David Kelly

Aye if there had ever been any real plan for us on the football side this shoudl have been the first thing that he did. The fact that he hasn't confirms one of two things. He's either as fucking clueless about football as some think or he dosn't give one fuck about it. Either way it's us who suffer.

I always thought that at best he was a Terry Mac type but I think he's never had the same sort of respect that Terry had. I think the most telling thing is that in the last few years we've never looked remotely coached. I have no faith in a single memeber of our coaching staff at this stage. Actually I pretty much have no faith in anyone with any responsibility for football matters at the club from Charnley, down to Carr, the coaches, the players and the medical staff. We need them all out.

I thought the red card thing had a very limited success in the ground although if it has gained some media attention it's succeeded in it's intentions. I think the empty seats have more to do with apathy than a support of a boycott (especially as it wasn't really talked about until last Wednesday). As it happens though, apathy might just be starting to work against Ashley for the first time. Attendances are clearly falling and while for now that might be with people who have already paid for tickets, that won't be the case next season. They're already offering cheap tickets now and people know this. Anyone who's on the fence can take advantage of that and there are plenty other who are well over the fence now and won't be going again in the near future. For my part I'm already on the renewal but there is an ever growing chance that come the next cut off point I'll be finished. I think next season attendences will be significantly down unless something changes.

The man said he was happy with the squad he got (which already didn't have SDJ, Saylor, Aarons), was happy to let M'Biwa and Santon go and was happy to work under Ashley's conditions. If he's now not he should stand up and say that rather than whinge that we have players injured and suspended. I agree that in this environment he can't just quit but if he's not prepared to be honest either he deserves all the stick he gets.

I agree with Sissoko for Raylor (although might he be required to play rightback? I've not heard anything about Janmaat's injury) but I'd start SDJ in place of Riviere and see how much we can get out of him. Riviere wasn't too bad and at least made their defenders win balls in the air but SDJ did more in his short time on the pitch than Riviere has managed all season. We need to make the most of him as soon as possible.

I can't believe you had any respect for him in the first place. It's been obvious since went for Bellamy at the airport that man should have no place at premier league football team regardless of whether they are the one he supports. You always worry about managers who have had no professional playing record to speak of trying to guide a bunch of overpaid internationals but obviously people like Mournhio have proved it can work. The difference is those people have shown some intelligence in their previous roles to suggest they have ideas and can get them accross to their players so that they earn their respect. Carver wouldn't know and idea if it came along and licked his hoop and can hardly be understood by locals let alone young lads from the continent. How anyone can have any respect for him is beyond me and I really don't think there is many out there that do.

I thought Hidara was out for the season. And it's frightening to be expecting Dummett to improve anything! I can't imagine Aarons playing any part in more than two of the last four games, he's been out most of the season and hasn't played in a reserve game yet.

I was still confident we'd be safe before this game (I was actually quite confident we'd win on Saturday, fuck knows why) but now I'm just praying the games run out before one of Hull or the tramps catch us (I think it's inevitable that Leicester will finish above us now). Apart from other teams not having time to catch us, we're relying massively on SDJ, Sissoko and Cisse to add something back into the team for the last few games because that team out there on Saturday was devoid of pretty much everything. Only Jonas (the one player with more right than any of them to have given up) showed any sort of fight and he's a player we'd given up on as no longer good enough 2 years ago! Fucking shambles from top to bottom and Carver deserves everything he gets for siding with Ashley. I hope to see him working in Greggs in Wallsend forum by the start of next season.

Aye I think the likes of Colo and Sissoko have just switched off and I can't really blame them anymore. We've got a thin unbalanced squad but there is still some quality there if they can be motivated and coached properly.

I don't know if noncery is a realy word but thanks for bringing to my attention

People think he's thinned skinned because when people have done things he doesn't like he reacts. He stopped people taking sackpardew banners into the ground, he got rid of the singing section because they were singing nasty things about him and even on Sunday children were stopped taking in banners saying loathe Ashley. He clearly doesn't like it. Whether or not it'll make him go or do anything else is another matter.

Grooming must surely dispel any talk of him not knowing how old she was.

Ashley selling up is probably more likely than the last of those promises!

It's the same with Charnley. It just shows you how little Ashley cares about the business. He knows he's never going to make much money from us, we're all about being an advert for Sports Direct and to do that all we have to be is a premier league club.

The man should be working in Greggs not coaching one of the top twenty football business in Europe but does Ashley know this?

Carver was doing shit when he first got the job yet Ashley still thought it was fine to give him it until the end of the season despite everyone with eyes (plus the blind bloke who goes to the match with a radio) seeing that it would be a disaster. And let's not forget JFK. I think you're giving him far too much credibility. For the record I'm not jumping on anything Jonas has tweeted or Howey has said in an interview. My fears are based on what I have seen from Ashley in the past and for every little January spending spree when we were right in the shit that you can mention I can come back with an appointment of Kinnear or Carver and for every purchase of an actual first teamer at the going rate (ie Cisse) I can point to us bypassing our scouts recommendations and going for the cheap option and hoping for the best (Riviere). Even if I subscribe to your prediction of Carver being replaced and 4 first teamers being brought in (I don't find this at all far fetched), I have no confidence the players brought in will actually be of suffcient quality to even guarantee our survival let along actually try and compete for anything worthwhile. It's at least as likely that any players brought in will be forth or fifth on Carr's list and will be hopefulls that we can get cheap on an escape clause and we might be able to make a few quid on down the line rather than the correct players for the positions we need. And I think it's more than likely that any squad players that come in will be in the Perez vein of young, lower division French, Spanish, German or Dutch players rather than proven players (such as Colback really because that's the standard of squad player that we should be looking to employ).

Total agreement on Ashley's motives and that he's not a stupid businessman. But he is a gambler and not someone who knows/cares much about football. Do I think he will intionally leave someone who he thinks is almost certain to fuck us up in charge of a woefully weak squad for spite? No, I think he's spitefull but no so much to cost himself what it would. But I do think he's uninformed enough and a big enough risk taker to think Carver will just about do and he doesn't need much more to do it. Do I think that will definitely happen? Certainly not but I think it's jusy about as likely as your scenario at this stage.

We've had seasons without Shearer, Dyer was fucked most of his time here, we had to draft Tommy Wright in to play against the tramps, we had to get Pav back in as cover, Taylors never managed an injury free season in his career, Owen and Viduka were rarely available, Barton had loads of time out (admittedly not all through injury). That's all off the top of my head. Having the two senior keepers missing for as many games is certainly rare but I really don't think it's been a massive part of our problems (probably only really cost us against Spurs). To me it's obvious that we have injury crisis because we're not properly staffed. Certainly in the squad and quite possibly in the medical staff. That's why I'm confident we'll be here next season discussing what bad luck we've had with players being out.

I find extremely possible that we'll have Carver, an injury crisis and be shit throughout next season too. And when we are I doubt we'll have a run like we did pre the Spurs cup game to keep us above the relegation places. We're pretty lucky this season looks like (point wise) a pretty easy year to stay up. In quite a few previous seasons we'd be very much in the shit by now.

Again your confidence surprises me Fishy. We've probably had one season in the last twenty in which we didn't have an injury crisis (when we finished 5th). I have no confidence that our medical staff are any more competent than the rest of the club so I have absolute confidence that we will have shit loads more injuries next season.

For me we need two starting centrebacks,a rightback, a central midfielder, two wingers and two strikers plus some other filler just to be safe.

Lots of rumors Carver has been given the job already so not just the Chronicle shite. I'm not saying I'm convinced he will still be in charge, this could all be misinformation so that when someone bang average is appointed we're all so releived it's anyone better than Carver that we don't kick up a fuss. But I can't honestly say that I'm confident that an actual manager (even under the title of head coach) will be appointed. I know you're not claiming that we'll be signing a load of players who will catapult us up the league into a champions leaue spot (everyone knows that won't happen), but again I'm not convinced he will do what is required to meet the modest expectations you have. He might bring a few reasonable players in and replace a few that leaves but it seems just as likely to me that he'll gamble on doing it at such a low cost level that we end up in just a poor a position as we are now.

You only think we need 3 or 4 players to be added to the current squad if no one goes?

Survival is also clearly unattainable with Carver running the team but I'd say that it's looking far from likely that he'll be replaced with someone competent. I don't see how anyone can be confident that Ashley will do anything positive for the team no matter how limited the ambition might be.

Whatever comes next needs to be something different imo. You aren't going to keep getting people who have paid for their tickets not going (well you will get some, there's a few of my mates who are talking about not going on Saturday but that's apathy not because they want to boycott again). It's also far too short notice to call a boycott for Saturday now so it would be a failure and end up giving the wrong message.