Gemmill

Meenzer, hang your fucking head for having an interest in that shite.

It is, but do they have a clue or is it just more conjecture to keep the story interesting? I don't know as I've tended to avoid the thing apart from on actual news bulletins for a few days now. I'm not sure, possibly the latter. They were trying to link it to the fact that the police were said to be scaling down their search which they took to mean that they were focussing on one line of inquiry which was this paedo one. They didn't have much more concrete to say to back that up though, so it could just be sensationalist bollocks. Let's hope so - I would rather they found the poor kid's body than her being used for christ knows what by paedos.

On about the possibility of her having been snatched "to order" for a paedo ring on telly this morning. Horrendous thought.

If I'm Michael Owen and assuming I'm already trying to engineer a move away, when I pick up my paper this morning and see this I'm picking up my phone and telling my agent to fucking redouble his efforts to get me away. Arrgghh man, I just can't get my head around how this stupid fat prick thinks that this is acceptable behaviour or anything like the kind of management expected from a PLC chairman. It's incredible.

It's so stupid, it's untrue. He's basically taunting our most valuable asset in the press: "Do you really think any of the big 4 want you?!". Talk about a chairman alienating our best player. At a time when we need to appoint a new manager, the Chairman initiates a public feud with his best player and announces that said player could be trying to engineer a move away. Brilliant Freddy. That'll get the big managers hammering on your door.

Wtf?! Exactly what it says on the tin. She came into work the other day to find the straps on the back of her theatre shoes had been cut through, making them unwearable and that her 'outdoor uniform' (we have tunics and trousers for meetings outside theatre) had strips cut all the way up them from the bottom. As she went to leave the other day she found her outdoor shoes full of Aquagel and her own clothes cut. It's horrible because she's the nicest, most placid lass you could ever meet and no-one could possibly have anything against her which is making it all the more upsetting. I rang her at home last night to see if she was okay and she just doesn't want to come back in case something else happens. Spiteful, childish and completely unnecessary behaviour. Like I said, god help whoever it is when we find out because most of the department will be ready for them How childish though!? Might be one of those where you never find out who's doing it, as they're not about to do it when someone is around. Get the bosses to put something up on the notice board about measures having been taken to ensure that the culprit will be caught if they do it again. Keep it deliberately vague like that and chances are it won't happen again as they'll be bricking it.

No denial of the clause, and it does sound like Shepherd thinks that something is being engineered by Owen's people. I can't help but feel that he'd be better off conducting discussions like this in private though ffs. What next, Owen responds through the press?! Sit down in a room and thrash this out man, don't air it in public.

Cheerleaders, fireworks, music when they score, and an excitable mascot tell me all I need to know about who is the bigger club tbh. They've got smalltime written all over them.

Wtf?!

So obviously Vic, it's not even funny. Did someone say SSH was a cockney? Never had Vic down as a cockney like.

"Hello?" "Alan?" "This is The Chronicle's Alan Oliver speaking, yes." "It's me Glenn, I just wanted to let you know what the defeat in Alkmaar was the turning point of the season." "Right. I'm having me tea Glenn." "Sorry. Talk to you later."

Is your name really Tobias? Canny gay!

Why is Stuart Pearce still at Man City? Arguably a very similar situation to Roeder, why does he keep his job? You said: Do you think proffesional footballers need that much motviation and organistation? I said: What do you think a manager's job is if it isn't to motivate players and organise them in terms of what to do in matches etc.? I hope that helps. He's got an English degree this one, you know!? I was quoting him numbnuts! Apology accepted.

He's completely stopped responding to suggestions that he's Vic now too. Blatantly is.

Why is Stuart Pearce still at Man City? Arguably a very similar situation to Roeder, why does he keep his job? You said: Do you think proffesional footballers need that much motviation and organistation? I said: What do you think a manager's job is if it isn't to motivate players and organise them in terms of what to do in matches etc.? I hope that helps. He's got an English degree this one, you know!?

Gemmill When we appointed Roeder I posted in various places that it felt like an opportunity missed to really get someone decent in. At least I had the sense to realise a long time ago that he needed to go - until a week or so ago you wanted him here next season. Wasnt HF's original point that appointing Allardyce will be repeating the same mistake?? Missed opp to get someone decent? A meringue? Maybe, but then he made the mistake of saying that Allardyce was no better a manager than Roeder, which is quite clearly bollocks. Talksport news headline just said Sam IS the man! Fuck knows, could be gossip again. Anybody who is anybody will soon walk through that door! At...Fat Sam's grandslam SJP.

Gemmill When we appointed Roeder I posted in various places that it felt like an opportunity missed to really get someone decent in. At least I had the sense to realise a long time ago that he needed to go - until a week or so ago you wanted him here next season. Wasnt HF's original point that appointing Allardyce will be repeating the same mistake?? Missed opp to get someone decent? A meringue? Maybe, but then he made the mistake of saying that Allardyce was no better a manager than Roeder, which is quite clearly bollocks.

I'd agree with that. I'll freely admit I've ideas above my station and I'm a snob etc. etc. but I'm not fat. Methinks the lardarse does protest too much. Far too much in fact. Certainly eats too much.

Gemmill When we appointed Roeder I posted in various places that it felt like an opportunity missed to really get someone decent in. At least I had the sense to realise a long time ago that he needed to go - until a week or so ago you wanted him here next season.

Happy with all three, but I suspect only 2 (Allardyce, Sven), possibly even only 1 (Sven) will be interested.

Ask Ally. He's a student there.

I think the Houllier link is total bollocks. There are no quotes in Oliver's story, so presumably this is all attributable to some random bloke that he claims has rang him from France. SSN are saying they got their story from The Chron, so I reckon there's nowt in it.

The latest from Alan Oliver is that he PERSONALLY has taken calls from Greece, Norway, Spain and France from agents representing managers that want the job.

Aye, I'd forgotten about that, but someone was saying on Saturday that Robson basically appeared on SSN saying "I WANT THE JOB" and we then appointed him.

It's all a question of competence tbh. It's taken Niall Quinn 5 minutes in his first ever job in charge of a football club to identify someone who he thought could do a job, pursue them, and appoint them. It's taken Shepherd 10 years to drag us down from potential champions to also-rans by paying nothing like the attention to detail that's required in his managerial appointments. It's another "what if", but it's terrifying if you think about where we would be if Bobby Robson hadn't fallen into our laps and spent 5 years here - imagine how many sub-standard managers we could have worked our way through in that time. And Robson was a no-brainer appointment that just came along at the right time, which I give Shepherd no credit for. But for that appointment Christ knows where we would be.