Armchair Pundit

Christ, that's cheap!!!

Is very much the case, I know deadline day can be a scramble but I can't imagine they'd be able to bring in more than 1-2 on the last day if we're REALLY lucky, unless they go completely gung-ho and make the offers too good to refuse.

Bloody shame we haven't managed to get this one done, I wonder if they'll bother to go in again for him come summer. Also, if we do manage to stay up, would we offer anywhere near as much for the same players we've been after this month, it's not like we'd be as desperate.

So is he actually any better than what we already have though? I mean, apart from supporting the club from being a kid.

For a change it'll be worthwhile being glued to the transfer deadline day ticker (at least having it on in the background while at work)

No, you're absolutely right, the victim is never to blame for the actual act of violence against them, I think what @TRon is trying to say is that she didn't have to stay in the situation she was in that lead to repeated long term abuse, if that's the case.

Well he does kind of have a point, people always have a choice, no matter how difficult. That's not to say she's to blame, but more that a large section of society these days tends to lean on everything always being someone else's fault and never taking any responsibility for the situations they find themselves in at all. That said, it doesn't give abusive scumbags the right to manipulate the weak willed, they should still be hammered as they're equally to blame for their own actions.

Sense of untouchable entitlement from young lads who have stupid amounts of money and no decent moral guidance of any sort from anywhere, it corrupts.

Utter scumbag, hope he gets nailed by the police. edit - Greenwood that is, not Burnsie (Burnsie's just a knob)

Christ on a bike, the bloke's even a liability in friendlies! Incredible, he really needs shipping out asap.

Brilliant memories these

See now Jimbo's here, we'll know when transfers are really happening

Trying to remember anyone else that I've not seen mentioned, what about that bloody hippy Tom? Or Parky and his conspiracy theory stuff? Wasn't there some bloke called Dogmeatman or something too? Was a bit mental I think. (I've skipped a couple of pages so you've probably mentioned them already)

If @Tooj can bring his Viva La Keegan vid with him and that one about Bobby Robson Who Wants to Live Forever, that'll be grand.

Urgh fecking hell, not this lot, thought I left them behind ages ago!

Linguard, Deli Ali, Ramsey, Wiltshere, would definitely bolster the British core of the squad, if we wanted to go down that route. (Just to be clear, I'm not saying we need a British core necessarily)

I wonder how many of the new signings that come in this month will have a relegation release clause.

I think the club, owners, fans, probably the manager and coaches are essentially united - far more than we have been for many years... the players on the other hand... Would I take Rafa back? Yes, in a heart beat. However, I think Howe deserves a crack of the whip with a rejuvenated side of his own signings. I think any manager will struggle to get a tune out of some of the shite in the current squad and the problem players would continue to poison the rest of the squad. We need shot of the likes of Shelvey, Gayle, half the defence and get in replacements who are more than the Championship players we brought up from our last promotion. The only reason Rafa managed to get anything out of the current defence was because he had them solidly drilled into playing exactly how he wanted so they didn't have to think for themselves, Bruce relied on that initially but as it became a distant memory under his 'coaching' the defence fell apart. Now we're left with a dogshit defence who don't know what they're doing, a midfield who are weak and uninspiring and strikers who have so little confidence or end product they're completely ineffective. I honestly don't think there's enough time to get the team's mentality in order, even with any new players we bring in. The squad is so ridiculously lacking in quality, leadership and drive that I'm 99% sure we're going down again this season - Mike Ashley's final insult and curse on us after his departure. My biggest concern is not going to be getting promoted back from the Championship, every time it's happened previously there's been worriers who's fretted over a supposed increase in whatever level they think the Championship is at. The thing we should be most worried about is whether the Prem (and so-called big six) will find some other way to hamstring us while we're out of the picture, whether they'll make enough changes to the rules of the league to stop us competing on return. That of course then leads to the train of thought, would our new owners feel that such a fight was worth the bother, would they just up sticks and invest in a different league instead.

I suspect Rafa becoming available will now put added pressure on Howe to succeed, perhaps from a section of the fans but also from Mandy who wanted Rafa from the start of their involvement. I'd like us to give Howe a chance tbh, I do like the idea of having an attacking team, the new entertainers, very much... but I also loved Rafa's approach to running the club while he was here, I always felt like we had a chance of getting something, even with the dross players and complete lack of investment he was restricted to, his involvement in everything, including the community.

Could they bring him in as a consultant to oversee the new training ground/base of operations at the club? Keep him close, then if things with Howe don't work out we can bring him straight back in. ... though that sad, would any involvement undermine any potential success for Howe?

Howe has been a vast improvement on Bruce, I think the issue has been more with the players not having been properly coached for so long, not being fit enough, not having had decent fresh recruits amongst them since we came up from the Championship and a general acceptance of our predicament. That said, I can't help feeling Howe's methods probably only work sufficiently if he has decent defenders who don't need as much direction as our current crop.

If only he could see that he doesn't need to be the biggest fish in the pond to be loved by the fans, he's turned in to a stereotypical lazy French player since his pal Bruce left and he was only happy with Bruce because he let him do as he pleased. I still think Saint Max could be outstanding for us, but he's another who needs to change his attitude on the pitch.

Shelvey's a twat, he's been a twat for a long time and I don't think he'll ever change. He's a typical example of a footballer who could be a lot better but choses to waste his ability and employing a shit attitude, he should never be in the first team again.

What worries me most isn't the actual relegation, it's what the Premier League will put in place while we're in the Championship to stop our owners from being successful on our return.

Not entirely true, at least we're drawing some matches rather than losing all of them... but I get your point