Polarboy

Yeah I mean obviously the mentality that thinks to wear a tea towel, or be the back end of a camel, isn't going to suddenly become an Arabophile, and pick up genuine Arabic clothes and headdress.

Burnley, Brentford and Norwich at home. If we don't get at least seven points from that lot mid December to January is looking grim.

It was 100% a foul, he had a full hand of his shirt and pushed him over for good measure.

With regard the supposed turnaround about the Arabic dress I think the distinction is that people wear traditional dress, as opposed to a dirty old tea towel and an inflatable camel. I presume that way it could be seen as an homage, as opposed to a parody of their culture.

Ritchie has been a liability for most of this match.

Is Robbie Earle a Palace fan, or does he just dislike any team that isn't from London.

Is Gallagher ever going to get booked for diving. He's a fucking joke.

Gallagher is a diving bastard.

I have to say that while I'm excited by the brand of football Fonseca likes to play, should he be confirmed, I do worry that we don't have the players that suit said style, at least of course until we get a transfer window. Obviously people who are far more knowledgeable about football than me will be advising Staveley and the rest of the consortium, but from a relative laymen's perspective it does seem like we are seriously lacking in terms of players who can perform high pressing and possession football. Then again a lot of the players under Bruce looked barely like professional footballers at times, so maybe Fonseca will elevate the form of players like Hayden, Longstaff, maybe even Fraser etc. At least enough so as to get us to January with a few wins under our belt. Edit. It should be said that Fonseca has said in the past the he would never compromise the way in which he wants his teams to play, so yeah a lot of coaches would just adapt to the players they have at their disposal, but Fonseca seems very resolute in his idea of how a team should play. Again it could be the we get a good manager bounce and the players prove themselves to be more capable than I am perhaps assuming, but only time will tell.

I mean it's really not going to improve the quality of your life if you find the answers to those questions.

Palace are improving under Viera, but they do still seem to find it tough to finish off teams. Arsenal were very average against them and still managed a draw in the end. I'd be happy with a draw, but I don't think three points is beyond the realms of possibility. Obviously it will all depend on how much of a lift cabbage going has given the players. If they have anything about them at all they'll want to impress the incoming manager, and also make it seem like the poor results were mostly down to Bruce.

Yeah so you pick a DOF with a good track record and not a cowboy. Both Overmars and Campos for example have made the clubs they've been at hundreds of millions of pounds in profit from player sales, and consistently found players that improved the team. Very few managers can be across scouting and recruitment to the extent that they can as consistently find quality players at a cheap price. Rafa is about as obsessive as they come when it comes to being across player info, but even he picks some stinkers from time to time.

It does sound like the title of a The Fall b-side.

Maybe Fonseca could hire you as a motivational speaker, if he gets the job.

Does he hate him, or is he just following where he thinks the wind blows in terms of fan opinion of him. Call me cynical, but I would imagine real passion from journalists in the twitter journalism era is fairly rare.

If that's true about the Mike Bassett thing then that explains a lot. The players likely thought he was likeable enough, especially given how much time he appears to have given them off, but didn't respect him as a coach at all. There's no way performances can be optimal if you don't respect the coach, whether it's his coaching methods or the way in which he addresses the media. A respected coach like Fonseca should be able to get 10 to 15% straight away just by his mere professional presence.

So probably Chelsea as Fonseca's first game in charge. I suppose starting with a game that you're expected to lose is as good a time to start as any, given that anything other than a loss will be seen as a bonus.

Schar will be back in the side if Fonseca signs, and maybe Fernandez as well given he's a lot more comfortable on the ball than Clark. I honestly don't see how Clark is starting over Fernandez anyway, given that Fernandez has always been one of our better centre halfs. Lets hope that inevitable chorus's of the Happy Days theme will be justified for Fonseca.

Looking at his record, as in giving his wiki a quick read 😂, I do like the fact that he really worked his way up as a manager with small teams, and brought plenty of success to said teams. He's not just some high profile ex pro who was given a job at a big team straight away because of who he knew.

I think the Saudi lawyers may be able to sort that out for him 😉

Fonseca has gone way ahead in the betting, for whatever that is worth. I'm by no means an expert on Fonseca, but based on CV he seems much more impressive than Howe and in the same ball park as the older Farve. Obviously Howe is still very young for a manager, but Fonseca also has the advantage that he doesn't have a relegation on his record.

So we hire a manager who's last job seen him get relegated? Look obviously he's a vast improvement over Bruce, but my point remains, if Fonseca and Farve are realistic targets, then Howe should be nowhere near it.

If reports are to believed I can't understand how Howe is even in the same conversation with Fonseca and Farve. Literally the only advantage he has is experience in the league. And sure he had Bournemouth playing some decent stuff and kept them up for a few years, but he also spent a fair bit of money and took them down.

Craig Hope saying that Rudi Garcia is a name that's been put to them as another candidate. Given our current position we could do a lot worse than Garcia given his experience and achievements in the game. And he's not just a manager that has worked at big teams with the best players. He has experience of getting a tune out of teams down the lower end. I'd certainly take an experienced foreign coach over a Gerrard or a Lampard. In any case though the new owners really need to speed this process up. It can't be a good atmosphere if Hope's other reporting is to be believed about Lascelles and Hayden coming to blows, and some of the players questioning Bruce's "tactics".