Good post. I agree with just about all of that.

He's coaching the kids at (I think) Galatasary according to Colin Hendry, who recently tried to get him to play in a Rangers veterans game. Does anyone remember this line-up?

I was being sarcastic to stretch my point ?..... .....which is this £7million millstone is probably more like £3million in reality. Still a fair old outlay for us tbh.

On these two points Stuart. While I do think he lacks proper match fitness, most players are blowing out of their arses when asked to come on for the last 15-20 minutes. I also very much doubt we have (or will) paid anywhere near £7million for the lad. Even if there is any accuracy in that figure, it would likely be dependant on us winning the prem and him making x number of appearances, winning an England cap etc etc. All that said, I don’t think he has been done any favours so far by how he has been used.

Unless I misread his reply I think Chaddy was saying he did pinch it.

The Vapors - Waiting For The Weekend

The Championship rarely turns out like that though Philip, it’s a brutal league and so hard to try and second-guess results. Which is fantastic!

Well said mate

It was. Even its name was a barely hidden euphemism.

The High Numbers - Zoot Suit

The Jam - But I'm Different Now

Syl Johnson - Black Balloons

Electric Light Orchestra - Sweet Talkin' Woman

The Beautiful South - My Book

The Paul Weller Movement - Here's a New Thing

Fair play to you mate - you weren’t the only pre-match pessimist though, not by any means?

Spot on mate.

I wasn't trying to ridicule you - just wondering whether you actually truly believe that an aggressive tackle is "football's equivalent of manslaughter"? Also, if you've played the game for years you will no doubt have seen hundreds of very similar tackles - probably much worse ones in fact, if you played at amateur level - that didn't result in serious injury. My problem with all of this is you seem to be singling Marker out as some sort of extreme hacker, when in truth most teams had at least one player of his type in those days. Exhibit A; Glenn Keeley, who was worshipped at Ewood for years. Was he a 'shithouse player' as well?

Have you ever actually played the game?

I was there that day. I was angry about Ardiles getting injured but it never entered my head that Nicky Marker had deliberately set out to cause anything like that. To be honest I thought if anything it was more about a top class player used to a bit more time and space getting caught out by the physicality of the old second division.

You make it sound like Marker deliberately crippled the lad. What happened that night was an unfortunate consequence of football being a physical sport. There must have been a big crowd on for a reserve game for so many people to make a judgement on the tackle.

The Beatles - Good Morning, Good Morning

The Stranglers - Hanging Around

I think that's the very point I was trying to make mate - based on getting rid of Sam rather than any Kean qualities, whereas Dean Smith's 'style of play' is very much a known quantity. I do see the similarities in fans' views on the outgoing managers in both examples, it was the mention of the Scottish crook that made me question the comparison. Nobody deserves to be compared with that scrote.

Not sure this analogy stacks up really - unlike Dean Smith, Kean had absolutely no track record so therefore no style of play to speak of when he got the manager's gig, so I'm not sure on what basis his appointment was being welcomed (other than "he's not Allardyce").