THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[SwalePie]

''Lost That Loving Feeling''.

One of Florist's message boards.

Ah cheers for that. Is there some connection between F-word and the song or is it just expressing discontent?

[upthemaggies]

Ah cheers for that. Is there some connection between F-word and the song or is it just expressing discontent?

It has a similarly daft background story to the Wheelbarrow Song and began around the same time in 1989 (Wheelbarrow was April 1990). You'd imagine it was born out of frustration at underachieving in the shadow of former glories but apparently some fans were at a wedding where the record was requested by bride and groom as the last dance but the needle started jumping and skipping, same fans then started singing it for a laugh at the next game and it took off.

[Jampie]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

My thoughts on Neal are:

1. His overall win rate is 40% with the club as a whole, making him one of the better managers in recent years
2. If you exclude the horrific situation he walked into as third (and terminal) manager in our relegation year, you really only have last season to judge him by. Last season he managed a win rate of 44.7% in the league, putting the team firmly in the playoffs. Later results tended to be better than earlier results, too.
3. The long term trend of both results and his hiring is one of improvement. The results he's getting over time are improving, and the number of excellent hires he seems to be able to make has gone up, particularly with the involvement of Football Radar

Regarding this year's performance, I expect it to start a lot weaker than it ends, and we've had a reasonable start so far. We've got a number of very interesting new players who will need a bit of time and patience to hit their stride, and the strategy NA's implementing of essentially having two complete teams he can field so he can rotate whenever necessary is one that will pay off a lot more in a few months time than it does now. In fact it could be seen as a hindrance now because it will take longer to get "minutes on legs" as he puts it. But down the track, teams who only really have one full team they can field will suffer more than we do from fatigue and injuries. We'll continue with a more consistent high performance while theirs drops off. I expect our win rate to peak nearer the end of the season as a result.

Lastly, the fact is that replacing a manager will incur a performance hit in the short, long and medium term. With the frequency Notts has been replacing managers in the last decade, we have been operating under a kind of "new manager penalty" the entire time. This is a self defeating strategy.

With all of that in mind, I'd be very much inclined to apply a bit of patience. I would regard a minimum acceptable result for this season to be a playoff spot, and think the goal should clearly be to win the league. I would not seriously contemplate replacing NA as manager unless we find ourselves in the bananarama league yet again next season. And even then, I would want to carefully analyse our results and situation.

[Old_pie]

Long time lurker, first time poster here.

My thoughts on Neal are:

1. His overall win rate is 40% with the club as a whole, making him one of the better managers in recent years
2. If you exclude the horrific situation he walked into as third (and terminal) manager in our relegation year, you really only have last season to judge him by. Last season he managed a win rate of 44.7% in the league, putting the team firmly in the playoffs. Later results tended to be better than earlier results, too.
3. The long term trend of both results and his hiring is one of improvement. The results he's getting over time are improving, and the number of excellent hires he seems to be able to make has gone up, particularly with the involvement of Football Radar

Regarding this year's performance, I expect it to start a lot weaker than it ends, and we've had a reasonable start so far. We've got a number of very interesting new players who will need a bit of time and patience to hit their stride, and the strategy NA's implementing of essentially having two complete teams he can field so he can rotate whenever necessary is one that will pay off a lot more in a few months time than it does now. In fact it could be seen as a hindrance now because it will take longer to get "minutes on legs" as he puts it. But down the track, teams who only really have one full team they can field will suffer more than we do from fatigue and injuries. We'll continue with a more consistent high performance while theirs drops off. I expect our win rate to peak nearer the end of the season as a result.

Lastly, the fact is that replacing a manager will incur a performance hit in the short, long and medium term. With the frequency Notts has been replacing managers in the last decade, we have been operating under a kind of "new manager penalty" the entire time. This is a self defeating strategy.

With all of that in mind, I'd be very much inclined to apply a bit of patience. I would regard a minimum acceptable result for this season to be a playoff spot, and think the goal should clearly be to win the league. I would not seriously contemplate replacing NA as manager unless we find ourselves in the bananarama league yet again next season. And even then, I would want to carefully analyse our results and situation.

Which one are you? Chris or Alex? Surely not Dad!

[BigFatPie]

In some ways it’s a shame for Ardley that we didn’t get relegated into the Notts Combination. He then could have won every game last season and been considered the greatest manager in our history.

[laddo]

In some ways it’s a shame for Ardley that we didn’t get relegated into the Notts Combination. He then could have won every game last season and been considered the greatest manager in our history.

Well that wins the worst post of the day award. Congrats BFP

[Elite_Pie]

What does LTLF stand for? Lost Their Last Five? Loving The Leicester Faithful? Ladies To Live For?

I'm stumped.

It's always meant 'loathe the little f@ckers' to me, but I'd be happy for 'lost their last fif****' to replace it.

[forwardmagpie]

It's always meant 'loathe the little f@ckers' to me, but I'd be happy for 'lost their last fif****' to replace it.

Both work for me.

[Elite_Pie]

In some ways it’s a shame for Ardley that we didn’t get relegated into the Notts Combination. He then could have won every game last season and been considered the greatest manager in our history.

I just don't get those posters who say "if you exclude the relegation season, Ardley's done a pretty good job".

How the f@ck can you ignore that when judging him?

[upthemaggies]

Which one are you? Chris or Alex? Surely not Dad!

The best defence of Ardley I've read on here, though I suppose it wouldn't have come across quite so well had he posted after the Dover defeat.

So long as we keep in touch with the top this season, Ardley will be fine. The last two games suggest we won't struggle (always a worry after banging your head on a play off ceiling), the next game should go some way to revealing how likely we are to challenge for top spot.
If last season had begun after Sutton's last home defeat in November, Notts would have ended up on top with Sutton in 2nd. They also finished 3rd a couple of years ago so they look like they might be one of the teams we hadn't given much thought to that will be in contention.