revolution saint

Sorry to hear that Willo. Hope better things are around the corner for you.

Seriously I dunno, there was a time when this would have really bothered me and pissed me right off but there's so much other stuff going on that football ceases to be the be all and end all of everything and by extension that's saints too to a lesser extent. I used to know every player (at least in the top division). I'd be all over it but that hasn't been the case for quite a long time. Easy to blame the modern game, VAR, saturation TV coverage, endless punditry but I think it's just getting older. Not sure if it's a good thing or bad thing but I can accept shit like this a bit better. I ain't ancient BTW, I'm 54 which is about the age Lord Duckhunter pretends to be (just kidding LD).

Pyramid stage with glow sticks.

He probably will be banned, I agree. The rest of your argument is supposition. The media circus moves on, people get rehabilitated all the time and as fans we forgive anything if we're winning.

Problem is it's not quite that binary (ah shit, I've turned into trousers). If we were sure that he wasn't getting a substantial ban (which he will), then I'd say keep him because he probably offers the best option for the new season. There's less upheaval, planning continues and we could have a chance at hitting the ground running. Obviously that's ignoring the downside of reputational damage but in a purely footballing context I think sticking with him has a higher probability of success. Trouble is I think he will get a ban and then we pretty much have to sack him anyway. So, umm, maybe?

Yeah, that's fair enough as we do know more now. Just feels a bit funny how (at least some) people hold the two opposing beliefs that we've been harshly penalised and also believe Tonda has committed the footballing equivalent of genocide. Not everyone mind and I imagine you're not one of them.

Well no, not exactly. He could have been still found guilty and we could received a lesser punishment (which is pretty much what most people expected before the verdict came in). I don't think the outrage would have been as great if that had been the case. Obviously there's an element of hindsight in this and not all the facts were available previously so I'm not exactly making a definitive point (and it's not a hill I'm going to die on) but yeah, I still think a lot of the reaction is a direct result of the punishment and not necessarily the crime itself.

Succinctly put as always 😉 I do agree with you on a lot of this though and there is a part of me that thinks the reaction to the crime is a direct result of the harshness of the penalty imposed. If we'd got away with it then there wouldn't be the outrage we see now.

If all you're doing is picking big names to "change a narrative" then you may as well add Wayne Rooney into the mix. Shit manager but he's a big name.

Yeah, there's loads to be annoyed about over this whole thing but the opinion of other fans or a vapid media circus made up of opinions for hire journalists and bad YouTube muppets is the least of my concerns.

Anyone mentioned Carlos Corberan yet? Been linked with him a few times if I recall. Bit conservative with West Brom for my liking but got them over achieving to an extent and next season looks like it'll probably be a more competitive division so we'll probably need to be a bit more pragmatic. Corberan hasn't had a great time at Valencia though.

I know but thanks anyway.

Yeah, unless there's stuff we don't know about then there won't be a decision to be made anyway.

Presumably you would put in place mechanisms to monitor him and ensure compliance though? All I'm explaining is that there's a line of thought that sacking Tonda could be at the expense of promotion next season. Personally I think he'll get banned anyway. I think Dragan would look at things and what is in the best interest of the club but it's a complex situation with many moving parts - fan reaction, player reaction, how much impact a change of manager has on players joining or leaving, how much time we have to prepare for next season. Anyway, had enough of this, I'm not trying to support one argument or the other, merely helping you understand why people would think this way with regard to Tonda.

None of that matters if you believe that Tonda represents the best chance of promotion next season.