Cronky

You can't ever devise a formula for deciding who's the best in the world, or the best of all time. But he's up there with that small bunch of unseparables - Pele, Maradona and Cruyff.

It's a hard result to predict. We can't ask for more than to play against a relegated side whose team spirit has always been suspect. On the other hand, one draw in nine matches tells its own story.

You'd have to be an optimistic nut to think so.

Like - Krul, Dummett, Sammy, Jonas, Colback, Ayoze. Like Sissoko some of the time. Don't like Cisse much. He's a bit up himself.

Yeah, this is the kind of thinking that has me scratching my head. As though something that's bad for Ashley has to be good for us. No matter what.

You do have a knack of finding the cloud behind every silver lining.

He has skills that are unique to him. The way he scooped the ball over Neuer with his weaker foot was amazing. He's undoubtedly the best of his generation. The only contest is with Pele, Maradona and Cruyff.

No. Madness that the question could even be asked. It's getting like winning this battle with Ashley is more important than what happens to the club.

Vardy reached the ball first, and tried to knock it down the line, with the intention of chasing after it. If he'd succeeded, he'd have been in the clear. Willo did what most defenders would do - put in the sort of challenge where you either get man or ball. Was it the right time or situation to do that? No. The game was already lost and we can't afford to lose another defender. Does that mean he did it with the intention of not playing? No. He made a poor decision in the heat of battle.

Carver seems to have declared war on his players, and his position looks untenable. Someone has to take over, even if we're talking about Beardsley or Stone. Naturally, I'd prefer someone from outside, but who's available?

He should have been allowed to go when there was that crisis in his personal life and he wanted to go back to Argentina. The club takes a hit, but it's not wise to pressure an unhappy player to stay. Particularly if he's the captain and he's supposed to inspire others. He's not been the same since.

I don't think it was a deliberate attempt to get sent off. In that situation, he either had to get to the ball first, or bring the player down. You can say the game was already lost, and he shouldn't have taken the risk, but that's not always easy in the heat of the moment.

Yeah, the balance looks wrong in the midfield, regardless of individuals. Not enough technical ability there.

Looking at the stats, Mpenza got 21 from 28 for Standard Liege in 03-04, which suggests he wasn't done for at that point. We'll never know, because players can perform very differently depending on the environment, but I imagine Sir Bob saw Mpenza and Bellamy as a very pacey combination that would cause defenders a lot of problems. On the same lines as Yorke and Cole. But the important point is that it's the manager's judgement that should count in that situation - not the supporters, not the Chairman, not the player. Over the time he was here, Shearer became too powerful, and you have to say that the chief culprit was the Chairman, who needed to back his manager. Contrast that with Sir John Hall, when Keegan wanted to sell Cole. He had grave doubts, but bowed to the judgement of the professional.

The problem with Shearer was that he'd made it clear that if he wasn't going to be a first-team regular, he'd rather move on. Sir Bob knew, after the season we finished 3rd, that it was time to blood Shearer's successor. You don't wait until you have a problem - you read the early warning signs and act accordingly. The crucial point came in that meeting between Shepherd and Sir Bob at the start of the season, which is detailed in Sir Bob's autobio. Liverpool had got wind of the rift, and put in a bid for Shearer. Shepherd rejected it, and didn't tell his manager. Sir Bob found out, and met up with Shepherd, saying that if Shearer was sold, he'd be able to buy his replacement - Mpenza was the one he had in mind. Shepherd rejected the idea, because he said the supporters wouldn't stand for losing Shearer, though I suspect as well he was nurturing the dream that Shearer would take over from Sir Bob seamlessly in time. With hindsight, it's doubtful whether Shearer ever seriously had that in mind, though he was clever enough to keep the idea going, and use it to exercise some influence behind the scenes. So we ended up with a captain and main striker in decline, a team in decline, and a manager who'd been undermined. Sir Bob has no support from the Board, his captain and the fans, and pays the price a year later. However, we find it very difficult to recruit a new manager because the candidates see what's happened to Sir Bob, and don't fancy being in the hotseat whilst the Chairman and supporters' blue-eyed boy is hovering in the background. We end up with Souness. That was the big opportunity wasted, because Sir Bob could have handed a great legacy on to his successor.

Not getting rid of Shearer when his legs started going. Getting rid of Sir Bob. (the two are linked) Appointing Keegan the second time round. Appointing Kinnear DOF.

It won't be Carver.

No, that's fine, that's what I was after. So do you feel the club, as a sporting institution, is striving to be the best it can be? Do you feel Ashley is invested enough in the fortunes of the club, again, as a sporting institution - as opposed to a business venture or, if you want to put it crassly, a Sports Direct subsidiary? I'm not sure what else I can add to my two previous posts. A football club is both a community institution, and a business enterprise. Both have to work if there's going to be success on the field. There's a lot of talk about the club 'really' belonging to the supporters and the city, and people are getting very carried away with that, as though some kind of peasants' revolt is bound to pay dividends in the long term. The reality will be disunity and decline if the current trend for 'people power' carries on.

I wasn't conscious of ignoring any question from you. Ashley has made some bad and costly mistakes, so yes we could have done a lot better. The issue is whether this kind of campaign, at this point, is going to do more harm than good. I'd say, for reasons I've already stated, that it can. You can look at the Pardew campaign, and the earlier attempt to force Ashley out, to see how things can backfire when the club spins out of control due to supporter pressure. As for what I'd change, I'd really like us to unearth the next Clough or Mourinho - someone who's going to over-achieve in a massive way - but there's an element of luck as well as judgement in that. I think the basic strategy of the club is right. Going on a spending spree in the hope that you'll then be able to start balancing the books in three years time when you're top of the league, doesn't work. FFP is also a big restriction. So the Arsenal model that they've made it clear that they're following is fine with me. It's the execution that's been poor. There's been two bad mistakes there - firstly, with the appointment of Keegan, who was never suited to working that model, and secondly with Kinnear as DOF, which undermined Pardew and led to complete inertia in decision-making. As for prioritising the league against the cups - everyone does that, for good reasons. There's been a fair bit of hysteria over the 10th place target statement - I don't believe that the club doesn't want to finish higher, but because Ashley is unpopular and tight with money that's how it's been spun. The most dodgy area at the moment is the free use of the ground for Sports Direct advertising. Ashley's thinking is probably - sod it, I've bailed this club out from near bankruptcy and given it a big, interest-free loan, I'm entitled to some payback. Also - I'm going to be unpopular anyway, so what the hell. There's a legacy of bitterness between supporters and owner from the Keegan era, which underpins that. Ashley isn't completely in the wrong here, but ideally he ought to pay for the advertising. Personally, I haven't given up hope of a good managerial appointment this summer and some new blood being brought in. It's not in Ashley's interests for the club to fail, after all, and in reality you can't have a strategy of only being good enough to finish mid-table. If that was ever his aim (and I doubt it) he'll have learned differently. Football isn't that exact a science. But we'll see. Tbh, I'm also a bit worried about the effect of all this on the morale of the players, at a time when we're still not completely safe from relegation. 'Support the team, not the regime' sounds very fine, but in practice this sort of campaign tends to happen in reaction to the team doing poorly, as is the case now. Final point on something that rankled with me. I noticed in this thread a Spurs supporter referring to us as a 'once great club'. Well, when was that exactly? No league titles for nearly 90 years, no domestic cups for 60, no major trophies for 45 years. We're a club that's still trying to build the foundations of success, but the mentality of many supporters doesn't seem to acknowledge that. We get accused of feeling we're 'entitled' to success, and while I don't think that's fair, I can see where the criticism comes from. Too many have got their head in the clouds a bit, and it tends to spill out in situations like this. Excuse the long post, but it's difficult to put 'my opinions of the club' in one paragraph.

You're assuming that he hates you as much as you hate him. A fair assumption I would say. An ego-centric assumption, I'd say. Oh well, here goes. To be honest, the boycott all feels a bit naive. Similar to the Sack Pardew campaign - a howl of anger rather than anything constructive. We'll soon be appointing a permanent manager, and I'm wondering what any half-decent candidate is going to make of the club. Despite the campaigners' opinion of his ability, Pardew's standing in the game was reasonably good and will only have been enhanced by events at Palace. Candidates will have seen the guy driven out by supporters and may well think twice about putting themselves in the same position. Similarly any waverers are going to be concerned about harnessing themselves to an owner who is subject to a similar campaign. So altogether, I expect that - as with the results of the Pardew campaign - we'll end up in a worse position. Ashley had always had a piggybank attitude to spending money, and he's now got the club in a position where there's some surplus cash to spend. Personally, I'd like to see what he's prepared to do this summer. People will say that we're reached the same position before, but the situation now is a bit different, and will be an acid test of whether he's prepared to spend on the team or try to recoup his previous investment.

You're assuming that he hates you as much as you hate him.

Why not? There's no rule that you can't touch your profits until a year's time. The figure of £38m is just a snapshot of the situation in April 2014. Unless I've got that completely wrong. Can any accountants confirm?

It was £38m last April, so we can add on this year's profits as well, so double that. Happy days are here again.

I’m not sure if the mega clubs like Real will now want to take the risk on Klopp. Obviously they want someone of his ability, but they also want a safe pair of hands, and things have gone so badly wrong this season, that Klopp may now be seen as damaged goods. Has Klopp experienced a dispiriting moment of truth, feeling that his chance of deposing Bayern has come and gone, and he’s done all he can? Maybe he needs another challenge to recover his mojo. Interesting situation. Maybe Liverpool fit the bill.

I'm not sure that City would be the right fit for Klopp. He seems the highly-strung maverick type and I don't know how well he'd deal with the politics of the club and all the overpaid prima donnas in the squad. I'd love him to come here, but he'll get better offers. What's gone wrong at Dortmund? You don't normally expect a club that size to slip from top to bottom in one season. Not these days. He'll get better offers from clubs that play exclusively on Sundays you lunatic. Is this the right room for an argument? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kQFKtI6gn9Y