Eddie

Good to be getting more of this kind of stuff out there and good on Eustace using a source at a big media outlet - although Deeney isn't always the most reliable. I wish there was a more concerted effort to get some of this information out.

This is a much more appealing job than Derby. Derby might be more stable, but you're headed into a relegation fight. Take Gerrard, for example, no chance he would risk having a relegation from the Championship on his CV and have yet another setback to his managerial career. We're almost the perfect job to jump into for 6 months. If you can come here and get us promoted then you look like a real hero. Yes, we were in the playoffs when you joined, but we were on the slide and we weren't promotion favourites by any stretch. Miss out on the playoffs? Just blame the mess behind the scenes.

I’d believe you if you didn’t spend half your time responding or reacting to everything I post. If there are any cults here, you two are definitely in it. I’m most flattered.

How is it a cult? Every JDT 'cult member' is openly critical of him. You, on the other hand, basically won't hear a bad word said about Eustace. It's a surprise that your thumb has broken from all the downvoting.

Or maybe, in your haste to speak kindly about your former lover, you are underestimating why it would be so appealing to (probably) take a raise and take a significantly longer contract. Forget the football. Forget the leadership. That's more money and job security.

Huge differences. Both seemingly tried to resign the summer before leaving, but JDT made his frustrations patently and publicly obvious. This included public criticism of Waggott and openly mocking our leadership. I think he could have handled the situation better and he did fundamentally quit on us, but he at least made sure all of his feelings were known. Eustace was clearly frustrated, but you only knew that if you were really paying attention. He got on with his job, but the results over the last couple of months show that he may also have mentally checked out. JDT also left us for a job that is, in many ways, better. There's a bit of a debate to be had on club versus national management, but I think most would at least agree that it's understandable as to why someone would leave a midtable Championship club to manage Sweden (and midtable is being generous to our situation when he left). JDT also got to experience a level of betrayal and mismanagement that Eustace mostly avoided. JDT had the O'Brien fiasco that potentially cost us promotion the season before and then the Wharton sale followed by even more 'admin errors'. JDT could only have dreamt of the level of competence seen under Eustace from a transfer/leadership perspective. Eustace was almost certainly lied to, but he at least wasn't made to look like a complete fool in the process. Where he really differs from JDT was the fact that he was not really critical of anything - other than vague hints at really needing more signings - and he actually preached togetherness whilst (reportedly) looking for other jobs. Now, whilst his latest comments are somewhat complimentary, his initial Derby interview contains several massive passive aggressive digs at the club. He saw this club as a stepping stone and he used it - just probably not in the way in which he originally intended. Good riddance to bad rubbish.

That's the first and last Mourinho to Eustace comparison. Mourinho's big issue is that he runs clubs in a way that makes it hard to be part of them long-term. Some coaches are great in short bursts and he is one of them. After 2/3 years it is hard to deal with the intensity and the circus that comes along with it. As for why he's in Turkey? Well, that's more because he's run out of places to go. He's not going to go to the Championship. Nor would he manage any team in France other than PSG, any team in Spain other than Barcelona or Real Madrid, etc.

Good God. He's either got some horrible evidence on you or you've fallen in love.

I know. It's unfair to have a personal attack on Eustace. The owners. The leadership. (some) Players. (some) Former managers. But not Eustace.

He's too thick to lie properly or massage the truth. As for the permanent smile...don't you all remember the dumb grin he would have in post-match interviews even as we were struggling last season? He might be a good coach (jury still mostly out), but he's not a smart man.

Not sure we can rely on that historical trend to win us points down the stretch. We've also been awful in the second half of seasons... Win the 'easy' games. Hope for a bonus from the tough ones.

Sorry, poor mistake given the fact that Leeds are in the Championship. But you get my point. Just squeezing in the response on my lunch break and the brain failed me for a moment.

I don't think he would have. We were going down under JDT. He had checked out and we were not adjusting at all. But I think just about any manager could have kept us up.

We aren't good enough or consistent enough to be able to count on winning games against the teams in and around us (even on the back of the performance last night). History would indicate that we need 70-75 points to get into the playoffs. So we need 22+ points from our remaining 14 matches, but realistically probably 25 or more. That means we need to pick up at least another 5 wins (more likely 6/7). If we are going to hit that target then we absolutely have to beat the bottom feeders. We have to win at least 4/6 matches against Plymouth, Derby, Stoke, Luton, Portsmouth, and Cardiff. We should really be winning 5 or 6. If we don't pick up 13-15 points from those matches then we are going to find things tough. Yes, we could spring the odd surprise. Yes, we could get lucky and have Sheffield United celebrating promotion on the final day and not really care (like Leicester* last year), but we have to get the majority of our points against the bad teams. Why is this match particularly important? Not only because it would give us good momentum in spite of the managerial issues, but it would also maintain, and potentially grow, the advantage that we have over 7/8/9. If we win this weekend then there is a very good chance that the gap over at least one of those teams will grow. Psychologically that will be huge.

I called this one must-win earlier in the season and I was laughed at. It's must-win now. Plymouth have definitely improved post-Rooney, but they're still a poor side and we have no excuses when it comes to this one. Win and the playoffs remain firmly within our sights and control. Anything other than a win and things start to look very slippery. There will probably be a temptation to keep the same side that we saw against WBA, but it would be nice to start integrating some of the new signings. Kargbo's pace looks a real threat - although I was slightly concerned by his lack of interest in tracking back in the final stages at the Hawthornes.

I'm not going to give him the Stoke win, so his record last season was (I think) Won 3, Drew 8, Lost 5. It was OK, but we were never in the drop zone and the continuation of some fairly mediocre form saw us get dragged further into a relegation fight and then 'saved'. He also benefited from Szmodics scoring 10 of the 15 goals under his watch. Without that purple patch we would have gone down. That wasn't due to his tactics, that was a single player hitting form. The beginning of this season is where he really impressed, but he lost the plot over the last few weeks. We were in a slide and any hopes of the playoffs were fading fast. I still think we will miss out as our squad is thin and lacks quality in key areas, but a new manager will at least give us a chance. Based on the way some speak about him on here you would imagine he was one of our best ever managers. He was OK. In many ways, his stint is eerily similar to JDT - although JDT delivered a quality of football that Eustace failed to match. The lows were not as low as under JDT, nor were the highs anywhere near as high. Also, 'the odd hiccup' is a very generous way of describing the Bristol City debacle, but I understand where you are coming from. I'm 'meh' about him leaving. I think we can do better and I think a manager might give this squad the lift that they need to challenge fro the playoffs. But the reasons why he left depress me and make me feel worse about the club.

Tonight will have made it that little bit easier to find a few interested candidates. Our club is a mess, but there will be plenty of talented managers thinking that they can get a song out of us for 14 matches and buy a ticket to the playoffs.

He would have to go uncapped and then go and live in Spain for 5 years. I wouldn't see much wrong with that.

What's the fuss about? That's basically just Wales asking for standard naturalisation laws to be able to apply to British citizens within the UK. It's more down to the odd scenario where we split up into countries that don't legally exist, meaning there's no ability for an English person to become Welsh, but a French person could become Welsh. Logical to me and it will happen so rarely that it isn't worth getting upset over.

These markets have such little liquidity that you can move them very easily. It would only take a couple of hundred pounds to move someone from double figures to near odds on. There will be fairly low max stake limits with most bookies, so it's not as big of an indicator as you might think.

I'll say again. I wasn't his biggest fan to begin with and I disliked how he contributed to the lowering of standards last season. He won me over with what he achieved in the first half of this season and he should feel rightfully let down - although not surprised - by our transfer policy. But that doesn't mean that he has the right to walk all over us on his way out of the door. Some of the responses on here are like watching an abused wife say 'well, this one doesn't hit me, he only cheats on me'. Have some respect for the club. Not only do we deserve better owners, better CEOs, better leadership, but we also deserve better than a manager who turns his back on us after less than 12 months when the situation hasn't changed.

Never been employed. Hoping for my first job by the time I know 40. Know anyone?

No, he took a job with a very known quantity because he needed the job and the money. Then he supposedly decided that he wanted to go elsewhere, but, instead of resigning, threw his hat in the ring for several jobs and then tried to leverage one of those jobs as soon as he got a bite. We'll get some hardos on here asking me for my sources, but the timeline and delays make it clear that he probably would have stayed had the club turned up on Monday morning with a new contract and some empty promises. He had a chance to either start to expose the club for what it was (like JDT) or to shut up and get on with his job. He chose neither. He even talked up some of the signings, had input into a couple of them (average at best), and publicly droned on about togetherness - all whilst flashing his eyes at anyone who even hinted at flirting with him.