It’s ********. And it’s ecactly the point
As previously mentioned what happened to the youth players coming through surely if you had serious budget restraints you would play one or two
Club is dying. Bonser has been sucking the life out of it, for far too long.
There is very little to be proud of or have optimism for the future in. Both are which are pretty essential components of being a football fan.
Only a miracle will save us this year and I honestly see us being non league in 3/5 years. Unless there is change in ownership or approach.
At least Solihull and Salford will be category A games.
I take your point. We are only a point off safety so a better manager than Keates could have had us clear of trouble and even with our resources we could have found a better manager. However if you keep asking managers to out perform budget wise sooner or later they will just reach par or under perform even slightly and then you’re down. It may be a good manager having an off season or a run of bad luck, or an average manager having an average season performing averagely and on average a league 2 budget puts you in league 2.
What has become clear over the last 3 seasons is our inability or unwillingness to sign even average league one players of any experience at this level or above. Is this down to budget or were our last 2 managers just incapable? It’s great to bring young players through but you need a core of experience at the level you’re playing at to help and guide them through or you end up with the inconsistency we have seen.
The frittering away of Smith’s DNA project that was handed to them on a plate is unforgiveable and another symptom of the neglect of all things football in this club. Even if by some miracle we find another Smith is there any sign that the powers that be have learnt the lessons required to carry the success on once they’ve been poached by Brentford?
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The money Keates has spent on fees loans and staff to be honest he could have brought 3 or 4 professional league 1 performers surely???
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No guarentee that would work either though…Whitney signed Moussa, Jackson and Flo who were all league one proven but couldn’t do anything at that present time. Edwards and Ozzy were very good pick ups though. Guthrie could also be classed as experienced league one player when he signed and he’s shown to be mediocre in his time.
Under DK the two poorest signings have been Russell Martin and probably Laird. Both vastly experienced and capable players for this level. Lairdy was great in his first spell but sadly Coventry away showed he’s way off that now and Martin was just a disaster and seems to have started the downward spiral.
Key when a team gets relegated is always what you do in January. Many of the teams who will narrowly stayed up will have signed 2-3 who’d have made a good impact on the 11, I’m guessing Oxford picked up a decent signing or two in that month given the run they’ve been on.
Scarr and Norman just stuck me as signings made just in case the team got relegated so you then have two players who should be o.k in league 2. Musa guy I’ve completely forgotten about so that was just a punt on a young player. Laird hasn’t worked out given Leahy remains first choice and what DK was thinking bringing back Fitzwater last minute just to have him as 3rd CB I’ll never know.
So a lax January window has contributed to the upcoming relegation.
Ultimately the club has been going at a steady backwards rate since May 2016 and eventually all the wrong decisions add up to a relegation. It happened to Tranmere, Chesterfield and Leyton Orient who all came very close to making the championship and within two years all went down from league one.
The scary thing is all three have since played in non league and two remain in that division.
It basically tells me we are punching above our weight even at this level - our NORMAL level. I am desperately sad for Dean. I am sad for the club.
Sad times.
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And the even scarier thing is the club believe their own rhetoric and genuinely believe we have been going forward! ‘Hey everybody, look, we’ve built a great new fanzone’. It’s Nero fiddling while Rome burns.
Completely Agreed! Sums up how I feel! Only thing is Jarvis has done a lot more than Bielik did.
You would. Any healthy club has a conveyor of new players running through? Wheres our next Rico? What happened to Candlin? We cant keep lamenting back to the days of DS BUT, you can bet your house that wed have at least 20% of our first team made up of youth products.
They have tried experience this year; Jarvis/ Martin/ Scar but not made too much difference. It does come down to funds though. If were not spending then bring through our own, rather than kak loans.
Agree with this However it wasn’t th departure of DS that allowed this to crumble it was the board.
Pretty sure it was JW that gave Candlin and Korey their chance?
Who did Keates develop?
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A losing habit!
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‘Competitive’ is indeed the key word which has been bandied around, and it’s an interesting one. It’s an ambiguous word which commits to nothing beyond being able to compete, effectively or otherwise, which as a pure matter of fact we have done. The team who finishes bottom have still competed in the league.
The cleverness is that the word means something different to those who are looking upwards rather than downwards; it can suggest anything from enough to hold our own comfortably in mid-table to an adequate war-chest for promotion.
In terms of points & placings, it means nothing.
Curiously, re-reading the Gamble article, he doesn’t actually use the word himself. Was Masi asked to use the word in the headline?
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The club summed up in a word.
Budget
Transfer fees
Long term strategy
Accounts
Ground & club improvements
This is why I struggle to believe JB is our number one fan with the football clubs best interests at heart. If he was, surely all of the above would be transparent and released to supporters to prove that he is one of us.
But no, any dealings are hidden under a veil with the sole intention to muddy the waters. I want to know why? Why intentionally hide transfer fees amidst odd clauses and loop holes if there is nothing to hide?