... so said the comic on Dara O Brian's spin off show

Neil was his favourite before, but simply because he slated the gentleman who left the show tonight he ( the comic ) changed his mind

I think I have too

I'm rooting for the in your face, all in, embarassingly bold Alex now

I love Jason and was sad to see him go, but don't really get the hate for Neil on this task.

It's not the same as Luisa, who goes out of her way to be spiteful and only acts to put herself in a good position, not for the team. Neil just wanted to win the task, he just seemed ****** off by all the drama and probably had every right to be angry at what was going on. They should have made him project manager, while it's true his no-nonsense approach isn't everyone's cup of tea, he was the only capable one on that team.

Hardly. he pushed the idea that Luisa and Francesca realised wouldn't work. He then made the final decision to replace Jason himself. He then put Luisa in charge so he wouldn't have to take the risk himself, and let Francesca direct the advert so he wasn't in the firing line there either. He's got every fault Luisa has, plus a ton of arrogance, and a far worse record of silly ideas and avoiding responsibility.

He didn't make the final decision at all - he didn't have the authority to. What we saw was him summarising the end of a discussion in which the entire team - Jason included - agreed to make the switch.

Don't get me wrong, Neil does make mistakes, he is arrogant and he does annoy me, but actually I thought his behaviour on this task was quite professional. (In fact, even setting aside this supposedly brilliant motivational speech, he has been steadily improving for several weeks.) He didn't try to lead where he was uncomfortable (directing the ad), he tried to listen to what was going on (he seemed to play a leading role in the day 1 debrief) and he tried to move things forward. Yes, he made mistakes, but his general approach was far more team-oriented than Luisa, who sulked every time she didn't get her way, treated Jason disgracefully (there's no excuse, no matter how frustrated she was) and then made it all about her when it came to choosing who to pitch (although, as I've said before, she's actually quite decent at pitching).

I'm no fan of his, but Neil looks like a nailed-on finalist and very possible winner to me, and how he comes across in the edit each week makes me more sure of that with every task.

I would rather support Lou over Neil.

He is sooooo full of himself. Who put him in charge this week? Why did he say "yeah Jason, it's OK for you to step down and Lou to be PM". Did I miss something?

Shame dumb Jason didn't bring Neil back. There would have been major fireworks between Lou and Neil, perhaps with one of them being given the boot instead of dumbo himself! Oh well.

Neil is my favourite candidate. Unlike the others he actually has delivered throughout the process. His "ego" (which I think was just for TV) has been toned down a lot recently, but even so, he knows what he's doing. Certainly better than Luisa and Leah who are just terrible and Jordan and Myles who seem equally useless.

He's male. So people, for some unknown reason, respect the qualities that seemingly make Luisa a mega-bitch in him. I'm not saying people are wrong to like him, but so many double standards.

Neil led his team to the biggest victory of the series. Luisa hasn't.

So her obnoxious attitude is unjustified. And even then, Neil has toned his down whereas Luisa's attitude just keeps getting worse.

Nope. Lou has calmed down as well. Are you watching the same show? Gone are the constant insults. She doesn't do them anymore. She had reason to be annoyed with Jason yesterday but she took it a bit overboard.

I can't stand Neil but you simply can't compare the two. Neil is a standout candidate (albeit in a sea of absolute mediocrity).

Although he too grossly overestimates his abilities/worth, he's better at selling, pitching and can work in a team.

Luisa is competent but nothing more. She's a total pain in the arse and would be a nightmare to work with.

"Calmed down"? I don't think so. She was constantly sneering at Francesca in the Away Day episode and in the latest episode she was so RUDE to Jason. Sorry, but that is not acceptable behaviour at all. Neil may be cocky at times but he does not behave like that.

Couldn't agree more, and it's the one thing (in my very humble opinion) that spoils this forum a little for me. It doesn't seem like a level playing field to me at times.

As far as I can ascertain, the Apprentice forum is no where near as bad as some of the others on DS.

I actually agree with some of the points made against Luisa (it's hard not to at times), and on occasions she does herself no favours but for me anything she did from week 1 was inevitably jumped on and magnified 10 fold, whilst others seem to get a far easier ride when they do something wrong. For me the Alex and Zee treatment of Jason was far worse than Luisa but the column inches on here in no way reflect that.

It was strange last week Neil moaned about Jason before the task, but actually got on well with him on task. This week it looked like they were getting on well, Neil even stood up for Jason, once when Lousie was trying to take over as PM and again in the boardroom just before Nick stepped in. But on YBF he really stuck the boot into Jason, he seems to be playing a very tactical game.

You can like someone personally, and just not appreciate their decisions. People are complex; there are probably things that they like about each other, and things that they don't.

Yes I agree they all liked Jason off task, but Neil looked like he was starting to like Jason on task, after he sold the first caravan last week. Even to the point of defending Jason twice, but then seemed to change his mind very quickly when he could see which way the wind was blowing and on the video on YBF.

I was okay with Neil. For the YF segment, the candidates are specifically asked to comment on why this week's firee was fired - you can hardly be complimentary about it. Much though I like Jason, I couldn't disagree with his assessment. He WAS weak as a business performer.

As for the way Neil treated Jason on the caravan task, I thought he showed great maturity. Sugar had prompted him, yes, but Neil gave him a fair turn at selling, didn't try to impose his own style on him and wasn't critical to his face, which allowed him to build his own confidence and find his own way.

Contrast that to Luisa this week. You're too slow. You're doing it wrong. It doesn't matter. Make a decision. I know better etc etc. I know which of Neil and Luisa I'd rather be managed by if I had to work for one of them. Neil, for all his bluff and bluster, has a degree of empathy (not much, but some). Luisa has none at all because everything is ultimately about her.

Similar to what slouchingthatch said, I think that you can appreciate people's efforts on different levels on different times. If I was working with someone who I'd always considered to be a great teammate, but on one occasion I thought that they did something completely wrong, I'd have no hesitation in telling them that. And vice versa - if there was someone who I clashed with a lot in the workplace, but on one occasion I felt they had the right idea, I'd be honest about that as well. I don't think that people should have loyalties on a professional level, it's about taking each situation as it comes.

Yep. I work with plenty of people who I don't get on with but respect professionally. And I have good friends at work who I socialise with but recognise that they're not exactly the best at their jobs. Anyone in business who paints people only as black or white is, quite frankly, an idiot.