Wolfcastle

Pretty sure a couple of the 40 will be wind ups too There'll barely be a club in the country that doesn't have the same or higher percentage - the media darling's and reigning champions Liverpool will far exceed that

Sir Bobby was leaving in 9month anyway, so whilst comparable they're very different situations. We started most seasons badly under Sir Bobby, that wasn't the decisive factor in the decision to remove him. Replacing Eddie wasn't even on the distant horizon until recently. And a poor start and a poor 6-7month whilst technically dips are not the same either.

Just wait until that's been the case for 25th season in a row, in 25seasons time

Specifically remember him being roared on and off by the crowd when he confronted Rennie after the Villa game a few games before that, getting a massive ovation going down the tunnel at Wembley and wrongly maybe it being more the players (Karelse, Dalglish's dreck) that were being blamed. Never heard or heard of any anti-Gullit sentiment until after the Sunderland loss and he was gone hours later before anything like that manifested, maybe astutely 'Hounding Out' implies to me banners, chants, protests, such sentiment over a sustained period of time and all that not just being disappointed with things or having doubts, there's basically no manager that hasn't been subjected to that. We weren't even getting booed off.

Apart from Ashey's patsy's we've only 'hounded out' Souness and to a much lesser extent Jim Smith since the 80s. Crowd though increasingly disappointed hadn't turned on either Dalglish, Gullit or Ossie by the time they left

Hounding out like the Sir Bobby hounding out where people's disappointment at a disappointing season and a fraction of 1% of people thinking maybe its time to look elsewhere was interpreted by dramacists as hounding out

Whoever, if anyone, loses that will be the crisis club du jour

The Keegan not winning anything is far too simplistic an arguement imho. Dalglish and Gullit came as close to winning something as Keegan but they're more antethesis than equal and they're better than Sir Bobby by that measure. Our greatest ever goalscorer won nothing for us either.

That's all I was really looking for. Like Villa did last year. Just a steady Onyewu or two to give some players a break here and there.

Tidy second

Nowhere near enough to justify overhauling them with the headstart they all had relative to what they also spent. excluding sales cos cant be arsed (but bare in mind Cole and Fox alone came to more than £10m) Leeds spent £4m in 92/93, £5m 93/94, £6.7m in 94/95, 5.7 1995 Arsenal 3.6m 92/93, 1m 93/94, 8.2 94/95, 12.2 in 1995 Villa 3.2m 92/93, 3.3m 93/94, 6.9m 94/95, 10m 1995 Liverpool 4.4m 92/93, 4.7m 93/94, 9m 94/95, 13m 1995 Blackburn 7.9m 92/93, 9m 93/94, 6.8 94/95, 8m 1995 Spurs 5.7m 92/93, 4.5m 93/94, 7.8m 94/95, 8.7m 1995 Everton 1.5 92/93, 3.4, 93/94, 11.4m 94/95, 6.9m 1995 Sheffield Wed 2.3m 92/93, 7.3 93/94, 6m 94/95, 7.4m 1995 Boro 4m 92/93, 4.2 94/95 (in 2nd tier), 10m in 1995 We spent £4.7 in 92/93, £7.8 93/94, £6.1 94/95, 14m 1995 sorry to get all nerdy but have gone through this stuff for the Mag before and obviously I'm leaving out Batty and Tino in 1996 to be a bit biased but I'll use the argument that we got to the top prior to them but that ultimately there was no blank cheque book scenario relative to other clubs and it was competive

At the start of the PL era they all started ahead of us, way ahead for all bar Boro, so that suggests an achievement in itself to bypass them.

Those were advantages that Keegan generated. We were second only to Man United in revenue It was more competitive than you think. In 1995 think we spent less than Arsenal, Liverpool, Villa and the same as Boro before even factoring in the net sales of Cole and Fox. It was comparable with a bunch of clubs over the piece including Blackburn.

Eddie's record wasn't exciting a lot of people when we brought him in, its not beyond the realms of possibility to find another Eddie who hitherto hasn't got much of a record. That's how a lot of managers are found and its probably preferrable to the merry-go-round of elite managers switching clubs every couple of seasons. No idea who it would be personally.

We've lost as many games already as Villa did in the whole of last season. Were not on for an equivalent season to them

That's what stands out to me. I've never seen a more consistent season of utterly average performances only slightly puncuated on a couple occasions by slightly better than average and slightly worse than average. Even in other midtable seasons there'd been ups and downs, false dawns either way, but this is flatter than a plate full of piss.

That's was absolitely shite and a damning indictment of this season is that it wasn't a surprise

Burkinshaw must have done us a fair few

That's my feeling and what makes it q pivotal game to keep the wolves from the door. Think its on the edge right now but losing this will get grumbles and unequivocal boos at the end. Would mark the end of the honeymoon period.

My expectations this season was 7th to 8th (fully expected to drop back) and maintain performance levels of previous seasons. I think that's pretty modest and we've fell below even that at this point.

I agree that there's something off with the league. Seems with the exception of Arsenal and since Amorim was sacked Man United almost all the PL teams this year to last seem less good and all are worse to watch, its been a horrible season generally. The difference to Arsenal and Villa edging past Wolves and us is their other results allow for it. We labour against Bournemouth and Brighton every season but have supplemented it with convincing wins and performances elsewhere which isn't happening now.

That's how I feel about the season. Typically in a midtable season you'd get some exceptionally bad performances and some really good ones and it would be frustratingly inconsistent, maybe it allows a release and chance to vent. But feel this has been frustratingly consistent in its mediocrity, cant say we've been abysmal in any game or particularly good. Spurs at home is probably as good as its got from a performance and that wouldn't have been much above average if at all in previous seasons.

I think we do know what to expect, at least I feel like I do, and that's the problem. We can only spend a 7th-8th rung amount of money so that's about where we should be and are, allowing for slight over and under achievements.

Wouldn't get on at all with Wolte and Thiaw after what happened to his granny. She only nipped out for a milk stout.

We give goals away very lightly. That's a massive departure from what were used to