Kitman

Ashley is an idiot surrounded by idiots. Further calamity is inevitable imo unless there's a massive improvement in his cluelessness. Or he sells up, depending on whether the new owner is as idiotic as he is. I don't see the silver lining in being relegated therefore.

"Right Joey, this is absolutely the last warning. I know we said last time that it was the last warning....well this one is definitely the final warning. Don't think you're getting any more final warnings." etc etc

Howay the lads! Howay the lads! Howay the lads!

We should sell him in the summer imo. Only a matter of time before he does something stupid again on or off the pitch....

I'd be more in favour if this issue was about raising the quality of English footballers. However this new proposal will do nothing to get talented English youngsters onto the pitch. The whole thing seems to have been motivated by Blatter's dislike of English teams. Well boo bloody hoo. No-one was complaining when the Italians and Spanish dominated Europe. Maybe they'd like to start with making national leagues more competitive, now that would really be something.

It's called having scouts. no, you're wrong. Ashley was supposed to implement the scouting system that Fat Fred didn't, ie the one that found Zoggy, and swapping him for Ryan Taylor and cash was "good business" Come to think of it, it would actually have been a better deal for us if we got the same money and no RTaylor, no wages or shit player to deal with I suspect the R Taylor signing had nothing to do with scouting and everything to do with Joe Kinnear.

As everyone's saying it's a question of value. On large wages he's poor value because he's injury prone. The days when we can carry the likes of Carr and Babayaro are long gone. He's an asset to the team on his day but his day doesn't come often enough. He'd be great on a pay for play contract but I doubt he'd accept. Everything points to the exit door imo. Ashley will look to slash the wage bill next season whatever happens and Viduka and Owen are the obvious candidates. That would still leave us with Ameobi, Xisco, Martins and Carroll and I reckon we'll sell one of those and get one replacement in (ie 3 out, one in).

I'd like to think so, it sounded like the internet equivalent of Care in the Community

We should keep him. His value in our annual fight against relegation can't be underestimated. He's injured for most of the season, which means he's as fresh as a daisy in the last few matches. Ideally we'd put him on a lucrative annual contract, which means he can spend two thirds of the season on the sofa counting his coin and conserving his energy; then the realisation will dawn that the season is drawing to a close and there's just enough time to haul his capacious butt off the sofa, get fit and squeeze in 6-10 games.

Another must win game imo. We shouldn't rely on the bottom 3 to fuck up

This is the core of my argument. I'm surprised he starts ahead of Tevez. Wouldn't be surprised if Berbatov's ditched in due course like Veron

Well I've seen some shocking keepers but I wouldn't put Harper's performance anywhere near that list. Given's had some howlers at City btw.... Well done though everyone, I'm sure Harper'll be feeling on top of the world for Saturday now. Perhaps he doesn't browse on here?

If Kinnear hadn't had his heart troubles and he'd stayed on and taken us down would we be applauding Ashley for sticking with him? He's appointed 3 very average managers imo and stuck with them for too long (granted McClaren did okay with them in a UEFA and CCC). I take your point. I think the difference between Southgate and Kinnear is that Gibson sees/saw him as the young talent to take Boro forward over the next few years. Kinnear on the other hand is a washed up old never-was who was employed as a stop gap and then just stuck around like a bad smell. In Southgate's case maybe he saw potential and wanted to put in place a long term appointment.....I don't think it's easy to attract a decent manager to Boro. Like ourselves under Ashley maybe. I admire Gibson's loyalty here if not his judgement. Still I realise there's possibly a more cynical explanation for it.

He's a fantastic chairman from the manager's point of view but as TTW says, he's picked poor managers and stuck with them too long. If Boro go down then it'll be as much his fault as it is Southgate's, who really should have been given the boot long before now. Aye but he's shovelled in a large part of his fortune into a unfashionalbe Yorkshire club with 20,000 supporters and taken them from no-hopers to League Cup winners and a premiership club. If I was a supporter of theirs I wouldn't criticise him at all. He may not have chosen the best manager but he's backed him and stuck by him, something we are constantly criticised for not doing. Be interesting to see what he does next, I assume Southgate will resign if they're relegated.

It's not as if it was a derby or anything. For us

I think we need to win against Fulham. I'm hoping Bolton will do us favour but they've nothing to play for.

Fly me to the moon, bay-beez. I've no time for the smoggies but Southgate seems a decent human being. Gibson's also been a fantastic chairman but he's going to lose a truck load more money if they're relegated, as seems very likely now. You have to wonder whether he can afford to bankroll the whole damn party, my impression is hardly anyone turns up for home matches as it is.

Amen to that. Whatever happens the attitude in the dressing room needs to change. If there are players with big egos bad attitudes and inadequate contributions we should do our best to move them on whether we stay up or go down imo. That description might cover most of the squad, mind. How in the name of all that is holy did it come to this? Graeme Souness. Willie McKay. Mike Ashley. Freddie Shepherd. I wasn't going to mention the chairman of the club in England that qualified for Europe more times than anyone else except four other clubs (or however it goes). No point in raising the dead.

Going down, bottoms up * Makes submarine diving noises *

Matt Johnson wasn't a cheery soul though, was he? You'd choose other people to have a pint with judging by Infected.

Satan? Don't you mean: *Drops voice three octaves and joins death metal band* SAY-TON? I think Old Nick's a Man Utd supporter actually It is said he moves from club to club in the night. You mean he's a glory hunting band wagon jumper?! I hope he's been seen in Barcelona then

UB40 and erm King. Although I assume it was a cover by UB40? I look forward to Ledley being treated with the same vitriol as Barton and Bowyer if charged and convicted.

Amen to that. Whatever happens the attitude in the dressing room needs to change. If there are players with big egos bad attitudes and inadequate contributions we should do our best to move them on whether we stay up or go down imo. That description might cover most of the squad, mind. How in the name of all that is holy did it come to this? Graeme Souness. Willie McKay. Mike Ashley.