Alex

How good is that, btw?

They can't win. Given the 'quality' of the rest of the bench people would've been going mental if Jonas wasn't on it.

:lol:

I think you were a little bit too earnest in the OP for anyone to buy the above

http://www.toontastic.net/board/topic/32799-banning-vs-rules/

Yeah but that's not what I take issue with. Rather it's Graves fanning the flames of a story which wasn't in the papers (even if it was in the background) during a calamitous World Cup campaign. What's the rationale behind that? I take your point though, the fact it became a fairly big story shows the problems at present. With KP I've come round to thinking it's a classic case of his rep being enhanced by being out of an under performing team. Obviously his record is great overall but it's a while since he's done much. The story will rumble on unless the results improve though. Not a bad time to play the Windies like so that series will probably paper over some of the cracks.

Which makes the comments all the dafter. I bet Moores and the current players were delighted.

They finished top 8 in each of his last four seasons there. Not that I like him at all but he had achieved a way of playing which consistently got good results at Bolton. Spent a canny bit of money too though, especially on wages. I think he's a fraud in the sense he tries to convince people he could adapt the way he plays. He was pretty one-dimensional at Bolton. The first half of this season at West Ham they've played some good football but he'd have been playing with Carroll as a target man all season if he'd been fit so you have to wonder how much of that is down to him and how much it's a one-off.

Graves' comments aren't serious or behind closed doors though, are they? As well as the aforementioned timing, i.e. during a World Cup. They're media-friendly froth which the ECB has since moved to distance themselves from. So it's another gaffe rather than saving face. The story had died down and it's now been reignited. That would be acceptable if the circumstances had changed, but further comments from the ECB say that's not the case.

Use your left hand.

Yeah, dead comfortable :lol:

You still 'vaping' btw?

That's the thing though. He's not on a central contract and he's playing in the IPL. If he rolls up to a county and is prepared to play for a reasonable amount of money (i.e. a lot less than he's become accustomed to) then it could happen. That isn't going to happen though (I could maybe see a T/20 contract or something like that) and quite frankly, I don't blame KP at all. He would need a cast iron guarantee that getting first class runs for a county would see him being brought back into the fold fairly quickly. I find it unlikely that has (or will) be offered by the ECB. He needs that sort of assurance because of his age. He can't be expected to write off a couple of years at this stage in his career and expecting him to give up the IPL on some vague comments from a new guy at the ECB is just plain daft (not suggesting that's your standpoint, by the way). I find Colin Graves comments to be rather bizarre in both their content and timing (the latter especially). Perhaps he's trying to make a name for himself but it seems an ill-advised method of doing so. I don't disagree with your premise that KP could easily still do a job for England, if his motivation was there, I'm just pointing out the reasons why I think it's all pie in the sky.

Do you reckon many counties are going to be scrambling for his signature like? I think he might struggle to find one tbh.

Cheers /s

As it turns out, getting rid of him 7 or 8 games in would've been a mistake since it would have cost the club about £4m (the comp Pardew would've had to receive plus what Palace then paid us) which could've been spent on a new coach for next season.

Good to know, Thumper.

I think they're a factor like, Dave.

So, you wanted a change at the start of the season (after spending £37m), but you're happy with the change, just because it is a change, even though you don't think the change in a manager has made a difference (and you didn't anticipate that it would) and also because the fans (who you didn't agree with) wanted a change and the change has resulted in our getting an inferior manager (as per your previously stated opinion) and you anticipate this lesser manager getting a crack at the job on a 'permanent' basis? Ok

Thought Carl Frampton looked absolute class the other night. Great for the sport to have a fight like that on terrestrial TV too.

So why are you glad he's gone then?

My initial reply was the very definition of sarcasm

I suppose there's a bit of extra prize money (£1m a place or something I think). Plus success leads to extra TV money in theory I think as you get more per appearance. I think HF might be onto something as I think he might get a decent coach in. I don't think it's because of any particular desire to see us win things (and I certainly don't see the 'value' for Ashley in spending the money required for a challenge for a Champions League place). What I do think is that, as the TV money grows, he can spend some of it on making sure he's protecting his investment / keeping us in the league. Aiming for 12th-ish and ticking over is alright in theory but I think Ashley would perhaps regard doing that as an unnecessary risk. Also, the Pardew compensation would probably pay for a decent manager in any case. Carver and relegation (which would be entirely possible and almost certainly too close for comfort doesn't make business sense). I'm no less cynical about Ashley but I could see him spending a bit more (though not necessarily all it earns). You also have to factor in the loss of the exposure to Sports Direct overseas if we went down again.