Was Ardley responsible for relegating us?

[upthemaggies]

[jackal2]

And along came UTM with a grenade!

[magpie_mania]

And they claim that it is the 'pro-Ardley' ones who are obsessed!

[ncfcog]

And they claim that it is the 'pro-Ardley' ones who are obsessed!

TBF I thought it was a funny post, humour is often a great way of getting over a disappointment.

[jackal2]

It's a debate that goes on and on but for me, Nolan bore primary responsibility for our relegation because he let things slide badly on and off the field. The criticism of Ardley could be that he didn't have an impact and turn things around in time like Martin Allen and Shaun Derry did, but a lot of the problems were due to decisions made before Ardley got involved.

[Elite_Pie]

It's a debate that goes on and on but for me, Nolan bore primary responsibility for our relegation because he let things slide badly on and off the field. The criticism of Ardley could be that he didn't have an impact and turn things around in time like Martin Allen and Shaun Derry did, but a lot of the problems were due to decisions made before Ardley got involved.

But at the point Ardley got involved, it wasn't a particularly difficult task to finish 22nd or above given the financial backing Hardy gave him.

As you say, this has been done to death but I'll never understand those who claim Ardley's job of keeping us up was a near-impossible one.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

It's a debate that goes on and on but for me, Nolan bore primary responsibility for our relegation because he let things slide badly on and off the field. The criticism of Ardley could be that he didn't have an impact and turn things around in time like Martin Allen and Shaun Derry did, but a lot of the problems were due to decisions made before Ardley got involved.

Yes great argument
Until realise that sol Campbell worked a miracle with a harder task and with with far less to work with.
But I'm sure theres an excuse about how he could manage it , and Ardley couldn't.
I'm sure it was Nolans fault or Hardys fault how could anyone blame Ardley even though he signed a full team
It was even kewell's fault even though he could only sign free agents with no transfer window..

[jackal2]

Yes great argument
Until realise that sol Campbell worked a miracle with a harder task and with with far less to work with.
But I'm sure theres an excuse about how he could manage it , and Ardley couldn't.
I'm sure it was Nolans fault or Hardys fault how could anyone blame Ardley even though he signed a full team
It was even kewell's fault even though he could only sign free agents with no transfer window..

Despite pasting what I actually said, your response ignores it and implies that I said Ardley bore no responsibility. I didn't. In fact I said he could be blamed for not having enough of an impact and turning things around in time. However, I feel the foundations of the relegation season were laid by Kevin Nolan, starting as early as the previous January.

The debate will always be subjective which is why UTM posed the question in humour!

[irishpete]

Ardley was backed to the hilt & has been since being here. A waste of space. He may be a nice man but that doesn't win footy games

[slack_pie]

He was partly responsible - and a bit part at that. Put it this way, do you think Notts were beyond saving when he took over? I don't. In fact, I'm almost certain that a good manager would have not only been able to avoid relegation, they would have had us safely in lower-mid table.

As Pedro pointed out, Sol Campbell - a complete rookie - was able to keep Macc up at our expense. There is no way their playing squad was superior to ours. Where Sol had zero money to spend, Ardley brought in 8 signings in January.