The club statement

Great that they'll be appointing a new manager quickly - though I've got a mounting feeling it's going to be Zola. Would shake things up, reputation for great football (and therefore the anti-Hughton), record of doing well at Championship level in the past... he ticks pretty much all of the board's boxes, but certainly wouldn't be my choice.

But the rest of that statement? The corporate speak throughout turns my stomach. "Unable to secure Premier League status"? We've been s**t; we've been relegated. Stop using f**king business jargon about football.

"We backed the manager with funds"... to sign Joseph Yobo and Jonas Gutierrez. That's it. The writing was on the wall in January, and we did nothing about it. Throwing Hughton under a bus, as this statement does, is cheap, unpleasant and unnecessary. They're doing it to cover their own backs; no other reason.

They'll get away with it of course. New manager is appointed, everyone gets behind him, fresh start is made. I just hope they've learnt the lessons of their mistakes. Focusing on football, rather than the corporate bottom line all the time, would be a nice start in that.

Posted By: thebigfeller, May 11, 21:16:28