Saggy Chops after Saylor

You kinda answered why the set up we have ISN'T farcical - Ashley has a very, very small circle of trust. Joe Kinnear's in it. No-one else with a footballing background is. Ashley doesn't know enough about football to call Pardew out, the info from Llambias was lacking. Finally, Joe Kinnear still has an unfinished contract with the club (you cannot terminate a contract on grounds of ill health without facing a massive payout)....quid pro quo Kinnear replaces Llambias. It's actually very simple to understand why, it's just we have a known berk as DoF instead of an unknown berk.

The hope on this side of the fence is that we have a different scenario. Last year, when Pardew desperately needed a CB, Llambias offered short shrift and we dug our heels in over one target - Douglas - though never pressed home the urgency. We didn't get him, had no-one else lined up and so when Steven Taylor got injured late August we were already in serious trouble, without the Coloccini issue even being brought to light. Williamson was never good enough, consistently, at this level but Llambias could only look at names on a squad list and never pressed home how dire the circumstances were. This year, if Pardew knocks on Kinnear's door and says we're in danger of making Williamson first choice, the hope is that Kinnear would just start bawling at Ashley and get him to free up the cash.

Yes, I used the word "hope" a lot. And, yes, we should have got rid of our one trick pony manager who claims not to know where Sissoko should play (why would he? He only bought him 6 months ago....). We didn't we can't make Ashley sell, so we get on with it.

 

Fair dos