DE.

If we're this shit against Norwich we're in huge trouble. Hull result was blatantly down to the majority of their squad being unwell.

Wonder how long Sheff Utd persist with Selles? Dire results and performances in every match so far. Think he could genuinely relegate them if given the entire season.

The funny thing with Graham is that he was crap at Sunderland, came here and was pretty solid, then went back to Sunderland and was rubbish again 🤣

Would have loved to see Leonard come good, but I never saw anything, even when he was fit, which suggested he'd be able to cut it at this level as a first teamer. If we've got £1m for him with some add-ons/clauses then I think that's great business.

He said last season he'd walk away if he wasn't taking the team forward during this campaign. His interview after the Grimsby match made it sound like he was close to following through on that promise. Rumours that he offered to resign last season as well. Can't see how it ends well for Amorim at this point. That image of him cowering on the bench whilst his team lost a penalty shootout to Grimsby will haunt him forevermore. Absolutely brutal. Lose to Burnley and I wouldn't be surprised to see him offer to resign (either for the first time, or again, depending on who you believe). One of the most toxic situations I've ever seen, there. They underachieved post-Ferguson, significantly, but they're plumbing entirely new depths at the moment.

Unless he was carrying an injury it was pretty weird. If I'm a United fan I'd be equally concerned that our new £74m striker couldn't score or even look especially useful against a team from League Two, mind.

Mowbray did quite fine out of his stance. Lasted at least two years longer than he would have at most clubs considering some of the horrendous death spirals we endured during his tenure. I'm sure he was paid well and by his own admission had no real pressure to achieve anything beyond trundling along in the Championship. No fan pressure either - the bloke had flags with his face on them being waved before every home match! Don't think there's any need to feel sorry for him, he had it good here for far longer than the average manager tenure in this division.

Haha, that's quite a scathing article for the BBC. This is why Martin rubs people the wrong way. He sounds like some kind of deranged cult leader - and even worse, he has zero evidence to back up any claims that his system will bear fruit at any point in the future. It's never delivered anything more than mediocrity. Even at a parachute payment club in the Championship the best he could manage was 4th - and whilst they did ultimately achieve the bare minimum of going up, their PL campaign was so bad that if they'd kept Martin they probably would have broken the record for worst ever points tally.

If there's one thing that should be obvious by now, it's that even when the club appears to be running "sensibly", the owners will find away to sabotage everything in due course. It's as inevitable as our annual post-Christmas collapse.

Amorim's post match interview sounded like a man who has given up all hope. Implied the players weren't playing for him. Personally think it's nonsense when a manager at that level is tied to one system and can't adapt.

Hard to see how he comes back from this. United didn't turn up until the last 20 minutes against League Two opposition, and it's not like it was an u23's team selection out there. Couldn't have scripted drama like that though. A late equaliser from United, they look set to go through on pens, then miss their 5th penalty. The penalties then go on for so long that the takers are being recycled. The miss then comes from one of their brand new signings. I can't get over the visual of Amorim hiding on the bench during the penalties with his head down. That is ridiculous for any manager, let alone one at a supposedly big club. How can he expect his players to deal with pressure if he can't?

Wonder what the philosophical post-match nugget of wisdom will be this time.

Our finishes over the last four seasons are 8th, 7th, 19th and 7th... so generally it's probably fair to say that 7th is about right for the players we had. That group made it obvious that they didn't have the mentality required to get over the line, but they were good enough to hover around it. If the ambition is playoffs then those core players weren't going to achieve it, so you could argue moving them on isn't an issue. It's just a question of whether bringing in players on lower wages with no Championship experience will improve the situation. It's all on Gestede, Owen and the recruitment team as to whether they've unearthed some hidden gems or downgraded the team. We will see.

It's a shame it ended the way it did. Under another set of owners Travis may have been a part of a return to the PL - although I don't think he's good enough to play at that level. Alas, under Venky's it was never going to happen. Have to hope this Baradji fella is the real deal.

Interesting who Trav did thank... and who he didn't. Curious that the club spent time creating that video if there genuinely was some bad blood at the end.

I personally wouldn't call anyone signed during the Venky era a club legend. We've achieved fuck all in that time save for a 2nd placed promotion from League 1. Outside of that we've either finished mid table championship, spectacularly thrown away chances to get in the playoffs more than once, or narrowly avoided relegation a couple of times. Granted the criteria for legend will be different for younger supporters who don't remember or weren't around for the pre-Venky era. I guess the likes of Dack or Trav would be closest to fitting the bill.

There was a period of the game when Newcastle players just seemed to collectively lose their heads. Gordon's tackle was definitely a red. Thought Slot's post-game comments were a bit disingenuous, suggesting Newcastle were hoofing & fouling their way through the game. Other than a small period where they did seem to lose a bit of control, I don't think that was a fair reflection of the game at all. I can only assume he was deflecting from another questionable performance from his team. It could be the old "good team winning games whilst playing badly" trope, or it could be warning signs that there are things that need to be addressed in that team.

Unless he absolutely tears it up in Saudi I can't see him coming back to England any higher than League 1. Could see an SPL club taking a punt on him in a few years time whenever his contract over there expires, but possible another middle eastern club will take him on if his current team doesn't renew. Presumably the wages on offer over there would beat offers he'd get over here.

I think the UK sports media fawning over him plays a part in the general dislike. There was a MOTD last season where Southampton had lost again, were bottom of the table and I believe winless after 9 or 10 games, and the pundits were raving about the bloke like he was the second coming Ferguson or Wenger. It was absolutely ludicrous and not the first time it had happened. They were basically affirming this modern day belief that style is better than substance - and with RM it's the concept of a style because his teams are usually utterly boring to watch and rarely get consistent results. I will say I have nothing personal against him. He comes across as somewhat arrogant in interviews, but his media persona may not match his private persona. I just wish I could be so mediocre at my job and fall upwards with such unstoppable momentum.

Don't think De Neve is or ever will be up to the required standard, but conversely initial impressions of Alebiosu are good. He lacks somewhat in technical ability but he's got good energy and I can see him making things happen on the flank. Far too early to tell if he'll be an adequate replacement for Brittain, but there have been some promising signs. Not sure about Taveres yet, but think he'll be OK. McLoughlin and Miller should be steady signings, whilst Henriksson has shown he will need time to adapt. Baradji and Morishita are, on paper, excellent signings. Remains to be seen how they perform. We haven't been too bad defensively so far, but 2 of our first 3 games were pretty dire attacking-wise. The Hull match was a massive improvement, and hopefully we'll see that Rovers side turn up again against Norwich. I don't rate Norwich very highly, so I think if we put in another Hull performance we could win by 2 or 3. Otherwise a draw or narrow defeat. Certainly don't see the current Norwich team turning us over.

Didn't foresee Bucko going to Saudi, but good luck to him. He had potential here but for reasons only truly known to the coaching staff and himself, he never really got going here and successive managers didn't see enough in him to ever give him a solid run in the team. I think when he flopped on his loan to Sheffield Wednesday that was the point of no return. It'll be interesting to see how his career unfolds from here. I think it's possible he'll spend the rest of his career abroad.

I would respectfully argue that's an optimistic view of our first two matches. We played 85 consecutive minutes combined in those matches without having a shot on goal, although neither Brum nor WBA were much better and neither could have complained if they hadn't walked away with all three points from those matches. The Hull match was the first game where I thought we genuinely looked good, but it comes with the caveat of Hull's squad being badly hit by some kind of virus during the week, so, difficult to read too much into the match other than to say we got the job done and got it done in style. I think Saturday's match at home to Norwich will be a good indicator of whether the Hull match was an outlier or something to genuinely build off. Norwich are nothing special and there's no reason we shouldn't be able to beat them if we put in the same performance levels as we saw against Hull. It'll be very interesting to see what transpires.

Duffy's two "accidental" own goals and red card against Cardiff, coincidentally when he was rumoured to be trying to force a move away, should disqualify him from ever returning.

Hiring Selles was a baffling decision.

Return of the Roon?