The Football League Thread

[sj33]

The problems at Forest have worked out well for us at Bristol City because we now have O'Driscoll. 2 wins out of 3 ain't bad for City.

[Kieran76]

Very true, but also any team hoping to do well and gain promotion should never employ Mcleish in the 1st place

I agree, wouldn't want McLeish anywhere near my club. I think Bristol City are at Forest this weekend. Wonder what reception O'Driscoll will get.

[Kieran76]

Stupid Cardiff ruined my bet.

[Team Andromeda]

Stupid Cardiff ruined my bet.

It could have been worse you could have watched the **** feast and the motorway being closed on the way home was the icing on the cake . Worst away trip I've ever been on

[Team Andromeda]

So glad we beat the Bristol City and nice to see their fans haven't changed at all; They don't belong in the championship at all

[Kieran76]

Cardiff are in my title winning accumulator, so if they keep winning I will be happy.

[Kieran76]

Great win for The Wednesday, not lost since New Years Day, what is most pleasing that two od the players who are making all the difference seem to be Coke and Prutton who were out on loan earlier in the year. Good to see them taking their second chance.

[EJG1980]

Blackburn sack another manager. Henning Berg lasted 57 days and 10 matches in the job while his replacement Michael Appleton was able to make it to 67 days and 15 matches before getting the boot.

[parkinho]

Blackburn Rovers - the gift that keeps on giving. An absolute joke of a club.

[Kit]

Hope they go down. Would be a shame to see Posh get relegated while battling away and Blackburn stay up.

Still not sure what went on with Kean. I know he took them down but when I checked the table (when he was in charge at the start of the season) Blackburn were in the playoff places.

[Kieran76]

Be careful what you wish for is a lesson a lot of football fans could do with learning.

[EJG1980]

Still not sure what went on with Kean. I know he took them down but when I checked the table (when he was in charge at the start of the season) Blackburn were in the playoff places.

They were 4th, one point behind top spot, after eight games played. Amazing that they kept him in charge for so long while he was doing terribly, yet the first sign of him putting together a decent bit of form and he's gone!

Middlesbrough did a similar thing when they went down. They were also 4th, also one point off top spot, thirteen games played, yet they gave Southgate the boot. Haven't been back up since.

Sometimes managers just need a bit of time. Spurs' second most successful manager ever (Keith Burkinshaw) got us relegated in his first season in charge, but the club stuck with him, we came back up and in a few years won a couple of FA Cups, a UEFA Cup, and were consistently in the top six. He would never have got the chance to turn a club around like that now.

[Kit]

Thought he was doing alright before he got the boot. Didn't know that about Southgate. Don't understand getting rid of your manager when you're on the up. Was amazed when Newcastle did it a few season ago.

Regarding giving managers more time, it makes me feel I am being a bit harsh on Rodgers, but it's hard to watch your team struggle - I should know watching Posh!

Read in the paper this morning Blackburn are after Rafa.

Just...

They know they are near the bottom of the championship, right?

madness.

[sj33]

I think a lot of the investors think that winning a game of football is akin to doing your job at work - if you don't win the game, you're not doing your job. Which is obviously nonsense - there's only three possible outcomes in football - win, lose or draw. Losing games doesn't mean that somebody is doing a bad job because, more often than not, there has to be a winner. There are very fine margins between winning a game and losing. Investors shouldn't be putting their money into sport if they're expecting results to be so easily obtained.

Investors just don't see it that way though, they expect a reward for their investments. More and more investors are investing in clubs thinking that money will guarantee promotion, or a top four finish, or titles. They don't seem to realise that there are only a finite amount of qualification places, finite amount of top 4 spots, finite amount of titles to be won. Likewise at the bottom of the table - QPR, Reading, Wigan and Villa can all make a convincing case for deserving to stay in the Premier League, but the reality is that 3 teams HAVE to be relegated every season. To a large extent, teams in such a position have to rely on other results going their way, and that is something that money cannot buy.

I can't say that I'm a fan of Liverpool, but the way they have gone about the running of the club this season has been a credit to the game. A sensible long-term vision with sustainable investments in managers and players who they see as part of the larger project of growing the club rather than throwing money at a problem and expecting results. The fans seem to have understood this, and this is a credit to them. More clubs should be run this way.

[parkinho]

If things couldn't get any funnier down at Deadwood, the chicken farmers have actually interviewed one of my brother's mates for the job after he wrote a piss-take application. I can't find the application letter at the moment but it was one of the funniest things I've ever read. Hope he gets the job!