ludgershallsaint

All a bit Angus Gunn….. only difference being that, this time, they’ve been completely pig headed about it and not stepped in

Agreed I think he looks a handy, versatile addition as a squad player. Playing more than we’d hope currently because Livramento is injured as is KWP.

Who’s a realistic appointment? Can’t see Bielsa after all that silliness around his pre-conditions for the Everton job. i’m firmly in the he has to go camp even it means asking JWP to pick the team

The only argument for keeping him is that if we bring in another guy who has 15+ games at it and we go down we’ll be looking for another one in the Summer. TBH I don’t think anyone could help us now, better let Jones take the blame for it

Out of his depth. People will never warm to him now even if he does, miraculously, get a few results. I guess we have a chance to see the two new signings for a full 45 minutes 24 seconds after the first they scored the second. Unforgivable

Quite. I struggle to understand why some people think that if you’re of the view things had run their course with RH then you wanted this clown in

I don’t want to say it but it’s just all a bit “Liz Truss” with this guy. He’s going to turn us in to (more of) a laughing stock. I’d rather we take the stick for acknowledging early what a bad appointment he’s been.

You could spin this the other way...….. Considering the transfer business we have conducted and the managerial appointments we have made since the end of 2015/16 it is somewhat surprising that it looks like we will, in the final analysis, be in the PL for 2020-21 fairly comfortably. There's another two years for the majority of the really bad transfer business/contract renewals to wash through so whoever is in charge has a hell of a job on their hands...

I'll be going. Have a feeling it may be the last one for a while (at least that has paying punters) and not just because we don't have a home game scheduled until 11 April.

Man City v Arsenal rearranged for 11 Mar, clearly on the basis that Man C could have ended up with a fixture pile up. I’d expect our game v Arsenal to be on one of the two non Euro weeks after the international break. Which one of the two will be largely down to tv scheduling, Sky can drop the game for another in these circumstances.

There are two midweeks that have no European football w/c 20 Apr & w/c 11 May and these tend to be the first point of call. However, Arsenal along with Man City, Aston Villa, Sheffield United face the prospect of having 3 games to be re-arranged (EFL final, FA Cup QF & SF). As we are an opponent out of Cups, Europe etc we are probably the most convenient to schedule the game on a European night. That makes predicting when it'll be played a bit tricky but I don't think there'll be any announcements until the FA Cup Semi Finalists & European Quarter Finalists are known.

Summed it up perfectly.

We won’t be relegated. However, with the run of games we have in April there’s a distinct possibility we’ll finish lower middle table and be closer to the relegation zone at the end of the season than we are now

Different circumstances. KWP not fit, Soares sold and Valery banished (for whatever reason). This week KWP was fit, JWP should play in his normal position.

Ralph being a bit too clever again; JWP is playing well, get him in the middle of the pitch.

Yes there is, amortisation of player contracts are subject to the same rules as other intangible assets. When the 30/6/2019 accounts are published (last set I can find are as at 30 June 2018) it'll be interesting to see if they have written down any player contracts. I agree, signing him was appalling business but am convinced the only way he leaves before the end of his contract (30/6/21) is if we hand him the majority of his remaining wages.

I don't want to get into an Accounting debate but I suggest his transfer fee must have been pretty much written off already. You can't buy a bloke for, say, 18M over a 3 year contract and write the value down by 6M a year if he isn't playing and the prospect of him doing so is practically zero. He is what would be called in the trade an 'impaired asset.' The club will have/should have written off that fee much quicker reflecting his value to the club over the remainder of his contract - zero. Finally, cash flow is equally important (at least) here so regardless if you have something you're not going to use you get rid ASAP for as much as possible.

Exactly. Anything else is ridiculous. There are 2 likely scenarios and 1 that is a bit more remote: 1. He goes out on loan (again) with us paying the vast majority of his wages 2. He reaches a settlement with the club, which results in the club 'paying up' pretty much all of the last year of his contract. 3. Nothing can be settled and he ends up staying at St Mary's for the final year and makes a couple of appearances as a substitute in the early rounds of the Carabao Cup.

Mr Carrillo may not be so keen, I think it unlikely he'll give up his reported 80-100K a week. A final loan with us paying a vast percentage of his wages is the only way this one will go

Another season below the 10 game minimum beckons. I believe the club get paid the same as if 10 games were televised.

What about the manager? Didn't he leave Leipzig doing a 'reverse Koeman?' As I understand he was going in to the last year of his contract but wanted a new one while the club were happy with the situation (I think they had someone lined up for the following season), unlike Koeman who claimed he was happy to see his contract out but the club weren't happy with that state of affairs. Either way, we have a manager who doesn't seem to agree with continuing to work in the last year of a contract and a club who think the same. Just a thought - I could be wrong, what do we think happens?

Celtic aren't able to pay him anything close to what he's on here. I would've thought it unlikely that we will be prepared to do a severance deal with a guy who is playing out of his skin. Conversely, with the history (the total loss of form) I think it unlikely someone else will offer a deal that works for him financially considering what he would be giving up.

Indeed. Considering his performances over the last two years and injury record it is unlikely he was going to move up. I did look into it at one point but his injuries have actually coincided with when we have one a few games

Thought this had happened before.... 5 years ago we had to play a week later as Newcastle & Sunderland were both drawn at home - I presume PL tv matches meant that they couldn’t go one on Tuesday and one on Wednesday. At least this time the date hasn’t been announced and then changed. Merely delayed this time. http://www.fsf.org.uk/latest-news/view/Fixture-chaos-10-reasons-why-games-are-moved

Everyone we have sold we didn’t want to sell has been to a top 6 club. You show me where anyone outside the top 6 has done any different to us. What I don’t understand is how we don’t seem to have been in a position to blow everyone else out of the water.