psychedeliasmith

It really annoys me that people always hail the players who aren''t in the team as some kind of saviour. I''ve only seen Fortheringham play well once. He came on at half-time against Southampton and played well for 20 minutes before going off injured. Suddenly he''s the answer to all our problems. I''m not saying he''s a bad player but nor is he going to change our season around. It was the same when we were in the premiership. I remember being at Charlton and everyone saying that Phil Mulryne should be in the team. As if he came on it would change everything around. Of course we saw that Mulryne - as good as he was in our play off season - couldn''t do it in the Premiership. As for Doherty he is probably our best centre back but it doesn''t please me to say that.

I don''t know. We are forever talking about giving the young players a go - people have had digs at Worthington and Grant for not doing so but if they are not good enough they won''t get in the team. Shackell is the only player to have come through the ranks and earn a regular starting place. I don''t think he''s particularly good either. So the last player to make a big impact and stay in th eteam in Robert Green. Are we not scouting the best youth players, is Norfolk too isolated, is the training not good enough or is the Academy system in the whole of football a complete failure. I don''t know the answers. Ryan Jarvis was supposed to be the big hope but he''s turned out to be average. Then we''ve had the likes of Henderson, Spillane, Eagle and Rossi Jarvis in the team and none have made a big impact. I had high hopes for Chris Martin but I don''t know what has happened with him.  

I hope it is a wind up. I think all this Delia bashing has gone far enough. They did save us from financial doom and have raised the profile of the club. As for the hotels, restaurants (very nice by the way) and flats I don''t know if they are losing us money. They have made a couple of big mistakes and they were not signing a striker when we went up and appointing the worst manager in our history in Peter Grant. We should have bought Peter Crouch instead of waiting until January for Dean Ashton. Yet while everyone would like to see us playing Premiership football I would settle for us playing entertaining football and competing in the Champiosnhip. We are not at the moment and that is the fault of one man - Peter Grant. They have backed their managers with finances, smashing our transfer record with the signings of Dean Ashton and Robert Earnshaw. They also gave Peter Grant money to spend in the summer and if anything they perhaps have not questioned the manager''s signings enough. I can''t believe they allowed the caretaker to sign Hartson. Peter Grant is the reason for our problems right now. He signed terrible players in the summer and his constant criticisms of the players in public have left us with a weak squad who are low on quality and confidence. Of course the board did appoint the manager and I suppose the buck must stop somewhere for that but I don''t think there has been a lack of investment in the team. Ipswich are currently in the top six having won all their home games and they have had no money to spend. That is all set to change with the proposed takeover but my point is that they have risen up the table with a team assembled for little money. So although I do think the board have made mistakes I don''t believe Delia deserves the personal criticism. Nor do I see what good a protest will do in our current situation. And if she did walk away I''d await the inevitable posts on here thanking her for her efforts.

Chadwick is two footed so could play on the left if needs be with Croft coming in on the right. Watford are a big, strong and powerful side. To combat this I think we will need a big man to play alongside Cureton and that''s going to be Hartson. With his team selection on Sunday Roeder has clearly decided that the situation we are in demands experience. He picked the most experienced side available to him and that meant Chadwick over Croft, Brellier rather than Jarvis and Hartson and Dublin as his big men up front. When a team isn''t playing well or without much confidence it helps to keep things simple and that means playing a bit more direct and that''s exactly what we did on Sunday. We got the ball forward quickly and got crosses in for the big men. This doesn''t mean we should hoof it aimlessly of course.

I very much doubt it would be Waddle as Roeder himself said that both men were already in positions at other clubs. Waddle isn''t. The fact that he also said that the moves would represent promotions for the two men would rule out Nigel Pearson also.

I really don''t know if Allen would have been the right choice for our football club. We need a calming influence at the moment as the players rae obviously lacking in confidence after a year of slaggigs from Grant. Anyway, what is really so good about Martin Allen. If not for a few wins in the FA Cup no one would be talking about him. It''s only because Brentford won the odd FA Cup game - thus giving him media exposure on BBC - that he has a higher profile than most lower league managers. Let''s not forget that he failed in the play offs on more than one occassion and, worst of all, MK Dons were the only relegated team to fail to win promotion from League Two last season despite having a far bigger budget than Swindon, Hartlepool and Walsall...    

I can''t say that I was overwhelmed with excitement when the appointment was made but thinking about it I don''t think we could have done much better. I think every single potential manager mentioned would have divided opinion apart from Jewell who clearly didn''t want the job. On the subject of Jewell, the way people are talking it''s as if he''s Mourinho. He is a decent manager but let''s not forget how poor Wigan actually were last season. I know they are a smallish club but they made some big signings in the summer (Heskey) and they only just stayed up. It seems that his stock has increased from being out of the game - something that seems to happen more and more these days, especially if you have a good media image. Just look at Curbishley and Strachan... I hope Roeder does well because I think we need a manager who represents what our club is all about. We are a nice, friendly, family club and we need our manager to represent that. Sometimes that means we are perceived as being a bit of a soft touch  but Grant''s attempts to change what we are about failed. He may be a nice man off the pitch but he didn''t come across as a particularly pleasant man to work for which is why not many people felt sorry for him when he left.    

Has anyone been watching Sky Sports News. They just went through thye papers and, although they didn''t mention it, at the top-left of The Sun''s backpage for tomorrow was the headline Delia Sells!

I actually thought the fans were quite good last night. Only started booing and singinG Grant Out whne the final whistle had gone.

Show some patience! We don''t want to sack him. We want him to resign - that way we save on a bigger payout! I think he''ll be gone by tomorrow - there''s no way he could even consider carrying on after what he said last night. The players don''t respect him anyway and they''re even less likely to now.

Grant has to accept that there comes a time when the manager has to take the resposnsibilty himself. I listened to himand when he was asked what he could do he said that he couldn''t go out and play himself. Of course not but it is his job to inspire the players to play in the way he wants them to play. Maybe he confuses them. I don''t know whether he wants them to lump the ball up the pitch or pass it. Listening to Huckerby afterwards, it doesn''t sound if they''re inspired.As for the board I think they made a mistake appointing Grant. We needed a manager with experience at the time not someone who had never done the job before. You can imagine he would have been quite good in an interview, mind. Having said that Delia and Michael Wynn Jones have done a lot for the club and let''s not forget that we''d be screwed without them.