Lol. No, I don't think he had seen it. I certainly hadn't. My ears are ringing from the deafening sound of an extremely deep barrel being scraped. It would be the ultimate piss take if having replaced Steele because he wasn't good enough we ended up with him again three years later.

According to someone I was speaking to this morning we're after Chris Brunt. Not for me personally as he's 36 in December but the source thought this was an indication we had no money. Also if the source is correct Downing has been on very healthy money here indeed so I'd have thought he'd need to agree a massive cut to be here next season. I'd steer clear of both personally.

Graham's done all right at times and not so well at others such as the season we went down and the first part of the season inLeague 1. No where near in the same bracket as Rhodes imo and shouldn't even be mentioned in the same breath as a player of the quality of Samba.

I know what he's done in the past and on the basis of what I saw last season if we were bringing in a 29 year old Downing it'd be a good move. He's not good enough now if we want to challenge imo.

Can't decide if this is a spoof post or not. If you'd pay 10k for next year's season ticket and they actually come out at "only" 5k to help the Club, would you buy mine for me? ?

That's Smallwood type talk imo. "Give him another 12 months because he's a good old boy around the place." Downing did a lot better than I expected he would when he signed but he hasn't been earth shattering. Time to let him move on with our good wishes. We need better if we're to challenge.

It's an excuse to give Richie a new 12 month deal so he can stay on and teach this bloke how to play like him and Corry.

We couldn't be that lucky that we'd finally see the back of Evan's.

Not true imo. At the end of Bowyer's tenure it was looking very much like he might take us into League 1. He was sacked and replaced with Lambert who theoretically should have been a massive upgrade on Bowyer. It turned out he wasn't but he nevertheless just about managed to keep us up. Then Coyle was definitely taking us down and was replaced by Mowbray who did reasonably when he first came in and nearly kept us up. So it does seem maybe they do sit up and take notice if it looks like we're in danger of relegation. Since promotion though Mowbray always seems to have had the knack of pulling out a couple of unexpected results just in time after we've been on a long losing run so we've never actually been in the danger zone for a sustained period. There's only so long you can keep getting away with it like that I'd have thought.

I'm going to stick up for the Club a bit on this one, would you be happy paying for a normal season ticket on the strength that it was thought limited numbers would be allowed in at the start of next season then being offered an I follow subscription like now instead because the Government subsequently bottled it and only decided to let fans in grounds in January or with ten games to go? I'm guessing not but how could you unspend and refund money that had already been spent? It might be that it is sensible at the moment to wait and see how the land lies generally before committing to a final decision.

Agreed, but it's the modern touchy feely way of the world isn't it. If I was a Birmingham fan gutted at his departure I'd be highly insulted by that. It's almost like the Board are celebrating the money received from his sale so they can have more bubbly at the shareholders meeting or something.

Absolutely cracking post. Spot on. I've been saying the same thing since this time last year but in pure footballing terms there is absolutely no incentive to get a season ticket and any renewal would have to be made on the basis of blind loyalty to the Club rather than any realistic assessment of our prospects under the current manager. Then there are also the logistical hurdles presented by the Corona virus which unlike the football side of things are something outside of the Club's control. I would gladly attend a match as normal but I can't really see the point in purchasing a season ticket if you can't sit in the same seat every week. Nor do I fancy the possibility of having to turn up hours before a game, hang around with no facilities, sit at socially distanced intervals, wear a mask outdoors or be detained in the stadium after the game whilst a staggered exit takes place. I might feel a lot more inclined to put up with all that crap if the owners made a bold and imaginative change of Chief executive, manager, and his coaching staff and gave us a sliver of hope but right now a season ticket in the normal sense of the word seems a particularly unappealing prospect.

Fair comment.

We haven't managed that so far since being promoted so what makes you think we're starting now?

No commitment to getting into the top six next season there , just whenever he can. An ambitious manager would be setting a target of trying to finish in the top 2 anyway. The alleged uncertainty over the budget is really playing into Mowbray's hands. He has his excuses lined up in advance like ducks in a row already.

Sorry, I won't let up on the issue of the manager until he's gone or improves beyond all recognition as I think he's taking the owners and supporters for complete mugs as evidenced by his body language and demeanour last night. There's no hope until he goes imo.

If we were to seriously challenge for promotion I'd say we need a top quality keeper, CB, LB, creative midfielder, pacy wide man and probably a consistent goalscorer. That's at least six quality players. I wouldn't trust TM to bring one in. Such new additions as there are will probably follow the previous formula of either being past it and looking for one last pay day or youngsters who can optimistically be described as "ones for the future" thereby not upsetting or dislodging the core group.

Out of curiosity, I wonder which managers are on the books of HSH? (I realise this is a cue for Mashed Potatoes to get his fishing rod out and chirp up with the name Phil Brown)

Very generous on Amoruso, he was terrible, an oil tanker turned quicker. Souness turned the chance to extend Berg's contract to pay good money to bring that lummox in so it's hard to think there wasn't some shenanigans going on there. On Duff, we originally put in a £17m release clause into his contract presumably thinking that would scare off any interest but Abramovich came along and changed all that. The day the Trustees accepted the bid from Chelsea and didn't even attempt to improve Duff's terms or persuade him to stay was for me the day Jack's dream died. Hardly surprising with hindsight given their subsequent conduct but I think it's more accurate to say they wanted the money rather than needed it. Probably Souness wanted some of it as well to **** away against the wall.

Maybe, maybe not. It would require a bit of diligent research. On the other hand what's the alternative? Doing nothing and dying a slow lingering death buried under a mountain of debt?

The main point to take out of that is that despite the common refrain from the pro Mowbray supporters that the owners would be unlikely to appoint anyone better than him, the reality is that there will be lots of up and comes out there who you wouldn't necessarily have heard of before but who could do a far better job than Mowbray.

Just look at the first post on this thread by Neal following the first game of the season last August. Apart from the bit about (pointless) possession football, it could have been written yesterday.

But but ....... you can't come in and turn things round in half a season.......... you need a "slow build" and long term plan! ?

Yep. I always said that if Mowbray stayed I would probably renew to whatever the Club eventually came up with for next season but not bother going to many games as I'd rather enjoy my free time. That drew some rather odd looks from my better half when I said it most recently yesterday and comments along the lines of why should I pay his wage, so I'm starting to reconsider even that. I just can't see any hope as long as Mowbray remains in charge.

We can only hope that the supposed messing about with the budget is because they're contemplating sacking him..........