DE.

If the hierarchy had their way then we'd have been looking at the worrying scenario of having somebody with zero league experience between the sticks. I don't rate Pears much at all, but he has shown to be occasionally competent in spells, so just have to hope for the best there. Maybe a period out of the team will have refocused his energies a little.

When it comes to away games, it doesn't matter how you win as long as you win. Injury to Toth is a massive blow, have to either hope it's less serious than it appeared and he'll be back after internationals, or Pears comes into the team in one of his purple patches of form. Wharton injury a worry as well. Would be a shame if our lack of squad depth derailed what is turning into a superb run of form. Other than Sheffield United (0) we have the lowest number of draws with just 1 this season. We either win or we lose, no in between. Kind of like JDT's first season, but much lower in the table.

Oddly the Wolves fans aren't having the "knows the club" airtight reasoning. Instead they're aghast.

Shame as I don't think a new manager can do worse, but yeah, at least we caught them whilst he had them in freefall.

We'll see if their absolute mauling by Stoke will be a massive dent to their confidence or a kick up the arse that galvanises them. They'd won three in a row before this weekend and only conceded once, so a 5-1 defeat certainly wasn't on the cards. Perhaps just a blip, or maybe the start of a dip in form. Let's hope it's the latter.

Think they lost almost every match after he was given his new contract.

Fans want the players to share their level of passion for the club, and that's understandable - especially when you have the bond of celebrating goals and victories together. It makes that connection seem stronger than it really is. Some players do genuinely become attached to a club and make decisions more for the clubs benefit than theirs (Barry Bannan at Wednesday is a good example of this very recently), but the majority of the squad sees it as a job that will likely have a span of a few years at most before they move elsewhere. It's understandable from the perspective of the manager and players that they remain somewhat disconnected from the fans - knowing how quickly the crowd can turn on the collective and individuals when results begin to go awry. I imagine you have to detach emotionally to get through those periods without becoming genuinely angry or resentful.

I think the closest we came to some of the players 'not playing for the manager' was probably under JDT, as he certainly made enemies of influencial players in the dressing room who didn't share his level of ambition. That only really happened towards the very end of his tenure here, though, and was likely influenced by other factors - for example the squad knowing JDT had tried to quit, implying he didn't believe that team could be successful under his management (although I imagine it was more the principal of the owners reneging on their promise to back him, but still). That's one of many reasons why you ideally let a manager go if he wants to go. How can you expect the team to respond to their boss long-term if he has tried to leave?

Would have been a great season for us to have not downgraded the entire squad and management team. Based on the team's general performance over the past 7 years we should be talking about finally cracking the top six, but instead the main focus is on not being relegated.

When it comes to appointing a guy who "knows the club" (temporarily or otherwise) it's usually a desperation move when the fanbase is seriously hacked off and ready to explode. Putting a person in the dugout who people recognise is a way to soothe the crowd with nostalgia and keep their anger at bay for a while longer. If decent results follow, then that's just good fortune, but usually leads to that manager getting a longer contract than he deserves and the inevitable reversion to the norm soon follows.

Very rare that you see players downing tools at any club. Fans speculate often on the manager "losing the players" (heard it multiple times with Mowbray during the spirals), but the reality is that it's usually just the players losing confidence in themselves/the methods, rather than a pointed decision from the players to "not play for" the manager. It has obviously happened in the past at certain clubs, but I don't think it's very common.

Sometimes it just doesn't work out for a manager and his style at a certain club. I can only think that is what's happening at Norwich, as even with the sale of key players they have a squad that should easily be mid-table. Once a team gets into a rut like this it's difficult to break out of, even more so when the manager is new and his methods are still to be proven. If you had a manager there who had gotten the team going before, even after difficult results (we saw this with Carrick a couple of times at Boro) then that would be one thing, but I think Manning has too much going against him with poor results, zero momentum and what must be increasingly cratering confidence from the players in his ability to lead them to success. Hard to see it ending well from the position they're now in. A shame for Manning as it's his boyhood club and he couldn't have expected things to turn out this badly. Sometimes the pieces just don't fit though, and I think that's probably the case here.

Feels like Still and Manning are already past the point of no return. Just a question of how engaged and decisive the Norwich and Southampton boards are at this point. Hopefully they 'keep the faith' a little while longer.

Based on Leicester's recent form and performances I thought we could get a point here. Didn't expect a win and a clean sheet, though. Three unexpected but potentially vital points to bank in the survival fund.

Amateur hour never ends at Ewood.

You see the difference in Gudjohnsen when he gains confidence during a match - it's like a switch flicks and he's a different player. Hopefully as he becomes more settled at the club we'll see that consistently across matches as opposed to short bursts. Whilst as it stands I still I don't consider De Neve to be up to standard, I will say that he has the footballing intelligence that a player like Kargbo lacks. He generally understands when to run and what position to be in to receive dangerous passes. That will cause some problems for the opposition, even though much of it will be squandered for numerous reasons. Hedges has had years to show he's anything above average and has never come close to doing so outside of the occasional match here and there. Don't think that's a case of 'card marked' as much as the reality of what he's capable of on a regular basis.

Best season in some time to be a promoted club, it would seem.

They've only won four out of twelve matches, which is very poor for the squad they have. It's not like it's getting better, either, their form is actually getting worse. He can of course still turn it around, and I imagine things will improve, but difficult to consider their season thus far as anything other than a disappointment.

It's not a contentious statement, his name was known from his relative success early on with Reims. He was in consideration for the Sunderland role at one point, before they hired their current manager. Correct decision on their part, it would appear. The Football Manager stuff is just exaggeration for belittlement. He played it growing up and it helped him decide to go into coaching/management as an educational path - when he was 17. Not really a reason to drag him when he's 33 and already managed two clubs in the French top flight. There are enough legitimate reasons to question the appointment based on his actual record thus far.

Still was definitely considered a bright prospect before joining Southampton. Huge risk to hire a 32-year-old, though. Rohl and McKenna were 34 & 35 respectively when they joined Sheff Weds and Ipswich, and were at the time considered young and risky appointments. That's at clubs with players who would have been on a much more modest wage than the likes of Southampton. Still had left Reims by mutual consent after a dismal end to the 23/24 season and at Lens finished one place lower than the previous season - debateable that such performance in Ligue 1 merits a three-year deal at a club just relegated from the PL. Not complaining mind - could be a decision that helps us keep our heads above water come the season's end, although sadly I imagine he won't last too much longer.

A lot of managers who you'd think will likely already be very concerned, despite it being quite early in the season. Marti Cifuentes is seeing things go from average to outright poor at Leicester. They have us next so will likely get some reprieve, but it's been a rough start for a team expected to go straight back up. Javi Gracia has lost two of his first three matches, so he'll soon be given the chop at Watford, one imagines. I only partially kid. Birmingham's owners may have expected a better start, considering the money spent there. Really inconsistent form for them so far. It remains to be seen how much time Brady and co are willing to give before deciding to change things. It's possible they'll have learned from their first season the dangers of being trigger-happy. Wrexham kind of similar to Brum, but I get the feeling they'll have patience with Parkinson for now. I don't think there's quite the same level of expectation there, owing to Wrexham's smaller overall stature. I assume consolidation would be enough for them, this season at least. Will Still has had an awful start at Southampton, and without much history in his CV to point to, he might be vulnerable to a swift sacking. If a team had finished 7th the season before and was now struggling at the wrong end of the table you'd assume their manager would have concerns over his job. Not at Rovers though, so not even going to bother including Ismael. Wilder will obviously be given time at Sheff Utd but it hasn't exactly been the start he'd have wanted. Probably the most concerning thing there is that they still can't at least save a point, even if they're unable to win. It's three points or nothing. Liam Manning - surely must be under pressure? That Norwich team should not be 23rd. I read recently that the players are still "very happy" with Manning and "really enjoying" things. I am not sure that's what I would want to hear as a Norwich fan right now.

We beat a team who have won 4 in 50, and who now have won less games than us this season. It's nice to get a win but we shouldn't be reduced to being thankful for scraping past the dross of the division. Even under Venky's we have, historically, been better than that.

We should spend the next three months helping him get a move away from here. Would be best for all parties at this point. I would be curious to know what our scouts saw in him beyond pace, because I can't say I've seen any other worthwhile attribute that would justify paying money for.

I expected Keef to struggle, but appear to have been totally wrong with that prediction! Early signs look good for Brentford, anyway.

I read that Southampton have won 4 out of their last 50 games, lol. Not difficult to see why. Think that unless they get their next appointment spot on they may well be scrapping it out at the bottom with us, Oxford, Norwich, etc. An unexpected addition to the relegation mini-league... welcome!