Vote of confidence? Now the pressure's really on!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Well, the board have backed Dave Jones but said that he will be judged by results. In my humble opinion he has until December 8th to turn it around - there are 5 games between 24th november and the 8th of December and I think we will need to win at least 3 of them and not lose the other 2 if he is to keep his job. If they lose to Ipswich on the 24th and then to Leicester on SKY 2 days later then he will be gone straight away.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Is Joe Ledley as good as the Wales on Sunday and Echo make out? He had a great game against Burnley but I thought the were a bit over the top about his performance against Palace. I notice he got high ratings again on Saturday but I don't know whether to trust their opinion.


RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. Please Mr Ericsonn, can we keep him for the rest of the season?

" I say Mr Referee, were you born out of wedlock?"

RANT: The referee. I'm not one to complain about incompetent referrees as long as they are equally incompetent to both teams. They have to do a difficult job and can't do it right all the time. But this one was more incompetent to us than them and it probably cost us the win. We've been having enough problems recently without these sort of things going agains us.
Now I can't really comment on the penalty against us as I was in the Gents at the time, but there was suficient idignation amongst the crowd to suggest that it was a questionable decision. I will see if the clip on Virgin media shows anything and will amend the blog if necessary.

RANT: Robbie Fowler.Not good enough and didn't look as if he was interested. The team looked more balanced and dangerous after Thompson came on and I think the time has come to try a different combination from the Fowler/JFH combination up front.

RAVE: Kaspar Schmeicel. I can't believe Man City have a better keeper than him. I f we get a chance to sign him for the rest of the season then we should grab it with both hands.

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: I suspect Dave Jones will be under severe pressure for his job if they lose at Charlton today.

Anyone but Man Utd!

RAVE: Good performance against Liverpool but got knocked out of the competition. Rumour has it that the club pockets around £400,000 aswell but this appears a bit unlikely to me. My views on cup competions have already been made clear in this blog and generally speaking I'm glad we're out - now for the league! Can't complain about being beaten by a winner from Steven Gerrard!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Its weird having a weekend without a game when everyone else is playing. Caught some of the Arsenal-Man Utd game earlier - nice to see the Gunners pull back a late goal (Anyone but Man Utd!). Some of the results went against us today and some of the teams below us appear to be hitting form - the match against Palace on Tuesday takes on extra significance as a potential relegation battle already. Mind you, they have just appointed a new manager which is not always the best time to play a struggling team. Mind you, we're a struggling team at the moment!

Team don't win while I'm away - or when I get back!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE:

Been away in Florida for the family hols and only had to miss 2 games as a result of the international break. First time I've followed games by text message! (Many Thanks to Jayne Bell!).

Of course, apart from that I only really knew the scores. The Magic Kingdom was a little more magic while we were leading 2-1 against Wolves but alas it was not to be.

Press putting lots of pressure on Dave Jones but I'm still not panicking yet. However, only 3 league wins from the last 20 games does not make good reading - Martin Jol had a better record than that and he was shown the door this week.

Be interesting to see what the local papers make of it again - the radio commentary suggested that they played well again today, especially in the second half, but still didn't manage a win. Same old, same old.

At last - and a good one too!

RAVE: At last a home Championship win! A good all round team performance. Not the same flowing football of recent games apparently but this time a win! We must have been taking Premiership lessons in time wasting as we completely shut them out for the last 5 minutes and the 4 minutes of injury time. Takes us nicely into the international break - also into the family holiday to Florida.

RAVE: Joe Ledley. The best game I have seen him play ever. I hope the team are doing well by the January transfer window or we might lose him. Nice to see Darren Purse playing 3 quareters of the game today aswell.

How many times can you have deja vu ?

RANT:Listened on the radio tonight - actually they did better when I wasn't listening - all 3 Blades goals were scored when I was listening and all 3 city goals were scored when I was doing something else!

2 goals conceded in the last 6 minutes. Will we never hold on to a lead? Will we ever keep a clean sheet? The only time this year was when we played QPR and look how bad they have been!

and now we have a home game coming up on Saturday. Scared? Me too! Not losing but not winning. The radio suggested we were much the better team and yet we only drew. Lets go back to not playing well and winning shall we?

AAAAGGGHHH!!!

This week Yorkshire - soon to be Liverpool!

NEITHER RANT NOR RAVE: Well - the score of 1-1. A good result but disappointing that they couldn't have held on for the last 15 mins. Great goal from JFH but gave away another sloppy late goal. Another trip to Yorkshire on Tuesday to play the Blades - a win there would give the team so much more confidence.

RAVE: Drawn in the Carling Cup at Liverpool. Surely it will be on SKY? A good draw (although I don't really approve of cup competitons!) and a great night for Robbie Fowler. A bit of a pay day for the club and a good chance to get knocked out of the competition. Perfect!