Well, we've pondered long and hard over this, haven't we Stress?

We've certainly had a long, hard pond, Pie.

It's been difficult, trying to work out what we should do about this shambles, for shambles it most certainly is.

Shambles it is certainly most is.

Of course, our initial reaction was a bit over the top. "Kill everyone with a big gun" seemed a fair idea at first...

That was my idea, Pie.

I know, Stress, I know, but we decided, didn't we, that killing everybody with a big gun was both indiscriminate and to some extent illegal. So after the first waves of hysteria had subsided, we moved on.

And decided to do nothing.

Well, not exactly nothing, Stress. Didn't we decide to simply state our views clearly?

Go on then.

Right. First of all, if there are sides to be on, we're on Billy's. We always were, and we still are.

Good old Billy.

We don't buy into this "Oh stop whining Billy and get on with the job" approach. We actually like it when Billy sounds off. And anyway, his "job" was to get us promoted. That was what was expected of him when he was appointed - first save us from relegation, then establish us in mid table, then get us promoted. And as all successful managers know, in fact, as anyone with anything but beans in their head knows, the surest way to success is to recruit good players.

Good old Billy.

So basically, the club has given him a job, but denied him the resources to do it. We could go on, rehearsing all the well trodden arguments raging around this issue, but in the end, we think the owner and his board have been shamefully negligent, and we think Billy must be feeling pretty low. We would also remind people that it's Billy who has to take the flak week in week out, while the people in charge of the club hide in the shadows.

Good old Billy.

So we've written him a letter of support. We didn't bang on about the board, we just implied that if there were differences, we were on his side. We said how much we appreciated his contribution, hoped he'd stay, and wished him and his players the best for what will be a challenging season. We hope it cheers him up a bit.

Good old Billy. And if it doesn't work, can we go down the big gun route?

No. Not yet, anyway. But if we don't strengthen, or if Billy goes, then the big guns will come out. But let's hope it doesn't come to that.