Matt

All good mate. Like I said, but maybe not clearly enough; I can't defend him anymore. I still believe the players are the biggest problem. After all, this run hasn't improved even with the enforced changes mixing the teams up a bit. But when you've got 16 seniors to chose from seriously (before injuries, suspensions and AFCON) mixing things up isn't really an option and the whole style (or complete lack thereof) is to avoid exposing the weakness of our players, like basic passing, basic shooting, basic tracking and running. They do it in the training videos, so how does Dyche transfer that concentration over the line? I don't think he can with everything taken into consideration and so he should go if we have a decent candidate. Hafs shout about Baines is a good call if we want to survive on blood and thunder. I wonder if we could tempt Carsley when thinking outside the media... But again, circumstances prevent us swapping staff.

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68848046

I had hoped the and the explicit mentioning that it wasnt aimed at you, but oh well, back to the drawing board

If my defenders were abysmal at defending set pieces with their shoelaces tied together, I'd still be angry but I'd understand why. The handicap of the clubs state of affairs over the last several years is still there. Do you think Baines would rally the troops? He was always so quiet but he was also captain and highly thought of. Maybe him and Coleman, someone who can be the voice and kick them up the arse (metaphorically speaking of course )? But we can't pay Dyche off, else we would have already going on past experiences, so it's immaterial really. Doesn't make it any less frustrating or anger inducing.

Not dressing anything up. Unless he's actively coaching them to finish and pass well in training but bottle it when it counts, then I'll take it all back. But there's only so much you can do with those factors (and more) that are part of the overall problem before you look clueless. Honestly don't know anyone who would get this group performing as individuals and a team with the cloud hanging over the club and the years of bad mentalities in and around the club. I've defended him in the past because the players were creating chances. But even the chances have dried up and I've not noticed much change in tactics (partly because he hasnt got a squad to change around) so it can only be in the players heads to improve things. But all that aside, if we could afford to sack him he would've been gone already and I would be pissed off that yet another manager with yet another style hasn't been given time rather than be annoyed at losing him. I think thats always been my stance, i can defend circumstances but I get angry with the situation and keep insisting on 1 manager just for that 1 element of stability. Whichever new owner we get will have him out the door on day one (he might already know this and maybe that's affecting him too, though he doesn't seem the type to me). But who turns this groups head around? Genuinely don't know and maybe a fire sale is going to be beneficial, so long as we have a manager in place. That's not me accepting the poorness of our play, that's me recognising we're in a shit place and if I thought changing the manager would improve things, I'd be supportive of it. But I don't believe it will beneficial.

This is a general reply Palfy, just your post as a reference. Not targeting anyone here. I'm pretty sure he knows their strengths and weaknesses. Whether he knows how to get the best balance is another thing and that was hit and miss for a while. I'm not going to say he hasn't become part of the problem, he has (although I didn't see anyone celebrating the triple substitution at half time ). But there are several elements that people either don't ask themselves about or expect miracles. Look at the squad he inherited. 1) Their mental state is the main reason the players are shit. 7 of the senior squad have been through FSW, SA, Koeman and all the shit of the last 3 seasons, so it's little wonder they've got 0 self belief. I know the argument will be "but that's what they're paid to do" or some other similar statement. They are human beings, elite athletes, vs the general population at least, and 2) Look at the squad depth. He has had very, very little opportunity to change things up because the squad is so damn thin. I hear the "well play the kids then", but you have to ask yourself, if they were ready, they would've been playing already under other managers or snapped up. 3) the league is actively trying to destroy the club. No tin hat here, it's all on display. He is a part of a much bigger problem and problem has been caused by constant changes in managers, structures, styles, etc. I've got a project at the moment and it was going swimmingly until the resource got pulled. Now it's scraping along and it's become toxic because its not supported well enough. As the Project Manager you could argue that I should make do with what I've got to hand and make it work, that's my role after all. But when no one has money to support it, it doesn't improve. So until there's a cash injection, I'm operating it on survival mode and have had to sacrifice a lot of the basic functionality and principles because people are getting upset that it's not working. I'm talking about a fuckin IT tool, I can't begin to imagine for a football club. Well, I can, and that's the only reason I continue to back him even though things are not good enough.

I'd put it on Levy rather than the club, but yeah I agree. I still see how they can legally ask for compensation for an expired contract though.

Everton 2-2 Forest Tarkowski

Did he have his power-stance photo to make him look somewhat intelligent?

Pretty sure that could be challenged legally. The transfer is linked to the contract, the contract is no longer active. Regardless, considering the state of affairs, £10m for him isn't any more of a gamble than the frees and loans.

Considering our budget constraints, paying the £10m for his potential return on the pitch is well worth the gamble. But I guess we'll be seeing who blinks first before his contract expires, us or Spurs.

Again, it's not about acceptance of average, average to poor is just the reality after many many cock ups.

Not sure it's a matter of accepting less, at least not for me. It's a matter of accepting the current and being patient enough to allow change to take place and that's not something we, collectively, as fans have been good at nor has our "owner" because we all want, rightly, for things to improve dramatically in a very short space of time. But with each chop and change it creates more instability and friction. I don't blame fans being annoyed but the short levels of patience can have for change projects that have a 3-5 year plan isnt helping.

If we got 2 seasons of 10th, the fans will be complaining why we're not 6th. We always want better but we're often too impatient. Fingers crossed that comes true from next season though!

Oh there's no doubt Moshiri played dirty, too. It's why I was so concerned about him taking over. Well, not the takeover I guess, rather how he went about "running" the club by throwing money around and overriding his employees; the Bolasie signing was the big red flag moment for me. The difference was it was possible to see where the finances came from. There's also rumours, so fist of salt time, that there are several others hovering. I'm presuming they are waiting for this to fall through before making any public statement though.

Just look at his skin, he's clearly been looking after himself. Positive recovery story.

It mightve been Duffys brother? Dunno, was about 15 years ago now

There was one for kids until recently wasn't there? Think Mark used to post the results back in the day. Or I'm actually losing my mind

He'd be interested if you can find an inflatable one no doubt...

If we weren't a cash cow, or rather a potential cash cow, there's no way an investment firm would be looking to buy us, let alone put up with all the shit around the acquisition. These groups, and 777 by its own admission, buy clubs to strip them to the bone and rebuild from scratch, assuming they can continue to load debt onto the club a la Glazers. Seeing them asking for extensions to gather the cash because they don't have a positive cash flow isn’t fear mongering, but it sure as hell is scary. The issues at their other projects, like not paying players, isn't fear mongering, but again is extremely concerning. The shiny "crown jewel" quote is nothing more than propaganda that any sane person representing an interested party would say and it may well be true, until the next opportunity presents itself. It's not a matter of fear mongering, it is a matter of seeing the warning signs and being wary. They will be hard pressed to not improve us but the cost to the club is going to be high and I don't mean monetarily. "777 Partners have been sued by multiple organizations for unpaid debts and contract breaches with lawsuits describing their financial practices as a "house of cards"[28][29][30] and a "sprawling fraudulent enterprise".[31][32]" Just fills ya with hope, dunnit

https://www.bbc.co.uk/news/uk-politics-68824493 Credit where credit is due, they've really surprised me with this, in a good way.

We have but I don't get that vibe from him, never have. We benefit from his 1 year extension too. But I do see where you're coming from.

I get that, its the obvious thing. But why would he be flying earlier in the season and shit after his injury. I'm not convinced he was singled out, like with Ancelotti, under Lampard. But then, I will always try and find the positive, there's enough shit going on at the moment. Playing with injury is a more tangible reason in my eyes.

We're already paying a price... I can see a fire sale within the first 2 weeks of them getting in; Pickford (although I'm not sure he will want to move), Onana, Branthwaite, DCL, Doucouré. Garner (but as a local lad, might not want to). All so that, when we get done again next year by the PL, we can hope for leniency again. Harrison won't be kept on, neither will Danjuma. There's a good chance that Beto will be leading the line and we're propped up by loans, gambles on frees and kids... They'll also dump Dyche on day 1, so then we need to look for a manager that's going to have 0 budget, half a senior squad, a divided fan base (in some regards) and future PL bullshit charges. Y'all think it's bad now... Edit: oh and Coleman and Young retiring (please)

Oh for sure, every working class county got fucked. But doesn't make it less pertinent and I presume Patto is only commenting on what he can see, which is fair enough.