Selles confimred

[WestYorksRoyal]

We rarely played particularly well though. Performances didn't massively drop off in the 2nd season, we just started losing

[Snowflake Royal]

Yeah fair point. Yann particularly was unbelievably good second half of that year.

Yeah that's a good shout. Bore the opposition to tears whilst you have Ali Al-Habsi saving almost everything and Kermorgant banging away chance after chance and you'll do well.

Replace that with a decent but not special Mannone, and the delightfully try hard but not very effective Jon Dadi/Roy Beerens completely out of position and suddenly you can't beat an egg.

Not really. It’s understandable people don’t like Stam but let’s not rewrite history

We conceded 64 goals in Stam’s first season, 70 the season after, not a huge difference there. Kermorgant, whilst being an important player, only really became clinical in the last month or so (think 50% of his goals were in April and May that season)

Accumulation of things really and sure, we got lucky at times, but you don’t get 85 points and two penalty kicks off the PL because two players are in the “form of their lives”

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

[Hendo]

Yeah that's a good shout. Bore the opposition to tears whilst you have Ali Al-Habsi saving almost everything and Kermorgant banging away chance after chance and you'll do well.

Replace that with a decent but not special Mannone, and the delightfully try hard but not very effective Jon Dadi/Roy Beerens completely out of position and suddenly you can't beat an egg.

Not really. It’s understandable people don’t like Stam but let’s not rewrite history

We conceded 64 goals in Stam’s first season, 70 the season after, not a huge difference there. Kermorgant, whilst being an important player, only really became clinical in the last month or so (think 50% of his goals were in April and May that season)

Accumulation of things really and sure, we got lucky at times, but you don’t get 85 points and two penalty kicks off the PL because two players are in the “form of their lives”

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

[Snowflake Royal]

Not really. It’s understandable people don’t like Stam but let’s not rewrite history

We conceded 64 goals in Stam’s first season, 70 the season after, not a huge difference there. Kermorgant, whilst being an important player, only really became clinical in the last month or so (think 50% of his goals were in April and May that season)

Accumulation of things really and sure, we got lucky at times, but you don’t get 85 points and two penalty kicks off the PL because two players are in the “form of their lives”

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

I didn’t say we were outside, I said there's a good chance we finish outside without the good end of season form.

[Hendo]

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

I didn’t say we were outside, I said there's a good chance we finish outside without the good end of season form.

Yeah, but you could say that about any season, ever. 2011/12 would be the most obvious one to point out. Without that end of season form, we get nowhere near automatic promotion.

The way you put it, it was like that was the only thing that ensured we finished in the play-offs where in actual fact we were always in the mix, for the whole season.

[Snowflake Royal]

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

I didn’t say we were outside, I said there's a good chance we finish outside without the good end of season form.

Yeah, but you could say that about any season, ever. 2011/12 would be the most obvious one to point out. Without that end of season form, we get nowhere near automatic promotion.

The way you put it, it was like that was the only thing that ensured we finished in the play-offs where in actual fact we were always in the mix, for the whole season.

You really couldn’t say it about most seasons for the last ten years, because we haven’t finished strong, or at the top end of the division.

[scumbag]

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

I didn’t say we were outside, I said there's a good chance we finish outside without the good end of season form.

Such insightful analysis.

[tmesis]

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

I didn’t say we were outside, I said there's a good chance we finish outside without the good end of season form.

Such insightful analysis.

Apparently it was only Peter Crouch's growth spurt during puberty that resulted in him being tall.

[muirinho]

Not really. It’s understandable people don’t like Stam but let’s not rewrite history

We conceded 64 goals in Stam’s first season, 70 the season after, not a huge difference there. Kermorgant, whilst being an important player, only really became clinical in the last month or so (think 50% of his goals were in April and May that season)

Accumulation of things really and sure, we got lucky at times, but you don’t get 85 points and two penalty kicks off the PL because two players are in the “form of their lives”

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

Stam's biggest mistake was not leaving us at the end of that season - it was NOT end of season form - we were consistently Play-Off through almost the entire season.

If he'd left then, the actual football played would have been forgotten, and the "nearly made the PL" bit would have been remembered.

I've said it before, but what really made that team work was not the quality of the football (funny that!), but the self-belief and team spirit. They came back from some absolute tonkings, where they were totally outclassed by the opposition, without any diminution of that self-belief - they were sure things the next game would be better.

Without that, the same team, with those tactics, would have been lower middle at best - with or without Kermorgant's purple patch.

[MartinRdg]

It was the end of season form propelled us up the play off tree. Without that hot spell from Kermorgant there's a good chance we finish outside.

And a lot of those first season goals came in a handful of games.

It's not re-writing history.

I think it might be you who is re-writing history on this one Ian.

We were 8th on the 22nd October and then never dropped out of the play-off positions.

We were 5th on 11th March then some form picked up but we were firming in the play-off mix all the way. On that lower point we were 3 points ahead of Fulham in 7th and then 8 ahead of Preston in 8th.

Stam's biggest mistake was not leaving us at the end of that season - it was NOT end of season form - we were consistently Play-Off through almost the entire season.

If he'd left then, the actual football played would have been forgotten, and the "nearly made the PL" bit would have been remembered.

I've said it before, but what really made that team work was not the quality of the football (funny that!), but the self-belief and team spirit. They came back from some absolute tonkings, where they were totally outclassed by the opposition, without any diminution of that self-belief - they were sure things the next game would be better.

Without that, the same team, with those tactics, would have been lower middle at best - with or without Kermorgant's purple patch.

The football that season was dire under Stam - really wanted him to leave even though he somehow got us to the playoffs....

[ozzygull]

I think he could a good signing for you.

We played his Southampton side last season, and it was a game that confirmed our place in Europe. Southampton had already been relegated so had nothing to play for. They were denied a equalizer to make it two - two by the tiniest of margins by VAR. if it had been done to us I would have been livid so they had a right to feel aggrieved. Thankfully their season was not affected by it.

I thought Southampton played some nice stuff in that game and were much better then under Jones when we played them away. I think if they had employed him instead of Jones when they did, they may have stayed up.

Glad that you owner paid HMRC. I know your understanbly not happy with your owner but hopfully you can put a promtion push together next season. Good luck

[NathStPaul]

Good vibes Ozzygull

[CountryRoyal]

By all accounts; did well or as well as could be expected in big games but crap against the poorer teams.

As the league is filled with 16 teams we “should” (lol) be beating I’m not sure how that bodes tbh. If we have enough quality to dispatch the smaller clubs and Selles can outmanoeuvre the bigger clubs - it could go well.

[ozzygull]

By all accounts; did well or as well as could be expected in big games but crap against the poorer teams.

As the league is filled with 16 teams we “should” (lol) be beating I’m not sure how that bodes tbh. If we have enough quality to dispatch the smaller clubs and Selles can outmanoeuvre the bigger clubs - it could go well.

To be fair that could be applied to our "end of season" as well.

we lost 3-1 away at Forest, followed by beating wolves 6-0.
We lost 1-5 at home against Everton followed by beating Arsenal 3-0 away.

Leeds fans think we did it on purpose, so they got relegated. I suppose blaming us helps them cope better then admitting they were rubbish

Like any league once you get to the sticky end of the season, teams that have relegation fears can pull off unexpected results, especially if the opposition feel their season is over.

[Sutekh]

More from Mr Selles...

https://www.bbc.co.uk/sport/football/66238262

[Snowflake Royal]

"We can't change the past"

No shit, we'd like the present to be less of a shit show thanks.

[Royal_jimmy]

If we aren't in or very close to the top 6 then he'll be shown the door.

[SouthDownsRoyal]

Selles out

[MartinRdg]

I think we need to give him time. As long as it looks like he is building a team which improves over the season and it's not another relegation scrap then I would be happy with a mid-table finish. We need a manager for more than one season to give us more consistency so we can then build to promotion in 2024/2025 if we don't make it this year.

[WestYorksRoyal]

If we aren't in or very close to the top 6 then he'll be shown the door.

Pauno and Ince got way too much time, so it would be a break from recent memory to sack him if we're 10th.

We also need to give a manager a real chance to build something. In the Championship, embargos meant we had no space for the slightest underachievement, and so we ended up on the merry go round needing a new manager bounce every year. Not the case now; it's a position of strength that finishing 12th would be a bad season.

I agree top 6 is the target, but if we don't achieve it, I hope the club takes a step back and asks sensible questions. Is he fostering a good team culture? Is there a style of play entertaining the fans? Has the manager identified how we need to improve? It may be that these questions have unsatisfactory answers, in which case adios Ruben. But we shouldn't need to make knee jerk decisions to rescue our season.