I've been up front about this already. What got us this far was never going to be what would get us to the next stage.

I loved MB for all he did and he was the right guy at the right time for a big club that needed picking up by its bootstraps in just about every way. He'll always be part of the folklore for his contribution.

MB sadly had lost his way, not just tactically (no plan B etc) but also in the manner of defeats I think he'd finally lost some of the players.

Swapping to JM was a very difficult and emotional call by the board - I believe they deserve our backing come what may for making that call - even though it was upsetting and it's not yet delivered safety.

I like almost everything I've seen from JM so far - he may talk a good game, but 2 wins and a draw in the last 3 have been a real improvement and the players who have spoken in public seem very upbeat with his approach.

If we confirm survival then he's a winner for me and I will look forward to next season with real optimism.

Most of all - He's been almost as important as Mouseman's miraculous MDT reign 🤗

I too, think that some players may have become disillusioned with MB’s defensive tactics, especially due to the extent of some of the pastings we received towards the end of MB’s tenure.

I just hope that JM can provide the same exciting football style whilst shoring up our defence...So far so good!

We had a chance to get Hoddle in when Bielsa left but declined the opportunity....

Marsch out.... Hoddle in

I don't think that the comparisons are that straight forward. MB's playing plan (the only one!) relied on a small but very effective squad. Once the backbone of the team had been ripped out through injury, the deck of cards folded. No new additions in January, for whatever the reasons, meant the writing was on the wall and the rest, as they say, is history. Added to which, there was a simmering tension between MB and Rapha, not sure why as Rapha was correctly dropped for being p*ss poor on a number of occasions. If the injured players had of returned in mid-February would things have changed?, I'm inclined to say yes and we would have survived, however Bielsaball was nearing its shelf life and we needed another method of playing.

Is JM the answer?, well it's going in the right direction. In reality he has a free pass given the situation when he arrived, but even if we stay up, he and the board have some major headaches to overcome in the close season, with the likes of Rapha, Phillips and Harrison on other teams radars. Signings will be even more crucial this time around.

I've said it before, its refreshing to actually listen to a pre/post match managerial interview without the need of a translator. Clearly, like most Americans, he is very comfortable in front of the camera.

If Bielsa had stayed we would have gone down IMO.

Players had lost faith in man marking system - rightly so as other teams had sussed out how to exploit it. This led to lack of confidence, especially coupled with the amount of goals we were conceding.

Too many injuries in large part caused by severe training regime and the physical demands of playing Bielsa ball. Players bodies simply did not have enough time to recover thus making them more prone to injuries.

Too early to gauge how good Marsch is but early signs show promise.

We will never know if we would have stayed up with Bielsa. Get cooper and philips back plus a run of easier games and he could have had a decent run. Then we could have given him the send off he deserved at the Brighton game.

I wouldn't have sacked him but I wish Jesse all the best, why wouldn't you. Too early to pass judgement on him really. If we win at Watford then things look good.

I don't think Jesse will last that long in the job though for some reason, just a hunch. Hope I'm wrong.

Whilst it's impossible to know, we do know that MB has turned our team around before, following other poor performances. I would have expected him to do the same again, especially once Cooper and Phillips recovered. Whatever else he may be, Biesla has never been a loser. He would have found a way.

So far, Jesse has been doing the right things. He does seem to have made Rodrigo look like a premiership player. And I will be interested to see how Roberts does as part of a two man strikeforce. I suspect he will do well.

The one thing I didn't understand was MBs reluctance to try the youngsters. Orta has signed some of the best talent in the country, and I imagine would have expected a return on that dividend. I fully expect Gelhardt to be a £30m player within the next 24 months. Summerville, Bate, Cresswell, Drameh all are worth a punt.

Difficult to answer with any certainty.

MB’s CV isn’t exactly bursting with trophies but how many managers have that?

MB is Myopic in the extreme. People say he’s a great coach and a rubbish man manager. IMO he’s a great coach at one style of football which can pay dividends in the short term but it’s not sustainable medium to long term.

The reliance on a small squad is just not sustainable either at this level and MB‘s insistence on just using those first team members started costing us dear. If Gelhardt, Creswell, Summerville, Bate etc had been given as much attention as Roberts for example, I don’t think we’d been in our current predicament.

As a club we had a perfect opportunity to blood some of the youngsters in the final half dozen games of last season but MB ploughed on with a tiring first team.

Loved what he had done with the squad to get us promoted, some of the best football ever witnessed at ER, but as this season unfolded, I only thought it would go one way leading to the inevitable sacking.

Is JM the answer? We could have done a lot worse. Getting an old dinosaur like Alladyce woul