Going to attempt my second long post of the day, so apologies in advance if I bore you all!
Let me start by saying I am not 100% convinced that NC is or will be a good manager. If you look back at my posts when he was appointed, you'll see that I had my reservations (others on here were absolutely cockahoop with his appointment). Personally, I'd have preferred someone with more experience (although look at how it went with Grayson!) and I'm convinced he wouldn't have even been on the radar had he not managed those two Liverpool games last season.
I still remember his introductory media interviews and he looked uncomfortable infront of the camera. However, I was willing to give him a chance.
When I disagree with people calling for his head now and point out the track records of previous successful BFC managers, it's not because I 100% think NC is the man for the job, it's because I don't think we've seen enough body of work from him to decide either way.
Success in football, like life, is not lineal. Sometimes things take time to come together. Sometimes there's bumps along the way. Sometimes we doubt we'll achieve what we're aiming for. Sometimes we'll get angry and not think rationally, particularly in the heat of the moment or immediately after some bad news. Sometimes we'll have a lack of confidence or belief. Sometimes we'll panic. Sometimes we'll realise we got something wrong and need to learn to adapt, to change, to improve. As long as we're heading in a positive direction overall though, we should be happy. And I think, overall, we are, even if results on the field don't suggest it at the moment.
The last four BFC managers who won promotion did not have brilliant starts to their reigns, as I posted earlier. However, we stuck by them, even when people on here were posting calling for them to be sacked.
Those of you who are calling for his head; do you always chuck the towel in if something doesn't work immediately? What would have happened had Churchill chucked the towel in after some of his big defeats in WW2? Please note that I'm not suggesting that NC is Churchillian by any stretch of the imagination!
Those of you calling for his head, who would you appoint? Would you sack them too if they had the same record as NC after the same number of games? Would you then sell all the players and bring in an entire new squad again? That's no way to run a football club. We used to laugh at other fanbases who reacted in this way, and now a lot of our fans are reacting in exactly the same way but don't have the self-awareness to see it.
I used to think it was younger people who had no sense of pragmatism or a willingness to wait for good things, but it's the older generation too. Everything has to go well or work immediately or it's shit.
We're all desperate for success, but it might not (and isn't) happen(ing) overnight. Does that mean we're completely on the wrong track and start over? No. But do we keep having to look for improvement, no matter how small? Absolutely yes.
Oxford and Portsmouth didn't start last season brilliantly, but both made the playoffs. Oxford haven't started this season well either; perhaps they should sack Robinson? Indeed, haven't Portsmouth been in this division for four seasons now? Even if I think it's a pretty bang average league again this season, it's not an easy league to get out of - as our previous history shows.
Let's have some perspective - if the Oystons were still in charge during Covid we'd be absolutely fucked. There's every chance the club could have gone pop. So when premier1 is fretting that we might not be successful between now and when he's no longer here (and let's face it, he'll probably outlast us all as obstinate as he is), he should be thankful that at least we're not Bury, Macclesfield or Wigan.
I've seen people saying that other clubs have bought in a large number of players as well and started well, so why haven't we? Lincoln is the common one right now, but they lost to Bristol Rovers yesterday. Presumably if they lose next weekend v Fleetwood as well, people will conveniently stop using them as an example? The Lincoln fans I posted about last week are convinced we'll end the season higher than them, and they had a 100% record until yesterday!
People keep saying we need more experience, particularly at the back and in midfield. But our average age is older than that of Lincoln and Gillingham's two centre halves and two centre mids were 20, 20, 19 and 19 respectively.
For me, experience does not necessarily equate to leadership (and I do agree that we need more leadership as NC is essentially trying to organise and talk them all through the games from the side at the moment). You should have a blend of ages in your side in my opinion, and to be honest we have enough players in the squad who have enough games under their belts to be showing more accountability, particularly when things aren't going our way.
Who would people bring in in terms of experience? Individuals got excited when Fox was linked, but he's off to India which is surely a sign that he's not of the required standard? People harped on about Adam again this summer, but he's ended up in the Scottish Championship... if he was still good enough, surely he'd have ended up playing at a better level?
I'm not suggesting I have all the answers, and we clearly do need a bit more business in the transfer market between and it closing, but we have been a lot more aggressive and ruthless in the market than I expected. I said earlier this summer I felt it'd take 3 windows for NC to transform the squad so he was happy with it, but a lot of the work has been done in this window - even if it is taking some/several of the players time to click.
I think we need to remember we're a League One side and we're not going to have world beaters in our team. Take Feeney for instance - he was horse shit in his first season. Even with Armand, some of those now saying we miss him massively were saying he was a big lump when he was with us and that he was the reason we were playing hoofball! Now we're trying to play a more expansive game and it's not working, people seem to want to go back to a style of play they were criticising last season!
I know it's still early in the season, but are any of the players we've let go pulling up any trees? Take Hardie for instance. He's played three games for Plymouth (starting two) and not scored a goal. Nor has he completed ninety minutes for them yet.
Not everyone we sign will work out, but at least we have a clearly defined way of working now and players signed to the club for at least more than 12 months or a short term loan deal.
I do think we have lessons to learn when it comes to recruitment (as the large turnover in the squad this summer demonstrates), and I am concerned that we are too reliant on agents. But again, I dread to think who we would have signed if the O's were still in charge.
Personally, I've certainly seen things from NC I like, but I've also seen things that I think he needs to improve, and in some cases, improve substantially.
One improvement I've seen from him is how he deals with the media; he's much more confident now. I know he doesn't always look the interviewer in the eye, but I do the same thing when I'm trying to gather my thoughts and give a considered answer, and I'd much rather have a manager give a considered answer than have one spouting the crap Grayson did last season.
I haven't listened to his interview from yesterday, but he's clearly not one for calling out players in public and I respect that. Grayson called out players left, right and centre last season and look at how that went. From what I understand, NC expects very high standards and isn't afraid of holding players to account when he doesn't have a microphone in his face.
He does need to improve like I say, as do the results, but, just like how he now deals with the media, I think he's shown he's the sort of manager that can improve. And I want to see improvement in how we defend. I want to see improvement in winning challenges. I want to see improvement in our attacking play. I want to see improvement in set pieces.
NC is clearly learning on the job and has made and will continue to make mistakes along the way (I still question his choice of assistant manager for instance), but SS is learning on the job and has made and will continue to make mistakes along the way... perhaps we should get rid of him too?
I do feel a little for NC. Expectations are sky high (personally I've said before I'd be happy with 10th this season, and I also didn't think we'd have a good start to the season), and he's taken a job where after a matter of days we've gone into lockdown and things haven't been normal since. That's a hell of a lot to deal with in your first job, and we've seen how it's affected other, bigger clubs than us.
As I said earlier today though, I do think NC is about to enter a key run of league games with five of the next six very winnable in my eyes. We should have a clearer picture of things then I think.
still firmly believe Critch is the man to turn it around. Once the players gel we can go places
...... I guess I'm in the naughty corner 
