GideonShandy

Well, Favre is 64 years old and has been managing professionally for over 20 years, so not really an unknown quantity.

Bruce only lost 17 . . .

Eddie Howe is a great-nephew of Sir Geoffrey Howe. His elder brother Steve found fame as the guitarist with Yes. A second cousin named Gordie (not Geordie) became an ice-hockey legend in Canada. Not a lot of people know all that.

Posted this before on another thread, but some creative person should be able to make something out of this classic.

No http://www.thegreatestcard.com/eddie-howe-no-relation-well-not-by-blood/

They are unrelated.

In personal interviews, Eddie Howe regularly talks about growing up without a father in the house. Don Howe's obits said that he left a wife but no mention of Eddie or any children. Don't know what the story is there. Coaching may be in Eddie's DNA but he didn't learn it from his dad.

This is a massive opportunity for Howe. If he can just keep us up this season and then keep the club progressing with the help of the owners' riches, he'll have the chance to oversee the development of a dynasty. He'll be 44 this month, same age as Sir Alex when he took over at Man Utd. Wenger was 46 when he took over from Bruce Rioch and started rebuilding Arsenal. If things fall into place for Howe, there's potential for him to reach that kind of legendary status. It's a longshot but the pathway is there. Hope he's up to it.

That would leave us with 12 points out of 20 games. Almost impossible to survive at that point.

Jamal Lewis www.skysports.com/watch/video/sports/football/12430231/lewis-sent-off-for-time-wasting

To be fair it wasn't just an attitude clash that earned him the "Misstrovic" tag, or caused him to keep getting sent off or to go down clutching his face at the slightest excuse. He's clearly matured a lot since Rafa moved him on.

Bet we're the only club employing a player who was actually sent off (albeit on international duty) for being shit at taking throw-ins.

And i's actually worse for Ole because his parents are still alive to hear all the foul abuse. Unlike the recently-orphaned Cabbage.

From the Birmingham Mail, October 3, 2018 An eye-witness to the infamous cabbage attack at Villa Park has revealed an irate Aston Villa fan branded Steve Bruce a ‘disgrace’ as he launched the vegetable at the beleaguered boss. Prior to Tuesday night’s dramatic 3-3 draw with Preston at Villa Park in which Glenn Whelan missed a stoppage time penalty, an angry supporter threw a cabbage at manager Bruce. BirminghamLive photographer Tim Harley-Easthope was stood within metres of Bruce on the Villa Park touchline and was able to give the following account of a truly bizarre moment. He told us: “I was standing by the dugout on the walkround at the side of the pitch. I was standing there waiting to take pictures of Steve Bruce and Alex Neil walking up to us. I was about two yards short of the dugout. This bloke started ranting and raving. I was taking pictures of Bruce and then I felt this object brush past me. It landed on the floor just in front of me. This bloke was irate and was hurling abuse at Bruce. He said something along the lines of, ‘You’re a f***ing disgrace’, after he’d thrown the cabbage. Bruce and [Stephen] Clemence saw it and they both stood and glared at this bloke and shook their heads. The bloke ran up the steps and into the concourse.” The cabbage in question was a ‘big one’ according to our snapper and could have done some serious damage had it hit its target. Harley-Easthope added: “It was really heavy. When it hit the floor you felt the thud. Had it hit him on the head, or me on the head, it would have done some damage. It was as heavy as a house brick - it was a big one!” Bruce hit out at the supporter after the game and labelled the attack as ‘hugely disrespectful’.

Kept us ticking over, though. And managed our unrealistic expectations.

If money is no object any more, just make Everton an offer they can't refuse for Rafa. "We'll pay you 30 million quid tomorrow to let him out of his contract." This project is perfect for him, and I bet he knows that.

Agree with Midds. I also suspect that once the PL decided to cave, they did everything they could to get the deal done quietly and quickly so as to present the Little 19 with a fait accompli. Otherwise Man U, Spurs et al. and their supporters could have mounted a nationwide PR campaign and demonstrations like we saw when the Super League was announced. Might also have been a deliberate strategy to get it sealed during the international break.

"No player has turned around and said they will not sign because of the training ground."

Then ignore that part of the deal. Have a massive public tearing-down ceremony anyway. What's Ashley going to do? Sue? If he does, pay him off. It'd be worth it. Charge admission for the tearing-down/exorcism. Set up a GoFundMe account if need be..

I had no idea!!

I think it's 70% Ashley going, 30% that the new owners are extremely wealthy and 0% that it's the Saudis (and 0% approval of their foreign and domestic policies). You'd be seeing the same joy, maybe more, if we were being bought by, say, the Norwegian sovereign wealth fund or a consortium of multibillionaire Geordies. Unfortunately neither of those exists. You'd be seeing 70% if Ashley had just died and left the club to the Cats & Dogs Home.

The Athletic is running one of those "submit your questions that you'd like Alan Shearer to answer" things currently. A lot of the suggested questions pertain to his cabbage-headed mate . . .

For those who haven't got 25 minutes to waste, they get round to Cabbage Heed at 15:20 and he's ranked equal worst along with Farke. I reckon that's a horrible insult to Farke.

The Cheeseman Syndrome -- Sniper's Dream. © Bob Mortimer