I can't understand Albert when we have owners who are billionaires they don't want there respective clubs fighting the best in the division, what's the point of buying the bloody club in the first place we would plough every penny we could afford into the club just for the prestige it would bring.
I think for Ashley it was three things. 1- A vanity project- so he can impress his mates. 2- An advertisement vehicle- for SD. We'll never know how much of the growth of SD is down to the advertising and publicity his ownership brought. 3- A big Gamble- He didn't do due diligence (his own admission)
I think Ellis had good intentions initially. The Drumaville boys got your finances pretty much on an even keel I understand. Ellis I think came in, saw an opportunity to build... but crucially put his trust in the wrong people. He should have retained Quinn or someone of his stature as a consultant on footballing matters to help guide him with appointments.
Do you dream about having no relegation worries and actually feeling s hit if you don't finish in the top 6 or 7 my dream is obviously a lot longer than yours like
I do. As I said when we went down, I go along on match days with a feeling of dread in the pit of my stomach. The lads on here slaughter me to **** for putting insurance bets on against the Toon but it's the only comfort I get these days. As a Yorkshireman my wallet is a close second to the Toon. Hell, if we ever did compete for a top 8 position I'd get confused as fook as to what I'm meant to do with all that positivity.
I gave up going a few year ago couldn't stand it any longer I can't understand why anybody goes when you can see the players don't give a **** and are just laughing in your face i would love to ****ing batter Rodwell with a cricket bat,
Money has ****ed a lot of things up Rooch, the attitude of a lot of players is one of them. I think in an ideal world, a system of performance management should be put in place where players are paid, say £5-10k for each mark out of 10 they get. That way the less effort.. the less pay. The obvious problem is those who don't get selected but a flat £20k wage could be provisioned for those. It will soon force some of them to buck their ideas up.
Its only when you stop and think and you wonder how do some of these players ever get to the top I mean we had dozy and he scored 1 in about 100 ****ing games and you think well I could do that at my age but he's getting two and a half million a year so I think why blame the players would you turn it down? its the daft twats who give them it, hope it all collapses myself but it doesn't look like it.
From an outsider but someone who has experienced Rafa I'll add my opinion... Firstly Rafa is known really for achieving good things with clubs just under the top level and getting them to do well: - Valencia - 2x La liga and 1no UEFA Cup. - Liverpool - 1 champs league, 1 FA Cup, Super Cup, Community shield and a 2nd in the league. - Italian league - few Italian Cups with Inter and Napoli. - Also Chelsea - Europey League Although he started in the lower Spanish divisions he's not actually experienced with keeping a team in the league of a high level. One poster has said you'd be better off with Big Sam and you probably would be with someone of his type to keep you up - but the levels above that you'd want Rafa. To get the best use of Rafa he needs to be backed with at least a decent smattering of top quality. He's not perfect but I've got a lot of time for Rafa.
Few pundits jumping on Rafa's back now too, Richard (Dick) Keys with this today: http://www.chroniclelive.co.uk/spor...hard-keys-astonishing-attack-benitez-14058890 Rafa has to take part blame for the state we are in - he did after the Arsenal game which is a start but I can't see many managers coming here and doing any better tbh although if we get to February and are still in the dog sh... I'd seriously have a look at Pulis if he hasn't taken the Wales job already. Might not be pretty, might not be fun but he will get results by hook or by crook, although, would he want to come in and risk being relegated as he has never dropped a division in his career?
For many clubs one swallow appears to be a Summer. Moyes has made the critical error of believing his own hype today, we'll see if he's still a "hero" in May. Fat Sam will always do some kind of job, but could be arrested for theft the amount of times his teams steal points. The Liverpool game was an Xmas gift, Everton were abysmal - but besides which, they spent the best part of £120m on players last Summer, or is that not a factor? Look at Palace and how much they've spent over the years without even recouping. They have Zaha, Townsend and Benteke as a front three. Wet Spam - again, similar levels of investment, I think they spent more - net - than Everton (Lukaku sale). I'd suggest that those clubs are just doing what they should be, nothing more, nothing less and certainly nothing special. By contrast, Huddersfield under a kraut are doing really well. A Portuguese is one of the most sought after in the league - Silva. The thing in common with clubs performing is the amount of money invested either in players or in scouting. Clement is bottom with Renato Sanchez and Tammy Abraham - pretty sure Keys was lauding Swansea for that business. Rafa has a dogsh!t squad, shat upon him by Charnley - thus Ashley. He's trying to make a sow's purse out of a pigs ballbag and although he's not above all blame - picking Diame and Joselu constantly is insanity - it's hardly all his fault. We probably have the worst starting XI in the division and should be bottom. That we're one win away from about 11th says it all about the management.
We have a worse squad, collectively and individually, than we've ever had in the Premier League. By today's "spunk it up the wall" transfer standard that is frankly ****ing catastrophic. Even Sunderland had a ****ing Defoe. Yeh he's not above criticism but i do get bored of this "Rafa doesn't have a clue" "play Mitro" "he'll still play the same old ****" yadda yadda yadda, bitch bitch bitch, moan moan moan. I guess a section of anyone's fans will always have a habit of thinking they're far greater than they are. Sadly Benitez has paid for that little run early in the season and, whilst many took the piss for my top 4 bet (and rightly so), I'm now finding the some of those over-reacting to our lowly position. The squad, whilst already worth **** all, had to be pieced together for a promotion push and then literally re-jigged with material from the scrap yard for a relegation battle, all the while nearly halving the wage bill and making transfer profit. Last season Benitez had to choose mentality over talent. He didn't have anywhere near the mental strength in his squad that Hughton had (Barton, Nolan, Carroll, Lovenkrands, etc.) So he managed it, got us promoted again first time of asking, clearly needed the talent for the prem season, and his reward was Joselu. To be honest a little piece of me sickly wishes we lost him so people can see what the **** any other manager would do with this squad and an owner THAT REFUSED TO PAY 40K ****ING WAGES FOR A FIRST TEAM KEEPER. "We should have snapped Middlesborough's hand off at 6m for Darlow" Oh really? Start the season with 2 keepers, one whose never played PL? cos thats what would have happened. His hands have been tied at every tirn and to me he almost is a little above the criticism. Of course should he actually get a competitive amount to spend ill judge all day long, however until then he has a viable excuse.
The only thing I can say Rafa has failed at is picking Diame. Perez, Joselu, Manquillo are all crap but who else do we have? Diame, however - you'd be better doing anything other than picking that turd. Aside from that whilst I may personally disagree the real point is what the **** do I know about football management!! Personally, it's just frustrating that we got back into the moneyball league - and just like he has for the past 10 years, Ashley fcked us again. The fat fcker is just relentlessly ruthless and simply doesn't give a **** about anyone or anything else. People like Richard Keys should be nowhere near a blog, camera or microphone. Know-nothing fckwits have no place commenting on this club.
