Jack Flash

Had similar thoughts myself. Just shows what a bad job he's doing.

Wouldn't have thought we'd be desperate to play it. We'd have had 3(?) weeks off after Brighton*, a few players back and () maybe a new signing in before Villa. Though I can see how 3 points takes the sting off recent events. *Forgot Norwich

To add some intrigue, I think that's Pardew behind him.

Does anyone still think managers don't get transfer targets from newspapers? That was the general opinion when Pardew was getting stick for hawking Ba around publicly for months. Redknapp just happened to want Remy. West Ham just coincidentally want this lad.

Not looking forward to this at all weather-wise. If today is any judge it'll be too cold to clap or boo ffs.

This is the kind of thing which worries me about Pardew going. Unless we got someone who knew the league and how to hit the ground running then we might have missed our chance to sack him. I'd be gutted if Pardew went on Monday and we appointed whoever this is, for example.

Aye. There's certainly something to be said for just going for it on the pitch. Most teams give the impression they would take a point before kick off, which Keegan exploited perfectly.

They're above us

Yeah, can imagine Southampton reject given lots of time by our support. It's mental at times. I guy who has just been sacked for not meeting the expectations of Southampton FFS. I know we're all depressed at the minute, but come on. http://i48.tinypic.com/2vru73k.jpg

Ba £7.5m - Debuchy £5.5m + Haidara £2m That's us done then?

Would love him here. Could be the new Keegan

It does feel a bit like Colo wants one last home game to say goodbye. I'll be gutted if I clap him off the pitch then find out he's conning us

George Burley. He got sacked when Ipswich were near the bottom of Division 1 iirc. Hopefully Pardew won't be around to experience that particular low (again).

The stronger the perception that he's been hamstrung by injuries and a lack of investment the better job he'll get. Never mind that we should have got much better results this year with the players we've had on the pitch, he's creating the perception he's had an impossible job. Definitely. If he gets sacked now there'd be a fair amount of sympathy for him from casual fans mainly due to his self preservation and that 8 year contract.

He'll have no bother getting a high end Championship or low end Premier League job regardless of how the next 5 months go imo. That 5th place finish means more than a(nother) relegation.

This is all everyone saw.

Him and Keegan's mindsets are just polar opposites. He'd never be this negative about anything. Plus Keegan would have quit long before now ffs.

Tend to agree. He's sounding every bit as desperate as we are IMO. Can't he just ring them up? “That’s my job to try to tease him in on signings. He knows that and what I’m trying to do all of the time. “He tries to stay away from me but he can’t, I know where he is in Mansfield, it isn’t far!”

"There's better teams than the team I'm managing gone down" "I could argue QPR's squad, on paper, is stronger than ours in terms of depth. I'm not sure about the first 11 but we've not had our first 11 out all year"

Their manager buys his own players though! /mackemmodel

Not sure they invented giving a manager money to spend on his players. But then you knew that.

Any examples in mind? Martin O'Neill at Sunderland for example. He's had loads of money and seems to buy "his" players. Even today he's putting a bid in for an upgrade.

The financial side of football just feels like a massive bubble waiting to bust and if that happens then we could benefit but until then I can't really see us doing much when the people in charge keep appointing their friends as managers and only make important signings sporadically. I often wonder where we'd be with a chairman who backs his manager in the way other clubs do. Impossible to gauge really.

This blatantly happens to a certain extent btw. It's incredibly naive to think he's not being fed lines occasionally. I don't think it happens beyond a general desire to keep the fans happy and not create scandals. Obviously I don't know, but I would be extremely surprised if there's much planning behind it. The needless downplaying of our finances and the desperate touting of our players is certainly something that comes from the boardroom and is agenda driven. All this stuff should start kicking in again after the Reading game

This blatantly happens to a certain extent btw. It's incredibly naive to think he's not being fed lines occasionally.