Match Thread vs. Harrogate Town 22.09.20 [FAT SF]

[Killerkline]

"He wasn't good enough" true, but step back a little. The club wasn't good enough, not even close. It was in essence "broke"!

As Elite and I both agree, Ardley wasn't the main reason we got relegated, that honour(?) falls on the broad shoulders of the former chairman , owner and decision maker Mr Alan Hardy.

This topic has been done to death. We were a complete shambles off the field, which resulted in a shambles on it. All season long. Not just when the 3rd manager of that season was in charge.

Agree

[upthemaggies]

I can’t argue with the job Campbell did at Macclesfield. But, I would say a different set of circumstances to those at Notts. The players, for one, were all pulling in the same direction.

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They were threatening to refuse to play because they hadn't been paid for months.

[Elite_Pie]

I can’t argue with the job Campbell did at Macclesfield. But, I would say a different set of circumstances to those at Notts. The players, for one, were all pulling in the same direction.

Really? Here's a quote from a BBC article a month or so after Campbell had taken over:

Macclesfield Town's players have been left with no choice but to go on strike after consistently not being paid, says ex-Silkmen goalkeeper Rhys Taylor. The 29-year-old says he went unpaid for three months one summer and the club refused to pay for his hip surgery. Macclesfield's League Two game against Crewe on Saturday has been suspended by the English Football League. "This needed to be done," said Taylor. "It's what it's going to take to get the ball rolling and the club sold." Before the match with Crewe was suspended, Macclesfield players said during a meeting with representatives from the EFL and Professional Footballers' Association on Friday they would not play in protest over unpaid wages. They added their emotional and mental wellbeing was at "rock bottom".

The last bit was put in bold type by me, just to prove that you are way off the mark.

[Killerkline]

Every club that ever drops into the bottom two/three/four at any point in any given season is "well on course" for the drop until they pull themselves out of it. If they don't then it's very easy to say it was inevitable in hindsight. If it was inevitable then there must be a lot of people out there who made a killing at the bookies.

When you look back at that season, with all that happened on and off the field, is it a surprise that we were relegated? Hindsight, maybe so. It was a perfect storm.

Certainly wouldn’t blame Ardley. However, he’s not blameless, there’s 2 people that definitely take a larger portion of the blame though.

[Killerkline]

Really? Here's a quote from a BBC article a month or so after Campbell had taken over:

Macclesfield Town's players have been left with no choice but to go on strike after consistently not being paid, says ex-Silkmen goalkeeper Rhys Taylor. The 29-year-old says he went unpaid for three months one summer and the club refused to pay for his hip surgery. Macclesfield's League Two game against Crewe on Saturday has been suspended by the English Football League. "This needed to be done," said Taylor. "It's what it's going to take to get the ball rolling and the club sold." Before the match with Crewe was suspended, Macclesfield players said during a meeting with representatives from the EFL and Professional Footballers' Association on Friday they would not play in protest over unpaid wages. They added their emotional and mental wellbeing was at "rock bottom".

The last bit was put in bold type by me, just to prove that you are way off the mark.

Why am I way off the mark? I suggested they were all pulling in same direction. None of the above suggests otherwise. On the contrary, it suggests they were united.

[Elite_Pie]

Why am I way off the mark? I suggested they were all pulling in same direction. None of the above suggests otherwise. On the contrary, it suggests they were united.

If you want to read it that way and try and turn it into a plus point then be my guest.

Somehow, I don't think you'll convince many others that a squad that went unpaid for three months and were emotionally and mentally at rock bottom actually made Campbell's job easier than Ardley's!

[upthemaggies]

If you want to read it that way and try and turn it into a plus point then be my guest.

Somehow, I don't think you'll convince many others that a squad that went unpaid for three months and were emotionally and mentally at rock bottom actually made Campbell's job easier than Ardley's!

If there had been a MAD poll on 17th February of that season as to where we'd finish, with 14 games remaining, I dare say at least 8 of 10 people would have predicted 19th or higher. Hardy probably still thought we could make the play offs, but we were just two points from safety with a game in hand, unbeaten in three including a win over Stags the previous day.

Everything changed with the next match, a devastating home defeat to Newport. I would say that was the point that people seriously began to worry, not before. There's always a lot of concern when you're in the relegation zone but there was definitely a pervading feeling that we would get out of trouble prior to that Newport defeat.

To say that relegation was inevitable in November is ridiculous.

[Killerkline]

Look, we all have our own views and opinions. I respect this.

My view is that Ardley wasn’t solely responsible for our relegation, yes he contributed. So a question mark.

Due to the off field situation during 2019-20 preseason, a 3rd place finish and a play off final was a decent return. I thought Ardley’s recruitment in the circumstances was good. So last season, despite the play off final, tick in the box for me.

Last night was disappointing, fitness played a big part. If, it’s a big if, the season starts and last nights performance is repeated then I will be questioning Ardley’s position. But, I won’t be doing it based on the relegation season or last night.

I do have reservations about formation, this will either be proved correct or incorrect when/if the season starts.

[Elite_Pie]

Look, we all have our own views and opinions. I respect this.

My view is that Ardley wasn’t solely responsible for our relegation, yes he contributed. So a question mark.

Due to the off field situation during 2019-20 preseason, a 3rd place finish and a play off final was a decent return. I thought Ardley’s recruitment in the circumstances was good. So last season, despite the play off final, tick in the box for me.

You are quite right with the first bit, it's all about opinions and views and all should be respected. We seem to differ on the rest though. Where you saw a question mark for the relegation season, I saw a big minus sign. Your tick for last season would be an equal sign for me. On that basis, I suppose you could make a case for improvement, so let's hope this season if it happens is an unquestionable plus sign for all of us.

[Killerkline]

I’m not trying to turn it into a plus point and I’m not trying to convince anyone else.

I’ve stated that they were pulling in the same direction.

What I will suggest is that it’s not inconceivable that Campbell turned a negative into a positive and used it to is advantage.