A few seasons back I wrote this rambling article which showed my musings of where the club were at the time. It proved quite popular, so I figured I’d take a crack again.

http://boards.footymad.net/showthrea...citizen+erased

First of all, this seasons has been exceedingly frustrating and yes, we are down. Sadly we’ve simply given away points and yes we’ve been effectively cheated out of some too – SWFC case and point. That being said, some of the larger failings for us being where we are now – today – are and were utterly avoidable. More on that story later.

I was surprised, not shocked, we got promoted last season but Im not shocked by this seasons overall play out. Infact im surprised we’ve got as many points as we have and its testament to PW that we’ve done what weve done this season.

In my last big thread I stated that we should;

1) Recruit a manager with proven records of managing clubs in League One & Two
2) Hire a new commercial manager / aim for new revenue through innovation.
3) Commission the training ground
4) Forget youth & youth loans
5) Focus on a seasoned pro in every other position
6) A degree of honesty and realism

Point 1 is a null and void point now. I like PW – though he has BIG failings at times and they have contributed to our relegation this season. They are also the reason we aren’t on sub 30 points. I believe he should stay and I want him to stay.

Point 2 – Sort of did and didn’t happen. We still haven’t improved revenue streams and the club is still struggling with developing around the ground. With the new development coming on Forge Island the time is coming to get an on-site RU Estates owned eatery / craft ale pub up and running.

Point 3 – The training ground at Brinsworth / Tinsley was a red-herring. It appears they are trying to get around the restrictions on the use of the site by leaving it unused for a period of years, then its ear-marked for housing. I’ve been told this directly by someone who was heavily involved with the site and the purchase by TS.

Point 4 – Largely happened giving only credible talent a path. This is good. That being said Zak Vyner had no business playing as our RB when he’s a young CB who needed 60+ League One game time to learn his trade.

Point 5 – This happened and is part of the reason we’ve been successful. Some of this has come about through having our own players who were around in the 2016/17 relegation season mature, in others its been through bringing in players like Jones or

Point 6 – To a large extent this has happened too, Warne being much more open and of course TS keeping quiet – for good or ill reasons.



That leaves me able to reflect on this season, last season and the reasons for our ultimate failure to survive. In my opinion there are four main reasons for our failure and are continued weaknesses. In no particular order;