THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[queenslandpie]

Agree last season was better, the fact people including yourself are only mentioning 1 or 2 bad signings is the reason I'm saying that overall it's been an upgrade, positive and good.

This season clearly not so good, but if all those players listed (who were with Notts) were judged 1 month ago then they wouldn't be labelled at patchy or very patchy. That's my whole point, they've all taken a down tick since then clearly as has perfomances but it's down to timing.

Knowles best example, patchy now but how long ago was their a thread saying is he undroppable? It wasn't long ago at all. Both extremes clearly which is so NCM

The reason I used patchy is they are all exactly that. they have been good (ish) at times and bad at times. So they are patchy. Last year we had really good signings. However I suppose even a few of those are also a bit patchy now but less patchy than this seasons if you get my drift. Generally we agree. I think there are one or two bad signings and a lot of "the jury is out" signings. One thing for sure is that the departure of Casper Sloth left a large hole in central midfield that has not been sorted at any point. Was he the right man? Who knows early signs suggested not. Never sorted by Ardley. Big issue.

[MAD_MAGPIE]

Recruitment should be better than it is for one obvious reason - in League 2 we were competing with most other clubs on a fairly equal level, in the National League we are a more attractive proposition than any other club. That's what pisses me off a bit when Ardley's win percentage is quoted. Of course it's better than some, because he's playing much smaller and even part-time clubs!

I hope people take note of what you have said because this is spot on. A win % in the national league or league two for example cannot and should not be compared to the win % of managers who have managed the club at the highest level, or at football league levels. It's not a like for like or true comparison with the quality or standard of the opposition.

[Elite_Pie]

I agree that the rebuilding job from relegation was a good one and a year ago this weekend coming were were flying high and beat Eastleigh 4-0 and looked the business in the last game the fans could attend. The side that day was McDonnel, Rawlinson, Lacey, Brindley, Bagan, Doyle, Rose, Boldewijn, Roberts, Dennis and Wootton.

Four of that starting eleven are no longer at the club and one has been injured most of the season. Likewise the assistant manager that day is not here anymore. That's too much change on the face of it.

Far too much work for me to do, but it would be interesting to know how all the other clubs compare today to the team that played their final game of last season. I would guess that at least half of them would have the same or more changes than us.

[queenslandpie]

What in particular not true? I said this seasons signings haven't been as good, they've been more risky for sure and haven't delivered to same level. Agree nobody has reached Rawlinson and Wootton performance levels from either seasons signings. They have been the standout 2.

Would Rodders and Knowles be called Patchy signings at the start of February?

Rodders has obvious potential, but clearly it's getting him more disciplined and more consistent.

They certainly weren't on past threads when they've been discussed. People were very keen for Notts to sign Knowles. Demands for Wolfe to play, maybe that was more down to the Doyle / Reeves pairing lol.

Reeves has been average but not bad until past month in my eyes.

Just think we are judging them clearly at the low point for all the players this season.

They are not being judged on the start of Feb. They are being judged on now. So based on now yes they are patchy. Rodders has never really lasted the full 90 from a performance perspective Knowles since his "promotion" to the starting line up has looked less good. I am judging over the season not part of the season.

[PedroTheFisherman66]

It seems as if Ardley estimates the enemy's tactics but doesn't adjust the team to combat this. All he really needs to do is expect wave after wave of the usual pressure, strikers running through as usual, being fed by a midfield waiting for the usual misplaced pass from our defence and push, confident Notts will crack as usual.

Anyone remember the tactics employed by Field Marshall Melchett in Blackadder 4? Keep doing the same thing same thing over and over, it's the last thing they'll expect.

awesome ! thanks love it

[laddo]

They are not being judged on the start of Feb. They are being judged on now. So based on now yes they are patchy. Rodders has never really lasted the full 90 from a performance perspective Knowles since his "promotion" to the starting line up has looked less good. I am judging over the season not part of the season.

That's very true, it just emphasises the point that this truly is the nadir to judge them. Only a month ago it would have given very contrasting results. In just a month's time? Who knows?! That's football for you.

Interesting comment regarding Rodders, a few people were critical and screaming on here for the manager to give him the full 90 mins. The player himself then came out in an interview and openly admitted he couldn't do (perform) for the full 90 he was dead on his feet.

Overall patchy is indeed a good word, Knowles , Sam and Rodders are fine examples.

[uysapie]

I think the big problem this season has been recruitment. Last season Ardley recruited well, Rawlinson, McCrory, Bakayoko, Lacey, Thomas, Turner, DKE, Brindley, Slocombe, Wootton, Roberts. Wootton started as a loan but we also had Booty who was going well until injured and Sam Graham. Bagan was also pretty decent. In fact only Shields and Wilson could be classed as not making us better. Ardley did a very good job last season of building a competitive squad from pretty much scratch.
This season we've recruited catastrophically. Not a single player from Reeves, RR, Sam, Knowles, Chicksen, Barnett, Miller, Wolfe, Walker ,Effiong or Graham second time has done enough to deserve to be nailed on and would definitely be classed as an improvement on last season.
Combine that with releasing Crawford, Dennis, arguably Osborne and Rose and Thomas not playing and Roberts being injured and we're clearly weaker than last season.
Coaching makes a difference but not as big a difference as having good players. Doyle's a year older and way past it, Turner and McCrory are pretty much spent. We don't have a front two never mind the luxury of rotating Dennis and Thomas and Reeves who is a decent player is going backwards at a rate of knots.
I think Ardley will go soon now, I can't see him turning it round not because he's an awful manager but because we've somehow ended up with a squad of mediocrity with no game changers on the bench, no definitely better centre midfielders to come in and no great strike partner for Wootton.
We could release Chicksen, Wolfe, Sam, Effiong, Miller and probably Rodriguess and not miss them the way they're playing or not even getting on the pitch.

Nail on the head.

[kill_the_drum]

Nail on the head.

I agree with this but didn’t someone quote that we’re actually 4 points ahead of where we were at this point last season?
I think this season feels worse because last season we progressively improved as the season went on, but this season has been very stop/start in terms of results and consistently poor in terms of results.
Also, I think our tolerance and patience this season is probably less than last season. Mine certainly is since our form dipped in Feb.
My main criticism of Ardley, and the owners for that matter, isn’t tactics or team selection, is that results have dipped and we’ve thrown money at the problem by signing more players. We’ve been there before, it ends badly.
Every team we play have a fraction of the squad size and are still playing the same amount of games. Injuries and fatigue are no excuse for us when we’re playing teams that can’t name a full bench.
I remember the munto season. We virtually didn’t play a game for 6 weeks from Dec to mid Jan due to bad weather. We then went on an unstoppable run playing every Sat-Tue. The team barely changed.
I don’t ever remember fatigue or fitness being an issue.
Since the new owners took over I’ve just wanted to see progression, no matter how slow/small. But the last few weeks have certainly felt like a regression in both results and old habits.
We’re still in the playoffs so it’s not catastrophic, but we need to hit form and start playing like a team that seems to have infinite resources compared to its opponents!

[laddo]

I love balanced, considered, accurate football related posts without the hysterics and OTT comments. I especially love them on a thread such as this.

Agree with all that. It's understandable that tolerance and patience are in shorter supply this term. We made clear improvements last season and simply haven't this. Since the Chesterfield/Halifax game there has been a noticeable regression.
It's clear the manager/owners have panicked and made some desperation signings which has resulted in a bloated squad, something we've seen many times before at Notts and it just doesn't help matters. I hoped those days were gone tbh.

As pointed out we are still in the playoffs and have been most of the season, but we do need to find form so we are in a far better state going into the lottery of the playoffs and also we could do with the easier playoff route that a higher placed finish offers.

At the moment that's sadly looking a bit of a stretch but we have time to rectify this and that's on the manager AND the players to step up and up their game. everyone needs to be responsible for their own perfomances#noexcuses.

[durhampie]

I love balanced, considered, accurate football related posts without the hysterics and OTT comments. I especially love them on a thread such as this.

Agree with all that. It's understandable that tolerance and patience are in shorter supply this term. We made clear improvements last season and simply haven't this. Since the Chesterfield/Halifax game there has been a noticeable regression.
It's clear the manager/owners have panicked and made some desperation signings which has resulted in a bloated squad, something we've seen many times before at Notts and it just doesn't help matters. I hoped those days were gone tbh.

As pointed out we are still in the playoffs and have been most of the season, but we do need to find form so we are in a far better state going into the lottery of the playoffs and also we could do with the easier playoff route that a higher placed finish offers.

At the moment that's sadly looking a bit of a stretch but we have time to rectify this and that's on the manager AND the players to step up and up their game. everyone needs to be responsible for their own perfomances#noexcuses.

The problem with Ardley is that he always seems to drop the wrong players. Its blindingly obvious to everyone where the problems lie in the side, Unfortunately, for whatever reason he chooses not to address it..
To get out of this league we need to change the central midfield pairing of Doyle and Reeves, the two together just doesnt work.
Doyle must be the one to be replaced, he has had little or no influence in many of the games he has played this season.. How he has managed to keep his place, well only Ardley can answer that.

The problem we now have is that most of our signings have either been fullbacks, strikers and wingers, and most of them have been very average at best. With the transfer deadline date looming we desperately need a couple of box to box midfielders, who can PASS the ball.. Also we need to off load the likes of Rodrigues, Sam, Wolfe and Miller...