same sort of stuff really?

Well done to Lee Charnley for ensuring that not a penny on wages has been wasted in completion of this deal. Your SD gift card should be in the post.

Two ex-Real Madrid managers back-to-back, think they need to get a grip.

Well if he wants to join a club with limits, we're probably his best option.

Which one are we on now?

Has met every expectation the club has set. Of course he'll be offered a new deal, how this is a shock or surprise or disappointing to anyone absolutely baffles me. How much in denial must you be that you thought he wouldn't be offered a new contract. We've been witnessing this style of management and ownership since Keegan resigned.

Aye, with HDR-enabled TVs nowadays, that chrome dome would be blinding.

4, it's the only number I can think of atm.

Aye, bit of a difference between saying 'it's him', a la the social media numptees, and linking a news website article, mind. That said, have no issues with complying with the requests of wullie/mike, just didn't see them.

Ah, fair enough, missed that. Thanks Loki

I see my original post was deleted by a mod and then the subsequent one had the potential referencing URL also removed, this is fine I guess, but are we not allowed to discuss the potential identity? It's not like there is a court order or anonymity injunction, big difference to 'not disclosed' information.

Yeah it's a strange one, they could have been referring to a different article , which seems to have named him, but then retracted it in the article but left it in the URL. And even so, that's not a British site as far as I can tell.

We've had over 10 years of 'takeovers', veriaqa. You can forgive the majority for being more than a little jaded and educatedly pessimistic at this point. In some ways, it could be argued that this takeover is even further away from completion than others that have been touted. This is the first one that is being actively blocked by the PL for starters.

As good as he was for us, and I don't doubt he could still play a role for us now based on his past performances for us, the fact he's joining Alaves permanently as his next club speaks more to his true calibre and how poor we are defensively that he looked that good in B&W.

Oh and, controversial, Emiliano Sala to Cardiff, RIP.

I just checked his Wiki, on the face of it looks like he came to us for his final pay-day, even though he somehow had played for the full Spain team 5 times. After leaving us he played a bit for a lower leagues Spanish team and called it a day shortly after. I wonder how many other high-profile footballers have gone down this path? Like, not off-the-rails or mental-health related (Adriano for example), but just thought, thanks I've had enough now and actively stopped playing the game.