Spilly

Agree on the first part. But Hicks and Gillett aren't settled, they're still clinging on for dear life. They don't have the assets to take the club forward without borrowing huge sums, which they can't do. Maybe the big PR push was a cover for that, but I'd like to think it was genuine. Ayres and Purslow seem to want to do the right things and make up for the commercial mistakes of the past.

Riiight, thanks Mr Oswald. He was mugged in the summer good and proper, so why is he still here? The fans? I can't wait until we get the perfect uber owners and put an end to all this conspiracy tittle tattle...

Because of the new shirt deal? Why would they have said anything about each other before that? It's called PR. We've slagged the club off for years for being slack at this stuff, now it's part of some wider conspiracy. Does anyone really care if they like each other not as long as they work well together? A bit of tension in any work place is never a bad thing.

Why is the timing unreal? We've just signed a major new shirt deal after 18 odd years with the same sponsor. It's over the top but I doubt any other club wouldn't use it an excuse for a big PR jizz fest. Or maybe he's secretly planning to take out Purslow from the Texas book depository...

Certainly with the Klinsman thing. The rest is still speculation and I'm still not sure what to believe. Rafa was not shy of starting a lot of it himself, usually to give the board a nudge about funds, and it died down when he got what he wanted. You have to remember he's from a different culture, where politics is rampant in football and personal relationships with the board are non existant. The fact remains he's still here and looks happier than ever. Maybe he feels with the control he now has he to be a bit more protective of the board. but he just doesn't strike me as the type not to rock the boat if his authority was being undermined.

Oh come on. You think if the situation was that untenable for him he'd have trouble swapping the Wirral Peninsula for his home City and club and 200 million to spend? I love Rafa, but let's not paint him as this poor down trodden martyr. He's well versed in these political battles from his time in Spain and fought hard to get what he wanted here. If he felt for a minute that he was being undermined he'd be gone.

Which tells me he's still happy in his job, despite all the speculation and hearsay to the contrary, and has a good working relationship with the board. It's not what we want to hear given the situation with the owners, but these people are not fans and will do what's best for their career.

Yeah, but some people naively believe it's because of his love the club and fans and part of some sub plot to oust the yanks and save the day. He's in a highly paid top job and has a level of control he wouldn't get elsewhere. Lets the leave the conspiracy stiff for the cranks.

Strange reply. Interesting and well thought out? Are you a fan of his? I don't remember anyone questioning the manager's commitment to the job, hence the drama queen bit. Some fans are just too emotional to deal with everyday football club issues.

I rememeber it well, yeah. Rafa can play the PR game with the best of them, and using Montse was a nice touch. He\'s a political animal and wouldn\'t stand for getting the piss taken out of him, even if he did have a special relationship with his club and fans.

Bad drama queen you, mate.

Amazed? He\'s a football manager. It\'s about the job and level of control he has. I\'m sure he has an affinity with the City and fans, but people are naive if they think he wouldn\'t move to another job if he wasn\'t happy with his lot here, despite the set back in the summer.

Rafa is a driven workaholic. If he wasn\'t happy in his job he\'d be in Madrid already. I\'m sure he gets frustrated like every other manager but that doesn\'t add up to these wild conspiracy theories about his relationship with the board. He fought long and hard to get his new deal on HIS terms.

Absolute nonsense. Rafa doesn\'t love us that much.

Got the feeling it will be a tough game tonight. Write these off at your peril.

Hilarious stuff from the Zurich keeper.

Bit ridiculous to say the club is at an all time low. I take it she lived through Hillsborough and the Souness years? Shanks was a socialist but he was also a pragmatist and knew how to play the game with fans and directors alike.

That also brings its own issues. They can only buy so many superstars, especially with the new homegrown ruling. There\'s no perfect formula, but they certainly have the best chance of long term success. Hicks is talking out of his a*** as usual though. The aim should be to have no debt at all, or an amount that doesn\'t drain every single resource.

Nice training clobber.

What is your problem, mate? That\'s one hell of a chip on your shoulder.

How many out of the hoardes of foreign kids brought in in Rafa\'s time here have made the first team or are likely to? I don\'t think they\'ve been prioritising one or the other, though at one point it was almost fashionable to have an unlimited amount of exotic names bloating your academy. There just hasn\'t been the dearth of good homegrown talent over the past 5 years. But in saying that you could also point to the amount of kids we\'ve brought in from abroad in Rafa\'s time here without much, if any, success.

I think that\'s right, and we know they\'ve been trying to sell without success. But they won\'t be forced out with protests, etc. All they care about is money and there needs to be a credible proposal put on the table. The club already has the manager and financial expertise in place to keep things running smoothly, and I\'d take a huge consortium of wealthy fans with an elected chairman than this current limbo. At least we\'d be debt free and self sufficient.

Lucas doing sod all as usual.

There are no words to describe what a hero Kenny is to our club. Just meant to be.

Haha, there\'s a nightmarish image of Agger and Aurelio going in for a 50-50 tackle.