I still believe that 1/2 the problem is that the fact we are in deep & serious trouble hasn't even sunk in with our owner/manager/players & some supporters & by the time it does it will be way to late. Every team around us are fighting & scrapping for every point but we seem to be strolling about like a mid table team expecting things to work out & class to show in the end!!! I fear for this season but maybe relegation is the only thing that will bring home that we are not invincible.
The problem is that Vaughan and Milsom were always lightweight and never had any pace. Now they have no pace, are lightweight and don't have the stamina to run around for 90 minutes (Vaughan is 36 next month - have we ever made a more ridiculous signing?). Even a team as limited as Yeovil had pace in key positions. We are totally lacking pace and power all over the park, and are unable to get behind teams. Hopefully a fully fit Enzio and Hemmings can help us in that regard, plus a few new loan signings (I think Yeovil had two from Chelsea and another from Bournemouth, who were their best players). But we've got to get some dynamism into the midfield, which Kellett can do if he can ever stay fit for more than 90 minutes. But we also need a mobile ball winner who can win the ball and give it to O'Brien in a bit of space.
Talking of players in their 30s, what's happened to Ward? Not even on the bench these day and behind Duffy and Brisley in the pecking order. I didn't think he was that bad.
We have another manager who thinks that those players who have failed us in the past will eventually come good and save us from relegation. He is either deluded or just plain stupid.
Great posts on this thread. Loyalty shines through. I think we are all stunned at what has happened. It is so hard to take... unthinkable.
I don't think he is either deluded or stupid, well, perhaps a trifle deluded. The players, especially those given a job to do defending corners, are just not following instructions. They are either thick or resentful of their lowly position and feel they don't belong in a team of players with a similar attitude but there is no-one to blame for their plight but themselves. Some of them must have thought they would walk this league without trying, and that is what we have - players walking and not trying,
Neal Ardley will be judged over the next 17 matches, maybe with Enzio and Hemmings fit, 2 or 3 more signings, and give Osborne and Crawford a chance, he might just pull it off.