First time I saw him play he was so slow I thought he was carrying an injury- he wasn't ! Very cool right foot finisher inside the penalty area. Doesn't panic and gives the ball just enough power. Very average header of the ball for a tall ish guy. Not a physical player in the slightest, rarely injured and very rarely troubles the officials. So plays plenty of games. Was he worth what we paid for him ? Err, no.

Dunny, Sutton and co could actually play football to a high level, this guy has done nothing yet.

He should have more sense. If we'd have played well and won nobody would be too bent out of shape. As it was we played like drains and it sounds like he contributed the square root of nothing. Maintaining a low profile in those circumstances would be the smart thing to do at a new club.

I don't get modern players. If I'd have played as badly as that I'd have spent Saturday night lying in a darkened room !

I was at the Gigg Lane game. Happy days, we never looked like not winning. By some quirk we played Bury at home on the following Saturday for the last game of the season. We played like we'd been on the p--s all week ( which we probably had ) and lost 2-1. Steve Johnson getting two great goals for Bury. The Ewood pitch centre area was like a sandy desert and it was a blustery day. The referee must have stopped play half a dozen times to whip out his hanky to remove grit from players eyes. It's funny what you remember about games but I've never seen a game stopped like that so often before or since.

Our u21's could be the first team before too long.

I used to be a big cricket fan in the day. I played a bit at works team level. I still know most of the current England players but as far as the Lancashire side go I haven't a clue. However just out of the top of my head - Barry Wood David Loyd Harry Pilling Frank Hayes Clive Lloyd Jackie Bond Farokh Engineer Jack Simmons David Hughes Peter Lever Ken Shuttleworth Regarding Rugby Union- the 6 nations has been on TV for eons going back to the 5 nations. It never really took off because lots of games were boring kick fests with very few tries scored. In the professional era they've adopted several Rugby League ideas and concepts, as a result it is a more watchable game than it was in the past.

Were they on as well ? They're a good support band.

You'll never see another series like for pure excitement. Some sessions of play were almost unwatchable with the tension.

How many people have Sky Chaddy ? I haven't. My wife won't have it for political reasons regarding Murdoch. I won't have it because I waste enough time in front of screens as it is. When Channel 4 had the Ashes series on in 2005 the whole nation was drawn in. Nearly every TV screen you saw as you were walking down the street was tuned to the cricket. I've never known anything like it. People who in April had never watched a game of cricket became fanatics in a few months. It was on everybody's lips at work. Radios were secretly tuned under desks. Maybe it's before your time ?

I agree. Biggest mistake the English Cricket Authorities made was selling out to Sky. The country went absolutely cricket daft in the Summer of 2005. I've never seen as many kids playing cricket on the common facing my house and now you never see any. They just threw it all away for the Murdoch shilling

Not a good night for Wigan supporting Tories was it ? I know Wigan are struggling for some reason but Leigh are doing much better than I thought. How safe is Shaun Wane at the moment ?

I've not seen much of any of those players especially Rankin-Costello but from what I have seen I like Tomlinson and Doyle. I'd expect both of them to feature next season especially Tomlinson. Doyle looks the part but he's strictly a left back as far as I can see and Williams has the left back shirt at the moment. Maybe a short term loan would do him good if nothing else changes.

Excellent work but depressing reading. Keep up the good work though, it's essential that this period in the club's history is thoroughly documented.

Yeah I'd have liked to boot a few of them.

At least future generations will be able to read this and find out the truth behind our collapse.

A much needed and excellent summary of the initial stages of the disaster. Well Done.

Pickering was the first one for me. We spent more than the the fee we got for him trying to replace him over the years with not much success. George Jones, Martin Britt, Alan Gilliver, Frank Lord, Jim Fryatt, then even Fred himself at the end. Don Martin was the only one who did well for us.

I was as sure as sure could be we'd go down and I said so on this site the day we appointed Coyle. It looked like money in the bank but I could never back against us though.

Una cerveza grande por favour .

I'd be really sorry if he left but there must be other managers at this level that could do a good job. Last time we hadn't got a pot to @#/? in we made some good managerial appointments that got us going in the right direction. Ken Furphy, Gordon Lee, Jim Smith, Howard Kendall. The difference between then and now is then we were run by football people who knew the score.

Would you want to work for these dickheads ?

Rejecting Warnock was really stupid - but rejecting him for Coyle borders on complete madness.

He's not my favourite but he'd be favourite to take us down again.

What does Mercerman think ? Just back the opposite you won't go far wrong.