The Current Squad / Lack Of Interest | Page 2 | Vital Football

The Current Squad / Lack Of Interest

I thought the manager. As though he would add to what he did with us last time around. Now I don't think he knows what he is doing himself. I'm not prepared to give up on him just yet though. Same goes for targeting promotion.
you-realistic ?. Yes.
me-maybe dreaming ?. That's what it's all about.
 
Being in The Chanpionship is always a huge uphill battle for us. I don’t usually mind being in League One because we tend to be very competitive in it and there tends to be some entertaining football on offer. I wish we could get out of League One with an exciting group of young players and then have a go in the higher division without signing a bunch of slightly past it journeymen to try and shore us up, but I understand why managers are tempted to do that. They don’t think we can afford Championship quality so they plump for Championship experience, albeit in slightly over the hill legs. Evans has managed to break the cycle by signing the journeymen in League One. Now, unless we buy contracts up at huge expense or find clubs who for some bizarre reason want to take underperforming players off our hands and pay them what we have agreed to pay them, the bulk of the team that is currently putting in turgid performances week after week will still be here next season. There just might not be many people left in the stands to watch them. We have the worst of all worlds - a very old side on relatively high wages and two year deals that is getting poor results and playing dreadful football into the bargain. Players who I think most people thought might shine in League One suddenly look lost against ordinary League Two sides, and the new recruits (when fit) seem to have brought very little to the party. The poorly judged decision to get allow Evans to return and to put all our eggs in his basket has backfired horribly.
 
I've had a spare hour this morning and decided to catch up with the Advertiser.
One comment particular gave me a wry smile.
Prior to being dumped out of the cup by League 2 Cheltenham....
" any cash generated from Cup games will be invested into the playing side in January ".

That's good, unfortunately for getting dumped out of the cup by a League 2 side we amassed £15k.
in 'prize' money
 
I've had a spare hour this morning and decided to catch up with the Advertiser.
One comment particular gave me a wry smile.
Prior to being dumped out of the cup by League 2 Cheltenham....
" any cash generated from Cup games will be invested into the playing side in January ".

That's good, unfortunately for getting dumped out of the cup by a League 2 side we amassed £15k.
in 'prize' money
Yes, I had a giggle at that particularly when Evans also said '...not all League 1 clubs will have that benefit...' and then bizarrely waffled on about how lucky we are to have 'a wealthy owner who spends big money.'
 
Good point you made about Wycombe Lindum .
5:0 away at Stockport. Young team, young progressive manager, a guy called Fred wowing the fans - sort of what I hoped for for us. But with Arkwright at the helm doing a poor man's impression of Bob Lord, with Pugwash and Tom stumbling from one idiocy to the next and a recruitment policy apparently geared to the over 30s we are screwed for the foreseeable.
 
Expect to hear from someone at RUFC - "The fans can't expect us to compete with the big clubs..like, er... Lincoln City", or "We had to be quick off the mark to beat rival clubs to sign all those old crocks and faceless lower-league journeymen"
Saw this comment on the Bristol Rovers forum back in June about our recruitment; '...no guarantees in football, if they dont get up they could be stuck with an ageing injury prone squad, playing Evans style football.'
 
Dan Rice, Chief Football Officer and Interim Chairman at Wycombe wrote; “Mikheil, Eduard and I have a vision for this club which is heavily focused on youth development and integrating technology with data analytics to take our sporting performance to new levels. That journey will involve making sustainable, data-driven improvements and developments across the entire club."
I doubt anyone on the NYS Open All Hours set would even understand what he was talking about.
 
Last edited:
I must admit to being taken in by Steve Evans rhetoric when he returned. Indeed, I renewed my season ticket, having been on the verge of not bothering for the first season in a very long time. I attended a couple of pre season games and worried then that some of the new signings didn’t impress at all! There were those that insisted it was a matter of time, the squad needed to gel. Well, here we are in November, out of both Cup competitions, beaten in both by clubs in a lower league. We sit in the bottom half of the table having won just four matches out of fourteen? Our away record continues to disappoint, home record and worse, performances aren’t great. SE talking about reinvesting in the squad in January? Will TS release the funds or will he see it merely throwing good money after bad? I can’t see Evans facing the sack at least for now. Whatever happens, performances need to improve massively, otherwise the already disgruntled fan base will desert. January should be an interesting month.
 
We have a two week break between league games after the Barnsley game. I can’t help thinking (hoping) that if we get the same drivel served up on Friday night, Tony Stewart might see that as an opportune time to make a change.
I think he will give him as much time as possible to turn things around. In some ways understandably. Because of how well he did last spell. And where do you go from here after signing all then players in the summer. It is more likely to happen after a home loss when it becomes toxic.
 
I've said before I'm surprised at how hopeless Evans has been. I see no signs that he's capable of turning things around and he and Raynor seem to have retreated to a sulky in-denial mode.
That said, Craig makes a very good point; we're stuck with a squad and realistically a new manager could only make changes incrementally over two or three windows.
The biggest problem for me is the board seems to have no plan or strategy for taking the club forward. Without a philosophy which then feeds through into style of play, recruitment, player development and realistic aims we will simply repeat the errors of the past.
 
Last edited:
** I think he will give him as much time as possible to turn things around. In some ways understandably. Because of how well he did last spell...***

. And where do you go from here after signing all then players in the summer. It is more likely to happen after a home loss when it becomes toxic.
You're making the same mistake as my relatives and friends.
There's not too much comparison with last time.
Football has changed considerably since the last time he was here .
You can't bring a player in on loan for a month and then get rid of him if it doesn't work out, you can't pay several thousands of pounds then have a difference of opinion and send them to ' Bury '.
I do agree with him that it could well take at least 3 transfer windows to get where he wants to be.

He can cut the ' bullshine ' out for me and some of the condescending remarks that's been made .
Football fans are too demanding at times BUT they're not stupid or gullible .
I would be amazed if the Chairman moved him on and besides who would be brought in considering the Chairmans track record on appointing managers isn't exactly good .
Matt Taylor was fine up to playing at S6 when the players concerned let everyone down .
That season went downhill from there .