THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[optipez]

I think the big problem this season has been recruitment. Last season Ardley recruited well, Rawlinson, McCrory, Bakayoko, Lacey, Thomas, Turner, DKE, Brindley, Slocombe, Wootton, Roberts. Wootton started as a loan but we also had Booty who was going well until injured and Sam Graham. Bagan was also pretty decent. In fact only Shields and Wilson could be classed as not making us better. Ardley did a very good job last season of building a competitive squad from pretty much scratch.
This season we've recruited catastrophically. Not a single player from Reeves, RR, Sam, Knowles, Chicksen, Barnett, Miller, Wolfe, Walker ,Effiong or Graham second time has done enough to deserve to be nailed on and would definitely be classed as an improvement on last season.
Combine that with releasing Crawford, Dennis, arguably Osborne and Rose and Thomas not playing and Roberts being injured and we're clearly weaker than last season.
Coaching makes a difference but not as big a difference as having good players. Doyle's a year older and way past it, Turner and McCrory are pretty much spent. We don't have a front two never mind the luxury of rotating Dennis and Thomas and Reeves who is a decent player is going backwards at a rate of knots.
I think Ardley will go soon now, I can't see him turning it round not because he's an awful manager but because we've somehow ended up with a squad of mediocrity with no game changers on the bench, no definitely better centre midfielders to come in and no great strike partner for Wootton.
We could release Chicksen, Wolfe, Sam, Effiong, Miller and probably Rodriguess and not miss them the way they're playing or not even getting on the pitch.

[legs77]

In the cold light of day, waking up after the game this morning, I've had time to think.

I think we will be stuck with Ardley until the end of the season. I'm thinking this because a new manager will not have time to come in and implement ideas due to the crazy schedule that we have. Thoughts?

I think he will stay for a few reasons he is likely to keep us around the play off places and we dont want to pay him off.

He is guilty of wasting money here I mean a month ago he signs Effiong gives him a few games decides he is no good and now gets a young lad from Bradford PA.

He brings in all these new players but very few of them are in CM but he loves signing full backs he must have signed 6-7 this season already.

I would get rid of him as he is a deadbeat but I accept he will last the season and nobody can then say he has had no time to deliver.

[SlockyNCFC]

On the "has Ardley lost the dressing room" question, I don't think the players are becoming insubordinate or anything like that. Whenever I hear any of our players speak about Ardley, they seem to sincerely respect and like him, and I am quite prepared to believe that he is genuinely popular among them.

The sense in which he lost the players spectacularly against Halifax is that from the first kick of the ball, they were unable to implement what he was asking them to do. Whether this is down to the players simply not knowing what they're supposed to be doing in his system, because they're so devoid of confidence and morale that they were unable to do what he'd told them, or because the system itself is fatally flawed, I'm not sure. I suspect it's probably a combination of all these factors.

[Elite_Pie]

In the cold light of day, waking up after the game this morning, I've had time to think.

I think we will be stuck with Ardley until the end of the season. I'm thinking this because a new manager will not have time to come in and implement ideas due to the crazy schedule that we have. Thoughts?

After reading that, depressing ones.

[nw6pie]

I think the big problem this season has been recruitment. Last season Ardley recruited well, Rawlinson, McCrory, Bakayoko, Lacey, Thomas, Turner, DKE, Brindley, Slocombe, Wootton, Roberts. Wootton started as a loan but we also had Booty who was going well until injured and Sam Graham. Bagan was also pretty decent. In fact only Shields and Wilson could be classed as not making us better. Ardley did a very good job last season of building a competitive squad from pretty much scratch.
This season we've recruited catastrophically. Not a single player from Reeves, RR, Sam, Knowles, Chicksen, Barnett, Miller, Wolfe, Walker ,Effiong or Graham second time has done enough to deserve to be nailed on and would definitely be classed as an improvement on last season.
Combine that with releasing Crawford, Dennis, arguably Osborne and Rose and Thomas not playing and Roberts being injured and we're clearly weaker than last season.
Coaching makes a difference but not as big a difference as having good players. Doyle's a year older and way past it, Turner and McCrory are pretty much spent. We don't have a front two never mind the luxury of rotating Dennis and Thomas and Reeves who is a decent player is going backwards at a rate of knots.
I think Ardley will go soon now, I can't see him turning it round not because he's an awful manager but because we've somehow ended up with a squad of mediocrity with no game changers on the bench, no definitely better centre midfielders to come in and no great strike partner for Wootton.
We could release Chicksen, Wolfe, Sam, Effiong, Miller and probably Rodriguess and not miss them the way they're playing or not even getting on the pitch.

You can add Sloth - and the inability to replace him - to the list of failures. A manager lives and dies by his recruitment, and ours has been poor this season. Sam and Rodrigues were always going to be a gamble, and overall they’ve not paid off. Never mind Stoke, they can’t do it on a cold Tuesday night at Meadow Lane on a consistent basis.

As for the manager, I’d get rid if the owners have someone already lined up - like Forest did with Chris Hughton. Not very ethical, I admit, but our previous attempts to fill the hot seat seemed to rely on people applying rather than headhunting someone. Twenty-four hours on, though, I expect Ardley to be in the dugout on Saturday. I’m hoping the novelty of an away game may help the team (or at least grind out a tedious 1-0 win).

[laddo]

I think our recruitment has been good since we entered NL football, noticeably better than previous manager/owner combos.

All managers waste money on signings that simply don't work out or aren't given a proper chance so I'm not having that one. We have signed too many now but we haven't wasted huge money on transfer fees as in the past.

The one big piece of recruitment he hasn't got right is central midfield that's obvious. He either wrongly thought he didn't more than Doyle Reeves and JOB or the Reeves and Wolfe's of this world haven't impressed enough. The position is key and is our Achilles heel this season and last.

Agree that the balance (as in positions) has been poor this season, as mentioned too many wide players not enough central especially midfield.

Totally agree about lining someone up, ethical or not. It's what happens in all business, not just football. To sack, put some unsuitable person in charge as caretaker for a few games, interview and appoint is a poor old fashioned approach!

Houghton was clearly lined up by the Red Dogs well in advance not that it's served them well. They are having a shocking time also. Defensive, no creativity, no goals, bloated squad. Sound familiar?

[queenslandpie]

I think our recruitment has been good since we entered NL football, noticeably better than previous manager/owner combos.

All managers waste money on signings that simply don't work out or aren't given a proper chance so I'm not having that one. We have signed too many now but we haven't wasted huge money on transfer fees as in the past.

The one big piece of recruitment he hasn't got right is central midfield that's obvious. He either wrongly thought he didn't more than Doyle Reeves and JOB or the Reeves and Wolfe's of this world haven't impressed enough. The position is key and is our Achilles heel this season and last.

Agree that the balance (as in positions) has been poor this season, as mentioned too many wide players not enough central especially midfield.

Totally agree about lining someone up, ethical or not. It's what happens in all business, not just football. To sack, put some unsuitable person in charge as caretaker for a few games, interview and appoint is a poor old fashioned approach!

Houghton was clearly lined up by the Red Dogs well in advance not that it's served them well. They are having a shocking time also. Defensive, no creativity, no goals, bloated squad. Sound familiar?

Why do you think our recruitment has been good? I would say its been patchy. Our recruitment as you state is part of the problem ( not lining up central midfielders). There are several signings this season who look rubbish to be honest, Reeeves, Barnett 2 examples. I think our recruitment last season was good. This season I think its been inadequate and poorly thought out. We lack in certain positions and have a manager seemingly obsessed with signing bang average wide players.

[laddo]

I think overall our recruitment has been good compared to previous seasons & manager/owner combos.

Definitely imbalanced this season, and element of panic recently but better than before overall without doubt. Put it this way if we were analysing it just one month ago before the bad results the list would be very different, the whole mood would be understandably different when judging recruitment. In fact it has been discussed earlier in the season and a lot people agreed it was a real positive of the current setup.

One month later, and it's gone from feast to famine so to speak.

[queenslandpie]

I think overall our recruitment has been good compared to previous seasons & manager/owner combos.

Definitely imbalanced this season, and element of panic recently but better than before overall without doubt. Put it this way if we were analysing it just one month ago before the bad results the list would be very different, the whole mood would be understandably different when judging recruitment. In fact it has been discussed earlier in the season and a lot people agreed it was a real positive of the current setup.

One month later, and it's gone from feast to famine so to speak.

I think we did a great rebuild job last year and there wasn't really a bad signing maybe Shields. We had very few loan players last season which was a departure from previous. We seem to have gone back to that a lot more this season sometimes for good reason but look whats happened. Coincidence? Well who knows. I perhaps think it has been misjudged and the reason people think its a positive is that we are largely signing players from the league above. If we break down this seasons signings lets see:

Rodrigues - patchy
Sam - very patchy
Reeves - patchy
Wolfe - who?
Knowles - patchy
Pilling - Looks good cover
Chicksen - patchy (ostracized)
Effiong - a Failure so far
Sloth - less said better

This seasons better performers are last seasons signings.

[MancMagpie]

After reading that, depressing ones.

Indeed Elite!

I'm pretty sure we will keep hold of him, predominantly because of the game schedule.

I don't think there's a manager in his right mind who would look at our schedule and believe that they can begin to stamp their authority and implement their ideas properly in the next 5 games or so. Mostly, there will be one or two days of training in between matches. Sunday and Wednesday will be recovery days, then Monday and Thursday will be full training. No proper training on Tuesday as it's a match day, especially if we are away. Maybe light training on a Friday before Saturday's game? There's just not enough time for somebody and it's fairly impossible to make an impact quickly.

Ironic that Ardley has whinged about the schedule, as it might end up being his saving grace?