vonwright

Personally thought there was a bigger difference than that. Think QPR are close to how Rooney ultimately wants us to play - one touch, dominate possession & very mobile front men - they're just much better at it than us (better players in the final 3rd obviously help that)
Totally agree re Morrison & I'm very disappointed. He was a final third impact player earlier in his career but looked totally lost there tonight.

Good effort but completely ran out of steam, and the mistakes came. We have got pretty good at defending, working incredibly hard, and making it tough for the other team. But the minute we start pushing too many forward or taking a few chances... bad things tend to happen, and particularly when our midfield has run itself ragged. 
Can't blame Rooney or the players for gambling. And QPR are a very good team. 

Good effort but completely ran out of steam, and the mistakes came. We have got pretty good at defending, working incredibly hard, and making it tough for the other team. But the minute we start pushing too many forward or taking a few chances... bad things tend to happen, and particularly when our midfield has run itself ragged. 
Can't blame Rooney or the players for gambling. And QPR are a very good team. 

Thompson was outstanding - again!

Good effort but completely ran out of steam, and the mistakes came. We have got pretty good at defending, working incredibly hard, and making it tough for the other team. But the minute we start pushing too many forward or taking a few chances... bad things tend to happen, and particularly when our midfield has run itself ragged. 
Can't blame Rooney or the players for gambling. And QPR are a very good team. 

It's funny how people remember Commons differently - I though he was really good for us. He speaks really well of his time at Derby here. To me he just comes across as a proper professional, respectful of all the clubs he's played for. It's hard to blame him for not wanting to take a wage cut. 

It's funny how people remember Commons differently - I though he was really good for us. He speaks really well of his time at Derby here. To me he just comes across as a proper professional, respectful of all the clubs he's played for. It's hard to blame him for not wanting to take a wage cut. 

The silver lining of us losing Lampard to Chelsea (popular ex-player with limited management experience: failed) is that it is now less likely Manchester United will poach Rooney, who has basically the same profile. Particularly after Ole, who was roughly similar (yes he'd managed for a while but never in a top league). I think the big clubs will increasingly want recently retired big name players to have a more successful track record before they take the leap (eg Gerrard going through Rangers and now Aston Villa).
That's what I hope, anyway... The only complication is that there aren't a lot of decent managers available to United at the moment. But still can't see them taking this punt - the only thing that would make sense is roping him in as assistant to whoever the new manager is, with a view to him being the ultimate successor. But not sure things ever work like that, or how attractive that prospect would be. Rooney seems like his own man, with his own ideas.

See, and I don’t know if it’s because assists weren’t a thing back when we had him, Commons directly contributed to 24 goals in 49 games in his first season for us. This is in a piss-poor side. 

Unless, of course, they go up.  And the signing of Andy Carroll (just before the points deduction was announced so they knew what was coming) was a statement that they haven't given up on that idea.  Carroll may not be the PL force he once promised to be, but if he keeps himself fit - a significant if on his recent record - he can certainly be a force in this league.  6 points are retrievable; 12 points probably not, and all they need to do is come 6th to give themselves a chance.
One of the many failings of the EFL is their total failure to come to any meaningful agreement with the PL about the financial impact and governance around teams moving between the two leagues. That's largely down to two things - the EFL's lack of foresight and imagination going back many years about the negative impact on equal competition of the money on offer (mainly prize money and parachute payments) and, secondly, their overall lack of comparative administrative competence.  Richard Scudamore and his team knocked them into a cocked hat and his successors continue to do so.
Unfortunately, for us and the majority of the 72 clubs that make up the EFL, that ship has long since sailed, much to the detriment of football as a whole 

'Siri, what is the internet?'

I found it really heartening when fans forced a rethink of the Super League plans, but we are already half way there. The fact is we have a top tier which is separate from, and vastly more profitable than, the rest of football. It breaks things for everyone else. And I have absolutely no idea what you do about that. You could have a system where revenue is shared more fairly but the rich clubs would simply split. You could have a system where no losses are allowed and the best players would play abroad and fans wouldn't accept it. It's an impossible puzzle really. And it's why, while I believe Mel messed up and is responsible for much of our current plight, I can't say that I think he was badly motivated. The whole system is geared toward encouraging owners to go that little bit further, that little bit further, until they can no longer swim safely back to shore. 

Also - if we are honest - the scale of losses under a straight-line amortisation policy lays bare the underlying financial situation fairly well. Our policy was based on back-ending losses and essentially pretending worthless players were worth something. Huge losses were only partially offset by a 'generous' stadium sale. The whole pattern is one of overspending compounded by overspending, dodging the final reckoning for as long as possible. And then the final dodge was to put the club in administration and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. I'm trying to work out what the plan was if we hadn't been pulled up on our amortisation and I'm struggling. 

'Siri, what is the internet?'

Also - if we are honest - the scale of losses under a straight-line amortisation policy lays bare the underlying financial situation fairly well. Our policy was based on back-ending losses and essentially pretending worthless players were worth something. Huge losses were only partially offset by a 'generous' stadium sale. The whole pattern is one of overspending compounded by overspending, dodging the final reckoning for as long as possible. And then the final dodge was to put the club in administration and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. I'm trying to work out what the plan was if we hadn't been pulled up on our amortisation and I'm struggling. 

Also - if we are honest - the scale of losses under a straight-line amortisation policy lays bare the underlying financial situation fairly well. Our policy was based on back-ending losses and essentially pretending worthless players were worth something. Huge losses were only partially offset by a 'generous' stadium sale. The whole pattern is one of overspending compounded by overspending, dodging the final reckoning for as long as possible. And then the final dodge was to put the club in administration and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. I'm trying to work out what the plan was if we hadn't been pulled up on our amortisation and I'm struggling. 

I found it really heartening when fans forced a rethink of the Super League plans, but we are already half way there. The fact is we have a top tier which is separate from, and vastly more profitable than, the rest of football. It breaks things for everyone else. And I have absolutely no idea what you do about that. You could have a system where revenue is shared more fairly but the rich clubs would simply split. You could have a system where no losses are allowed and the best players would play abroad and fans wouldn't accept it. It's an impossible puzzle really. And it's why, while I believe Mel messed up and is responsible for much of our current plight, I can't say that I think he was badly motivated. The whole system is geared toward encouraging owners to go that little bit further, that little bit further, until they can no longer swim safely back to shore. 

I should also say - as someone who has been pretty vocal in attributing a fair bit of blame to our previous owners - I don't think the EFL has covered itself in glory. The whole system stinks: football basically doesn't work, financially, outside the Premiership. There's a complete disconnect between the Prem and the rest of football. And rather than any kind of benevolent independent oversight the whole thing seems to be run on the basis of 'Yeah we all know it doesn't really work, but just don't take the **** and we will pretend it's all fine and functional'. At best the EFL is curbing the worst excesses while turning a blind eye to the underlying issues. We messed up, I can't really defend the way we were run - but it's not like we were one bad apple in an otherwise perfectly healthy batch. 

I found it really heartening when fans forced a rethink of the Super League plans, but we are already half way there. The fact is we have a top tier which is separate from, and vastly more profitable than, the rest of football. It breaks things for everyone else. And I have absolutely no idea what you do about that. You could have a system where revenue is shared more fairly but the rich clubs would simply split. You could have a system where no losses are allowed and the best players would play abroad and fans wouldn't accept it. It's an impossible puzzle really. And it's why, while I believe Mel messed up and is responsible for much of our current plight, I can't say that I think he was badly motivated. The whole system is geared toward encouraging owners to go that little bit further, that little bit further, until they can no longer swim safely back to shore. 

I should also say - as someone who has been pretty vocal in attributing a fair bit of blame to our previous owners - I don't think the EFL has covered itself in glory. The whole system stinks: football basically doesn't work, financially, outside the Premiership. There's a complete disconnect between the Prem and the rest of football. And rather than any kind of benevolent independent oversight the whole thing seems to be run on the basis of 'Yeah we all know it doesn't really work, but just don't take the **** and we will pretend it's all fine and functional'. At best the EFL is curbing the worst excesses while turning a blind eye to the underlying issues. We messed up, I can't really defend the way we were run - but it's not like we were one bad apple in an otherwise perfectly healthy batch. 

Also - if we are honest - the scale of losses under a straight-line amortisation policy lays bare the underlying financial situation fairly well. Our policy was based on back-ending losses and essentially pretending worthless players were worth something. Huge losses were only partially offset by a 'generous' stadium sale. The whole pattern is one of overspending compounded by overspending, dodging the final reckoning for as long as possible. And then the final dodge was to put the club in administration and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. I'm trying to work out what the plan was if we hadn't been pulled up on our amortisation and I'm struggling. 

I should also say - as someone who has been pretty vocal in attributing a fair bit of blame to our previous owners - I don't think the EFL has covered itself in glory. The whole system stinks: football basically doesn't work, financially, outside the Premiership. There's a complete disconnect between the Prem and the rest of football. And rather than any kind of benevolent independent oversight the whole thing seems to be run on the basis of 'Yeah we all know it doesn't really work, but just don't take the **** and we will pretend it's all fine and functional'. At best the EFL is curbing the worst excesses while turning a blind eye to the underlying issues. We messed up, I can't really defend the way we were run - but it's not like we were one bad apple in an otherwise perfectly healthy batch. 

Also - if we are honest - the scale of losses under a straight-line amortisation policy lays bare the underlying financial situation fairly well. Our policy was based on back-ending losses and essentially pretending worthless players were worth something. Huge losses were only partially offset by a 'generous' stadium sale. The whole pattern is one of overspending compounded by overspending, dodging the final reckoning for as long as possible. And then the final dodge was to put the club in administration and leave the mess for someone else to clean up. I'm trying to work out what the plan was if we hadn't been pulled up on our amortisation and I'm struggling. 

I should also say - as someone who has been pretty vocal in attributing a fair bit of blame to our previous owners - I don't think the EFL has covered itself in glory. The whole system stinks: football basically doesn't work, financially, outside the Premiership. There's a complete disconnect between the Prem and the rest of football. And rather than any kind of benevolent independent oversight the whole thing seems to be run on the basis of 'Yeah we all know it doesn't really work, but just don't take the **** and we will pretend it's all fine and functional'. At best the EFL is curbing the worst excesses while turning a blind eye to the underlying issues. We messed up, I can't really defend the way we were run - but it's not like we were one bad apple in an otherwise perfectly healthy batch. 

I should also say - as someone who has been pretty vocal in attributing a fair bit of blame to our previous owners - I don't think the EFL has covered itself in glory. The whole system stinks: football basically doesn't work, financially, outside the Premiership. There's a complete disconnect between the Prem and the rest of football. And rather than any kind of benevolent independent oversight the whole thing seems to be run on the basis of 'Yeah we all know it doesn't really work, but just don't take the **** and we will pretend it's all fine and functional'. At best the EFL is curbing the worst excesses while turning a blind eye to the underlying issues. We messed up, I can't really defend the way we were run - but it's not like we were one bad apple in an otherwise perfectly healthy batch.