Some excellent and balanced posts on this thread, with valid perspectives about the club's challenges of being a small market team, lack of a pipeline of young players, aging players, a stadium issue and owners with limited pockets.

I feel that the club culture is low risk and appropriately so, in these difficult times. Nevertheless, one has to ask oneself, if Roy & Ray were managing squads like Southhampton, Arsenal, Wolves, Villa, Everton, what would they look like on the field? Probably no different to our team ..... uninspiring, defensively structured, with no midfield guile, unable to hold on to the ball, punting Hail Mary balls up the middle, piss poor at throw ins and hoping the equivalent of Wilf can get a goal or two every now and then. Oh, and if they have a centre forward who might just be one of the best headers in the league, let's have him run around looking for the ball, doing hold up play and ensure that we don't have wing backs that would be firing crosses into the box for him.

We might be constrained by finances, as are the likes of Southampton, but at the end of the day, PL football is supposed to be about entertainment, not just year year on survival to ensure the cash flow to keep our investors fiscally satisfied.

I don't think Roy shouldld be fired right now, but I sure do hope we can transition to a manager next season that can get the best out of the squad, get rid of the under performers, attract and develop new talent, and inspire some modern day thinking and culture in the clubhouse.

Roy is not the only manager in the PL, who has been left behind as the game continues to evolve and the innovative coaches who can adapt lead the way. Unfortunately Roy plays a game that has long since declined into mediocrity. He has met a need, but the future requires someone with better leadership skills and the capacity to take managed risk.

Edited by radicalsteve (18 Jan 2021 9.55pm)

Perhaps the 'Dream ticket' of Freedman and Derry will be unveiled!
Freedman with his knowledge of recruitment and transfers and Derry his knowledge of the Academy and the young players!
And both of course former players with management experience!

The link has no relevance to now.
There were similar articles on Pulis when he won a manager of the year award in keeping us up and on Pardew when tipped for the England job during a successful spell at Newcastle.
Hodgson has in the past compared himself to Alex Ferguson, which surely even for Hodgson fans is a stretch.
For the record, his Fulham side was a decent team and he managed them very well.
But that was then and this is now.