dear god... hicks : we lined up klinsmann

[kopdan]

I don't think Rafa acted like a cunt when you consider that he had been stabbed in the back. He acted in a very good way if consider his situation.

What? being told to get through to the CL before moaning about players in January?

[disco]

Thats your opinion on it. Whether or not it all true, Rafa acted the cunt at the time.

But i'm sat here patiently waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks.

It's the best and least stressful thing to do.....*



* might change my mind if Rafa's pissed at this

[Skillz]

I dont think so no. I think his position is clear now. Win or be replaced. I see no wrong in that. He's got the tools in his armour to win the league or so I keep reading. He's had plenty of money and time to have made inroads into the league challenge.

Just my opinion mind. I dont want him sacked but if we carry on as we are, I see no reason to keep him on.

That's a good way to go.

Rafa might aswell as left months ago with support like that. Thankfully your in the minority.

We are bloody lucky to still have him and I hope we still do tomorrow. If he goes though, I won't blame him.

[kopdan]

That's a good way to go.

Rafa might aswell as left months ago with support like that. Thankfully your in the minority.

We are bloddy lucky to still have him and I hope we still do tomorrow. If he goes though, I won't blame him.

lol

get over yourself. I am backing Rafa. As I said, he has the tools to win it. But we cant keep harking back to 2005. We have to move on...and we are not doing so. I'm waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks before really worrying.

[Dan]

**** on a stick

[Bob]

Can we get some of the accountants and legal eagles on this site to come up with a seven-day exit plan?

[kopdan]

It's the best and least stressful thing to do.....*



* might change my mind if Rafa's pissed at this

I was replying to Tom

[John_Gotti]

Can we get some of the accountants and legal eagles on this site to come up with a seven-day exit plan?

I will do it for free!

[rushscored4]

Is it worth reading this thread or is it just 10 pages of the usual hysterical over-reactions?

[Ketario]

It's both! Enjoy!

[Tom]

It's the best and least stressful thing to do.....*



* might change my mind if Rafa's pissed at this

Darren would you feel pissed if your boss said 2 weeks ago that you were safe in your job and then you found out he was secretly negotiating with someone behind your back?

This is a public humiliation for Rafa which is exactly what it was designed to be as it shows no confidence in his ability to run the club. It's not dead man walking anymore - he's climbed into the coffin.

[disco]

I was replying to Tom

And I was agreeing with you....

[calvoboy]

I agree with you Dan,
Although, I have to say, I am not impressed with Hicks going to Clinsman for advice on English Football and trying to make him an insurance policy if Rafa leaves, and then, going public with it.
What makes it worse too, it was ****ing Kilnsman

Me too. In terms of cold hard facts, so far by and large they have done as they said they would. The rumours are not good, they have made some collossal PR blunders, and they seem to be unsettling the club. But, but most of the air of doom is based on what people think is going to happen, rather than what has actually been done.

I don't mind them sounding out potential replacements for Rafa at a time when things were looking bad (and they were looking grim in November, when we were doing badly in Europe, were 8th in the league, and the manager and owners were only speaking to each other through the media). I do mind that it was Klinsmann though, who has never managed a club side, and whose reputation is based on reaching a semi-final with Germany (when's the last time they didn't do well in a big tournament), under home advantage.

But:

- for snoogy-doogy read Fernando Torres, there's no way we would have signed him under Moores. Regardless of how it was financed, Moores had to lend the club £10m himself to sign Kuyt, so c£20m for Torres would have been an impossibility.

- We are promised that a deal is close for the new stadium, which will be significantly better than the original Parry-bowl. And that a decision will be made in the next week or so.

- We now have the owners saying that communication is better with the manager and that he has their backing - though they completely ****ed up the PR on this one. The fact that they chose to stick with the manager after the Man Utd meeting is a good sign, and is probably the get-out for Klinsmann on his statement the other day saying he had no firm offers from an English club (he didn't, he'd agreed a contingency plan that was withdrawn after the Utd talks).

- On the debt, the Telegraph (who appear to have a contact at RBS given some of their detailed articles on the negotiations) has reported that they are close to a deal which will not involve putting the acquisition debt onto the club. On the timing issue, I wouldn't expect them to sign a deal until very close to the time that their current loan expires. They will want to spend as much time as possible negotiating the deal, and won't want to sign too soon in case the market moves against them. Similarly though, they won't want to leave it until the last few days, as RBS will have them over a barrel. They should be able to announce a deal in the next week or so, as Hicks has said.

- On this thing about securing against players - all debt will surely be secured against the total assets of the club, which will of course include the valuation of the playing staff. This isn't a new development, and applied to our debt before the yanks took over.


I am not a supporter of, or an apologist for, the two owners, I want to make that abundantly clear. I think they have gone about certain things extremely badly since they took over (e.g. this manager saga, their handling of the press, the releasing of stadium plans without full costs and financing attached to them etc.). BUT, in terms of cold hard facts, I think that they deserve the benefit of the doubt until the financing details are released, the stadium plans are released complete with details of how it will be financed, and until we hear Rafa's side of things on the latest revelations.

What's that saying again? Hope for the best, but expect the worst? That's not a bad summary of where I am. The signs are not good, but for now, I'm still hoping that things will work out. There are lots of good reasons to suggest that they might, as well as the well documented (on here) reasons why they might not.

[Skillz]

lol

get over yourself. I am backing Rafa. As I said, he has the tools to win it. But we cant keep harking back to 2005. We have to move on...and we are not doing so. I'm waiting to see what happens in the next few weeks before really worrying.

If he gives them the full endorsement, I will agree. Personally though I feel he needs an extension to stop the rot. You cannot expect him to work under this cloud. The only way to stop it is an extension, otherwise we will be a complete joke.

[GordonGecko]

Darren would you feel pissed if your boss said 2 weeks ago that you were safe in your job and then you found out he was secretly negotiating with someone behind your back?

This is a public humiliation for Rafa which is exactly what it was designed to be as it shows no confidence in his ability to run the club. It's not dead man walking anymore - he's climbed into the coffin.

I am basically Darren's boss.

& I have DEFINITELY been looking to replace him.