gjohnson

Reads like a where to go of honeymoon destinations...

This. Sod them...go 5 years without a trophy and they're 'long suffering'. Give them 14 years of Ashley and they'll know real suffering

There's a theory that when a system gets too complex it's collapse is inevitable. This looks very like Man Utd now. Trying too hard to get the best of everything with no thought on how everything will work together and just hoping things will work out. It's the Freddy Shephard method with an extra 0 on the salary. No plan, just reacting to current issues. Total hangover from Ferguson, who was clearly a once in a lifetime manager. They seem to be looking for that again, the problem being is that it just doesn't exist at the current time. Could say the same with Arsenal who relied on Wenger so long, they didn't know what to do when he left and then chopped and changed for so long. They are going in the right direction with Arteta, but would say its virtually impossible now to pluck a manager from obscurity that will shock the league with new tactics/methods

To be fair Sherwood, despite being a total numpty of a pundit, and a useless manager he was a very good defensive midfielder at the time...probably on par with Batty at least

700K for ten years service half of which were in top 6 teams. Can't argue with that...would be looking at 50-60m for that kind of service now.

Geremi at least had a useful spell albeit short. Campbell barely played and was poor when he did. Can't comment on Hendrick as i believe he's never actually been on the pitch, or i just missed him as the invisible man.

Wanted to say exactly this, but some people just look at the numbers

Bernard second time around

If we want to talk about under-rated then Robert Lee has got to be up there. One of the best in our best teams in living memory, but never gets mentioned at all.

Didn't realise that Mathieu Flamini is now one of the richest former footballers around with about £14 billion after founding a company that can make petrol from waste plants. Wow

Not arguing that, just that his best attributes were drive. motivation, intimidation and leadership. Like Shearer and Gerrard, he could take control of a game by himself when drag players through to results they didn't necessarily deserve.

A lot of Keane was down to his attitude and leadership abilities. He was never the greatest passer, or goal scorer, but he had an 'aura' that droves his team mates to a higher level and intimidated the opposition. It's rare now, but not many teams now rely on one player as a talisman to get results. In terms of technical ability he'd not get near the top 100 for midfielders, but in terms of influence he'd easily be in the top ten.

Jenas was good for us mostly, but couldn't handle the pressure of being a big (gold)fish in a small pond and couldn't deal with the attention....why he moved to London where he could be anonymous. Viana at his best was sublime, at worst invisible. If he'd stuck around for a few more years learning from Speed he would have been amazing. However as someone mentioned earlier he was 5-10 years ahead of his time with what he had. Wrong place at wrong time. And PS he never had good things to say about us....the best he ever came out with was 'i feel ill at Newcastle'

Can see your point...good example is Donald Trump...been bankrupt several times, but still a multi-millionaire despite being potentially one of the most hated characters in the world. Ashleys not really revived anyone, he got lucky with the SD IPO, and has spent the rest of his time buying failing/failed businesses. None which have really recovered, but he's got the land/floor space which adds to the portfolio. Know he bought out GAME which i saw merged with some other shop recently. Ashleys a shark picking off the weak and damaged with his wallpaper. However his mindset is totally based on footfall through his cheap tacky shops....their days are numbered, so his model is now out of date and will inevitably crumble around him in the next few years and he'll look like a southern Gerorge Reynolds

didn't even notice he was playing last night.

Highs were basically 93-97, and 01-03 going in to ever match expecting to win, even the 5th season was a bit of a high 'cos the expectation of winning was building. Even Ashley coming in originally was a bit of a high at the time since only there weren't many billionaire owners about at the time. Pity it became one of the worst lows ever as it seemed we found the only billionaire in the world that didn't have any money. However the worst low i ever felt was in the season where Derby set the lowest points record and it looked for all intents we were going to gift them another win, only to salvage a draw at the death. It felt so miserable at the time

What do mean that they don't eat bacon?? They need to just run harder, roll up their sleeves and try it

What on Earth makes you think Beth is a woman :-)

It was purely intentional, the luck comes from the fact that it could have easily gone in to the stands if he was positioned slightly differently, he could have totally missed it and looked Joelinton in the box in a heap on the floor legs all over the place. It's a brilliant goal, and spectacular to watch but it's not something that I think is practiced and 95 times out of 100 it doesn't work out.

And so what if they are......Sportwash away....we're set to stay in the Premier League, while they are realistically going to have another season in the third Division

Think a pint with Mick would be like having a night out with an obscure uncle that you only see at Christmas or New year and turns out to be a good laugh, but there's always a niggling doubt as to why you never see him beyond those times.

Probably a bit of schadenfreude, but I personally enjoy it more because of how much of a mug it's made Bruce look. The media have noticed, and beyond the usual PFM defences by Sherwood/Agbonlahor etc, some outside of Birmingham, Sheffield, and up here are now starting to see what a fraud he's been. Anyway, fully deserved and onwards and upwards to a top half finish

https://www.football365.com/news/opinion-premier-league-relegation-race-panic-everton-leeds-burnley First article in ages about relegation where we aren't even mentioned

2 months ago this would have been a guaranteed Chelsea win, but then it also would have been a Southampton win too. Can't call this one, we've got confidence and momentum. They could either have a massive seige mentality, or been shaken by recent events. Cant help but think at least some of their players will have been rattled by the sanctions, and no doubt been told by Tuchel to ignore it and focus on football, but it's not easy to get that kind of stuff out of your mind. We know how we'll play now, just depends which Chelsea turns up. Pressure is all on them

Wasn't it Jack Nicklaus that said 'the more i practice the luckier i get' ?