Ed-Zeppelin

That's outrageous. The fact he is that far detached from reality that he thinks that comment may in any way be helpful is simply mind-boggling! He really can't go soon enough. I can't wait to hear all his bleating after where he looks for every excuse in the book. He's a fraud and he's been found out. If the media turns, as it seems they are doing, then it really will get difficult. The fact he can't see his part in this is maddening.

One other little thing I notice tonight was the way Nando approached McCarthy at the end. It struck me as a player saying well done to MM on the basis that his own boss was just so poor, something in the body language and gesturing between the two. Hate to say it but I'd be the same. And worse, the fact that Mick McCarthy is made to look great at Anfield with those players against us is simply unacceptable.

Absolutely, and Coyle has just said they went to Chelsea trying to win. Saturday could be very tough after this. Bolton are playing well. The boost of a change of boss mint see us through, but otherwise I'd fancy them to come here and repeat this result. Sad as it is to say.

The most damning thing I can say about the game today is that I'm not surprised. Shocking. Has to be the end of the fraud.

As much as our performance has bothered me in the first half i at least have a modicum of confidence that FSG will eventually do the right thing and rid us of this idiot. What annoys me more is that we will all be stuck with Sky and their s**** pundits forever it seems. Keys, Gray, Redknapp, what a bunch of agenda driven tossers. Sky in general are really pissing me off these days. Utter drivel most of the time. These people get paid big money for this! Forget PL footballers like PFK it's Keys and Gray I'd want rid of, just.

That's a fair shout. I'm torn at the moment as I still believe in FSG and they have a record in the US of getting things done. It's going to take time, that i can live with. Roy might stay until the summer, till take time to get a top CEO, and then a top coach. I think generally behind the scenes progress is being made. What bothers me is that any progress behind the scenes will take longer to shine through the longer Roy is around. This is why the transfer window is big for me, as its a tangible sense of how they are approaching things. It's a tough balance for them as they have to be seen to support Roy but probably want to hedge bets for the summer too. Its a big window for Comolli as a result. It'll also give Roy a great excuse come the summer when the reason he didn't win us the league was down to not getting his players in January! It'll never be down to him will it.

If, big if admittedly, we bring in Huth and Cole, and similar players then I'd be thoroughly pissed off and fed up with it all. Just not good enough for me and screams the mediocrity that Roy seems to cherish so dearly. More worryingly is would raise big questions for me about Comolli and FSG. If Roy is staying until the end of the season, as seems increasingly likely, the damage he does has to be limited as far as possible. Transfers in this window are a major part of that. This window is a good opportunity for FSG to make a statement, within reason, to all in football that they mean business and that would surely make attracting the top coaches a bit easier come the summer. I'm fed up with us being in limbo. I can't wait to get a real leader in so that we can knuckle down and drive forward as a club. I rate Henry and co but this window is a big test, which would be marked as a fail if people like Cole are signed, IMO.

It's 3 Kings, not 3 Queens.

Whilst those figures are staggering, if true, they aren't really the thing that bugs me most in that. Given this is something from the media I imagine the wages aren't that high, and if they are then it's just another example of the nonsense in football at the moment. Nothing we can do about that really. The thing that bothers me is that, and i might just be picking on things, i think all the players in that list could still be useful for us under the right leadership. I tend to grudgingly enjoy transfer windows inspite of all the Sky b******s. If Roy is about it all seems quite irrelevant as it'll make little difference whilst he's around. Merry Christmas!

He's almost turned this into an art form. Every time he says something daft and makes me rate him that bit less I always think that he couldn't get worse. Then he does. Shambles. Pull your fingers out Tom and Henry and get rid of the fraud.

Brilliant. Makes you proud on so many levels. Rhys is a star. Football in general in this country does put a lot back and it generally goes unnoticed. Some of the things you see our team doing either inspired by the club or off their own back is really very good. On a side note thats the first time I've seen Jeremy Kyle and not wanted to punch him in the face. My estimation of him has gone up a fair bit!

Fair point, and i agree. It's been a building sense of disillusionment which has snapped in me in the last couple of days, and been made worse when contrasted with the grief Rafa gets, with their comparative records. Two friends at work are a Blue and a Geordie. They've found our season highly amusing. I've found the best way to take the wind out of their sails is to agree when they have a pop about Roy, which is easy as most of the time I agree with what they are saying. Total shambles. The only positive in all of this, that I can see, is that on this basis i now genuinely believe i could be a PL manager. If this bloke has pulled it off so far i reckon I'd give it a bloody good go. The major obstacle would be the colloquial inbreds, mainly ex-players, who'd do anything to discredit an outsider who might have the temerity to do anything differently to them. That and I'd tell them to f*** off at every opportunity and call Keys a thunderc**t in my first interview live on Monday Night Football. Gray would be ignored entirely, except that I'd extoll the virtues of zonal marking just to piss him off.

Sick of this now. If NESV can seriously listen to the absolute drivel this imbecile spouts every time he opens his mouth without questioning it or at least telling him to keep a lid on it i am loosing belief in their leadership. I am going to declare that as of Boxing Day, assuming no change, where this shambles will inevitably continue, my support for NESV will start to drop like a giant sand hour glass until I reach some sort of rage come May when this berk describes our mid-table finish as some sort of glowing achievement and yet another glorious chapter in his unparalleled career. The man is a f***ing coward, a snide who lucked into the job on the back of incompetence, timing and fortune and now doesn't have the good grace to admit that a) he's entirely out of his depth, and b) has made a complete f***ing mess of everything he's touched at the club so far. For a man who touts his many year experience so often he seems to have completely missed that period in football where we established ourselves as the club we are with expectations of a certain approach. He doesn't fit the style and mentality of the club in any way. I hate his tactics, his negative approach, his blaming everyone but himself for the mess so far, his goal-post moving excuses, his archaic methods. I don't hate the man, more feel sorry for him on many levels. I did however expect, on previous experience, a gent who understood the game. What I've seen so far is a narky, sniping buffoon. Just when I was getting back a passion for football post the American idiots, Roy has sapped all the fun out of it again. The t***! A final word goes to those who saw fit to hire this berk in the first place, regardless, and thanks, for all else you did for the club, f*** you for leaving us with this. Also, the British media are a great big steaming pile of horse s***. The coverage of Roy's ongoing idiocy when contrasted with the re-writing of the Rafa era, which is happily sucked up and spewed out by the idiot masses, is a bloody disgrace. It's my birthday today, I've had a great day, some nice booze and it's taken only 20 minutes catching up and listening to Roy and the various comments about to reduce me to a level of frustration which is worrying my cat, for fear he may be drop-kicked through the tv! Football can be s**** sometimes!

Part of me would love to see it though. If offered no doubt he'd take it, he believes he's worth it. The fun part would be all the Inter fans going who? Followed by bad football and the whole thing falling to pieces. Clubs like Inter just wouldn't accept his style. It'd be fun to watch though, a bit like watching Roy with us, but from the outside!

As unlikely as i still think this is I'd love to have him back. Forgetting how much better he is than Hodgson he gets us and the club. He'd fight for us and build a winning mentality back into the club. It would piss off the media and a number of other managers no end, which would be superb. I'm still sure that after finishing second we'd have pushed on again had it not been for the mess above Rafa's head and the lack of funds. If Rafa can agree to the structure of the club with Comolli's involvement i actually think it would benefit Rafa. If most of this squad can stay with good backing in the next two windows I'd back Rafa to win the league in the timescales NESV are talking about.

What about Pepe and Nando vs Carra and Stevie?! It seems as though that might also be an issue given the laters backing of Roy, initially at least. Someone said earlier that only Stevie should have clout. I disagree. I really want the owners to get a strong coach in and for the players to get on and play. Get past the politics, and if a player isn't happy then the coach is empowered to move them on, with the owners backing them in these decisions. It's the only chance of long term stability. Due to the mess Roy has made of this so far I've all but given up hope of keeping Nando, and Pepe potentially. That would be a massive blow. If we are out of Europe it'll take an amazing appointment to keep players, simply on the quality of the coach. I hope NESV act soon. I'm fed up with his negativity, his archaic methods and his bizarre belief that he's a top coach. If the rumours about Kelly and Roy with the scouts are true it's frightening. No wonder players like Torres look disillusioned. Roy must look like a complete amateur to the players. It makes my blood boil. I had about a month of loving football after NESV took over and Roy has managed to sap the fun out of it again. Oh, and f*** off Purslow for your hand in this!

Agree. There was just something about what he said and the way he said it, plus his making sure it was said, that made me think he was addressing the concerns about the manager. A call for patience while they build behind the scenes. Fair enough as long as they have the buy in of the players and it fits their 5 year plan that we aren't in Europe next season. I can understand the approach but still think every extra day with Hodgson will prevent genuine progress on the pitch at least.

Good to see. More direct this time too. Hodgson not good enough. CV not up to it. Well in that man.

Be interesting to see how TW and JH cover the topic of Hodgson on Monday. I agree with the post that suggested that NESVs continued support, or inaction, whatever way you look at it, for Roy is making them look weak. We have more to offer as a team but led by Roy we just won't show this. His approach to away games is maddening. Against Stoke i just accepted the defeat on the basis of our form at that point. Recent play has raised my hopes and to watch the game to day has brought home what we are faced with. Act now NESV before the window and before Roy undoes our season entirely.

This is so bad I've been driven to eating a slab of cheese! On the plus side the boredom has prompted me to google the blonde in the Halifax ads. Sarah Applewood for anyone interested. Anyone who moans about Sky coverage should be made to watch ESPN, it's just awful generally!

That's another thing that winds me up! Pepe's joining in on the act now. Bugger all to pass to to be fair but a big hoof to no one up the pitch. And the thing that winds me up most is I suspect Roy will look upon this as decent!

Sums it up nicely. I hate Stoke. Any league that claims to be the best in the world should be embarrassed to have a team like them. More so that the current LMA manager of the year brings along a team playing as badly as we are. It's bloody depressing.

Listening to the interview again i don't think it's a case of will we won't we but more a case of assessing the options, and he didn't mention ground share as an option, only a new build or regeneration of Anfield. That seems sensible to me. He's already accused the previous regime of shorttermism, so i cant see them just jumping on the back of the previous stadium plans without assessing it properly. Makes sense to me but it's a case of seeing how they approach the decision making process. Revenues are key to success long term so i think it's simply going to be about making sure the decision on the stadium makes the best financial sense for the club long term. On that basis i think the new stadium of our own is still the most likely outcome. Rightly though they are taking time to make sure this is right for the right reasons long term.

Difference being that the Wembley game is one of their regular games. I'd have less issue if one of the 38 games was played abroad and that this was rotated so that every other year it was a home or away game. Adding a 39th game upsets the balance of the league and opens a massive can of worms.

It's the late game on Sky so 16.00. And I'm stuck out at a family meal for the sister in-laws engagement! Balls!