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Post by wuzza on Apr 3, 2022 20:02:06 GMT
I prefer watching Liverpool play - City just bore me for some reason but have several mates who follow City so I suppose I would rather they had the joy. Bottom line is I can’t hope for either club ever to win anything (or any other of the other media darlings for that matter). I am also one of those saddos who is pleased when a foreign team beats them in the Champions League. Can’t help myself.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 3, 2022 13:02:45 GMT
Player of the Season for me. He’s had more direct impact on games than anyone else by a long chalk.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 3, 2022 13:00:26 GMT
Frankly from what I’ve seen the only point in Sheff Utd (or any of the teams chasing the play offs) getting promoted is if they rake in a seasons worth of PL cash , don’t spend it and get relegated with the money for another go with a better side. Fulham have got half a chance of staying up, Bournemouth might at a push but the rest forget it.
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Post by wuzza on Apr 1, 2022 14:04:48 GMT
It's only teamtalk. Plans aren't worth anything with eight 90 minutes of football to be played He could be safe as houses in a month, or his position could be pretty untenable, as Rob says I can't see how he could survive without the fig leaf of at least 3 wins to see the season out, regardless of what they'd like to do in a perfect world I think we all know he's going nowhere in reality. He could lose every game from now until the end of the season and I still don't think he'll go. I’m sure this is the truth and hopefully he knows it so he won’t be afraid to try out some fresh approaches and younger players in the last few games.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 31, 2022 15:13:41 GMT
The logical conclusion of all this is the game turns into a hybrid of American Football. Got a free kick around the box - bring on the specialist , 1-0 up in a tight game bring on the defensive unit etc. Horrible prospect.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 31, 2022 14:47:53 GMT
The motives are clear - reduce the level of competitiveness in the PL that little bit further. The so called ‘big’ clubs have a level of insecurity that is quite pathetic to observe. It would be simpler if we just asked Pep or Jurgen what result they would like at the start of a game then abandon the next 90 odd minutes.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 31, 2022 10:45:51 GMT
Anyone not wanting Ace of Spades as their walkout music will be forced to swap their season ticket for a Vale Season ticket The moshpit resemebles our midfield by the way.....
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Post by wuzza on Mar 31, 2022 10:31:48 GMT
Pre match music should be entirely the remit of 70s rock - it’s a law of nature. None of your modern day namby pamby dancey prancey stuff !!!! Wuzza. (aged 60 3/4) Anyone not wanting Ace of Spades as their walkout music will be forced to swap their season ticket for a Vale Season ticket The moshpit resemebles our midfield by the way..... Indeed , the ultimate irony. Always felt that a rotation of Paranoid, Highway to Hell and Down Down would reflect the general mood 🙂
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Post by wuzza on Mar 31, 2022 10:28:18 GMT
Our owners have picked eminently plausible managers and backed them financially. For the most part, the fans have been happy with the decision to sack the previous manager and more often than not happy with the owners choice of successor. Even the appointment of the likes of Rowett and Jones, who turned out to be pretty terrible, were overwhelmingly greeted by most fans with a "Well, he did alright at Club X" type of a reaction. Every appointment is a risk, and we've been badly let down by the last few managers, despite financial support by the owners. Managing the financial hit of relegation from the premiership, when your managerial appointment doesn't achieve promotion at the first attempt before the parachute payments run out, is properly difficult. We've seen many a club end up with a double-dip relegation or even end up in the admin / liquidation mire. Stoke are not in that position, and we have the owners to thank for that. Face facts; Bet365 are the only show in town. No dodgy oligarch, Saudi prince or shady crook would be making a better fist of running Stoke City FC. We're mid-table-ish in Championship, we have a young crop of players coming good, we've seen off the FFP crocodile. Something's clearly not right in the squad motivation department this season, but that's a whole different matter. That nails it and to be honest should be the conclusion of the discussion Life ain’t perfect and football ain’t easy for the Stoke City’s of this world but because of the Coates family we always have a glimmer of hope that simply would not be there otherwise.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 26, 2022 17:58:14 GMT
Seen some poor England top orders in my time but this one is definitely up there with the worst.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 26, 2022 11:49:40 GMT
Pre match music should be entirely the remit of 70s rock - it’s a law of nature. None of your modern day namby pamby dancey prancey stuff !!!!
Wuzza. (aged 60 3/4)
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 15:42:12 GMT
I tweeted this last week: Having the billionaire Coates family as owners is as much a curse as a blessing. We have to feel so grateful all the time that we cannot be allowed to criticise them. It seems appropriate to mention it again today. They have helped to create the mess they are now paying off. Without serious work to revise the operational side of the business, they had better be prepered to dig deep again year after year to cover more huge losses. The way to properly get out of this hole is to run a successful business, on and off the pitch. I like a moan as much as the next person but if not being overly critical is the trade off for having multi billionaire owners I think we should be able to manage that ! With this sort of backing compared to the financial quagmire that most clubs are in we are pretty much certain to come out smelling of roses sooner or later whatever your opinion of the owners (and their not too shameful record of a decade in the PL and our one and only cup final appearance) 🙂
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 13:58:54 GMT
Now this isn't a conspiracy theory but more an open question. Does this statement in any way affect our future ownership structure from the point of view I'm sure the Government are being forced to eradicate betting companies advertising their souls through football clubs. Not sure if there was a date for this to go through or its still work in progress, or indeed may never actually happen. With our Stadium being named Bet365 and all our kit and training gear carrying the Bet365 logo I'm wondering how if the Coates still own us for a long time to come, we'll be rebranded or be able to continue as we move through the banning of betting companies process & stopping themselves advertising via the means of football. I'm aware quite a few other clubs are sponsored by betting companies but is it going to be problematic that we are actually owned by a betting company and basically Bet365 are our main source of income and stability right now. Is this debt being written off a kind of cutting links with the Bet365 brand? I know we're a million miles away from being in a Chelsea type situation where a quick sale is required due to ownship issues as that's more political. But if the government do implement rule changes into football will that affect us all of a sudden? Or will Bet365 be able to back us still but perhaps as more a silent partner? ie still there supporting us up but without their branding appearing everywhere as it currently does? May be absolutely nothing to do with today's statement but it's kind of linked as is something we'll need to be dealing with as a club soon I'm sure? I think you are right - the legislation that you are speculating about is the massive cloud on our long term financial horizon. Surely they will be working to ensure that disentangling the club from the company is possible without any catastrophic consequences. Being in the PL and benefiting from its income streams by the time this all happens will probably be crucially important.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 13:23:31 GMT
Where’s our West Country Miss Marple to tell us we’re flouting FFP and that he’s telling on us to the EFL? Last time I looked he had got Blackburn and Middlesbrough in his crosshairs - nobody is safe !!!
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 13:04:53 GMT
Complete guesswork on my part but did they / do they think that MON is the man for such a backroom role in the fullness of time ? Possibly, is that something he'd want though? A lot of the 'move him upstairs' chatter as far as I can see is based wholly on him having that MA in sports directorship. Not yet - I think he still has a point to prove at the coaching level but the mere fact he has such qualifications suggests it’s something he is open to. Would probably suit him domestically too as it would be a role that doesn’t need him at the training ground 7 days a week. All hinges on next season I suppose but I think you are right it’s the management structure we should have.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 12:37:01 GMT
They'll be rich enough to build a time machine soon hopefully to go back and rectify their mistakes. But seriously we analyse things to death on here at times but we got into the Premier League under the Coates family and had 9 relatively trouble free seasons before our disaster season under Hughes/Lambert. There aren't many teams who have done that certainly of a similar size and stature to us anyway and I think we forget how difficult that is to achieve in modern football for clubs like us. The appointment of Lambert was really poor, it was on the back of them thinking they'd landed Flores though which would have been a massive blow but did suggest a plan. Once we appointed Rowett and handed him a war chest and it didn't work out the short/medium term damage was done, we had several expensive millstones around our neck that have hampered us since, from that moment it's been all about balancing the FFP books whilst trying to remain competitive on the pitch. What they need to do going forward is to use this summer as a fresh start to push the club forward. That is key, if we can achieve that we can all look forwards instead of backwards which let's be fair gets tiring as the damage is done. It's a crossroads in the next chapter of our great club that's for sure........ The concern though is that they think they can just do what they did in 2008, and the game is moving on from that. The manager as emperor thing gives you so little leeway and means if you don't get that appointment completely spot on you get the situations we've had in the last few years. That surely can't go on and we just keep on hoping we get the next one right? Complete guesswork on my part but did they / do they think that MON is the man for such a backroom role in the fullness of time ?
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 12:06:44 GMT
Bottom line is that anyone who has put that much money in is free to handle matters as they darn well please and as we had 10 years in the PL after decades away it reasonable to argue that they haven’t made some extremely good decisions in the not too distant past. It’s always going to be a roller coaster ride for a club of our stature but it’s one hell of a nice feeling that ,with backing like theirs, we aren’t ever going to come crashing to the ground Derby style ! I agree Wuzza, although the lack of anything resembling a plan since 2017 worries me. Whose to say that there haven’t been very detailed plans .......that have gone wrong. It happens , especially in the weird old world of football.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 12:00:15 GMT
Whilst we are all really delighted that our owners are mega rich and fans, does it not get you slightly worried that we have been in decline for six years, are closer to League 1 than the Premier League, and have had to move tons of money around to avoid FFP? Being loaded is great for us. Don't you also need a bit more of a plan than chucking money at situations and handing said money to clowns? Bottom line is that anyone who has put that much money in is free to handle matters as they darn well please and as we had 10 years in the PL after decades away it reasonable to argue that they havet made some extremely good decisions in the not too distant past. It’s always going to be a roller coaster ride for a club of our stature but it’s one hell of a nice feeling that ,with backing like theirs, we aren’t ever going to come crashing to the ground Derby style !
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Post by wuzza on Mar 23, 2022 11:20:21 GMT
This club has had very little luck in the past 160 years or so but the Coates family support in what will be more and more challenging financial times for football in general is certainly one case where we have fallen well and truly on our feet. It’s my bet that FFP will become less and less of an issue as the vast majority of EFL clubs will be struggling just to keep their doors open in the next few years let alone spend up to the limits the regulations impose.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 21, 2022 10:32:28 GMT
Well there is one thing I hope our supporters pick up from all this - the days of billion pound fairy godmothers waiting in the wings to take over even fairly big provincial clubs are well and truly over. Unless you are Chelsea or a massive potential club like Newcastle ( and who would want a take over from that source anyway) things can get pretty dire. Bad recruitment , past mistakes etc are a small price to pay for owners who have the means and goodwill that ours do.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 21, 2022 8:16:33 GMT
Can’t help feeling we have slipped into some sort of parallel universe if Tony Mowbray and Wayne Rooney are being put forward as Managers of SCFC.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 21, 2022 6:33:49 GMT
To say some of those managers were handed a poisoned chalice would be the biggest understatement ever. They had little or no chance of making a go of anything. For what it’s worth TP is clearly streets ahead the best - the ‘wild card’ would be Gary Merson who didn’t do much wrong in the short time he had. (I think people are being a bit generous to Boskamp in the above ratings)
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Post by wuzza on Mar 20, 2022 7:15:54 GMT
I don't know how many times I have to say it. Until MON comes out after a game and makes a public complaint in the media for the blatant bias against us it will not change. He's got to put the pressure back on to the refs so they know any further bias against us will be pulled up every time. Its no good just shrugging your shoulders and saying oh well. To be fair he did agree with Ange’s comments in the RS interview that in so many words proclaimed the ref was an idiot. I’m not so sure the public condemnation approach works for a manager unless you are a Fergie, a Pep, a Klopp etc - ie someone the refs are scared of because of your media profile. If you are just a Joe Average Manager it probably just sets them against you even more.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 20, 2022 7:08:12 GMT
It’s one of those self perpetuating myths that message boards do so well - A few people (or even one person in the case of serial posters) decide something’s true - in this case Bonham is a league 1 keeper at best - keep repeating and eventually it’s accepted as the baseline ‘truth’. The fact that the bloke has done nothing that justifies the assertion is irrelevant/forgotten.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 19, 2022 17:28:17 GMT
Removing ONeill and the back office structures he has installed will , quite rightly , be a last resort. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from not waiting till the season has played out. If we can stabilise and show some form then great , regroup and go again next season without having to dissect the club and start all over again. It’s very much a waiting game till May. Of course there’s something to be gained what a daft comment. It gives another manager a bit of time to assess the players at the club to see what he needs for next season I repeat it would be ridiculous - not least because it would limit your choice of new manager immensely. What currently successful manager would walk out on a club at this stage of a season ? Anyway it’s my hope the MON hits a successful and settled format and line up and stays.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 19, 2022 17:04:23 GMT
Removing ONeill and the back office structures he has installed will , quite rightly , be a last resort. There is absolutely nothing to be gained from not waiting till the season has played out. If we can stabilise and show some form then great , regroup and go again next season without having to dissect the club and start all over again. It’s very much a waiting game till May.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 18, 2022 13:07:47 GMT
Why did Brian Clough fail at Leeds ? Scale it down a bit but the same reasons probably apply for Jones here. Different set ups , different mentalities - one size doesn’t fit all.
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Post by wuzza on Mar 17, 2022 16:21:52 GMT
Big fan of Gregory’s Girl. Usual question ........where did the years go ?????
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Post by wuzza on Mar 17, 2022 15:59:48 GMT
A sunny day in Barbados , a beer in hand and Ben Stokes going ballistic. That folks is ‘the life’ !!!
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Post by wuzza on Mar 17, 2022 12:58:39 GMT
Fair enough for him to think these things but not the sign of someone with a great future in the game to come out in public and say them. In terms of performance I have to admit being confused as to why we didn’t keep him.
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