THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[upthemaggies]

To premature to write off the title after only 5 games but get your point regarding number of loses.

Going back to the Munto season again, of the 7 defeats that season - five of them were away to sides who finished in the top 10, only one was at home (15th place Accrington) and the other was away to 21st place Barnet.
In the Allardyce championship season, three of the five defeats that season were against sides in the top 4, the other two sides that beat us finished 10th and 14th. Two of the five defeats were at home.

We don't yet know where Dover and Maidenhead will finish but Dover look a pretty safe bet for a relegation battle whilst Maidenhead have only played three previous seasons at this level and struggled to survive the last two.

[LaxtonLad]

It's not about losing the dressing room, he's clearly got his favourites and now nearly all of the squad are his signings - there is absolutely no excuse to lose the dressing room in this scenario.

My real gripe is the negative tactics that Ardley insists on. We have by far the best squad in this division - we have had far the largest wage bill against all opposition sides since Ardley took over but you would have no idea of this by looking at his managerial record.

I don't think now is the time for Ardley to go but we need to show some proper attacking intent from the off and continue this even when we have the lead, this would see us put part-time sides like Maidenhead to the sword. He seems like a manager that is rigid in his approach which too often allows the opposition to stay in the match when we should have already put the game to bed.

Get rid of Ardley and with this squad and our benevolent owners there would be a queue of good experienced managers all the way up London Road.

[laddo]

Mapperley, I never said it was about losing the dressing room. Just replying to biker's question. He hasn't , I've never seen that as being any kind of issue since being in NL.

As for attacking intent, away from home yes no doubt about it. At home albeit against limited opposition we are averaging 3 goals a game so far and could easily have been 4.

[magpie_mania]

Why has he lost the dressing room? He never blames anyone and he's too nice. He does and he's lost the dressing room! One of those I guess would have been Rawlinson who said himself he was disappointed! I can't believe that knowing that 4 team-mates had tested positive didn't affect some. Not blaming that for the defeat, that team was still good enough.

As I said before, Barrow last season had 7 points after the first 9 games. There's a long way to go, far too early to have already decided we can't win the league.

I am still pro-Ardley but agree that if we don't go up, we need a new manager next season.

[nw6pie]

Why has he lost the dressing room? He never blames anyone and he's too nice. He does and he's lost the dressing room! One of those I guess would have been Rawlinson who said himself he was disappointed! I can't believe that knowing that 4 team-mates had tested positive didn't affect some. Not blaming that for the defeat, that team was still good enough.

As I said before, Barrow last season had 7 points after the first 9 games. There's a long way to go, far too early to have already decided we can't win the league.

I am still pro-Ardley but agree that if we don't go up, we need a new manager next season.

I think too many people are overlooking the impact hearing that four of your team-mates just tested positive might have had yesterday. If I found out four people I worked with had tested positive and I was with them all week, I'm pretty sure my mind would be on that quite a lot - don't know why we think footballers are any different.

We can say our squad should be good enough to beat Maidenhead, but look at some of the players out there: A right back playing out of position who hadn't completed 90 minutes in over six months (that's a guess, may be longer); a left back who's only played a handful of games all year and is still finding his way back; a 19-year-old forward making his full debut; and a subs' bench featuring a goalkeeper, two centre halves, a midfielder who'd played 23 minutes of first team football; and a forward who's probably played a grand total of 45 minutes competitive football in England.

Compare the Notts starting XI that stuffed Maidenhead 3-0 last December and the one that lost yesterday, and it's clear which is the stronger line-up. One reason is obviously the COVID-19 factor, but the other for me is that we're yet to adequately replace Dennis or Rose. Let's hope Wolfe is as good as Barnsley fans say he is and he provides the drive from the center of the park that we're often lacking. We also need Thomas back, because we're also lacking his tenaciousness up front.

Out of interest, here are the two Notts sides...

Notts XI in 3-0 win over Maidenhead
Slocombe
Kelly-Evans
McCrory
Rawlinson
Lacey
Rose (Crawford, 73 minutes)
Doyle
Osborne
Boldewijn (Bird, 88 minutes)
Wootton (Thomas, 73 minutes)
Dennis

Notts yesterday
Slocombe
McCrory
Chicksen
Rawlinson
Lacey (Turner, 84 minutes)
Reeves
Doyle
Rodrigues (Wolfe, 69 minutes)
Boldewijn (Sam, 78 minutes)
Wootton
Knowles

[countygump]

Why has he lost the dressing room? He never blames anyone and he's too nice. He does and he's lost the dressing room! One of those I guess would have been Rawlinson who said himself he was disappointed! I can't believe that knowing that 4 team-mates had tested positive didn't affect some. Not blaming that for the defeat, that team was still good enough.

As I said before, Barrow last season had 7 points after the first 9 games. There's a long way to go, far too early to have already decided we can't win the league.

I am still pro-Ardley but agree that if we don't go up, we need a new manager next season.

This^^^

Not particularly ''pro Ardley'' myself but we all know the Reedtz are very unlikely to sack him. Buttttt, promotion this season or bye, bye time. No excuses,

[MAD_MAGPIE]

OOOPS I made 2&3 into one point and didn't renumber.

Whilst I am on is Ardley losing the dressing room? He blamed two players for being out of position for 2 of the goals and the rest for a poor performance and as can be seen on another thread Enzio's attitude after he scored was odd. Are the players lacking belief in his "system" and in part doing their own thing on the pitch, hence they are out of position or unable to cover the "systems" weaknesses. Also a really good manager would use the fact that Wotton is being marked out of the game, which I assume means close attention by at least 2 opposition players, which in its turn must mean there are gaps elswhere for us to expoit. By my calculations we now can only lose 4 or perhaps 5 more games during the rest of the season to be assured of finishing top. It seems to me unless something changes rapidly we are already looking at the playoffs

You make a very good point about the number of losses “allowed” in a season in order to go up automatically from this league. I’ve been through the past five completed seasons and the average amount of defeats is 7-8 (7.4) and 95 points.

What we have to remember is there are two less games as well this season so on this basis I would say max 7 defeats.

Barrow Lost 9 (70 points)
Leyton Orient - Lost 7 (89 points)
Macclesfield - Lost 8 (92 points)
Lincoln - Lost 7 (99 points)
Cheltenham - Lost 5 (101 points)
Barnet - Lost 10 (92 points)

We have lost 2 in 5 and those have been really poor defeats. One against a team thrown together on the day that have since been exposed time and again and the other against a part time side that were very physical and hard working.

We can only afford to lose another 6 in 39. Or we emulate Barnet and not draw many and can afford to lose 8 more games.

People might talk about Barrow and their slow start last season, but if you have a slow start you have to be exceptional for a very long period of the season as Barrow were.

You’ve got to be exceptional consistently in this league to get automatic promotion and can’t afford many off days. Losing to Dover and Maidenhead now means we will need to beat the tougher sides. We may do this and all will be good, but early season lessons are that we need to be picking up wins from the poorer teams in the league to go up automatically.

[Elite_Pie]

You make a very good point about the number of losses “allowed” in a season in order to go up automatically from this league. I’ve been through the past five completed seasons and the average amount of defeats is 7-8 (7.4) and 95 points.

What we have to remember is there are two less games as well this season so on this basis I would say max 7 defeats.

Barrow Lost 9 (70 points)
Leyton Orient - Lost 7 (89 points)
Macclesfield - Lost 8 (92 points)
Lincoln - Lost 7 (99 points)
Cheltenham - Lost 5 (101 points)
Barnet - Lost 10 (92 points)

We have lost 2 in 5 and those have been really poor defeats. One against a team thrown together on the day that have since been exposed time and again and the other against a part time side that were very physical and hard working.

We can only afford to lose another 6 in 39. Or we emulate Barnet and not draw many and can afford to lose 8 more games.

People might talk about Barrow and their slow start last season, but if you have a slow start you have to be exceptional for a very long period of the season as Barrow were.

You’ve got to be exceptional consistently in this league to get automatic promotion and can’t afford many off days. Losing to Dover and Maidenhead now means we will need to beat the tougher sides. We may do this and all will be good, but early season lessons are that we need to be picking up wins from the poorer teams in the league to go up automatically.

That's my main worry at the moment. I think the fixture computer handed us a dream start, and we haven't capitalised on it. If Dover and Maidenhead can beat us, it 'Ardley' inspires confidence that we will do better as the fixtures get more difficult.

[nw6pie]

That's my main worry at the moment. I think the fixture computer handed us a dream start, and we haven't capitalised on it. If Dover and Maidenhead can beat us, it 'Ardley' inspires confidence that we will do better as the fixtures get more difficult.

Our record was better against teams in the top half last season, IIRC. The problem is that if we’re looking to improve on last season, we can’t afford these days where we lose to “basic” sides like Dover and Maidenhead who basically outmuscle us.

My biggest concern at the moment is the summer recruitment. Reeves is so far the only one to make any real impact, but he’s also another lightweight Notts midfielder in a land of giants.

Rodrigues looks promising in the final third - but also appears to be something of a liability in defence. Sloth wasted a shirt for two months; Chicksen has made an average start, partly due to illness, but doesn’t seem to be the rampaging full back we were hoping for; Knowles is eager but raw; and Elisha Sam really needs to start producing now or he‘ll be yet another failed European signing at Notts. Sam Graham is an old school defender (might have done better than Alex Lacey yesterday) and Wolfe, we’ll have to see.

After 5 games, I think it’s quite likely that we’ll win goal of the season with some brilliant 22-pass move. What I don’t see, though, is a side that can dominate others for 80-90 minutes, especially if they have the audacity to press us high up the pitch.

[MagpieMike]

I think too many people are overlooking the impact hearing that four of your team-mates just tested positive might have had yesterday. If I found out four people I worked with had tested positive and I was with them all week, I'm pretty sure my mind would be on that quite a lot - don't know why we think footballers are any different.

We can say our squad should be good enough to beat Maidenhead, but look at some of the players out there: A right back playing out of position who hadn't completed 90 minutes in over six months (that's a guess, may be longer); a left back who's only played a handful of games all year and is still finding his way back; a 19-year-old forward making his full debut; and a subs' bench featuring a goalkeeper, two centre halves, a midfielder who'd played 23 minutes of first team football; and a forward who's probably played a grand total of 45 minutes competitive football in England.

Compare the Notts starting XI that stuffed Maidenhead 3-0 last December and the one that lost yesterday, and it's clear which is the stronger line-up. One reason is obviously the COVID-19 factor, but the other for me is that we're yet to adequately replace Dennis or Rose. Let's hope Wolfe is as good as Barnsley fans say he is and he provides the drive from the center of the park that we're often lacking. We also need Thomas back, because we're also lacking his tenaciousness up front.

Out of interest, here are the two Notts sides...

Notts XI in 3-0 win over Maidenhead
Slocombe
Kelly-Evans
McCrory
Rawlinson
Lacey
Rose (Crawford, 73 minutes)
Doyle
Osborne
Boldewijn (Bird, 88 minutes)
Wootton (Thomas, 73 minutes)
Dennis

Notts yesterday
Slocombe
McCrory
Chicksen
Rawlinson
Lacey (Turner, 84 minutes)
Reeves
Doyle
Rodrigues (Wolfe, 69 minutes)
Boldewijn (Sam, 78 minutes)
Wootton
Knowles

I don’t see this seasons team being that much weaker. The clear problem was the lack of defence due to COVID. Players out of position, and probably not fully match fit. Most teams would struggle if four first team players were unavailable the night before a match. Rose isn’t missed, Reaves is a much better player.

I still don’t get the Ardley out mentality of many on here. We are building a much better team and club, it just takes time. That some are writing off the season after two defeats is just laughable.