Recruitment

[jacobncfc]

I would also say that, as much as it seems a simple argument, this basically all comes down to Roberts. Loads is made of losing Dennis and Thomas, but to be honest I thought that last season we were a solid but unspectacular team that looked likely to finish in the lower play-off places until we signed Roberts, who was the spark to turn that into one of the best teams in this league. This season, with Roberts injured, I think we’re pretty much back to looking how we did before Cal joined last season.

The problem is that, with the number of experienced Football League professionals NA has been allowed to sign and the money we’re presumably paying them, being completely reliant on a kid signed from Blyth Spartans isn’t really good enough.

[SwalePie]

I would also say that, as much as it seems a simple argument, this basically all comes down to Roberts. Loads is made of losing Dennis and Thomas, but to be honest I thought that last season we were a solid but unspectacular team that looked likely to finish in the lower play-off places until we signed Roberts, who was the spark to turn that into one of the best teams in this league. This season, with Roberts injured, I think we’re pretty much back to looking how we did before Cal joined last season.

The problem is that, with the number of experienced Football League professionals NA has been allowed to sign and the money we’re presumably paying them, being completely reliant on a kid signed from Blyth Spartans isn’t really good enough.

I agree that Roberts arrival was the injection of magic needed to spark our attack into a higher gear. I hope Knight can use his much vaunted pace and energy to have a similar effect soon. If that works out and then Roberts returns in decent physical and mental condition we might start firing on all cylinders. If Knight can be the pacy outlet for beating the high press and Roberts can use his glue-covered boots to feed the forward line (and Enzio and Sam can delve into their bag of worldies more frequently) we can still make a push.

When looking back a couple of months to some of the high quality footie we played for the odd half a game it is important to remember that these are the same players and they still have that capability in their lockers. I'm hoping IB can find the key and bring it back out to play.

[countygump]

Agree with Jacob

Reeves probably the most disappointing of all our signings we were solely relying on him to upgrade the central midfield department and he hasn't to date.

Gump is right it's obvious the supporters need to have a lot of patience (let's be honest something we've not been great at doing in the past) to change the direction of this battered old ship around.

I hope the fans follow the lead of the owners with a 4 year plan and can spot gradual progress and allow the new management team to implement their plan and do their work.

Actually we'd all welcome 'gradual progress', I certainly would. Most would imagine progress from last season would be promotion this season, or at least a decent crack at it?

Instead, we seem to have gone backwards, that's what truly irks fans.

[ancientpie]

I think that many of the squad are playing at this level for a reason, you can have all the talent & potential in the world but without the right attitude & application it counts for nothing & although recruitment has been mixed at best it must be difficult to find good pro's on the cheap.

[countygump]

I think that many of the squad are playing at this level for a reason, you can have all the talent & potential in the world but without the right attitude & application it counts for nothing & although recruitment has been mixed at best it must be difficult to find good pro's on the cheap.

Are we looking to sign players 'on the cheap' tho, Kev? I'm not sure we are. I would imagine our wages would match most of the clubs in this divvy? Personally I put it down to poor recruitment and too much reliance on older pros who were never really up to the job anyway.

[St Kitts Magpie]

For me, this has been a massive problem this season and is a huge worry going forwards, which is hugely ironic considering our owners background.

I've never been a huge fan of Ardley's formations, approach to matches and tactics but his signings for the most part were excellent. During the half season he was here in 18/19, he still managed to sign Doyle, Rose, O'Brien, Mackail-Smith and one or two others (I know some of the young lads who came in on loan weren't good enough).

Last season, it was incredible he managed to sign so many decent/good/fantastic players in the days leading up to the season and the few weeks after it had started: Slocombe, Brindley, Kelly-Evans, McCrory, Turner, Wootton, Thomas, Lacy, etc.

Then we come to this season and it is clear that signings were more of a team effort. The owners and their analysts, Ardley and Abott (never let this bloke near your recruitment) all had their input. Leigh Curtis talked about Ardley being asked to watch videos of foreign players and then choose some of them.

As a result, we've been left with:
- A squad that doesn't fit any particular formation very well
- Players Ardley clearly didn't trust or rate - Chicksen, Sam, etc.
- Injury prone players
- Only one centre forward
- Zero legs or physical presence in midfield
- A huge, bloated squad, propped up with unused loan players (on a league match day, 9 outfield players don't even make the bench!
- We've actually signed 16 players this season! How many would we consider a success? Reeves and Rodrigues?

My biggest worry is that whoever our manager is is going to have players thrust on to him that he might not want, doesn't rate or don't fit our formation. I know this is becoming the en vogue way of doing things and is working brilliantly at places like Brentford (oh to be in their position - a club a similar size to us) but it does worry me. For every Roberts do we get a Sam or a Sloth?

The owners have put their money in and have the right to run the club the way they want. We definitely need a huge clear out in the summer.

Think we will start to see more of Ruben & Sam and rightly so in my opinion. Again yesterday they both contributed either starting or from the bench.
As for Reeves being a success I'm not sure about that , personally not a fan but he may be one who improves given a new manager and role in the team.
Agree with the bloated squad comment though. Maybe we should have saved all the money on wages from Chicksen , Golden ,Richardson , Wolfe etc. on a quality midfielder..

[durhampie]

Think we will start to see more of Ruben & Sam and rightly so in my opinion. Again yesterday they both contributed either starting or from the bench.
As for Reeves being a success I'm not sure about that , personally not a fan but he may be one who improves given a new manager and role in the team.
Agree with the bloated squad comment though. Maybe we should have saved all the money on wages from Chicksen , Golden ,Richardson , Wolfe etc. on a quality midfielder..

Ardley didnt have the guts to replace either Doyle or Reeves, thats why he never signed any central midfielders..

[laddo]

He gambled that Doyle, Reeves, JOB would be enough. The gambled backfired clearly. If Reeves had been as good as we hoped and thought he would be we wouldn't be having this conversation and NA would probably still be manager.

You live and in this case die by your decisions. If you don't get the engine room right (central midfield) it's hard to be successful.

[nw6pie]

IB has a big choice to make this week: abandon his own principles (for which he’s been hired) and tell the players to get back to basics, play 3-5-2 and get the ball in the opposition half at the earliest opportunity. Or, go with the tippy-tally nonsense the players are struggling to implement and end up drawing or losing if we get another performance like Saturday’s second half.

It was only when I looked at the table this morning, and seeing the teams we have to play, that I realised how much promotion is still in our own hands. I just hope the players and management recognise this too.

Looking further ahead, the owners have a big decision this summer too: what to do with the youth set-up. We’ve just enjoyed our best season in a while at that level, but what happens now the league won’t fund us anymore? Also, how many players of a championship-winning side do we retain and look to blood in the first team? Given IB’s coaching credentials, shouldn’t this be part of his remit?

[upthemaggies]

20/30 years ago, if we'd been told then that we'd end up in the 5th tier you would have at least anticipated that we'd have several local home gowns regularly making the starting 11 kick-starting a revival. I find it depressing that at this level there's still apparently no room for players coming through the ranks who bring that added dimension of having a real connection to the club. Surely there is talent out there in this city and surrounding areas good enough for League Two/National League.