Ex Goalkeeper Adam Collin says Alan Hardy's biggest mistake was sacking Kevin Nolan

[queenslandpie]

That's just your guess. Nobody knows for certain what would have happened if Hardy had stuck with him longer and even if your worst case scenario was true (it's actually bollox because it's mathematically impossible to be relegated by Christmas), in real terms it's no worse than being relegated on the last day of the season. Relegation is relegation whenever it happens.

Ok so yeah an exaggeration but not a guess. 1 point from the opening 5 games hammered in all but the first one. There can be no doubt we improved but his squad and style of play plus fitness levels of the players were unquestionably bad. Do you honestly think Nolan would have kept us up based on the evidence before you?

Relegation is relegation from a statistical perspective but that doesn't mean that you cant make progress while still going down - which Ardley did and arguably so did Kewell although that was just a daft thing best forgotten about I think we all agree. Now I know you don't like him at all but Ardley did make progress over what came before him you cannot argue with that. We might have had the attacking prowess of a dead goat but we toughened up a lot, but still nowhere near enough.

[Elite_Pie]

Do you honestly think Nolan would have kept us up based on the evidence before you?

Quite possibly not, but it's a question we'll never know the answer to. If the clock could be turned back, I would definitely keep Nolan for the season on the basis that the end result couldn't be worse than the one Kewell and Ardley achieved.

[jackal2]

I've got very little sympathy for Kevin Nolan because he started well and got a lot of backing and confidence from the owner, but instead of building on that momentum he allowed himself to get distracted. I still remember the pre-season games when we put up a poor show against Leicester and Derby, but Nolan just stood in the dugout with his hands in his pockets laughing and joking. The whole thing looked slack, complacent and unfocussed, and that's exactly the way we started the season. The seeds of our relegation were sewn by Nolan. Kewell and Ardley simply inherited the problems he left.

[Elite_Pie]

The seeds of our relegation were sewn by Nolan. Kewell and Ardley simply inherited the problems he left.

That may be so, but Kewell and Ardley were appointed to solve those problems and they failed miserably. Nolan only managed us for 6 games. Do you remember the dire performances against Cambridge, Newport, Morecambe etc after Christmas?

Were they still down to Nolan?

[MagpieMike]

If we had stayed with Nolan we'd have been relegated by Christmas he'd lost it completely. Alan Hardys biggest mistake was massively over extending his financial commitments and putting a CEO in at Paragon who was incompetent. If Nolan had done well last season we wouldnt be in the Vanarama but we would still be in massive poo now.

This is exactly right. A club losing 2-3 million a year needs an owner with deep pockets. Hardy could have amazing plans for us now, but it would still be meaningless without the financial clout to make things happen.

[Freeman25]

Avoiding relegation wasn't Nolan's aim when we started the season so whether we'd have stayed up if he'd stayed or not doesn't matter at all, Hardy was right to sack him imo, he'd been underperforming for a long time. His end to the season wasn't good enough, pre season wasn't good enough and his start to the season wasn't good enough.

Hardy's biggest mistake was appointing a manager like Kewell to come in and completely change everything once the season had already started.

His second biggest mistake was not giving that manager time when we didn't immediately fly up the table straight away, there's no way we'd have been relegated under Kewell in my opinion, unless he completely lost the plot in January, but Hardy couldn't settle for that. (And Kewell was arrogant pr*ck to be around, but that's life, deal with it)

[hissingdwarf]

Avoiding relegation wasn't Nolan's aim when we started the season so whether we'd have stayed up if he'd stayed or not doesn't matter at all, Hardy was right to sack him imo, he'd been underperforming for a long time. His end to the season wasn't good enough, pre season wasn't good enough and his start to the season wasn't good enough.

Hardy's biggest mistake was appointing a manager like Kewell to come in and completely change everything once the season had already started.

His second biggest mistake was not giving that manager time when we didn't immediately fly up the table straight away, there's no way we'd have been relegated under Kewell in my opinion, unless he completely lost the plot in January, but Hardy couldn't settle for that. (And Kewell was arrogant pr*ck to be around, but that's life, deal with it)

This. Kewell was the wrong choice at a crucial point. But...When he was appointed, he should have been given the chance to go to the end of the season.
Would have cleared away a lot of the deadwood as he was obviously unpopular with the drinking mates club, but that’s no bad thing. I genuinely think we would have stayed up with Kewell in charge. Not saying I liked him or his attitude, but he knew where the issues were and was happy to tell the poor players exactly that. The lack of a changing room spirit killed the club. Hardy is the one to blame for this overall, but the main issues were with Nolan and his lazy attitude.

[navypie]

That may be so, but Kewell and Ardley were appointed to solve those problems and they failed miserably. Nolan only managed us for 6 games. Do you remember the dire performances against Cambridge, Newport, Morecambe etc after Christmas?

Were they still down to Nolan?

Our season was so bad that the dire performances you mention could have actually have been some of our better performances.

[queenslandpie]

Quite possibly not, but it's a question we'll never know the answer to. If the clock could be turned back, I would definitely keep Nolan for the season on the basis that the end result couldn't be worse than the one Kewell and Ardley achieved.

I wouldn't I'd still have sacked him but I definitely would not have replaced him with Kewell who was seen as a massive gamble at the time by pretty much everyone other than Hardy. As to who I would have gone with I can't say but it would have been a much safer option than him.

[i961pie]

Quite possibly not, but it's a question we'll never know the answer to. If the clock could be turned back, I would definitely keep Nolan for the season on the basis that the end result couldn't be worse than the one Kewell and Ardley achieved.

Maybe so but can you imagine the atmosphere if Nolan had stayed and lost the next 6 games?
It is all ifs and buts.