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Anyone else getting tired of his name dropping Christian Purslow into almost every single interview. This constant downplaying of expectations "they're up at jupiter now" would be called getting your excuses in early in another era.

 

Exactly so - he also seems to be making sure that he mentions that things are happening at the club due to "last year" quite a lot of the time.

 

Not sure I'm too comfortable with what he's doing there.

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Exactly so - he also seems to be making sure that he mentions that things are happening at the club due to "last year" quite a lot of the time.

 

Not sure I'm too comfortable with what he's doing there.

 

Not sure if he's getting his excuses in early or just trying to underline that he's not really in control and the roots of the club's problems lie elsewhere. At the moment I'm reading it as the second option and I'm quite happy with it. Sooner or later the penny will drop.

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Not sure if he's getting his excuses in early or just trying to underline that he's not really in control and the roots of the club's problems lie elsewhere. At the moment I'm reading it as the second option and I'm quite happy with it. Sooner or later the penny will drop.

 

So far we've had:

 

1. The kids ain't good enough to win games here in Switzerland.

2. The sports scientists are stealing my players.

3. Purslow is doing the transfers.

4. You media guys are creating too much expectation. Stop it.

5. The board need to tell me the footballing priorities vis a vis the Europa league.

6. blah blah "last year".

 

Clever plan or self-preservation 101?

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So far we've had:

 

1. The kids ain't good enough to win games here in Switzerland.

2. The sports scientists are stealing my players.

3. Purslow is doing the transfers.

4. You media guys are creating too much expectation. Stop it.

5. The board need to tell me the footballing priorities vis a vis the Europa league.

6. blah blah "last year".

 

Clever plan or self-preservation 101?

 

With some people he'll get leeway for years just cos he isn't 'He's gone, get over it'.

 

No one has picked up on his young player comment, which i found surprising considering how much abuse 'He's gone, get over it' got for saying something about young players which wasn't anywhere near as bad ie he didn't want to play them while the team was playing crap.

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I think any manager who has to work with our abortion of a board structure deserves all the leeway going.

 

I'm a bit concerned about about the youngsters' angle though. Roy doesn't sem to have much of a track record for bringing young players through and buying old warhorses like Young doesn't bode well on that front.

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Guest TK-421
I think any manager who has to work with our abortion of a board structure deserves all the leeway going.

 

But he knew what the club was like when he accepted the position.

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But he knew what the club was like when he accepted the position.

 

But someone had to take the job so I'm not holding that against him. I assume he believed he could do a decent job even with the financial and other limitations he was stepping into.

 

They probably spun him a few porkies as well so I'm expecting things to unravel pretty quickly at the political level if we don't perform well and the pressure mounts. Particularly if (when) there is no progess on the sale front.

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But someone had to take the job so I'm not holding that against him. I assume he believed he could do a decent job even with the financial and other limitations he was stepping into.

 

They probably spun him a few porkies as well so I'm expecting things to unravel pretty quickly at the political level if we don't perform well and the pressure mounts. Particularly if (when) there is no progess on the sale front.

 

Hmm, that's true. I wonder if Kenny would be making these sort of comments had he been appointed. It's hard to imagine Kenny saying some of the things Roy has come out with in the last few weeks.

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Hmm, that's true. I wonder if Kenny would be making these sort of comments had he been appointed. It's hard to imagine Kenny saying some of the things Roy has come out with in the last few weeks.

 

I don't think he'd have had to as there would have been a completely different dynamic between him and "the Board". Which is why he was "never a candidate".

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I don't think he'd have had to as there would have been a completely different dynamic between him and "the Board". Which is why he was "never a candidate".

 

But there wouldn't be a different dynamic. He would have accepted the job on the same terms as Hodgson imo. He may have had the vast majority of fans behind him, but that would actually not add up to much in terms of influence on the board. It would not deviate them from whatever masterplan they may be hatching, and it would not reduce Purslow's or Broughton's scope or influence one bit (either good, bad or indifferent depending on whether you want to play pantomime villains or not).

 

Kenny was always one for playing down expectations too, just like Roy.

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But there wouldn't be a different dynamic. He would have accepted the job on the same terms as Hodgson imo. He may have had the vast majority of fans behind him, but that would actually not add up to much in terms of influence on the board. It would not deviate them from whatever masterplan they may be hatching, and it would not reduce Purslow's or Broughton's scope or influence one bit (either good, bad or indifferent depending on whether you want to play pantomime villains or not).

 

Kenny was always one for playing down expectations too, just like Roy.

 

Agree with the last bit but (obviously) not the rest. Kenny would have been stuck with the same (zero) budget as Roy but I think the Board would have been far more wary of treading on his toes on footballing matters.

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Kenny's been out of football properly for ten years. He left Anfield due to pressure. The squad was IMO much much better 25 years ago. Why would he have been better? I think Roy's less into self-preservation and more into facing facts head on.

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I can't see any wrong in what Roy has done so far. And I wasn't exactly supporting the appointment of him.

 

So fucking what if he mentions Purslow? Maybe he just does it to convey a sense of unity at the club instead of the constant bickering of the last few years.

 

I'm not in any way suggesting that we should go easy on the Yanks, but maybe we're better off on the field if the manager sticks to football and let's the suits play politics?

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Maybe he's mentioning Purslow, because Purslow is doing what Hodgson is asking of him. It's clear he's played a role in securing new players and current players future.

 

Hodgson has made it quite clear he has no interest in shit above him, so thats where Purslow has stepped in. It's clear he's been involved in the discussions which the likes of Torres and Gerrard want to hear about the future of the club.

 

Personally I don't know what Purslow has done wrong the past month or so, or Hodgson, or anyone else for that matter. It's refreshing to have a sense of unity.

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I can't see any wrong in what Roy has done so far. And I wasn't exactly supporting the appointment of him.

 

So fucking what if he mentions Purslow? Maybe he just does it to convey a sense of unity at the club instead of the constant bickering of the last few years.

 

I'm not in any way suggesting that we should go easy on the Yanks, but maybe we're better off on the field if the manager sticks to football and let's the suits play politics?

 

Sense of unity implies agreeing with the owners. And your last sentence is copied from the owners.

 

Same dilemma for the manager (any manager) as long as the owners stay, you're damned if you do, you're damned if you don't. I liked a manager who put up a fight, but it ended up backfiring. We'll see soon how another kind of approach works.

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Sense of unity implies agreeing with the owners.

 

Eh, no it doesn't. If you're in war in the battlefield and think your president/prime minister sucks then you still fight the best you can and stick together with the people that can make a difference for you.

 

No matter how much fight any manager puts up, the leeches are there until they are forced out or a proper bid arrives. So basically unless we get Bill Gates as manager, the manager might as well shut up and knuckle down and try to make the best of a shit situation.

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I want Roy to get involved in politics when the club are undermining him.

 

Not giving him enough money from sales, agreeing deals to sell players without him agreeing etc.

 

Good for you. Because we saw what happened when the last idiot tried it. I'd like to think our new manager is wise enough to know what he has taken on, to understand the situation the club is in right now, and to realise that the best thing he can do is focus on the job of motivating, organising and preparing the team to go and win matches.

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Eh, no it doesn't. If you're in war in the battlefield and think your president/prime minister sucks then you still fight the best you can and stick together with the people that can make a difference for you.

 

No matter how much fight any manager puts up, the leeches are there until they are forced out or a proper bid arrives. So basically unless we get Bill Gates as manager, the manager might as well shut up and knuckle down and try to make the best of a shit situation.

 

I'd prefer the manager to rock the boat as much as possible. Whether we finish fourth or tenth really isn't that important compared to putting as much pressure as possible on the yanks and their baggage to fuck off and let us rebuild.

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Good for you. Because we saw what happened when the last idiot tried it. I'd like to think our new manager is wise enough to know what he has taken on, to understand the situation the club is in right now, and to realise that the best thing he can do is focus on the job of motivating, organising and preparing the team to go and win matches.

 

Playing politics is fine when the team is more important than getting one up on each other.

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Good for you. Because we saw what happened when the last idiot tried it. I'd like to think our new manager is wise enough to know what he has taken on, to understand the situation the club is in right now, and to realise that the best thing he can do is focus on the job of motivating, organising and preparing the team to go and win matches.

 

 

If I genuinely thought the yanks are definitely on their way out sometime soon (which I know you do) I'd agree with this. But I think there is still some way to go before they are prised out fingernail by fingernail.

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I'd prefer the manager to rock the boat as much as possible. Whether we finish fourth or tenth really isn't that important compared to putting as much pressure as possible on the yanks and their baggage to fuck off and let us rebuild.

 

Rocking the boat won't throw out the Yanks. A big bid or the banks will make them sell. Not one of their employees briefing the press.

 

I agree with this:

 

I'd like to think our new manager is wise enough to know what he has taken on, to understand the situation the club is in right now, and to realise that the best thing he can do is focus on the job of motivating, organising and preparing the team to go and win matches.
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Rocking the boat won't throw out the Yanks. A big bid or the banks will make them sell. Not one of their employees briefing the press.

 

I agree with this:

 

Sitting back, relaxing our guard and assuming they're on their way won't get rid of them either.

 

They have no intention of selling until they get a bid which matches their unrealistic valuation of the club. They intend to carry on dancing around RBS like they've been doing for a year or more. Maybe RBS will bite the bullet and bring them down, maybe they won't. It'll be easier for RBS to ignore the problem and keep pocketing the fees if all looks nice and peaceful at the club.

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Sitting back, relaxing our guard and assuming they're on their way won't get rid of them either.

 

They have no intention of selling until they get a bid which matches their unrealistic valuation of the club. They intend to carry on dancing around RBS like they've been doing for a year or more. Maybe RBS will bite the bullet and bring them down, maybe they won't. It'll be easier for RBS to ignore the problem and keep pocketing the fees if all looks nice and peaceful at the club.

 

I don't think the fans should sit back and relax. I'm just not sure there is any point in the manager starting up a new public fight with them.

 

And I think it would be naïve to assume that the Yanks would appoint a new manager who would attack them. Maybe why Kenny didn't get the job, as they knew it was a battle they could never win.

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Good for you. Because we saw what happened when the last idiot tried it. I'd like to think our new manager is wise enough to know what he has taken on, to understand the situation the club is in right now, and to realise that the best thing he can do is focus on the job of motivating, organising and preparing the team to go and win matches.

 

By "idiot" you mean the most respected manager we have had in twenty years?

 

By "politics" you mean a manager who after several years of being jerked around by the incompetents you admire so much, insists that his transfer budget be commited to writing?

 

Despite all the special pleading for Hodgson as an apolitical manager (just because he is not Rafa) I notice he has already said that the owners are unpopular and the club will not settle until they have gone, that he would like new owners to give him a large transfer fund, that Purslow is responsible for selling players including those, like Insua, whom Hodgson would not have wanted to sell. It all sounds quite political to me - using the same definition the likes of you applied to Rafa. But Hodgson makes far more statements to the press than Rafa ever did. Many of them have "political" asides in which he is clearly positioning himself.

 

His statement about Torres reveal his weakness. Last week he said he spoke to him briefly about football matters, that Purslow spent much more time with him about other matters. He said he could do no more to persuade him to stay, that Torres had a problem with what happened before Hodgson came. Then suddenly, he is saying that Torres has not been talking to anyone and has let the club know he is looking forward to playing at LFC.

 

I don't think Hodgson's statements can be trusted first because he is not fully ITK, second because he is not fully in control and thirdly because he is too busy positioning himself every time he opens his mouth.

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