Old Shuck

He's been linked with a loan move to Villareal this morning. La Liga may suit his game. Less frenetic, time on the ball. Would be a decent move if true.

Robins didn''t do so well when he was in charge of Huddersfield and S****horpe-two wins from eight in his last games at the latter. He's like so many managers who've done the rounds in the lower leagues-OK at some, not so good at others. Coventry 'fits' him well, so much so that they took him back a year after S****horpe had sacked him. I can't see him wanting to leave there, especially for us-he'll be under pressure to play good football, win games and get promotion from day one. He doesn't have any of that at Cov. I can see the logic behind us potentially seeing him as our manager of course. But it would be a no from me. Not that Smith will be going anywhere. Short of us falling into the bottom six the club will cite him needing a chance 'with his own squad', which he'll get after we offload a load in the summer. I can see the logic there as well, at least from the clubs point of view. Wouldn't be mine though. Three candidates for me, in no particular order. Neil Critchley, Craig Bellamy and Sreven Schumacher. The club would never consider Bellars mind you.

That's what we'll all be doing. Dreaming.

He was about to type 'Webber sort it out' on Twitter and had just got to 'We.....' when his thought process was anticipated and he was treated accordingly.

Neil Critchley.

Forgive me if this is going off tangent or has already been mentioned but the term 'subject' became administratively (and presumably legally?) obsolete in 1981 after the British Nationality Act redefined us all as 'citizens' rather than 'subjects'.

To "...the surgeons going to clean out the knee/ankle just to make sure"

What do Chelsea want though-no, not want, expect from their coach? Owners, board, staff, players and fans-and sponsors. Seems to be a team that wins matches, regularly, and by playing an exciting, free flowing and much praised, by outsiders, style of football. CL qualification every season a given, quarter final stages of same as a bare minimum-again, every season. And a trophy every season on top of that. A squad of young players, many of whom come through their system and either make it as first team regulars a'la Mount or do well enough to be sold for big money elsewhere. All at a happy and united Cobham. Asking a lot but that seems to be what they expect!

John Fashanu. Not easy, to say the least, to shine during and after Justin but was with us for about five years and couldn't have made that many more appearances. Did well at Wimbledon and got a couple of England caps-although the formers playing style suited him perfectly.

Ask Fleckie about him. Loved playing alongside him and rates him as one of his best striking partners.

I'd be surprised if Smith even features in the bookie odds, even as one of the 25/1 plus 'stick a name in' punts.

Probably 'owe' us a fair bit on conditions that will now never be met-appearances etc. Would he come back here? He made that comparison between how defeat is treated here and at Newcastle, seemed a bit of a 'burning your bridges' exercise.

Don't the parent weaponize their children anyway? "You get the shirt and give it to me, I'll get you a box of Haribo for everyone you get".

But take a decent offer now or see the parting of the ways in the summer and have to find the money to replace him from elsewhere? One way or the other, this is his last season with us. It'd be a different sort of decision to make if he was in the first year of a three year deal. But, if the rumours are true, do we accept whatever we could get now or bid him a fond farewell for nothing in May?