Nottingham
Vital Squad Member
Not sure we've dominated that many, but this one we did. Could've won three or four, one.
Gills vs. Paid the bills
- Thread starter Hampton
- Start date
Not sure we've dominated that many, but this one we did. Could've won three or four, one.
hindleymonwafc
Vital Champions League
For all Proctors approach play being good, and it is, his bread and butter stuff is hitting the target...an attacker can be all over the pitch doing good stuff but if he isn't a goalscorer he's no use to us.
Not too down tonight as we were miles the better team and it bodes well...the new people watching will know what's needed.
Not too down tonight as we were miles the better team and it bodes well...the new people watching will know what's needed.
Nottingham
Vital Squad Member
God, John..I thought I was a pessimist, but I can't keep up with you, mate
hindleymonwafc
Vital Champions League
Good...we should stroll through it then. Be nice winning every week .
Nottingham
Vital Squad Member
What a visionary, you are!
jeffs right
Vital Football Hero
Can't be down, at one stage in our history we could only dream of being in the league. It'll be reet. It won't all be hoof ball but slower and less skill. Hopefully we can start winning and not go down but if we do we do but at least we still have a club. I quite enjoyed the last time we were in league two. A darn site more entertaining than some of the dire borefest football we have seen in recent years. Graham Jones, Roberto Martinez and Izzy Diaz played some superb football.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
The bright side of that is if we can hire a decent manager and recruit sensibly we really should be looking to bounce straight back up if we go down.
Bolton didn't bother turning up for half a season and look like they'll still go up despite giving everyone else a 6 month head start!
Roy Race
Vital Reserves Team
Very short term thinking. The owners have said they're in it for the long term. If we go down so be it. Can't rush a rebuild. We would be spending money to get rid of one manager, recruiting another short term then getting another new manager for the long term. Crazy.
Leam Richardson is giving his all and deserves to stay until the end of the season. He's been dealt a really shit hand. The solution isn't always to get rid of the boss. He clearly has the respect of the dressing room. Let's see what happens, best team lost tonight. Take our chances and we win comfortably. That isn't the fault of the boss.
B
Bickymon1
Guest
Well I am hoping after our near collapse
Genuine fans will turn out, league Two six thousand tops
SwindonLatic
Vital 1st Team Regular
They offered him more money and a longer contract than Swindon because they knew he would get them the goals to get them back up. He’s a League 2 goal machine. We will need someone similar if we drop
Roy Race
Vital Reserves Team
Yes, I'm sure he does but I also believe he wants to stay and keep us up first and deserves the chance. Even if we go down he can leave with his head held high. Going down isn't the disaster it may seem. Disappointing yes but not a disaster. Arguably it may make the rebuild easier and allow us to gain momentum like Noblot. Now is not the time for knee jerk decisions, plus I don't think it would send out the right message from the new owners to elbow the guy who has tried to hold the club together. You only need to listen to the glowing references Richardson has had from those around the club to see how popular he is.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
You've got it the opposite way round, Richardson is not a manager, he's a coach and caretaker who wanted Sheridan in so he didnt have to take the job - he's only the boss now because no one else could come in due to having no owners. Changing a manager isn't always the answer but hiring a manager when you don't have one is a step in the right direction. It's nothing to do with last night's result it's about next season.
He is almost certainly going to join Cook in the summer and we will need to hire a new manager then regardless. Keeping him if the new manager is available now is completely counter productive as it hinders next seasons preparation and results and performances under Richardson aren't good enough that it's worth doing that to keep him here another few weeks out of some type of sentimentality. We aren't sacking him we are freeing him to join Cook, speeding up what he was going to end up doing anyway. Keeping him is short term thinking.
Whoever the new manager is they are likely going to inherit just 3 players under contract - he is going to need to sign about 15+ new players . It's going to be a huge rebuild - if you wait until May June before you start to interview and hire a new boss he wont get a chance to assess if he wants to keep any of the out of contract players in training, and you are asking them to get their coaching staff in place, recruitment team and immediately start to sign players with no time for much preparation- again that is short term thinking.
You bring the new boss in now so he has the maximum amount of time to get organised and prepare for a massive recruitment drive so we aren't trying to play catch up to other teams who already have everything in place and have made contact with agents and have their shortlists drawn up. This is long term thinking
No one suggested brining in a manager now and then replacing them again in the summer.
The smart thing to do is what Sharpe did with Caldwell - if the new boss is available get him in early to set us up for success the following year and if we stay up that is a welcome bonus as it doesnt look like we will under the current regime anyway so nothing lost. You might even have a better chance of attracting a boss knowing they could potentially be a L1 side rather than waiting until we are definitely a L2 side if they know they will get next season either way.
There is no long term benefit keeping Richardson and lots of long benefit in getting next seasons preparations under way as soon as possible. There is little short term benefit keeping Richardson and maybe some short term benefit to bring in new manager early.
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ZAKKY
Vital Football Hero
Just as a matter of interest King who do you see as a decent manager that would be happy to take us on in League 2
Coddenchips
Vital Reserves Team
If we need someone with knowledge of both the club and League 2 then we could do worse than Mike Flynn, but put an experienced old head (Graham Barrow?) alongside him.
king_dezeeuw06
Vital Champions League
It's a good question as if we end up being in L2 will limit our options when it comes to established names. I won't waste time suggesting anyone who almost certainly won't drop that low.
Jackett, Grayson, Sol Campbell, Lambert, Strendel and Wellens are some of the higher profile names that are free and possibly feasible. But not sure if we'd want them. i think we may end up with someone from left field who isn't as established a name. Maybe if we wait to the end of the season we may look at people doing well in L2 like Derek Adams, Michael Duff, Mike Flynn from Cheltenham, Morecambe and Newport if they don't go up. Ryan Lowe from Plymouth is another dark horse I think.
One manager I noticed who I thought was interesting was Bowen who was at Reading. He seemed to do pretty decent for them and I was suprised they wanted to move him to sporting director which he quit over. He was briefly a former Latics player and after being out of the game a while may consider us even in L2.
Derek McInnes is also free after 8 years at Aberdeen. I think he'll probably wait for a higher club but with Brannigans recent connections to the SPL I could see him being someone we'd probably try and talk to.
jocklatic
Vital 1st Team Regular
McInnes is a good shout & as u say given Brannigans connections up there. What about Ian Holloway...used to the lower leagues
ZAKKY
Vital Football Hero
It's certainly going to be interesting, a new manager and a new squad. That should be plenty to keep the fans talking over the close season. Personally I've no idea who I would like as manager and not a clue these days about lower league players. (spoilt I suppose)
Arthur_Itis
Vital Squad Member
Taken my time before posting as last night my frustrations were "acute". On reflection the only thing I'd add to the many valid observations already posted in here is that we brought in some "senior experienced" players to help out and for me, in those moments that "absolutely mattered" last night Proctor, Keane and Gardner lacked the composure that I would have expected from players of their age / experience to hit the bloody target.
It's more than a little frustrating to see the likes of Crankshaw, Jolley etc forced out to make way for more experienced players when they then failed to deliver when it mattered most. I get (and agree with) the observations around general all-round play (certainly for Proctor anyway), but it's those "moments" that decide games and last night they let us down IMO.
It's more than a little frustrating to see the likes of Crankshaw, Jolley etc forced out to make way for more experienced players when they then failed to deliver when it mattered most. I get (and agree with) the observations around general all-round play (certainly for Proctor anyway), but it's those "moments" that decide games and last night they let us down IMO.
wesleystammer
Vital Newbie
McInnes is a good shout & as u say given Brannigans connections up there. What about Ian Holloway...used to the lower leagues
Not a bad shout but having listened to his interview with Jimmy Bullard where he said he didn't have a clue at League 2 level about the correct players to sign etc, he didn't sound up for a return at that level.
Some utterly depressing names being banded about by King as next manager. If those are the options, I hope we go foreign and bring in some complete random that no one has ever heard of before. At least that way none of us can be disappointed until the first game.
The playing staff is key, as mentioned a 20-25 goal striker will be crucial. We sorted that nice and early in L1 with Grigg and we'll need to do the same this time. Build a team around a goalscorer, two big bastard central defenders who win every header (ala Burn, Dunkley), a CM organiser who can dictate play (ala Morsy), and a creative pacy attacking player who can provide service to the goalscorer. Get those five players and we'll be fine next season.
The playing staff is key, as mentioned a 20-25 goal striker will be crucial. We sorted that nice and early in L1 with Grigg and we'll need to do the same this time. Build a team around a goalscorer, two big bastard central defenders who win every header (ala Burn, Dunkley), a CM organiser who can dictate play (ala Morsy), and a creative pacy attacking player who can provide service to the goalscorer. Get those five players and we'll be fine next season.
