THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[ancientpie]

A lot of us, at the time Ardley was appointed didn't want him as we thought he wasn't the ideal candidate for a 'relegation scrap'. No other reason. We didn't think a recently sacked man who had spent 10 years or so as a player for Wimbledon and 6 ish as manager and was sacked because they were in a relegation scrap themselves, would be the ideal 'fit' for us. Of course, you hope for the best and that somehow the new man will scratch enough points together to get us safe, but truth is, apart from a few fleeting moments, we never really looked like avoiding relegation.

A lot of us also thought that he wasn't the perfect man but was probably the best of a poor bunch who applied, unless you payed stupid money it wasn't the sort of job that "good managers" were or are interested in imo. COYP

[countygump]

A lot of us also thought that he wasn't the perfect man but was probably the best of a poor bunch who applied, unless you payed stupid money it wasn't the sort of job that "good managers" were or are interested in imo. COYP

Do we know who applied Kev? I honestly can't remember whose name was even mentioned, we had so many that season.

[laddo]

Morning Rez,

Glad to see you comment that Hardy should take the large proportion of the blame aka the most. We certainly agree there.

I disagree that last season's football was dire. Yes we didn't turn up at all on the big occasion at an empty Wembley in the play off final. Bar that out record against the top sides in the league was impressive. Where else didn't we turn up last season in the bigger games? The TV ones?

Finally,

"As for who I want as the next Notts manager, I don't know our budget or who is available but I'm sure we could get someone who could get more from the players than Ardley."

That is the classic response. Don't know who but sure they will get more from the players" but would their recruitment be as good? And more importantly would the chosen manager get us promoted this season?

Have a fine day sir, I look forward to the answers.

[i961pie]

Morning Rez,

Glad to see you comment that Hardy should take the large proportion of the blame aka the most. We certainly agree there.

I disagree that last season's football was dire. Yes we didn't turn up at all on the big occasion at an empty Wembley in the play off final. Bar that out record against the top sides in the league was impressive. Where else didn't we turn up last season in the bigger games? The TV ones?

Finally,

"As for who I want as the next Notts manager, I don't know our budget or who is available but I'm sure we could get someone who could get more from the players than Ardley."

That is the classic response. Don't know who but sure they will get more from the players" but would their recruitment be as good? And more importantly would the chosen manager get us promoted this season?

Have a fine day sir, I look forward to the answers.

It wasn't always the tv games where we didn't turn up, some of our football was dire and boring on many occasions and still is.

[KCNotts]

Now hang on a second. I'm not exactly Hardy's biggest fan, and yes he made many mistakes, but he also backed Ardley massively, despite his world falling apart around him. Ardley brought in 7 new players in January, including Rose, O'Brien and Doyle...and still couldn't get his team to fight.

Last season was touch and go until the arrival of the Danes, and I accept that there wasn't much time to sign a team. However, Ardley was then able to add to the players he had already signed to build a big squad with an excellent budget. He had a clear slate to sign players that no other team in the conference could have attracted. Then, when things still weren't clicking, he was able to go and sign Lacey, Wootton, McDonnell and Roberts. Outstanding backing from the owners. Show me a manager who would not want to sign his own team from scratch.

Make no mistake, on paper our team was the best in the Conference last season and so was our budget. Yet despite this we were woeful for a large part of the season. It wasn't until Roberts came in that things began to change. Ardley was out thought many times last year and frequently had fans pulling their hair out with his negative tactics and boring football. Sometimes you need to step back and realise the standard of opposition we are playing against...part timers and teams on a fraction of our budget.

Last season was a failure in my eyes and anything less than promotion this season will be unforgivable.

[KCNotts]

Now hang on a second. I'm not exactly Hardy's biggest fan, and yes he made many mistakes, but he also backed Ardley massively, despite his world falling apart around him. Ardley brought in 7 new players in January, including Rose, O'Brien and Doyle...and still couldn't get his team to fight.

Last season was touch and go until the arrival of the Danes, and I accept that there wasn't much time to sign a team. However, Ardley was then able to add to the players he had already signed to build a big squad with an excellent budget. He had a clear slate to sign players that no other team in the conference could have attracted. Then, when things still weren't clicking, he was able to go and sign Lacey, Wootton, McDonnell and Roberts. Outstanding backing from the owners. Show me a manager who would not want to sign his own team from scratch.

Make no mistake, on paper our team was the best in the Conference last season and so was our budget. Yet despite this we were woeful for a large part of the season. It wasn't until Roberts came in that things began to change. Ardley was out thought many times last year and frequently had fans pulling their hair out with his negative tactics and boring football. Sometimes you need to step back and realise the standard of opposition we are playing against...part timers and teams on a fraction of our budget.

Last season was a failure in my eyes and anything less than promotion this season will be unforgivable.

Sorry, he was also able to sign Long, Bagan and Wilson too. I forgot about those. Which other team had the resources to splash that sort of cash?

[jackal2]

I had reservations when Ardley was appointed, and I still do, but I also see positives in his management style as well. I reckon it's fair to say he's a slow-burner in terms of impact, rather than a revolutionary like Warnock, Allardyce and Allen were.

I think the owners have certainly been right to put a stopper in the revolving door in the manager's office and give patience and time to the manager they inherited, and I would imagine they were reasonably satisfied overall with last season, given the circumstances in which it started, but obviously disappointed to get so close to promotion and miss out in the play-off final.

Ardley's aim this season must be to succeed where we fell just short last time, ideally by winning the league, but certainly by finishing in the top 3 again and hopefully going one better than last year. I would think that by mid-season, the owners would want us to be top of the league or within spitting distance of it. If we're any lower than that, say outside the play-off positions, then their patience might start to be tested.

[Bridg4d_Pie_]

For what its worth I would like to draw the Ardley Out Brigade or any other Manager Out Brigades attention to the latest edition of Paul Mace's "Magpie Circle" which features Mike "Steady Eddie" Edwards, our longest serving player / Fitness Coach in recent times.

It would be interesting to get the the Out Brigades opinion on Mikes words regarding how long it takes to build a team and his words regarding former Manager's & Coaches of Notts in during his time at the club and the Revolving Door System we have used since the turn of the Century, is there any wonder we are where we now find ourselves, the majority of our recent Managers were never given time to find out where their car parking slot was let alone build a team. Bearing Mike's words in mind I think it is quite obvious we are where we are as much to our recent owners inability to give them time to deliver the goods we all crave for, this club has been going down hill for many years and it will continue to do so no matter who & how good the owners are unless we have a period of stability in order to put the whole shooting match right.

From what I can see that is not going to happen overnight and it will certainly take longer whilst this current Pandemic is rife, but hey what do I know this is what I consider to be a sensible view of our current situation, I do not have the skills to run a Football Club I am a retired engineer & ex muso who has supported them almost all of my life.

[Elite_Pie]

It would be interesting to get the the Out Brigades opinion on Mikes words regarding how long it takes to build a team and his words regarding former Manager's & Coaches of Notts in during his time at the club and the Revolving Door System we have used since the turn of the Century, is there any wonder we are where we now find ourselves, the majority of our recent Managers were never given time to find out where their car parking slot was let alone build a team.

My opinion is that it's a sound idea if the manager you stick with and allow to build his own team is a good one. Ardley has got pretty much his own squad now, but what if we only finish mid table? Sticking with a manager isn't a miracle cure unless the manager is the right one.

If you are correct we should go up this year, but if you're not we've wasted more than two and a half seasons by sticking with Ardley.

[upthemaggies]

It would be interesting to get the the Out Brigades opinion on Mikes words regarding how long it takes to build a team and his words regarding former Manager's & Coaches of Notts in during his time at the club and the Revolving Door System we have used since the turn of the Century, .

Not sacking managers on a regular basis is an ideal, but it's like asking people if they want world peace.

If it is the obvious solution, why aren't all clubs sticking with their manager?

Well, what if all clubs did do that, what if all clubs agreed to stop the merry-go-round for 5 years and nobody was allowed to sack or poach a manager. What would it prove? All it would prove is that sticking with a manager works for some and not for others, it depends who the manager actually is.

Which managers of the last 20 years should we have stuck with? Any of them or are we being selective?
If we're being selective, then we've got one group we would have stuck with and one group we wouldn't.
Which group are we more likely to place managers who were at least partially responsible for relegations into?

Is it being assumed that the Reetz bros would appoint a weaker manager than one appointed by Alan Hardy? If we're not assuming that, why would we assume that the owners - who stuck with a manager they didn't appoint (and who got us relegated) for over a year - would not give their own man time?