How Burchnall is better than Ardley?
Printable View
How Burchnall is better than Ardley?
He’s not, biggest mistake sacking him when we did, we certainly would have done better in the play-offs. As a number of us have said, you can’t pass your way out this league it’s a mix.
Funnily when Stockport appointed Challioner there were some on here who said he wouldn’t do anything, he seems to be doing ok? Experience of this league is one of the key things, however, the infuriating thing is that if we had a plan ‘B’ to get results at places like Chesterfield then IB would be in a class of his own.
Unfortunately, if this is a IB demand of how we play then ultimately it will be his undoing, if it’s a demand from the board then this blinkered experiment needs reassessing as it feels some are losing patience, and some of us thought at the beginning it was a bad idea.
This may be a controversial opinion, but I think Burchnall is better than Ardley... at coaching the passing game. When it works, the football we play now is quicker and sharper and much more attacking than the style Ardley employed.
HOWEVER, they essentially have the same problem that neither of their teams seem/seemed ready to go to a different style when their preferred way of playing isn't/wasn't working. The ability to battle and grind out gritty results away from home has been missing too often under both the last two managers, so in that respect there's not much to pick between them. In terms of league placing Ardley's a little ahead, but I'd argue he had one or two more experienced, mature players to work with than Burchnall, so I don't see much difference overall.
Have you seen the 46 game thread? Has a lot of stats in it comparing IB and NA.
https://boards.footymad.net/showthread.php?t=38287255
Ultimately if you include the season we were relegated into this division then IB stats are notably better. If you don't then after tonight I think NA just has the edge.
For me the quality of play (and general entertainment) under IB is lots better. But results wise they're close. And like many fans, I'd happily see a bit more directness at times and a bit more steel in midfield.
No great mystery, Ardley is a better manager, Burchnall is a better coach.
My opinion - it is not a question of comparing the managers it is a question of recruitment. There is no doubt we have recruited some very good players and that the style of recruitment is massively better than it used to be. But we lose games by being bullied out of them. The recuruitment looks at all these wonderful stats but they mean nothing when you are up against it away from home ( and sometimes at home) against a brutish team of bullies. We have been found out so many times this way in this division. There has to be more flexibility in the type of players we bring in to enable us to put teams like Chesterfield and all the 10 bob teams we lose to to the sword. Ardley and Birchnall ( even though his tactics were incorrect against Chesterfield) can only work with that they are supplied with. Radar needs to step up and it isn't. My main criticism is this. We won't go anywhere this season and we need to refine the recruitment model for more brutish players. The stats don't lie that when we get bullied we get pushed out of games frequently.
Ardley would have won us the FA trophy last year. It's not much but we've won nothing since the Munto season and we're a club that needs some success. I'm not convinced we wouldn't have made the playoffs either had we kept him.
Always thought Ardley was unlucky, Hardy meltdown, Covid when we were going really well, started last season losing three of his top four goalscorers for different reasons.
Burchnall made a huge difference to players like Chicksen, Miller Rodriguess and now Sam. At times the football is very good but we have always come up short at key moments. We've never consolidated a play off place and at no point been serious contenders for top spot.
It's perhaps a shame that Burch wasn't brought in as coach last season instead of Greg Abbott.
Whatever, my faith in Burchnall to ever get us up is pretty close to zero.
Football Radar have recruited some very good players, but now they need to add to that mix some players whose key attributes are strength, tackling and all-round aggression. I'm sure they have stats that can identify those types of player, at least for further in-person scouting. So far, we seem to be well catered for in terms of skillful players, which is good, but a little bit lacking in physical types. As the old adage says, you've got to win the battle first to earn the right to play passing football. All the teams that win things have that 'edge' to them.