Phartdew, Carver, Jokingear and McMuffin

[ex_pat_magpie]

Zippity referred to the above in the post "Awkward"

The trouble with those four and Bruce is that not one of them is an intelligent person.

Every single one of them has been very lucky indeed to have achieved the heights they have got to. There is not one of them with the ability to be a successful Premiership manager. Not the skills, the tactical ability, the personality, or the intelligence to do the job.

To sum up, each and every one of them is a total washout, and the common denominator is that Ashley has believed in all of them.

That speaks volumes.

[Zippity]

Aye, that's a fair point, Pat.

Ashley is the only reason any of those chancers got anywhere near our club. Bruce is the worst of the lot but the most ridiculous one was Kinnear-that fatso ever thought he would work out shows how little he knows.

And the ridiculous thing is, with a bit more of a forward-thinking attitude, we could have had someone who was, as far as the Prem is concerned, a relative unknown. Look at Southampton with Pochettino or Leeds with Bielsa or Wolves with Espirito-Santo-any of those would have transformed our club-even Potter at Brighton.

Having said that, not only does our owner have no imagination, if he had managed to secure their services, he'd have tied both their hands behind their backs with his transfer policy and lack of investment in the infrastructure, Academy, etc so it would more than likely have ended in tears anyway.

At the moment, anyone would be better than Bruce (previous incumbents need not apply ) but if he does leave then it's absolutely pot luck who we'll get. You know when you walk past an empty shop unit and it's been stripped of everything that's of any value-but there's always the odd coat hanger or bent display rack or wobbly office chair that they couldn't be arsed to take? Our next manager will be the equivalent of that. We're not even looking in the bargain basement-we'll be walking round the Royal Quays outlet, peering in grubby windows of abandonded shops to see what's been left over.

And it'll be ever thus until we get a new owner.

[ex_pat_magpie]

And worst of all Ashley appointed Rafa and didn't have the sense to use his talents instead gave him a fraction of the backing he gave the five nerds mentioned above.

[toptoon]

Zippity referred to the above in the post "Awkward"

The trouble with those four and Bruce is that not one of them is an intelligent person.

Every single one of them has been very lucky indeed to have achieved the heights they have got to. There is not one of them with the ability to be a successful Premiership manager. Not the skills, the tactical ability, the personality, or the intelligence to do the job.

To sum up, each and every one of them is a total washout, and the common denominator is that Ashley has believed in all of them.

That speaks volumes.

I do think Ashley has believed in every one of them but the question is: to do what? Not to have a successful team but to keep the club just above relegation. There’s no other explanation for giving so much money to some of them to spend and then none to Rafa.
I think Ashley knew that Rafa with money would have started a snowball rolling down a hill that he would have no control of. So, clip his wings by starving him of funds to improve the squad and he’s still good enough to maintain a poor squad in the PL.

Awful times at this once great club.

[ex_pat_magpie]

I do think Ashley has believed in every one of them but the question is: to do what? Not to have a successful team but to keep the club just above relegation. There’s no other explanation for giving so much money to some of them to spend and then none to Rafa.
I think Ashley knew that Rafa with money would have started a snowball rolling down a hill that he would have no control of. So, clip his wings by starving him of funds to improve the squad and he’s still good enough to maintain a poor squad in the PL.

Awful times at this once great club.

A bit of a parallel with his retail outlets. Source what they can, which is produced as cheaply as possible, put it in the shop window, and sell on for as much as they can get for the commodity.

[Jammy89]

And worst of all Ashley appointed Rafa and didn't have the sense to use his talents instead gave him a fraction of the backing he gave the five nerds mentioned above.

That is the killer for me.

If Rafa had been backed to the degree of others, he could of done great things with us, even under Ashley.