nzlatic

Indeed. Peterborough and Rochdale are often pointed out as clubs who are well run and have used scouting and the transfer market well, made good money from transfers etc, but look where both are. Rochdale heading back down and Peterborough never seem to really threaten promotion to the Championship. I'm not knocking those methods, both have done really well on the transfer front etc but it's becoming increasingly all about the money. Unless you chuck x millions at it you'll struggle. I used to think mid table Championship was a good target to aim for without a huge backer, but it seems the absolute best you can hope for without a backer these days is to bounce between Championship and League 1.

The sun journo is reporting "feelers out" for Evans, so a few would be sticking a few quid on based on this.

Was wondering about this, so had a look back. There have been 16 seasons with 2 relegated from this league, and 48 points would see us relegated only 4 times. The highest points total anyone has gone down with is 51. So barring a points deduction we should be safe. But in the current circumstances who knows?!

Given how VAR ruled on the penalty at Fulham I really doubt it would have changed much at Doncaster.

When Scholes got the job I was much more optimistic about the future. Not necessarily because of him as a coach/manager as that was an unknown, but because of his status and that I didn't think he'd take the job if the conditions weren't right. What happens next is key - if we hire another desperado (an old timer desperate to get back into the game, or a newbie desperate for his first job) then that confirms we're in big trouble. For me, if the owner is serious then he throws everything at Steve Evans to try and get him. But I can't see how he has the funds for that type of manager or the team they'd expect at all.

Love how quite a few of that list have recently taken new jobs.

Have we had a league game on sky since that Burton 0-0 3 years ago?

The optimist in me hopes that part of the deal of scholes coming is that him and his team were being given the rest of the season to assess the squad and learn the ropes, then will be given the summer to overhaul the squad and bring in the players they think can have us challenging for the title next season. The pessimist in me worries that it was all done on a wing and a prayer by all parties and none of them really know what’s going to happen next. But pretty clear to see a lot of the squad seem to be either on the beach or know they’re out the door.

We were 4 points from 7th but had played a game more. But everyone had played less games. If you take the points per game of 7th and us on that day and apply it to 36 games then the gap would be 8 or 9 points. Which is where we are now. I'm not arguing that it was right to sack Bunn at all. A few games in when he and the club were getting stick I remember posting something along the lines of maybe his job is to keep us in the hunt for the play offs ahead of squad strengthening in January. In the end the exact opposite happened. We were very much in the hunt but we sacked him, dithered over his replacement and the squad came out of the window arguably weaker. My take on the original question is that no one that would have taken the job would have done much different with the squad and the circumstances of the club. There would be managers out there who could have dragged us up higher, probably even into the play offs, but those type of managers probably wouldn't have touched us with a barge pole - eg Bowyer.

We were 11th after the Exeter game though, so not that barmy. Our record was W8 D8 L8 when Bunn got the boot. Now we’re W12 D12 L12. Not sure there’s much evidence for us being better off if we’d kept him.

Would have to assume he wasn't looking at our wage bill or looking at the wages of other potential targets if he came to that conclusion. Would be shocking judgement and a mistake that surely even the most novice of football club owner wouldn't make? But if he did, then wow - doesn't bode well for the future at all!!

But Menig came via Nantes/Ajax, so I can believe that £11k a week was representative of what he would have been on. And he was a loan. So although it's a stupid amount to pay, I can understand why he'd have to pay it to get him. Wasn't Maouche a free agent, having been released from French div 2? Would he have been on or close to that previously, or would it have needed that level of salary to get him to join? The guy had no credentials to suggest he was worth that. If it's true, then it's utter, utter madness given what you could probably get elsewhere for £4k a week.

I still struggle with this 'fact'. Given where he was playing previously that would surely be a colossal pay hike. Why would we do that?

It obviously didn't come across this way but I was highlighting the futility of using these stats to form any opinion on Scholes so far. Which RM may not have been doing anyway!

If we're basing it on 5 games then taking Wild's form (last 5 games) the number of wins would be the same but Wild would have a lower 3PPW Ave.