bozman

From what I was told yesterday, it seems that most of the players liked Kelly as a bloke, and even thought he was a decent training ground coach. But they just didn't rate him as a manager. His lack of experience was exposed by a few situations where he didn't seem to know what to do or say e.g. The Forte sending off.

Radio Manchester reporter. Just said on air that there are very strong whispers that Kelly is on the way out.

I'm not sure how the club going in to administration would be an attractive option for Corney/TTA, given that the vast majority of the club's debt is owed to them and that would ressult in most of it being written off ?

I think we did see it for long spells of the Middlesbrough game, but we were also very open at the back at the same time. It looks like he is still searching for the right balance between defensive solidity and attacking flair. The fact that we were able to create so many chances against such high quality opposition makes me believe he'll work out how to do it against League 1 teams fairly quickly.

When I was driving to the game last night, the coverage on Radio Manchester stated that Coleman had picked up a minor injury which meant he would not be considered fit enough to start for 2 or 3 games but would be ok for the bench . They said Cornell would definitely start on Saturday too. I haven't heard this from the club or any other media source so not sure if they've got it right.

Deep lying midfielder who sits in front of the back 4. Replacement for Kelly ?

I suppose there is one way that he could have £1.5million to spend on transfer fees ..... If Barnsley pay us the £5million for Kelly, that Johnson told us he was worth a couple of months before he left!

It will be the playing budget. And he has probably also been told that he can top it up with a percentage of player sale income. For every Forte on £1500 a week, there is a Conor Brown on £500 a week.

I think it will become crystal clear, very quickly, whether this guy is the real deal and has true potential or is completely out of his depth. He doesn't have the sort of CV that will by him an extra 6 months in the job if things are going badly. If he has a bad start, he'll probably be gone by the end of October. On a positive note, he made it clear in his interview that he fully understands that. I think he said something along the lines of 'I realise my first management job will also be my last if I don't get it right quickly'.

From his demeanour in interviews/ the press conference yesterday, and his offer to meet season ticket holders who want a refund, I now suspect that Corney is genuinely surprised by the negative reaction to the appointment. I think he was convinced that fans would trust his judgment in taking a punt on an unkown after the relative success of the Johnson appointment. A view no doubt re-enforced by the yes men who surround him in the boardroom. His mistake was probably in talking up the prospects of the appointment with his 'strongest list of aplicants ever' coments. Many fans (myself included) assumed that comment was hinting at a push the boat out, big name appointment, making the reality of an unknow, under 9s coach even more dissapointing than it would have been had expectations been set appropriately.

They called him Darren Clarke on Radio Manchester a few times this morning. I think having an Open Champion as manager might have put a few more on the gate.

I hope one of the journalists attending this afternoon's press conference has the courage to ask Corney some searching questions about the logic behind this decision and challenge the inevitable " we were blown away by his enthusiasm and ambition in the interview" mantra. Because no matter how impressed the board are with Kelly, Corney needs to explain why this guy is worth risking another significant reduction in the already dwindling average attendance for.

No doubt in 5 or 6 weeks time Corney will be interviewed on the website explaining that the reason why players have been sold and there have been no incoming signings yet is because season ticket sales have been well below expectations. He'll urge the fans to back the club by buying season tickets if they want to see decent signings, without the slightest recognition that his decisions are pretty much the sole reason for the reduction in ticket sales.

For me this appointment wasn't necessarily about getting the best man for the job from a football perspective. It was about capitalising on the feel good factor generated by the new stand and making an appointment that would excite the fans. This was a rare opportunity to turn around the slow decline in attendances and start moving in the right direction with circa 1000 extra season ticket holders. From that perspective it is a disastrous appointment. With every bizzare decision this board makes they erode the fan base a little bit more. For 2 of my mates this decision is the straw that broke the camel's back. For another it was Chedgate. I'll still be there next season and will back the guy now he's got the job. But I expect to have plenty of space around me in the new stand to stretch my legs.

Anyone going to the end of season award tonight ? It should be quite an interesting evening for those who are.

This is the nub of the issue for me . For someone with such a laser focus on the finances I can't believe that Corney hasn't worked this out - he must have done. Add to this the fact that those of us who do stick around are not going to give the guy much of a honeymoon period if he doesn't hit the ground running. There must be some other reason behind this appointment but what that is, I have absolutely no idea.

I think Philliskirk still has 2 years left on his contract.

The hardcore will get behind the new manager whoever he is (I've already renewed my season ticket). But we need to attract the stayaways back to move forward. For that to happen an inspiring managerial appointment to go with the new stand would really have helped. I've seen people defending the appointment by saying Joe Royle had no experience at all when he was appointed, but I think they're missing the point completely. There would be quite a buzz around the place if we were to appoint a recently retired England international now rather than an under 9's coach no one had heard of.

You're probably too expensive, and over qualified, if you've been doing it for more than 18 months!

There was a real opportunity here to break the cycle of slow decline and generate some real forward momentum. The new stand has created a new sense of optimism amongst the fans. Had this been augmented by an inspiring managerial appointment, we could have found ourselves back on an upward curve with bigger crowds and subsequently a bigger budget. An appointment like this, even if he does turn in to a decent manager like Johnson did, will kill all the new found optimism dead before it gets any momentum.

Just watched DH's press conference on Latics Player. He seemed remarkably upbeat in comparison to his demeanour last week when he was very agitated and behaving like someone who'd recently received some bad news. He played a straight bat to questions about his future , ' I'll speak to the board next week and I'm sure it'll get sorted one way or the other soon ' etc etc. Although I thought Gordon's line of questioning suggested that he thought Sunday's match would be Dean's last one in charge.

Just got back from it myself. I was surprised how busy it was. There were some big national companies reprersented there today. I was skeptical at first but having been there today, I don't think they will have any trouble getting rid of all the boxes. I wasn't there for long but spoke to 3 people who said they/their employer were definitely having one. Corney was there ( he didn't tell me who the manager will be) but I didn't see Blitz. The Video presentation was very impressive. I bought 3 of the 100 club seats - there was still plenty of those available.

Does anyone know what the 'Broadway Suite'hospitality' is ?

Haha - good point! Should have said he's lived in the area since moving down to England.

On the face of it yes, but he's from Peterborough, still has a house and family there and has apparently said it's his ambition to manage them one day. Not sure why he'd leave Rotherham though if he keeps them up.