Daft Kerplunk

It may be worth you also checking your sources, their credibility etc. I would suggest that if 10s of 1,000s of scientists had been against the approach, it probably would’ve been different. Anyway, MLT. Lovely bloke in person. Legend of football. Not as well informed as he likes to think he is.

He is in Canada 🇨🇦

With no rose tinted glasses when doing the predictor, my bottom 3 stays as is. Can see us getting a few wins and some surprise results but not quite enough.

Looking at the fixtures, we’ve got 3 games against current relegation rivals, the rest against teams in the top half or comfortably mid table, plus every team going for the top 4 or European places including 3 going for the title. It’s not going to be easy, and could be a great escape up there with the best.

Obviously, our summer targets and departures will depend on the league we are in. And then what the ambition of the club is. Staying up and selling some players seems to be the extent of it at the moment. That’s success for the abject leadership we currently have.

Bad performance by a team with low confidence, good and vital 3 points. Phew.

The sad thing is, it never needed to be this way. People like Martin Semmens, (an ex cricket playing Rugby boarding school boy whose first job was as a marketing executive in New York City, no doubt generously awarded through a family or alumni contact) think the brand of a football club is nice imagery, slogans (potential into excellence) and talking about gareth bale who played for us a few times, but went on to be famous elsewhere. But it’s not, it’s deeper than that and people like Martin Semmens and the other board directors don’t have a clue because they have no connection with the city other than it being the place they work. Then, they don’t really understand football and what makes it so special to so many people. I know that the kids just want tik tok skillz but they also appreciate the deeper side of the game itself, and most come from communities where it’s embedded. It’s not just a product you buy because it’s popular, people don’t support saints because we’ve had some players come through the academy. That’s a nice to have. Having a football club be the heart of, the representative of, and the soul of the community is what makes the game of football special. Fans from outside the area attach themselves to that as well as success. That’s why this club has been getting it so wrong for some time now. They just don’t get it.

Like others, we’ve now been conditioned not to get attached to players because they’re just assets to be bought cheap, sold for as much as possible. JWP is the only player who’d have been sold a dream of it being different, and it still being a football club with some sort of heart, which we aren’t any longer.

At what point will we stop going so easy on the board for this shambles of a season, and for the last few years. semmens. Vice chairman for strategy. You know, he sets the direction and has done since Gao. This is his plan as much as ankerson’s and he’s had longer trying it, and failing. 100% has to go. Steele. The finance person. Probably had a big say on transfer fees and wages. Could we have better players if we weren’t so tied to long term value, which ultimately is being lost match by match. Kraft. What’s the point of this person? ankerson. He and Semmens are ultimately responsible for this season so far but Ankerson has failed big time. Will he learn? The transfer window didn’t suggest any real learning where we went for players mostly unable to improve the team, which was desperately needed. if I were solak, Semmens and Steele would be having security clear their desks tomorrow. Ankerson would be grovelling hard.

A Bond film or a team with a limited bond?

This confirms the decline has been happening for some time, it’s not just a recent thing. That’s dreadful home form. And as for the last calendar year, absolutely appalling. And people still think those in charge of the club are good enough.

Just like when we spunked money on Hoedt and Lemina, the club is hoping for x3+ returns (like we got thanks to Ronald's appeal to players like VVD and Mane) instead of thinking who is going to make the team better, some of whom would improve their value as a result. 2 or 3 absolute nailed on first teamers was vital. We could still have signed Lavia, Bella-Kotchap, and Bazunu (who is still very young for a keeper) plus Alcarez and Sulemana. It needed (and still needs) more focus on what's required to make the first team good. Same as in the academy. If they aren't good enough at 20, they probably never will be so get rid of them kindly. Make the whole system more competitive to improve individual value, not just take a scattergun approach thinking you've (as someone else helpfully says) cracked football.

The biggest shock to most it seems will be in player departures. Even the likes of Che will be off, especially given how rubbish it must be to have been replaced by a forward with the same likelihood of ever scoring goals in this team. Players will leave at reduced rates because we won’t be in a particularly strong negotiating position when they demand transfers. The loss of revenue will be significant, sponsors will leave because of clauses in their contracts or their payments for sponsoring will reduce, ticket revenue will be down, hospitality in particular will be hit hard. Matchday revenue then down too. The parachute payment will help of course but there will be layoffs across the club as the cloth will need to be cut accordingly. The appeal of a club that’s never maximised its potential will mean we aren’t media darlings so TV revenue won’t be that high. Maybe SR will come to the fore and save things but given their record so far, is that actually believable? Semmens and Co the same given that from Gao onwards, they’ve overseen the decline. I’d love Everton to come down with us as they’ve been flirting with relegation for donkeys. Bournemouth will probably join us too.

I’d suggest it’s more nuanced than winning a game. Jones, despite a sign that he had turned things around with a week of good results, then seemed to lose the plot, wasn’t level headed and just confirmed he was not really cut out for the mental demands of the Prem that go beyond being a good coach. Selles, in comparison, seems level headed, demanding but also someone who appreciates the work of others. We shall see how it all works out but he looks more attuned to top flight football than Jones ever did.

We were 100% in a relegation battle under Ralph this season. That continued almost a year of relegation form. Ralph had lost the players. We have moved on.

Crikey, Nigel garbage Farage will be having kittens with someone with that name playing for England 🤣

Glad this suggestion went down well 🤣 He wouldn’t have been worse than NJ at least! But moving on and all that. Fail for me 😆

Why waste any more money, Let Selles have a chance.

Why isn’t the club considering James Beattie? Out of work, has more experience than Selles, especially in English football. He knows the club inside out and would surely be a hit with the fans. Time to give him a call perhaps?

The academy structure needs a good overhaul I would imagine. Too many players who will never make it on the books, and this ultimately leads to the bottlenecks and players not making it. Probably needs to go back to being a focussed elite level structure where only the best get in (or the best of those not at Chelsea) and if they aren't good enough, they don't move up the levels, and they certainly wouldn't get pro contracts. I doubt whether Crocker was allowed to make much of a difference on his second time at the club, it is all too established and cosy for those at the top of it, and who run the academy.

This week saw good news but also, rubbish news about Unity Brewing Company closing its doors. Brilliant beer, best pre-match drinks near St. Mary’s by a country mile, and will be a big loss to the match day ‘experience’ and city. Thanks for the good times Jimmy and crew.

Mad that we had an awful last year with Ralph in charge and people still think he was hard done by. He was done. We were sliding before Jones took over and he turned out to be the wrong person at the wrong time to take over at the wrong club. We are adrift and to stay up, we will need an incredible manager. Perhaps the players will also step up because they might not want relegation on their CVs.

Second best in Europe I heard

I feel sorry for him because he should never have been given the job in the first place. By not assessing properly, the club put Jones through a shit period for him and us. They fucked up. They should own the mess. A point someone of high calibre if they can.

But Semmens chose this company because it kept him in the job, and he will have benefitted from them being the chosen group. Whatever happens, the leadership has been taking us closer to relegation for years, and it looks like we’ve ridden our luck out.