[han2503]

A tough one with a squad that's still decimated, I'd like to be a bit more optimistic, but...

[han2503]

True. But why is it unique for each coach?

I think their training techniques play a key part in this. Like Fillipo said, with Carlo we just knew that the team would peak at the absolute right moment to make the final push in the league for a good placement and, most importantly, get to the latter stages of the CL. I think it's a sign of a good coach that a team is able to establish a familiar rhythm

We've been very erratic for years now, so a bit of familiarity is actually quite nice

However, in the same turn, Niang has started to play well in England which makes sending him away look like a bad move. I feel like we put so much into him for years and he is another year or two from making a breakthrough, but I think the team he is playing for now is going to buy him out.

I don't want to sound too harsh, but it simply has to be said, the kid is simply not good enough, Danny brought up the big fish, small pond argument, which has its merits in Niang's case but I just think that he also lacks basic fundamentals for what it takes to be a great footballer, something he'll never be. Watford id great for him, the EPL is right up his ally as well, all physique, barely any need for brains, which is basically Niang in a nutshell. And to make it even worse, he'd gotten so complacent in his final month with us that his lac of effort magnified the lack of skill his possessed by about a ratio of 1:100

He's simply not good enough, and if we can get that reported 18m option they tacked onto his loan deal out of a rich EPL club we should take it and run for our lives.

Nope, Niang is a low-pressure player. He was also excellent at Genoa. He simply couldn't handle us. He isn't mentally strong enough for a club as big as Milan, but give him Watford or Genoa and he looks great.

True, but as I said above, it's not just about a mental block, he's simply lacking in basic footballing skills and the more you demand out of him (which is what usually happens when playing for a big club) that lack of skill shows

It's a little hard to keep the interest levels up, when there is no fresh blood in the forum.

Also, when this forum started we were a bunch of kids. And it's hard for us to keep that passion up as we remain adults. In the sense of writing walls of text endlessly analysing games and debating points. As I get older, I find myself being more 'Que Sera Sera'.

For example, Warchant was not married even, and now he's got two lovely kids. (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif) Same with R7, though I think he's just got the one kid.

I think it's combination of no new membership, Milan being crap and members getting older and spending less time online and more time with real-life responsibilities.

True, back in the day I used to spend hours here posting from school and when I got home I had all the liberty in the world to sit on my backside and type at you guys for hours and that is just something that I simply can't do today. Back then I could spend hours at night as well on my pc just p!ssing time away, on here, watching series episode after episode, movie after movie, game after game; sleeping at 3 in the morning and then waking up hammered for school at 7 the next day and not caring much about it. Now I'm lucky if I have the time to turn on my pc in between the time I get home from work and then going off to bed at a reasonable hour so I can be up by 6 the next morning.

Back then I used to relish the late night kick-offs, both Saturday and Sunday. Now I cringe when I see that we have the last kick-off on Sunday because that means I have to be up at least until 11:30, which is no bueno for me since I'm not getting my 8 hours of beauty sleep (IMG:style_emoticons/default/biggrin.gif)

Times have simply changes for all of us I presume, we're no longer hair brained kids who could p!ss days away doing nothing. I barely have time to shower these days, let alone come here everyday and chat with you old geezers (IMG:style_emoticons/default/wub.gif)

RE: membership thing, you've introduced that idea before and I agreed with it in the past; we've had no new members for 5 years but only in the past few months has this place absolutely died.

Which also lays into it not being 'we've all grown up' either. In fact the older you get the more you want to escape the nightmare of real life and responsibilities and moan about things on the Internet.

I do agree the lack of new members stops the place growing, but my OH's forum has like 5 people on it and gets no members yet it's still going and still gets posts. Ok I just asked her and apparently it's had no new posts in weeks hahaha.

X Off and Acid seem to have gone entirely as well.

I actually think I know what it could be; social media has taken over, and quite simply the day of the humble forum, itself down in popularity anyway, is a thing of the past. These boards are relics and while there are still many around and many are still active, once your board stops growing and activity slows, its days are numbered till the last person is gone.

Shame really because for me it's social media that's a thing of the past.

True about social media as well. Still I don't find twitter for example a comfortable format for discussing Milan for example, I just follow a couple of people who put up news/transfer updates and that's about it

This is basically the only place online where I discuss Milan in any sort of depth. So it's still an important place for me, but like I said above, I simply find it hard there days to just find the time to actually get on here and make clear points. Also, this is a personal pet peeve for me, but it applies to the social media aspect as well, I just simply cannot post on here from my phone. I need to be on my pc/laptop, because as you said, the rickety old forum is just not exactly the most mobile friendly medium out there

And most important point here which both of you guys mentioned is that this team has been struggling for a long time, it's only natural to see interest dwindle when fans can clearly see that there's barely any interest from the owner of the club himself. Hopefully with this sale going through and the reported cash injection coming in we'll see and upturn in people coming back on