Mark Hughes or holloway.

[Tarbie]

Weren't the first two on the list players that Warnock wanted? Didn't TF tell him to get the players he thought could do the business? Park was a TF signing, sure. Didn't most of us want Samba at the time? How did anyone know he'd turn out to be a dud? Besides, like with Remy, we got our money back. And Remy, I thought he was a good player. Him and Austin were definitely premier league standard. Could have been a great partnership.

This is the other thing that annoys me a bit. Fans try and justify all of this by saying "didn't you want this player?", or "did you not want that managerial appointment?". In my mind, this is totally missing the point.

Yes, I was as excited as the next fan when we started splashing the cash on players from Inter, Chelsea, Real Madrid etc. But then again, I wasn't privy to the fact we were paying them salaries that we couldn't afford with no relegation clauses. Yes, I was excited when we were bringing 4 or 5 players in on deadline day, but I didn't realise at the time all of these players were being signed on long contracts, again with no relegation clauses and without having a proper medical. Yes, I was excited when we appointed Mark Hughes as manager, but I didn't expect him to be given a war chest and free reign to allow dodgy agents to saddle the club with debts for the next 5 seasons.

Above all else, I trusted that a club being run by a man who used to be Richard Branson's CFO would be managing their accounts properly. I assumed that all the expenditure was thought out and covered by sponsorship and TV money. I assumed that financial fail safes would be in place should we be relegated back to the Championship. How very wrong I was!

[Acton Stations]

I thought Joorabchian was a malt whiskey until Mark Hughes came.

Don't want either of them.

[hal9thou]

Weren't the first two on the list players that Warnock wanted? Didn't TF tell him to get the players he thought could do the business? Park was a TF signing, sure. Didn't most of us want Samba at the time? How did anyone know he'd turn out to be a dud? Besides, like with Remy, we got our money back. And Remy, I thought he was a good player. Him and Austin were definitely premier league standard. Could have been a great partnership.

Point is Rich that the people flying the plane are supposed to have more suss about reaching the destination than the stag party back in economy.........

[FurtiveFox]

If he brings in players with a football brian, I still feel we will move forward, Furtive Fox.

We'll have to agree to disagree although I hope you are right.

Ollie has shown nothing either here or at Millwall to suggest he can competently manage a football club at this level regardless of the state of the players' football brains. Just isn't good enough.

[Shepherds Mush]

Ollie has shown nothing either here or at Millwall to suggest he can competently manage a football club at this level.

But he did at Blackpool and Palace or was that just 2 seasons of absolute fluke ?

[Timmy the Doc]

Fact is, the clubs that have gone up and done well haven't splashed out big in their first season. They have taken the extra revenue, used it to improve infrastructure and bolster the squad only with players they could still afford if they happened to go back down.

We did the opposite. Spent huge on players, no relegation clauses and virtually no investment in anything but playing staff.

Utter idiocy looking back at it now. I think Tony just got caught up in the buzz of being centre of attention!

Actually we didn't spend in our first season. Silly spending started following season. Agree about the infrastructure thought.

[FurtiveFox]

But he did at Blackpool and Palace or was that just 2 seasons of absolute fluke ?

No but football has moved on and he has, if anything, moved backwards. His second coming quite possibly the worst managerial appointment in my circa 35 years of being a supporter and predictably so. His previous spell, before struggling to get a job at this level, was a disaster at Millwall. Should have stayed a pundit.