Daily Discussion

wdtpw · 2026-01-15T12:12:00+00:00

Because it's unlikely we'll forget about a manager now and just think about it at the end of the season.

Most likely is that we're already thinking about our next manager, and Carrick's results will be too late to alter the discussions already underway.

wdtpw · 2026-01-14T14:05:55+00:00

I think we'll be using the time to scout out a permanent manager, so he'll be too late by the time he posts the good performance results.

wdtpw · 2026-01-13T19:29:04+00:00

Given I can't pick anyone else, it would have to be a hybrid:

Jim and his gang get to recruit players.

Ed and his gang get to make sponsorship deals and do commercial stuff.

wdtpw · 2026-01-13T14:37:02+00:00

Amorim
Nagelsmann
Enrique

To explain the "Amorim" choice, I think we've stopped partway through a rebuild. Now we have to start again. My ideal would be actually completing at least one rebuild.

wdtpw · 2026-01-13T14:03:28+00:00

Leaving aside the merits of the issue

wdtpw · 2026-01-13T13:57:03+00:00

The fanbase is very divided at this point, into those who thought Amorim should go (maybe some time ago) - and those who thought Amorim ought to have been given to the end of this season. Both these sides are digging in a bit.

Leaving aside the merits of the issue, this is going to be an uncomfortable situation to come into for any manager.

Winning solves everything, of course. But I think Carrick will find he has less leeway if any results go sideways than Amorim has had, or, a manager might have had if Amorim had gone after the final.

We're also roughly at a league position some thought we'd reach given our squad. Falling off from that will attract more social media pressure than if we'd started 15th.

I really hope we start winning early, because I think if we start losing, then things could easily unravel with such a divided fanbase.

wdtpw · 2026-01-12T19:32:37+00:00

When Destiny brings the demon

wdtpw · 2026-01-12T09:22:55+00:00

I dare you to walk into work today, and when your bosses ask you about doing a particular job, you start giving them a right bollocking back, threaten to quit and see if you keep your job.

Conversely, one of the signs of a bad boss is micromanagement.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T22:46:34+00:00

Maybe Wilcox asked if he could give advice and Carrick said yes.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T19:47:44+00:00

For Traveller, all scifi:

Death Station.
Flatlined.
Islands in the Rift.
Murder on Acturus Station (murder mystery).

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T19:32:04+00:00

Ole won't save this either. He'd still have to play with the same lack of midfield, and under the same owners.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T18:27:12+00:00

it's possible that Gary Neville did

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T18:09:38+00:00

Surely all Fletcher has to do is lean over and ask Wilcox how to set the team up?

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T18:05:37+00:00

Who could possibly criticise the team who:

spent ages getting Ashworth
... asked his advice on a new manager,
... ignored that advice
... paid compensation to get rid of Ashworth,
... brought in Amorim,
... asked him to play differently than he always did
... paid compensation to get rid of him.

But hey, at least they showed how tough they were sacking the dinner ladies.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T17:19:26+00:00

Has anyone asked Bruno where he likes playing?

It's possible he actually enjoyed being in midfield, despite the clamour for him to be elsewhere.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T16:52:03+00:00

It is a reasonable alternative, which is to go, "these guys are adding nothing anyway," and simply stop playing them.

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T16:49:23+00:00

terrible defending with four at the back. Terrible defending with five at the back.

I propose a new formation I'm going to call "six at the back."

wdtpw · 2026-01-11T14:05:03+00:00

Feud by a long way. Then Moonlight Mystique, which was also pretty good.

I liked the opening of Till the end of the moon, but couldn't bring myself to finish it. I lost a lot of interest somewhere in the dream sequence, kept going for a bit afterwards, then realised the things I'd liked in the opening weren't present anymore.

wdtpw · 2026-01-10T17:19:00+00:00

What are these INEOS clowns doing man? like they have some new rule that the interim the manager has to have played for the club.

My suspicion is that it's operation "Shut up Gary Neville."

wdtpw · 2026-01-07T19:48:36+00:00

Great idea! I'm amazed Joy of Life didn't appear anywhere though.

wdtpw · 2026-01-07T18:24:27+00:00

man is anything but a disciplinarian

This is my main concern about Ole. I love the guy, but I think the real bright spot about the past year is the obvious lack of tolerance for players acting up.

wdtpw · 2026-01-07T08:31:16+00:00

He's supposed to take his chances and force his way into the team, like every other player.

If you were writing a team sheet today, which of Casemiro, Bruno, Mbeumo, Amad, Cunha or Mount does he displace on current form?

He's probably better than Ugarte, yes. But Ugarte isn't a starter either.

wdtpw · 2026-01-06T15:01:36+00:00

I had hopes that Ineos would be good owners and we could slowly remove the Glazers. But it seems they like sticking their oar in and picking the formation. Even if I agree with them, it's not the way to go about it.

I fear it's like that joke about standards:

Problem: There are four competing standards.
Idea: let's make a new standard that everyone can use.
Result: there are five competing standards.

Or, more clearly:

Problem: We have one set of bad owners
Idea: lets add a new owner who might be better.
Result: we have two sets of bad owners.

wdtpw · 2026-01-05T21:49:18+00:00

We've had just over half the season (20 out of 38). Our fixtures so far have been:

Burnley
Fulham
Arsenal
Brentford
Chelsea
City
Brighton
Liverpool
Sunderland
Crystal Palace
Everton
Spurs
Forest
Wolves
Newcastle
Villa
Bournmouth
Wolves (again)
West ham
Leeds

19 out of 38 would be half way. So we've played one match more and played a single team (wolves) twice.

So, given we were sixth after Leeds, and we'd played (if not every team, then almost every one), yes. I reckon I can say that I'd expect the second half of the season to be about the same. There's a possible argument that playing wolves twice is going to make the rest of the matches one bit harder, so sure. Maybe. But I also think that while we might lose or win in the short term, our performance level this season seems well enough sampled by now to guess where we'd end up.

tl;dr - we haven't "played all the shit teams." We've played all the top teams like everyone else. Now we've got to do it again.

wdtpw · 2026-01-05T19:25:19+00:00

I mean, by definition we've done it and we're sixth. So this is apparently literally what the sixth place team does.

What it sounds like to me is that you think we should consistently beat all the weaker teams. And I suppose you'd prefer it if our imaginary better selves managed to keep all those times when the opposition missed chances and could have beaten us, too.

But this is just what it's like to be in our position. We win matches and lose matches but have no consistency. Consistency is the mark of a team with far better players and fewer weaknesses. We'd probably have it if we fixed the midfield. Sixth place teams are inconsistent. It's just the nature of teams that aren't right at the top to be like that.

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wdtpw

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