The sublime to the ridiculous

The title of the thread is far harsher on the bros than it's meant to be and I think they've been brilliant for us, but are they just too fixated on moving forward at the speed of a glacier at the expense of the short term?

I don't think it?s a coincidence that Jatta (and probably Bostock) aside we've had some dreadful January transfer windows which have helped derail multiple seasons. I actually think we'll end up making money on Jarvis and Whitaker eventually but they were never going to be what we needed right now when we'd lost a key player under a cloud & had a load of injuries. It's like they can't pivot to fill short term holes - Hardy was a complete disaster by contrast but weirdly we actually had a couple of very strong January windows when we were really ip against it and had to react fast. Admittedly there was probably some dumb luck involved and there was no comparison with summer windows where the chance to plan longer term works in the bros' favour.

Rational long term planning has to be there but there are times you have to give in to 'knee jerk' reactions and address today's problem. I just worry that repeated short term setbacks not being addressed will just keep us on this turgid League 2 treadmill way longer than we need to be.

It's our a second season back in L2. We've had key players leave. Key players out injured for months at a time. Our goalie's out injured and we just got a clean sheet. We've had key staff leave.

And we're still miles above where we finished last season and a couple of wins shy of auto promotion. Make all the same decisions and roll the dice on this season again and I reckon it's 50/50 we go up. I'd put the odds longer now of course, but it's still not impossible.

I don't think we'll see them splash the cash or do much of the short term stuff to get out of L2. The money picture in L1 is better but it isn't miles better, if I recall.

I just don't think this season is going to try their patience that much.

I get football is a moving feast and nailing an opinion/expectation at the beginning of the season is an odd (and pointless) concept, but how long would be way longer than we need to be with regards being in L2?

I always find the comparisons with Hardy quite funny too but I agree to a point with the January Transfer window comment, although recruiting in January is definitely harder, as cited.

I would not describe this January as dreadful. I simply think with a single, more experienced singing at the top end of the pitch, we would be in the Top 3. Whittaker and Traore were always going to be gambles in the short-term. Jarvis has a little more pedigree, but again can be described as a gamble.

I remember saying to my old man, during the Bromley game at home (25/01), that if the reported ?200k-300k for Crowley was true, I would have happily thrown a large chunk of that at Michael Cheek.

Filling in short term holes is not an exact science. Say you sign Cheek and you go up, can he play in L1? Probably not. If you do not go up, you have spent X on a guy who is 34 by the time the next season rolls round.

I was disappointed we did not add one more experienced forward in Jan, but ultimately, given how we have had our club owned in recent years, I could stomach it and still can now.

Is it all rosey at the minute? No.
Are we underachieving at home? Yes.
Are we still in contention to go up? Absolutely.
Could we go up automatically? Yes.

Are we overall an excellently run club with lots more positive than negatives? 100%.

Seriously, wtf thought we’ve lost Crowley and Langstaff. I know a couple of lads called Jarvis and Whitaker who we can shoehorn right in?

Actually…add Traore to that list.

Fcuk… you would have thought we had signed Ronaldo with all the hype!

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Originally Posted by Rincewind_rooftrouser

The title of the thread is far harsher on the bros than it's meant to be and I think they've been brilliant for us, but are they just too fixated on moving forward at the speed of a glacier at the expense of the short term?

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The club was in financial meltdown and out of the league five years ago. We're now in our second season back in the league and should at least finish in a higher position than last season, possibly in the play-offs, possibly even promoted. I just don't see where the "moving like a glacier reference" comes from. Wrexham have moved faster I'll grant you, but their owners are a one-off in terms of financial clout.

It's been steady progress rather than spectacular under the Reedtz regime, but certainly not slow, and it's being achieved without putting the club back in the financial mire. I just despair with the football fan mentality sometimes, but at least the current owners rise above and ignore such nonsense rather than responding to it, which is where Trew and Hardy started to unravel, especially on social media.

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Originally Posted by jackal2

The club was in financial meltdown and out of the league five years ago. We're now in our second season back in the league and should at least finish in a higher position than last season, possibly in the play-offs, possibly even promoted. I just don't see where the "moving like a glacier reference" comes from. Wrexham have moved faster I'll grant you, but their owners are a one-off in terms of financial clout.

It's been steady progress rather than spectacular under the Reedtz regime, but certainly not slow, and it's being achieved without putting the club back in the financial mire. I just despair with the football fan mentality sometimes, but at least the current owners rise above and ignore such nonsense rather than responding to it, which is where Trew and Hardy started to unravel, especially on social media.

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There seems to me like there is a lot of impatience and it's understandable. It will have been 10 years at the end of the season since we were last in League One which for me is our natural level and 30 years since we were last in the second tier. For the more senior fans they will have seen us in the top flight and have full experience of the Jimmy Sirrel and Neil Warnock eras and so seeing us in tier 4 is a long way from those times whereas those under 35 will not remember those times and only know us as a League One/Two and National League club.

Then you've got the Wrexham Stockport and Mansfield trio. All three clubs that we've been competing with in recent seasons and people see Wrexham knocking on the door of the championship, Stockport in the league one play-offs and Mansfield a league above us and looking like they should be able to survive and it may feel as though we are not keeping up.

I'm happy with steady progress over the past six seasons. Of course there will be some disappointment if we don't go up this year especially being in the top five for most of the season but the final chapter of this season has yet to be written and we don't know the outcome.

I'd sooner the club adopt a more gradual improvement rather than the boom and bust that we had from 2001-2019.

It does require a degree of patience because the club gives people a platform to learn and grow so that it becomes stronger for it in the long run. Then off the field there is the constant improvements to the infrastructure of the club.

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Originally Posted by Rincewind_rooftrouser

The title of the thread is far harsher on the bros than it's meant to be and I think they've been brilliant for us, but are they just too fixated on moving forward at the speed of a glacier at the expense of the short term?

I don't think it?s a coincidence that Jatta (and probably Bostock) aside we've had some dreadful January transfer windows which have helped derail multiple seasons. I actually think we'll end up making money on Jarvis and Whitaker eventually but they were never going to be what we needed right now when we'd lost a key player under a cloud & had a load of injuries. It's like they can't pivot to fill short term holes - Hardy was a complete disaster by contrast but weirdly we actually had a couple of very strong January windows when we were really ip against it and had to react fast. Admittedly there was probably some dumb luck involved and there was no comparison with summer windows where the chance to plan longer term works in the bros' favour.

Rational long term planning has to be there but there are times you have to give in to 'knee jerk' reactions and address today's problem. I just worry that repeated short term setbacks not being addressed will just keep us on this turgid League 2 treadmill way longer than we need to be.

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We wont make any money on Whitaker. He is out of contract at the end of the season.

It was crazy that we signed players in January with a view to making money on later rather than experienced players to get us in to L1. If this is what Montegue was hanging around at Notts to see through then I'm glad he's gone.

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Originally Posted by jackal2

The club was in financial meltdown and out of the league five years ago.

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The club was in financial meltdown with Saturday league gates of 3,500 when we had the crisis meeting at the Astoria, LESS THAN FIVE YEARS LATER we were kicking off a new season at Old Trafford.