This is one of the major problems with modern football.
In any business or industry, leaders are recruited to implement a vision or strategy. This is often shaped around 5 or 10 years, not the next six months P&L.
Pick the right guy and then back him.
2 Likes
If we continue to play the way we are with the same results he isn’t the right guy. I’m not sure how anybody who has actually had to watch us for the last few weeks could disagree. It’s woeful aesthetically and practically. I’m all for giving him time but things have to improve way before the end of next season or I genuinely believe we won’t be a league club anymore.
I don’t care what the P&L looks like to be honest, I care about having to watch us every week.
The P&L is to a business leader the equivalent of results to a football manager, was the link I was making.
I agree that if it is obvious that we are going backwards after 20-30 games with no plan or lack of effort then yes, he is not the right man. But we are still early in the season and if we see a plan and improvement both on and off the pitch then we should give the man time.
Inputs are more important than outputs at this early stage.
I’ve never doubted any managers effort. I’m sure he’s trying his hardest. But just like his players that’s a bare minimum requirement.
And I’m not talking about going backwards, I’m talking about at this level of performance that it isn’t good enough, never mind going backwards.
Do people really think this is a squad assembled with a decent budget? just look at the players we have signed in comparison to other teams in the division for me he is just another in recent years being asked to do more than our budget allows it cant always be the managers fault only its the club as well.
3 Likes
What can you expect when you sell an 18 goal player to a team in the same division.
I was very happy with Darrell being appointed. Said last April I wanted him or Keith Hill in so I’m not going to start complaining now he needs to be sacked.
However been disappointed in what I’ve seen. Signs x number of defensive players and continues to try to shoe horn as many of them in the team as possible. Says he wants to see more goals and creativity and then starts playing CBs in the full back positions, starts playing Kinsella on the wing and generally isn’t taking more risks in the central midfield area which is still too cautious.
I was expecting a maverick caution to the wind manager but guess I got that wrong. Also dosen’t help the little sniping comments to the press.
Win some games Darrell, play some forward thinking midfielders from the start like James Hardy Darrell. I assume that’s what they told you on the course where you got your nice shiny coaching badges.
1 Like
The table doesn`t lie, we are worse.
We were told not to expect anything before 10/12 games in so lets just hope that is correct and this season turns out to be a complete reverse of the last.
2 Likes
DC will just be another who falls to the budget.
The list is ever growing.
1 Like
I’ll wait until the end of the season before allowing Clarke the budget excuse.
Could be correct, but we don’t know until we see what it is compared to everybody else in the league. Pomlett said it was “very competitive” so he deserves criticism if it isn’t because that would be a blatant lie.
2 Likes
The first thing he done after outing the dead wood was to sign players he knew would have his back Sinclair and Clarke as well as trusted back room staff.
His first intentions where simply to make us difficult to break down and score against, you could argue he’s probably achieved this, but that was his first mistake and a costly one imo he’s overloaded the team with these sort of players obviously using a decent wedge of his budget in the process.
The season is nearing and he knows he needs creativity and pace on the wings but the budget has come back to haunt him, he has to make do with young inexperienced players on cheap wages, Hardy, McDonald to name 2 and them compliments them with players on loan like Pring and Holden who incidentally was very poor pre season.
He sees early on this ain’t working so brings in Gaffney and Lavery hoping they’d click and are able to feed on scraps, sadly neither player will, they work hard but need support from midfield for them to click and ultimately this is the problem that is plain for us all to see we need a Sawyers/Oztumer/Merson/Patterson type of player someone who can pick a pass and turn defence into attack in seconds, we will not progress without one, I’m certain he had just the player lined up before window shut and the player went elsewhere.
Whatever it costs in January we have to find this player if we aren’t to be dragged into a league survival battle, I believe the chairman will back him and give him the benefit of the doubt till around 30 games in (and rightly so) what is so annoying is everyone recognises what is needed but we will now have to wait till January to fix it as players like we need have clubs, it’s going to be a long hard slog till then I’m afraid.
14 Likes
I ain’t going to argue with anything you’ve just said, 
1 Like
Here we go again, same old, same old.
We may not be winning games at the moment but I am confident it will come. I don’t know what others are seeing but it’s nowhere near as bad as some are making out. We have a good squad for this division and we look good in defense and also going forward.
It is obvious that the problem is with us not scoring and nothing else. The owner is fine, the manager is fine, the squad is fine, the fans are impatient. I see people moaning that we sold an 18 goal striker and what does that mean. We had no choice he wanted out. I am sure that with the strikers we have and the attacking options shown to date we will soon get over the goal drought and start picking up points.We might be losing the battles but we will win the war.
This is exactly what happened with Smith, then as soon as he started to get results the same fans who wanted him gone were then singing his praises.
Just realised ‘The Crow’ said we need a Sawyers type player. He also got slated on here.
Fickle or what?
I am Optimistic.
9 Likes
Great post, Crow.
We really shot ourselves in the foot when we were relegated last season. The consequences are proving to be dire, and, as you rightly pointed out, things may not get better any time soon. - Grim!
1 Like
No one would disagree that it hasn’t looked good so far but you would have to be thick, to make comments with regards the National league and even thicker, to write off DC at this early stage, bearing in mind the complete rebuild after the incompetence of Keates almost killed the Club.
1 Like
Keates was not a success, but he did not almost kill the club. We were relegated because of Keates’ mistakes, but were not the worst team in the division and what we needed was to retain the better players from the squad and add a few key players who would be improvements. With a more tactically astute manager we had every chance of bouncing back.
On the other hand if Darrell Clarke’s decisions continue to take the club down the path they have been on so far and lead us to relegation from the football league then that could well be terminal. At present the rebuild looks considerably worse than the squad that Clarke inherited. I do not understand why it is “thick” to talk about the National League when we have played 8 league matches in the fourth division and only scored 3 goals.
3 Likes
How did I know you were going to mention Keates before I clicked on your post? 
nearly killed the club? You’ve gone up a level I see.
All his fault this, not the players Clarke signed. Definitely definitely not 
As for talking about the national league, I merely said if performances don’t pick up that’s where we will end up. That’s not being thick it’s pure fact. One win in 8 scoring 3 goals is relegation form. I don’t think it will happen but don’t scream at others about being thick when you can’t take in a basic fact.
1 Like
Standards response from Mavrak when someone has a different view to him. Either thick or an idiot.
Out of interest who do you think we’re the better players because I don’t think there were that many to be fair
1 Like
Well, for all his faults and he did have some, Devlin is definitely far better than anyone we currently have on the books for the right back / wing back role.
Always gave 100%, struggled defensively, but used to bomb up and down the wings and take a player on and get a cross over, albeit not always a great one, but probably better than the so called crosses I witnessed last Saturday. He also chipped in with a couple of goals too.
2 Likes