We will always be bookies favourites, purely and simply because odds are manipulated by the amount of money going on a team. As we have more fans than any other club betting on us, guess who makes us favourites. It's got FA to do with the manager.
The Hammond thing is blown out of all proportion He was jut one player for heavens sake..
There's been one manager who signed 30/40 players and only one will make a profit, no others will get a bigger wage or club, some were utter crocks and were a massive waste of money, collectively adding up to way way more than Hammond. His transfer balance sheet is massively negative.(e,g £2.5m for Scougall, Done, and Beard- all way over their true worth) He wasted more money in wages, sign on fees and transfer money as a turnover proportion that makes Robson look frugal. Clough's recruitment of players alone make ihm the worst manager in the clubs history.
We get the usual bollocks of 'Adkins inherited a play off squad ' where as in fact they only made the play offs due to record low points being available for a play off spot The fact is amazingly Adkins got us closer points wise to the autos than Clough did. Of course Adkins had a huge wage budget; largely cos he inherited a mid table side, with scores of players on over bloated contracts, that was slow, hugely unbalanced, and a mile away from autos. .
Clough's utter shambolic recruitment of players alone makes him the worst manager in the clubs history.
CW recognised right away what depth of surgery was needed to cut out the Clough cancer.