Ian Burchnall 50 Up

[Bernard_Bresslaw]

So did the managers who signed them!

Makes you wonder what our recruitment process actually was during some of our more chaotic seasons. I'd love to know how many players we've signed since Munto without having watched them.

I'm sure others will already have the answers but I hate to think how many players we signed since the start of the previous decade (and how many of them never made a first team appearance)

[jackal2]

Makes you wonder what our recruitment process actually was during some of our more chaotic seasons. I'd love to know how many players we've signed since Munto without having watched them.

I'm sure others will already have the answers but I hate to think how many players we signed since the start of the previous decade (and how many of them never made a first team appearance)

I think we had a 'Branstonian' process. It certainly left us in a pickle.

[Elite_Pie]

Yes we can. It's far better. Even the FR signings who haven't immediately set the world alight for various reasons (e.g. Ed Francis, Lewis Knight) still look to have a fair bit of ability and potential and are certainly not unplayable in the first team, even though others may be ahead of them in the pecking order at present.

Going back a few years through old programmes I'm reminded of us signing players like Elliott Hodge, Callum Saunders, Rhys Sharpe, Taylor McKenzie, Malcolm Melvin, Andy Haworth, George Nicholas, Matt Marshall, Michael Byron, Niall McNamara, Ryan Ford and a fair few others, most of whom arrived with the infamous 'one for the future' tag and got a first team squad number, but were not even trusted by their respective managers as a last resort. Granted, they were probably on low-ish wages, but if the manager would almost sooner name ten men than give them a game, what's the point? They all departed into obscurity without contributing anything, and it wasn't as if the squads they were part of were particularly competitive or successful ones.

And that's not to mention the relatively expensive draft busts like Tony Hackworth, Danny Haynes and Spencer Weir-Daley, who arrived as marquee signings and contributed less to the team than a plastic traffic cone.

Recruitment has definitely improved, but that scary list shows just how low the bar was set! We seem to have it about right now, signing mainly younger players with the capacity to improve, loanees that can come in and do a job, and just the occasional Mark Ellis type of seasoned pro. Also their is much more balance to the squad, instead of the bloated ones we used to have that were still short in certain areas. All we need now are a few youth players to break through and make the grade.

[SaltySeaDog]

I think we had a 'Branstonian' process. It certainly left us in a pickle.

That was a cheesy one Jackal

[SaltySeaDog]

Recruitment has definitely improved, but that scary list shows just how low the bar was set! We seem to have it about right now, signing mainly younger players with the capacity to improve, loanees that can come in and do a job, and just the occasional Mark Ellis type of seasoned pro. Also their is much more balance to the squad, instead of the bloated ones we used to have that were still short in certain areas. All we need now are a few youth players to break through and make the grade.

Exactly. We've been hoping for a trim, competitive squad for many years now, without the dead wood & unnecessary loans. It's very refreshing and exciting to see it evolving in front of us

[laddo]

Makes you wonder what our recruitment process actually was during some of our more chaotic seasons. I'd love to know how many players we've signed since Munto without having watched them.

I'm sure others will already have the answers but I hate to think how many players we signed since the start of the previous decade (and how many of them never made a first team appearance)

I think it's probably best not to know tbh lol. I suspect it would have been similar to how they pick who goes through in X factor. Or maybe they used the old board game "Guess Who" as inspiration?!

I honestly believe our past recruitment policy and transfer activity has been woeful at best and is one of the main reasons we have been (until recently) in terminal decline.

Earlier this season someone on here questioned which signings had made our squad better this season? With I believe only a solitary name being suggested. So either IB is a wizard on the training ground since or the real answer was a fair bit higher.

[BigFatPie]

IB is a great bloke to have as head coach. Win or lose I always make a point of listening to his post match interviews and we’ve had a few managers who that definitely didn’t apply to.

[Jampie]

We're doing very well as a club, IMO, given where we started when the Reedtz brothers took over.

Full credit to them and to IB for that. If we hadn't had really bad luck with injuries earlier in the season we might well be in the top spot now.

We might well finish there anyway, which I absolutely did not expect to be on the cards this season. Thought it very unlikely. Now it seems quite a bit less unlikely.

I hope we go up for a lot of reasons, but not least of all because we have a manager and a bunch of players who are more appropriate to L2 than here. I think that's much truer at this moment than it's been in our NL stint before.