Preston only ahead of Luton on goal difference now.

Lot to thank the much maligned Dolan for if we do somehow scrape in.

Typical.

Millwall 1 up

Playing with no urgency at all according to the Sky reporter? Edit: Now Batth one ruled out for offside.

That'll do.

Get the fuck in.

Luton hit the woodwork twice now - think we know what's coming next.

That patently hasn't always been the case, they didn't "have" to spend £12m on Gallagher and Brereton. Irrelevant to the discussion today though.

Spot on den.

Agreed. It was a tremendously revealing interview. In normal circumstances I would describe it as a PR disaster but I'm not sure if you can classify it that way as I doubt if any of the 3 stooges could care less. They might care if it adversely affects ST revenue and they get bollocked from above as a result though.

Until it happens we don-t know for sure if they will pump in any more money to cover trading losses. The family silver has been flogged off and There's only a few trinkets left, there's no one left of any particular value to sell to cover them. In terms of the owners having an interest Im talking a number of years ago now. By Mowbray's own admission he said he had to rein the owners in after promotion. What sort of manager does that? I know you won't hear a bad word said against Mowbray/Gallagher etc so if you're going to pretend he never said it then There's no point discussing it further.

He only did that very grudgingly when you specifically pressed him on whether the aim is promotion. He couldn't say anything else really - not even he is thick enough to say outright they're not interested in promotion but effectively he's already admitted that by conceding the main aim this season was not to make the play offs but to build for next season etc etc.

If you look at Benefactor models elsewhere, almost without exception they start off like a house on fire with the financial support then after a while the enthusiasm for losing millions upon millions starts to dwindle before funding eventually dries to a trickle or stops altogether and it is deemed the aim is for the Club to be self sufficient. To go back to Mowbray this is why he was exactly the wrong person for us after we got back to the Championship because it was always likely to be a race against time to get promoted before the funding was reduced or ran out at some point and Uncle Tony plodding along on "a journey" for years content to merely feather his own nest was the direct opposite of what we needed. Bringing it back up to date, this reinforces the point Eddie was trying to impress upon Gestede about the need for increased investment at strategic points. Unfortunately we're getting the same sort of language now from RG that we did during the Mowbray days about not wanting to move too fast and needing to put the foundations in place first etc etc. We've already been on that lark for most of the last eight years or so with nothing to show for it. In reality, you can't guarantee anything in football, therefore if an opportunity presents itself you have to try and grab it with both hands. You can't pass it up in favour of a vague promise of jam in maybe 5 years time, maybe not. Hopefully most people won't be fooled by this sort of waffle this time round. It does seem that the LT comments brigade are quickly back full square behind the agenda following a few decent results in dead rubbers, although of course the veracity of those accounts must be very much in question.

What came clear from this interview is that any further attempts to interview RG would be a complete waste of time as he spouts absolute nonsense and attempts to answer difficult questions with points that bear no real relation to the question being asked. You really nailed him with the point that it would be sensible to increase investment at strategic points, e.g. when you're sat 5th in the table in January. That point is incontrovertible really but all he could say in response was come out with some lame excuse about how he knew what his annual budget was and that it would remain unchanged no matter what position we found ourselves in. Sums up the hopelessness of our current situation but good work by you guys nonetheless.

I voted "yes" on the assumption that the majority view of the Coalition will be that the end objective is to remove the owners and their hired goons from the Club. I don't think you need to be too sheepish about your objectives, you should be clear and precise about them from the outset, and if you are right then people should come on board in great numbers. Similarly if other people or groups want to take a slightly different approach then that's entirely their prerogative as well, as long as you have a clear and compelling message you don't have to speak for every single member of the fanbase. For many years I thought thought the best way forward would be to combine Venky's financial clout with top class management. Sadly, we never got to a point where we saw the two combined, we either had money spunked up against the wall by a succession of charlatans or the unambitious Mowbray, or finally when a couple of great and ambitious Coaches in JDT and Eustace did eventually arrive, the money had run out. At Senior management and Boardroom level the level of incompetence has continued unchecked and unabated throughout and as far as the owners are concerned they became neither use nor ornament the minute they ceased funding the Club as previously. Good luck with all you're doing. When Eustace was here I used to express the view that we were one poor manager or Coach away from oblivion and I'm not convinced VI isn't it.

Again great post, the situation perfectly summed up in six lines or so. It is difficult to imagine something like this happening ANYWHERE else. It seems pretty obvious the play off attempt was deliberately sabotaged by bringing in players who generally weren't match fit and then refusing to pacify Eustace or allay any of his his concerns. Compounded by then bringing in a new Head Coach with a completely different approach and style of play. BUT - to then publicly more or less admit as such simply beggars belief. They really are taking people's loyalty for granted.

I didn't think Broughton was sincere in the slightest. He knew exactly what the score was from day one - sell everything that moved - BUT he was a Grade A bullshitter and somehow managed to wrap a pink bow on a great big steaming turd by actually managing to convince some people that this strategy was conducive with becoming "a sustainable Premier League Club". Gestede isn't even attempting to put the pink bow on or make the process sound half way palatable and has more or less admitted we're not interested in things that are the be all and end all at most Clubs like trying to make the play offs or be successful. Exciting times. Do we think we're the only Professional Club in the League whose aim is not to succeed on the pitch?

Great post.

Yes, until the end of Mowbray's last season.

The situation changed completely around the time of the Court case when they were no longer prepared to fund the Club as they had done previously. You're an intelligent poster and know that full well of course but you'd rather choose to ignore that obvious fact in favour of scoring cheap points off me.

I'm considering the longer term future of the Club. If you want to stick your head in the sand and are happy to merely go along to games and support the team and enjoy the day out whilst ignoring the wider context that's absolutely fine. A lot of supporters I'm sure feel the same. I applaud your dedication in trailing up to Sunderand for a dead rubber, I couldn't do it. Mowbray finished me off the first time we imploded. Let alone the second (and now third) times.

If you cant afford to offer them what they want, that's not ideal but at least own up to it, what sticks in my craw is Gestede trying to dress it up as an "exciting" opportunity

The irony...... Have always stood up for you in the past as well.

I've absolutely no idea how you can give manager and players alike so much credit for playing themselves out of play off contention then rallying slightly when it doesn't matter. If a mathematical miracle does occur then I will doff my hat to you before eating it but if not my comment stands. If everyone is happy with mediocrity and this annual charade of being In with a chance of doing something before imploding, absolutely nothing will ever change.