HanoiVillan

no, not even slightly. My ambitions for this football club are higher than 'stay one division ahead of birmingham'.

Well, that's that. We're not coming back from 2 down.

Imagine being the sort of person who truly, honestly gives a s*** about the difference between Option 1 and Option 3.

. . . and as our club is stocked full to the brim with players as good as, or even better than, Eden Hazard we might as well release him on a free.

laughable comment, it really is Hardly. Infact i probably would too although i'd prefer neither. Haha weimann would struggle to get in the majority of championship sides, dreadful player Yawn.

Well, Sylla only played during the good bit of it, so arguably he should be thanked more than most others. He did do well - a year ago. Now he isn't good enough, so we should part ways, either for a loan deal or ideally, a slightly profit-making transfer. But it doesn't change history - he played a significant part in us staying up last year.

Why would he be unpopular? Turgid style of football and Liverpool connection. People seemed to be able to get over it for Houllier? I always said, when Benitez managed Liverpool, he's a great manager for cup runs and inspiring players and giving you memorable nights of rollercoaster emotions. For seriously competing to win the league, he never showed the tactical flexibility, but to be fair, that was all a long time ago now.

This.

Elmohamady, in the 91st minute, for a 1-0 Hull win.

Agree. He's a great squad player, but he's not good enough to be a starting right back. We need a new one in the summer.

Yes, it would never happen. For one thing, it wouldn't be fair on all of the other teams in the relegation battle.

Don't understand the negativity, both from posters on here and from the management at times this season. The reality is that his performances since Christmas have been one of the few bright points in what has otherwise been a dark few months for this football club. He always tries to do things, he beats his man more often than not, he gets good crosses in more often than not, and he's a very positive influence on the team. How many times have we been on here in recent months and he's won the man of the match poll? It's a lot. Also, he was more threatening than Ward-Prowse today, and I take it nobody's going to come on here and say he's not a good prospect. Obviously we'd all prefer it if we had Robben or something, but we don't, so let's just tie down his contract, congratulate him for his excellent performances, and support one of our better players.

It was great to see him given a chance, and the fans did well with the reception. As noted, he looked very nervous and didn't really do anything to justify any more significant involvement at this stage, but once we're mathematically safe I'd like to see him get more pitch time.

The disadvantages we have are obvious - nobody who looks like scoring a goal between now and the end of the season. However, it would be remiss not to mention that we do have two major advantages - a goal difference that's basically an extra half point, and the number of teams below us. For us to go down, we'd have to see really good run-ins from Albion, Norwich, Cardiff and Fulham at this point. I've been fearing for us all week, because I felt sure Cardiff and/or Fulham would win today, but that hasn't happened. We'll probably be safe thanks to a desperate 0-0 draw at home to Hull. But unless there's major changes to this club over the summer, we'll start next season as favourites for the drop. It's a loooooooooooong time until Benteke returns.

To be fair, it's not like me to be saying this, but it'd be better to draw 0-0 than lose because we went all-out-attack.

I think you know the answer to that question.

Seriously, what is happening about Albrighton's contract? He's by far the best player on our team, and not for the first time in recent weeks either. Apart from that, a rubbish half of terrible football, the saving grace of which is that we aren't actually losing yet. If they have 75% possession for the next 45 minutes, we will lose.

Good cross from Marc.

We're up to 25% possession!

You want to be hopeful, but there's no evidence it's justified.

Gabby with a magnificent touch there, kicked it about 15 yards ahead. You're not Bale mate.

He should talk! Or, ideally, not.

Maybe we should wait to see if it actually happens first?

I'm not cheering anything yet, no matter how necessary it is. There's just so many pitfalls to avoid with a new owner. Will it be an Allam, who will only give us money if we change our name to Birmingham Dragons to make us more appealing to Chinese betting syndicates? A Zingarevich who just doesn't care? A Yeung or a Shinawatra who'll cause a crisis with their personal shadiness? An Abramovic or Cellini who'll sack the manager every 6 months? A Ridsdale who'll send us into administration? A Tan who'll insist on briefing the press against the manager and choosing who to pick? I'm cautiously hopeful, but there's a lot worse owners than Lerner out there. We might be back here in a year or two reminiscing about him yet.

What a completely pointless signing this has turned out to be.