19 hours ago, CFCCAN said:

I reckon 3 points out of the remaining games…

So long as that’s against Spurs I genuinely couldn’t care less.

2 hours ago, bluelightening said:

Hot take: the government should issue stay at home travel orders through the courts and stop geordies migrating south or, we should set up quarantine zones around most northern cities. Id even go so far as to firebomb Manchester and carpet bomb leeds and Liverpool. Will they be missed.

I actually don't like to see the stick LR is getting.

Everything from the manager we have, and the SDs we have, scouting, our hopeless transfer strategy, the EUFA fines and the restrictions that have been imposed on us are down to the ownership.

Focusing on our PL inexperienced young manager that THEY appointed is just a distraction from the structural problems at our club

6 hours ago, TheCeleryKing said:

Our Brazilian players should keep the notes that Liam gives them and when they are on international duty with Carlo they can ask him what they mean.

We need a grown up in charge of the coaching. Our yank owners/sporting directors love spending money - but until they spend some money on bringing in a top level coach they are merely p1ssing in the wind.

that too 😄

On a serious note, that needs to stop. Seeing players handling notes on the pitch is just embarrassing — it makes everything look improvised.
Even Benítez used to argue that if you need to keep intervening mid-game, you haven’t prepared properly.

4 hours ago, acaeus said:

Even Benítez used to argue that if you need to keep intervening mid-game, you haven’t prepared properly.

Only because pacing the technical area made him out of breath.

19 hours ago, dermott said:

Bear in mind that Maresca wasn't sacked over performance. He played politics -v- the owners and lost. He wanted out anyway.

This.

Unttil a couple weeks before he left, Maresca was an absolute yes man.

Then it just exploded and he started to criticize our transfer policy then it was over.

3 hours ago, Bob stark said:

This.

Unttil a couple weeks before he left, Maresca was an absolute yes man.

Then it just exploded and he started to criticize our transfer policy then it was over.

He wanted a revised contract. Dropped hints that City and Juve wanted him as a bargaining chip. It backfired.

4 minutes ago, dermott said:

He wanted a revised contract. Dropped hints that City and Juve wanted him as a bargaining chip. It backfired.

It was bizzare though, everything happen so quickly, I don't think I have ever seen this happen. But under blue co, I have seen many bizarre stuff

Edited March 27Mar 27 by Bob stark

41 minutes ago, Bob stark said:

It was bizarre though, everything happen so quickly, I don't think I have ever seen this happen. But under blue co, I have seen many bizarre stuff

I imagine it had been brewing ever since the summer window, when Maresca asked for experience and a replacement for the injured Colwill, and got nothing. He probably knew his results were on borrowed time with the playing resources he had, and when it all started falling apart in December, he realised it would be him that would bear the brunt of it, and hence became quite belligerent about the January transfer window. I think all the stuff about City contact and new contracts was a red herring from the BlueCo PR machine.

Edited March 27Mar 27 by Sexyfootball

18 hours ago, bluelightening said:

Hot take: the government should issue stay at home travel orders through the courts and stop geordies migrating south or, we should set up quarantine zones around most northern cities. Id even go so far as to firebomb Manchester and carpet bomb leeds and Liverpool. Will they be missed.

No one migrates south, why would anyone want to live in a third world hell hole?

It would be akin to leaving The Shire to go and live in Mordor.

14 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

No one migrates south, why would anyone want to live in a third world hell hole?

It would be akin to leaving The Shire to go and live in Mordor.

Does wattle and daub allow for underfloor heating and radiators or do they get washed away in the winter rains past the kid hiking hovis up a cobbled street?

2 hours ago, Bob stark said:

It was bizzare though, everything happen so quickly, I don't think I have ever seen this happen. But under blue co, I have seen many bizarre stuff

As @Sexyfootball says, it had been brewing for a while. The CWC win was a big catalyst.

1 hour ago, Sexyfootball said:

I imagine it had been brewing ever since the summer window, when Maresca asked for experience and a replacement for the injured Colwill, and got nothing. He probably knew his results were on borrowed time with the playing resources he had, and when it all started falling apart in December, he realised it would be him that would bear the brunt of it, and hence became quite belligerent about the January transfer window. I think all the stuff about City contact and new contracts was a red herring from the BlueCo PR machine.

Nuh. Maresca upped the ante. He figured he deserved more after the CWC win.

8 minutes ago, bluelightening said:

Does wattle and daub allow for underfloor heating and radiators or do they get washed away in the winter rains past the kid hiking hovis up a cobbled street?

Traditional British values.

Enjoy climbing your 37 floor staircase to your 1 bed 22m2 flat that you're paying £2k a month rent for.

2 minutes ago, GarnachoCheese said:

Traditional British values.

Enjoy climbing your 37 floor staircase to your 1 bed 22m2 flat that you're paying £2k a month rent for.

Ah! Nowt like a bit of inter-class warfare.

6 hours ago, dermott said:

Nuh. Maresca upped the ante. He figured he deserved more after the CWC win.

It's always someone else's fault when BlueCo are involved.

Worth a listen. Lots of topics covered inc current form, predictions, ownership and transfers.

Can't listen to Matt Law any more. Man is full of sh*t and company briefings. This moron, along with Kinsella, is part of the problem

19 hours ago, Sexyfootball said:

I imagine it had been brewing ever since the summer window, when Maresca asked for experience and a replacement for the injured Colwill, and got nothing. He probably knew his results were on borrowed time with the playing resources he had, and when it all started falling apart in December, he realised it would be him that would bear the brunt of it, and hence became quite belligerent about the January transfer window. I think all the stuff about City contact and new contracts was a red herring from the BlueCo PR machine.

17 hours ago, dermott said:

Nuh. Maresca upped the ante. He figured he deserved more after the CWC win.

Not sure I blame him. Cwc bring lot a 🤑🤑 to the club.

I am personally not big fan or Maresca so I don't care that much but it was strange. Yes we didn't play that well, but surely you will give him till at the end of the season.

And I agree with you two, it was probably either disagreement on contract or some player policy stuff or maybe both that led to his firing

4 hours ago, Bob stark said:

Not sure I blame him. Cwc bring lot a 🤑🤑 to the club.

I am personally not big fan or Maresca so I don't care that much but it was strange. Yes we didn't play that well, but surely you will give him till at the end of the season.

And I agree with you two, it was probably either disagreement on contract or some player policy stuff or maybe both that led to his firing

In short, having been compliant, he then tried to buck the system. The contract thing and player policy went hand in hand. End of.

13 hours ago, WhiteWall said:

Can't listen to Matt Law any more. Man is full of sh*t and company briefings. This moron, along with Kinsella, is part of the problem

Ironically, Simon Phillips, who I always thought chatted the most sh*t is the one I am ending up listening to because it’s evident he’s the only one not taking BlueCo’s brown envelopes.

Edited March 28Mar 28 by Sconnie Blue

42 minutes ago, Sconnie Blue said:

Ironically, Simon Phillips, who I always thought chatted the most sh*t is the one I am ending up listening to because it’s evident he’s the only one not taking BlueCo’s brown envelopes.

Given everyone is speaking out against the owners now my bet is the brown envelopes have dried up, we need some money to pay for Venezuela's finest under 15s player.

On 27/03/2026 at 03:49, dermott said:

He wanted a revised contract. Dropped hints that City and Juve wanted him as a bargaining chip. It backfired.

If I were to put on a tinfoil hat I'd say that the wretched 1 win in 9 run was Maresca's way of trying to get the sack so he can walk with full compensation. Then when he realized it wasn't happening he walked out.

It did feel at the time that we weren't going to win another league game with him in charge.

Tin, plastic, paper, whatever, you underestimate his ego.

6 hours ago, timetowaste said:

Given everyone is speaking out against the owners now my bet is the brown envelopes have dried up, we need some money to pay for Venezuela's finest under 15s player.

I actually subbed to his substack account ( I thought it was) a week ago after reading a very good ( and long) article. Now I'm'm getting bombarded with multiple Email messages alerting me to his latest posts.. I'll have to set aside a couple of days to read them all !