The Chairman speaks out

[mellowmiller]

Honest, sans-agenda take on where most/many fans were with these:

1. Spence Solid player when fit, very few doubted he was a good signing.
2. Benson Big risk, possibly big reward, slightly more risky than we should have gone
3. Cann Signed as cover for what many think to be an expensive first choice - was always going to be cheap option if we had a lot of wages tied up with the first choice
4. Martha Aside from those who later claimed to have intimate knowledge of Dutch youth football, few were haters
5. Hall Similar to Martha
6. Adegboyega Managed to kid many of us with his first outing, easy to see why management could have gone the same way
7. Kaleta Comparisons with Lembikisa, assumed a luxurytype player for the position he was expected to play
8. Cover Very little consensus
9. Agbaire Looked a proper talent, very few had issues
10. T Holmes See Adegboyega, but multiply by a very big number
11. Etete First outing concerned everyone, second he convinced most, proper yo-yo player
12. Sousa Not sure anyone knows why he came
13. Gore One of our best all season, very few doubters aside from the SE lynch mob because of the back story
14. Sherif Most assumed he'd be a threat
15. Baptiste Similar to Gore, very few doubters
16. Biacheri Similar to Sousa, very little noise to suggest anyone thought he'd play much
17. Yearwood Most assumed a risk, like Benson, but may be an asset if fit

My point is, by and large, there wasn't a massive amount of noise (especially reasoned noise) that we'd signed a load of sh**e. MH managed them poorly, and there are clearly some massive ongoing issues around fitness.

Going through that list, the main issue is getting them playing at all, not well. On their best days:
1. Spence - Great L1 midfielder, proper engine
2. Benson - Able to take the piss at L1 level, far too good
3. Cann - Solid back-up, may not be quite good enough to be a starter
4. Martha - Championship level skills and pace, but there's something not clicking (could be attitude, fans have made their mind up either way)
5. Hall - Solid full/wing back, plays hard, very good at L1 level
6. Adegboyega - Half a game is the only 'at his best' I have seen, impossible to judge but not seen a deal of positives
7. Kaleta - Looks good but hasn't had a consistent run or position
9. Agbaire - Best days, looks the business - not been the same player since Bradford owned him and the injury
12. Sousa - Wouldn't know him if he walked into my local
13. Gore - There was a brief moment where it seemed we might be flirting with the idea of a cheeky offer for him, and it would have been a huge highlight to this season. Machine, absolute top tier for L1 and would do it a level above.
15. Baptiste - Has got better and better. Sadly won't be around next season, but would walk into most L1 sides
16. Biacheri - Brief spell in first half against the Dingles (misses aside) he looked good, but very little to go on
17. Yearwood - Absolute rock, challenges everything and wins most of it

Again, the issues are not the talent we've brought in. Badly managed, and getting very little from what has (at times) shown to be a very capable squad. If RS is charged with identifying talent, the only real gripe we could have is that he's (POSSIBLY) not picking up on poor attitudes. If we got the best out of that squad, and kept them fit, we'd have gone up. We saw how good they could be on a handful of occasions. I'm not trying to sh** on MH because there's far more going on with the club, and even LC has intimated that the players screwed him over, but he was ultimately the one in charge and his failure to adapt and address the problems that were very likely happening behind the scenes so he had to take the fall.

We had the tools, we just absolutely f***ed about trying to use them. First 18 games we lost 30% of the time... after that point, from game 19 to now, we lost over 70% of the time - stats can be manipulated, but that is absolutely striking. Something was going badly wrong around November, and NONE of the management/leadership dealt with it.

I agree with most of your assessments of individual players but Spence is one who intrigues me.
I've watched him quite closely on the (relatively) few occasions he's played. He's quite impressive when we don't have the ball and chases about trying to win possession.
However, when we do have the ball he hides. There's no other way to put it because he doesn't show for the ball (surely that's a minimum requirement for a midfielder!) and he always seems to be behind an opponent.
This may be because his confidence is low as he's been playing in a poor team so it will be interesting to see how he does in League 2 if the manager (whoever that may be) puts together a team that competes at the top end of the table.

[MillerBill]

Steve McClaren ?

Unless we have a change at the top and a PLAN, we really can't speculate on who comes in as Director of Football or manager.I really can't see many wanting the job, if we follow the expected lack of ambition and investment we have shown in the past.Even at the lowest level, where we are now, there will be ambitious clubs prepared to invest.Like I've said before I would like to hear from Phil Smith,regarding what route this club takes,because there is no doubt we have not been professionally run for a number of years.

[UlleyMiller]

I agree with most of your assessments of individual players but Spence is one who intrigues me.
I've watched him quite closely on the (relatively) few occasions he's played. He's quite impressive when we don't have the ball and chases about trying to win possession.
However, when we do have the ball he hides. There's no other way to put it because he doesn't show for the ball (surely that's a minimum requirement for a midfielder!) and he always seems to be behind an opponent.
This may be because his confidence is low as he's been playing in a poor team so it will be interesting to see how he does in League 2 if the manager (whoever that may be) puts together a team that competes at the top end of the table.

If confidence has been an issue (and I'd expect it must have been to some degree), having three injury spells hasn't helped. I take your point though, he is a defensive midfielder for us more than the box-to-box he's capable of being. We don't know if he's under instruction to get the ball to our 'flair' players though, which could also explain why after chasing/winning the ball he's getting rid, and why he'd not scream for the ball when we're on the front foot. I'm speculating though.

[the_idiotb_stardson]

I would be staggered if Spence is hear next season.

[MillerBill]

After Colchester have been taken over,there is news of both Shrewsbury and Northampton having new owners on the way.These doomsters on here, who were saying," who would want to buy us"?There are number of buyers who would be interested in us,knowing that a properly run club can succeed and we have a better fan base than the above three mentioned.

[UlleyMiller]

I would be staggered if Spence is hear next season.

If he's not hear, eye'd like someone who nose where he's going to open their mouth and tell us.

[HensonsPRman]

Honest, sans-agenda take on where most/many fans were with these:


We had the tools, we just absolutely f***ed about trying to use them. First 18 games we lost 30% of the time... after that point, from game 19 to now, we lost over 70% of the time - stats can be manipulated, but that is absolutely striking. Something was going badly wrong around November, and NONE of the management/leadership dealt with it.

Let's just assume that in late November Karen from accounts spoke to all the players who were out of contract at the end of the season and told them if their agents could fix them up in Jan they were free to go as there would be no new contract here at the end of the season. How much effort would you put in from that time onwards?

[Pocket rocket]

Let's just assume that in late November Karen from accounts spoke to all the players who were out of contract at the end of the season and told them if their agents could fix them up in Jan they were free to go as there would be no new contract here at the end of the season. How much effort would you put in from that time onwards?

I would put effort in because I?m being paid. There is no other suitable answer unless you are willing to accept that you are getting paid without earning it. If a supporter has any other opinion than this is unacceptable then they are a ****ing idiot.

[UlleyMiller]

Let's just assume that in late November Karen from accounts spoke to all the players who were out of contract at the end of the season and told them if their agents could fix them up in Jan they were free to go as there would be no new contract here at the end of the season. How much effort would you put in from that time onwards?

A couple of points. 1. The drift from 30% losses to 70% is too severe to be explained by what is likely to be a gentle shift in effort/risks taken in challenges etc. 2. We clearly have a lot of fans who make absolutely ideal employees... 😂

[RU66]

Every club has players out of contract at the end of the season only with ours this one other clubs would have to be desperate to want them!

[mellowmiller]

Let's just assume that in late November Karen from accounts spoke to all the players who were out of contract at the end of the season and told them if their agents could fix them up in Jan they were free to go as there would be no new contract here at the end of the season. How much effort would you put in from that time onwards?

If that did actually happen it just emphasises how clueless most of the senior managers at the club are!

[Pocket rocket]

A couple of points. 1. The drift from 30% losses to 70% is too severe to be explained by what is likely to be a gentle shift in effort/risks taken in challenges etc. 2. We clearly have a lot of fans who make absolutely ideal employees... 😂

I?m a model employee in every way. I don?t want to use the word perfect in fact nope I?ll go with perfect that?s the best description of me. 😊

[sawmiller]

If that did actually happen it just emphasises how clueless most of the senior managers at the club are!

Well, if I wanted a deal here or elsewhere, I’d be doing my best because I’m being paid, and because I’d want to help my agent with evidence that I’m worth signing.

[Shark27]

Honest, sans-agenda take on where most/many fans were with these:

1. Spence Solid player when fit, very few doubted he was a good signing.
2. Benson Big risk, possibly big reward, slightly more risky than we should have gone
3. Cann Signed as cover for what many think to be an expensive first choice - was always going to be cheap option if we had a lot of wages tied up with the first choice
4. Martha Aside from those who later claimed to have intimate knowledge of Dutch youth football, few were haters
5. Hall Similar to Martha
6. Adegboyega Managed to kid many of us with his first outing, easy to see why management could have gone the same way
7. Kaleta Comparisons with Lembikisa, assumed a luxurytype player for the position he was expected to play
8. Cover Very little consensus
9. Agbaire Looked a proper talent, very few had issues
10. T Holmes See Adegboyega, but multiply by a very big number
11. Etete First outing concerned everyone, second he convinced most, proper yo-yo player
12. Sousa Not sure anyone knows why he came
13. Gore One of our best all season, very few doubters aside from the SE lynch mob because of the back story
14. Sherif Most assumed he'd be a threat
15. Baptiste Similar to Gore, very few doubters
16. Biacheri Similar to Sousa, very little noise to suggest anyone thought he'd play much
17. Yearwood Most assumed a risk, like Benson, but may be an asset if fit

My point is, by and large, there wasn't a massive amount of noise (especially reasoned noise) that we'd signed a load of sh**e. MH managed them poorly, and there are clearly some massive ongoing issues around fitness.

Going through that list, the main issue is getting them playing at all, not well. On their best days:
1. Spence - Great L1 midfielder, proper engine
2. Benson - Able to take the piss at L1 level, far too good
3. Cann - Solid back-up, may not be quite good enough to be a starter
4. Martha - Championship level skills and pace, but there's something not clicking (could be attitude, fans have made their mind up either way)
5. Hall - Solid full/wing back, plays hard, very good at L1 level
6. Adegboyega - Half a game is the only 'at his best' I have seen, impossible to judge but not seen a deal of positives
7. Kaleta - Looks good but hasn't had a consistent run or position
9. Agbaire - Best days, looks the business - not been the same player since Bradford owned him and the injury
12. Sousa - Wouldn't know him if he walked into my local
13. Gore - There was a brief moment where it seemed we might be flirting with the idea of a cheeky offer for him, and it would have been a huge highlight to this season. Machine, absolute top tier for L1 and would do it a level above.
15. Baptiste - Has got better and better. Sadly won't be around next season, but would walk into most L1 sides
16. Biacheri - Brief spell in first half against the Dingles (misses aside) he looked good, but very little to go on
17. Yearwood - Absolute rock, challenges everything and wins most of it

Again, the issues are not the talent we've brought in. Badly managed, and getting very little from what has (at times) shown to be a very capable squad. If RS is charged with identifying talent, the only real gripe we could have is that he's (POSSIBLY) not picking up on poor attitudes. If we got the best out of that squad, and kept them fit, we'd have gone up. We saw how good they could be on a handful of occasions. I'm not trying to sh** on MH because there's far more going on with the club, and even LC has intimated that the players screwed him over, but he was ultimately the one in charge and his failure to adapt and address the problems that were very likely happening behind the scenes so he had to take the fall.

We had the tools, we just absolutely f***ed about trying to use them. First 18 games we lost 30% of the time... after that point, from game 19 to now, we lost over 70% of the time - stats can be manipulated, but that is absolutely striking. Something was going badly wrong around November, and NONE of the management/leadership dealt with it.

I?ll be honest, I?d never heard of any of the players we signed this season apart from Gore for obvious reasons and I knew of Watmore. Once we signed Benson I was told by a Barnsley fan that he?s always injured.

The majority of the players have been struggling to do simple things. That shows a lack of talent, certainly for the level they have been playing at this season.

[SdnMiller]

I tend to agree with the sentiment of this, this squad reminds me quite a bit of some of the Warney championship squads which got relegated from the champ, lots of quality players, bit not quite coached well enough to keep us up.

With the previous set up you always felt like you had a good cop bad cop with Warne and Barker with Hammy in the background doing the coaching and team set-up,

This time around it all felt a bit disjointed, I can't see at all how Tongue helped on the dugout, and I think Woody is too inexperienced to be the first team coach. I think the backroom staff is really what lead to the mismanagement from November onwards.