Parky

I'd expect professional players to adapt and understand that SA is in charge. Put them all on double training everytime an article from Owen's mates appears in The Times.

My thoughts exactly. Let's do this.

Excellent point about SBR.

Quite sneaky of Morticia.

I reckon he needs to spend around £20m on a creative attacking mf and another winger with pace and scary step overs. I for one will be listening carefully what SA and Mort say as we come to the Jan window.

How many tier one players do you think he has to work with? I can only think of one and he seems permanently crocked. he spent a lot of money. Are you telling me that he bought players he knew wouldn't be good enough? No, these are his idea of players that can do a job for us. He was wrong. Relatively speaking he inherited a rickety squad and has done his best to patch it up with relatively limited funds...If you see it any other way you're not looking hard enough.

I'm not so sure he won't be on the trnf list come Jan either. Every cloud..... Sam is NOT the right man. If we can get better then fair enough. If not then Unlucky, we'll have to put up with shit results, shit football and lots of tinkering. Think we'll keep him until summer then see what happens. All depends how ambitious Ashley is. Certainly Allardyce is not in the same league as Sven never mind Benitez, Ferguson etc. ...well you know you can keep comparing someone who has just started at a club to people who have been successful at other clubs but at the end of the day it's pointless. What we have here is a sincere hard working manager who needs time and at some point better players.

Man don't fuck up the thread.

I'm not so sure he won't be on the trnf list come Jan either.

Brand new def Rookie left back No more than prospects for wingers CM full of rejects.. I think you're enjoying ignoring one truth to play on another lie.

Nearly the whole Derby side have played together now for 2 years. See the differance?

How many tier one players do you think he has to work with? I can only think of one and he seems permanently crocked.

In my book there is no such thing as losing the dressing room. Players play up they get fined and put on the transfer list.

He's not a mediocre manager for a start.

I'd be fucking livid too. Cheeky twats. (If true) Do they really think Mourinho would be told to wait months to sort transfers out ? - iam starting to like Hicks and Gillett It's becoming a clear case of American owners not understanding an English football club and all that goes with it. They are trying to wrench the buying and selling power away from Rafa and also wanting to wait till Dec for 'the talks' is a sign they want to see how the CL qual go. Still stand by my prediction he's be gone by summer, but it might not be cause he isn't as good a coach as made out but simply bad communication and power struggles within the club. I think they're trying to implement a 'general manager' structure which is the same structure that American sports have (NBA, NFL, NHL and MLS). It's just a shittier name for a 'director of football' i.e. someone to take care of the signings and that leaves the 'coach' just coaching the team and doing the tactics and training. Similar to the way Spurs are doing things now I guess. Rafa will walk soon enough if this is what they're trying to do. The dark shadow of the dof strikes again as it were.

"Now is the time for good men and women to come to the aid of the club we all love!" Count me in.

I agree, Emre was world class for us before that nasty Big Sam came to Newcastle and destroyed him!

Maybe Turkey have a better midfield than us. Just a thought.

If you hadn't noticed they've been after Ashley/Allardyce from day one.

Where did we finish last year? Do you think we'll finish much higher this year? With a much stronger squad it should be added. We gained some players but we lost some as well.

Where did we finish last year?

I agree with this. He's been trying to do 'clever' things like playing N'Zogbia and Milner on the wrong wings and matching Liverpool's five man midfield before getting those basics you're on about right in the first place. I can't see any benefit for sacking him during the season.

Mate have you opened that letter from Anfield...Apparently you'll be replacing Benitez.

I'll lay my cards on the table I've had doubts about the big man since the Derby and Reading defeats, however I wasn't surprised by the Pompey defeat and yes I am daunted by the poor Liverpool performance.....But so what?! Football isn't a precise science witness the travails at Spurs and the ejection of Mourinho perhaps one of the greatest coaches in the world. What we need to foucs on is that SA is a manager who can get things right and has done at Bolton turning them into permanent PL fixtures. I have an inkling that the takeover of the club hasn't helped SA at all in the short term...Expectations trebled and he wasn't given a huge pile of money to spend. MA and Mort to a lesser degree decided to stablise the finances rather than take on a big spend on the pitch...For whatever reason behind the scenes or whatever the availability of players a relatively small amount of money was spent on an already rickety squad. It can be argued they haven't made up their mind about SA yet and of course this will have communicated itself to SA as it does when you work with people day in day out. Also over the last week we're beginning to see the now familiar 'leaks' to the papers about senior players not being happy with training and whatnot...Well it is rumoured Owen and maybe Given don't get along with SA but they are doing the club and the support a huge diservice if they are whispering to the papers. If the players think they can escape criticism by deflecting it onto the man under pressure whatever case they may have it is cowardly and beyond contempt. Some of them just haven't been good enough this season. SA isn't a tactical genius but he has proven that he knows what works on the pitch and what doesn't and in time he will prove this. He was brought in by FS to stabalise the club when we were in financial stress but suddenly finds himself at the heart of unrealistic expectations unmatched by realistic spend. We need to get through this tough period and try and measure our criticism...Of course there have been blunders on the pitch and as others have said Villa and Everton under new managers went through similar barren spells but they respective managers got through it and were supported through it and the rewards came later. I for one will wait to see what happens during the Jan window, but I'd like to see Mort and Ashley step upto the plate.

I'd be fucking livid too. Cheeky twats. (If true) Do they really think Mourinho would be told to wait months to sort transfers out ? - iam starting to like Hicks and Gillett It's becoming a clear case of American owners not understanding an English football club and all that goes with it. They are trying to wrench the buying and selling power away from Rafa and also wanting to wait till Dec for 'the talks' is a sign they want to see how the CL qual go. Still stand by my prediction he's be gone by summer, but it might not be cause he isn't as good a coach as made out but simply bad communication and power struggles within the club.