Crisis? — By Paul Tomkins

[Shaggy]

I'm happy to give Hoxha more time. I think we can afford to keep him on for another five minutes. Maybe even ten.

[Darkon]

I guess it's just difficult to move on from having one of the best managers around (opinion, of course) to this...

My guess is that we'll still be talking about Rafa for a long, long time yet.

I agree, but I still don't see the point in bringing it up constantly and making random guesses on where we would be if he was in charge.

It doesn't really get us anywhere being stuck in the past reminiscing about the good old days where everything was better and the grass was greener.

But it does seem like this old discussion will keep popping up for a long time...

[frank the tank]

i will be honest, we can't keep looking backwards.....i was a member of the RCDNW brigade - whereas now i am a member of the WCDNW (woy can do no wight) group........however, if we keep looking back to the rafa reign and playing the blame-game over his dismissal, then what will that achieve??? feck all - he is at inter now so lets just look at the facts.....

i think there are better managers that roy available right now - the question is, would there be even better managers available next summer? What i am trying to say is, yes we could go with somebody like O'Neill but are they the people to bring us long-term stability and progress on the pitch? I don't think so to be perfectly honest.....however, it is highly unlikely that any top manager (and that is what we need) will break their contract half-way through a season.......personally, in hindsight, i would nearly have preferred mark hughes to hodgson, and that is taking into accounts he is a manc-toffee-chav c*nt!!!

who i would like to see come in as manager eventually would be somebody like Unai Emery or the ultimate would be Hiddink.........but we may have to wait until next summer at the earliest to get our long-term manager......

so to summarise,

Do I think that Roy is the right man for the job? - NO
Do I think that the right man is available right now? - PROBABLY NOT


Solution - it's fcukin obvious - get Kenny back with Thommo as his assistant - call him a caretaker so he doesn't lose face if it goes tits-up (couldn't get worse than our current predicament) and if it goes brilliantly, then keep him full time!!!!

[The Birdman]

Why oh why are we so obsessed with the past Kenny and Thommo????
When Man U were looking to win the title after 20 odd years they didn't appoint Bobby Charlton did they?
Chelsea didn't appoint Kerry Dixon or Chopper Harris
Man City didn't appoint Franny Lee or Summerbee
Arsenal didn't appoint Viv Anderson.

We need to move forward not look back, no disputing the status and respect some past players deserve but Kenny last managed us 20 years ago.
I loved Rafa the manager, he gave us our pride back but banging on about Kenny is as mad as it is thinking Rafa would leave Inter to return.

[Arn]

Why oh why are we so obsessed with the past Kenny and Thommo????
When Man U were looking to win the title after 20 odd years they didn't appoint Bobby Charlton did they?
Chelsea didn't appoint Kerry Dixon or Chopper Harris
Man City didn't appoint Franny Lee or Summerbee
Arsenal didn't appoint Viv Anderson.

We need to move forward not look back, no disputing the status and respect some past players deserve but Kenny last managed us 20 years ago.
I loved Rafa the manager, he gave us our pride back but banging on about Kenny is as mad as it is thinking Rafa would leave Inter to return.

He would probably return after this season if Purslow is gone. No doubt about that. He love the club and City to bits. The question is if NESV want him back or not? If they want that then it's more or less a done deal IMO.

[Tribute]

I agree, but I still don't see the point in bringing it up constantly and making random guesses on where we would be if he was in charge.

It doesn't really get us anywhere being stuck in the past reminiscing about the good old days where everything was better and the grass was greener.

But it does seem like this old discussion will keep popping up for a long time...

I don't think it's a case of being nostalgic about Rafa, it's simply a case of putting Roy's current performance in context. We know it's dire, but relating it back to Rafa's tenure gives an idea of how dire.

I don't think Tomkins is seeing the Rafa era with rose-tinted spectacles, he's just pissed off at the continuing blame being assigned to Rafa for Roy's poor management and results. As he says, Rafa was blamed by the media for performances at the start of the season after Houllier went, but Roy is blameless this season because of Rafa's poor squad legacy - which is just media hypocrasy

[CJ]

Why oh why are we so obsessed with the past Kenny and Thommo????
When Man U were looking to win the title after 20 odd years they didn't appoint Bobby Charlton did they?
Chelsea didn't appoint Kerry Dixon or Chopper Harris
Man City didn't appoint Franny Lee or Summerbee
Arsenal didn't appoint Viv Anderson.

We need to move forward not look back, no disputing the status and respect some past players deserve but Kenny last managed us 20 years ago.
I loved Rafa the manager, he gave us our pride back but banging on about Kenny is as mad as it is thinking Rafa would leave Inter to return.

what would you do if arsenal were in the mire would you think george graham should manage them?

[RedReet]

He would probably return after this season if Purslow is gone. No doubt about that. He love the club and City to bits. The question is if NESV want him back or not? If they want that then it's more or less a done deal IMO.

That’s a fair point. With Rafa’s past history with those in authority would they want the potential hassle, especially as he would already be in a very powerful position with the fans on his side. Rafa is hardly going to get a glowing recommendation from current board members so I’d be quite surprised if he was high on their priority list.