THE Ardley In/Out Thread [Multiple threads merged]

[crazyfists]

Good move Swale, nip it in the bud early.

Some great points made CF, agree with a lot of that. Although this 60 page thread is clearly far more than DavyFacts and my business. Agree, the whole Pro/Anti camp thing is a little silly, fun to take the p!$$ out of but ultimately something that shouldn't be taken seriously. It's not that black and white and never has been with this manager or previous managers.

There is a huge middle ground which has been beautifully illustrated on another popular recent thread re. relegation responsibility.

I agree there's alot of middle ground, I find myself hopping from in /out and shake it all about ha ha. I have tried though I really have, I like the man but it's becoming unacceptable for me to still lose to Dover, Maidenhead and Aldershot. We're not even playing well and I believe we could do better in this league. I'm sure others have different opinions and I can see them all but with secure ownership the worst that can happen for me if we change manager is we stay the same level, I don't believe a new manager would do worse and if we got a good one in (there are alot of good, unemployed managers right now for our level out there) could do better. If we'd have kicked on this season I'd of been backing Ardley 100% as you know I think the end result last season was good.

Like you say though it's all just talking points etc for us, the only thing that matters is the owners thoughts. I know alot of Notts fans in person back Ardley, messageboards are always reactionary.

MM in regards to Cox, this is just my opinion but he was a no nonsense centre back and from his interviews a no nonsense kind of guy. I believe we miss that in the dressing room and training ground. Who's there to give players a rollicking as I'd much rather have one off Ardley than Cox if Ardley does them at all. Abbott I have nothing against but we've not kicked on this season and when he was here before he was a joker, if he's still like that then for me it's time we got serious and stopped ****ing about down here.

[laddo]

CF I may have an unexpected developing NCM bromance on my hands. I'm agreeing with a hell of lot of what you are putting in your honest balanced, sensible and considered posts.

[Carlton_Pie]

I agree there's alot of middle ground, I find myself hopping from in /out and shake it all about ha ha. I have tried though I really have, I like the man but it's becoming unacceptable for me to still lose to Dover, Maidenhead and Aldershot. We're not even playing well and I believe we could do better in this league. I'm sure others have different opinions and I can see them all but with secure ownership the worst that can happen for me if we change manager is we stay the same level, I don't believe a new manager would do worse and if we got a good one in (there are alot of good, unemployed managers right now for our level out there) could do better. If we'd have kicked on this season I'd of been backing Ardley 100% as you know I think the end result last season was good.

Like you say though it's all just talking points etc for us, the only thing that matters is the owners thoughts. I know alot of Notts fans in person back Ardley, messageboards are always reactionary.

MM in regards to Cox, this is just my opinion but he was a no nonsense centre back and from his interviews a no nonsense kind of guy. I believe we miss that in the dressing room and training ground. Who's there to give players a rollicking as I'd much rather have one off Ardley than Cox if Ardley does them at all. Abbott I have nothing against but we've not kicked on this season and when he was here before he was a joker, if he's still like that then for me it's time we got serious and stopped ****ing about down here.

Old school management duo trying to implement a modern style of play...will never work.

Beginning of the end for NA and GA

[crazyfists]

CF I may have an unexpected developing NCM bromance on my hands. I'm agreeing with a hell of lot of what you are putting in your honest balanced, sensible and considered posts.

Thanks that's nice of you to say, we all only have Notts best interests at heart but go about things differently ha ha. I only used to get mad last season when we were playing crap, a playoff final in our hands was a good result all things considered. This season though I don't want to leave it till the end of the season and if we don't go up get get someone else in, we should be going up this season and believe we can. Either by Ardley kicking on or getting someone else in, I think give him till the end of November then if it's still like this change it, I don't think we would do worse with some of the managers out there. The issue is the cost of swapping management then players in January, we might not be able to afford it and hope Ardley comes through. I'm just glad we have owners who are stable, I'm just laughing at that dick pic, jesus christ ha ha.

COYP

[optipez]

I'm in no rush for a sacking but Ardley is now fully responsible for results. His squad, full pre-season, enviable budget for this division and enough time to analyse our failings and do something about them.
What worries me is that we've played the same way from the first friendly at Ilkeston, low intensity, regular mistakes from the defence and creating few chances. That's a fair bit wrong. Apart from the first half hour against Barnet where we were really good we've looked lethargic and without intent in every game.
The whole midfield sits deep and is short of bite, full backs don't overlap, strikers are not having a regular supply of chances created for them.
Doyle and JOB didn't have the legs when we were relegated, Reeves is a link player but the three together doesn't ever look likely to work. Our mentality is to be safe, keep possession and be happy to go backwards rather than turn the ball over. When it's going well it looks good but when it goes from controlled to plain listless and negative we give the opposition the upper hand and momentum.
I don't expect us to win on Wednesday and I'm low doubting we'll finish as high as last season playing as we are too which is pretty damning.

[St Kitts Magpie]

I'm in no rush for a sacking but Ardley is now fully responsible for results. His squad, full pre-season, enviable budget for this division and enough time to analyse our failings and do something about them.
What worries me is that we've played the same way from the first friendly at Ilkeston, low intensity, regular mistakes from the defence and creating few chances. That's a fair bit wrong. Apart from the first half hour against Barnet where we were really good we've looked lethargic and without intent in every game.
The whole midfield sits deep and is short of bite, full backs don't overlap, strikers are not having a regular supply of chances created for them.
Doyle and JOB didn't have the legs when we were relegated, Reeves is a link player but the three together doesn't ever look likely to work. Our mentality is to be safe, keep possession and be happy to go backwards rather than turn the ball over. When it's going well it looks good but when it goes from controlled to plain listless and negative we give the opposition the upper hand and momentum.
I don't expect us to win on Wednesday and I'm low doubting we'll finish as high as last season playing as we are too which is pretty damning.

This.

Plus how many times post match does he tell us he knows how the opposition are going to play and that we have planned all week for it yet still we can't seem to cope when they play as predicted?

[magpie_mania]

I'm in no rush for a sacking but Ardley is now fully responsible for results. His squad, full pre-season, enviable budget for this division and enough time to analyse our failings and do something about them.
What worries me is that we've played the same way from the first friendly at Ilkeston, low intensity, regular mistakes from the defence and creating few chances. That's a fair bit wrong. Apart from the first half hour against Barnet where we were really good we've looked lethargic and without intent in every game.
The whole midfield sits deep and is short of bite, full backs don't overlap, strikers are not having a regular supply of chances created for them.
Doyle and JOB didn't have the legs when we were relegated, Reeves is a link player but the three together doesn't ever look likely to work. Our mentality is to be safe, keep possession and be happy to go backwards rather than turn the ball over. When it's going well it looks good but when it goes from controlled to plain listless and negative we give the opposition the upper hand and momentum.
I don't expect us to win on Wednesday and I'm low doubting we'll finish as high as last season playing as we are too which is pretty damning.

I agree with this. I have wanted Ardley to be given this season but I am concerned that we aren't any better than last season, probably worse. Yesterday, I do give some allowance to the fact we are recovering from Covid, but I lost count of the number of misplaced passes. We just didn't look up for it from the moment we trudged out at the beginning in many areas. I have watched some Premiership football today and a major difference is that when they play it out from the back, there is often no pressure on them till they get to the halfway line. In our league, they are on you at the edge of the area.

DKE is I think more effective than Brindley, at least he gets forward quicker. We need Turner at the back - we have cried out for years for someone like him, now we have him there's no room in the team. We need someone in midfield who can make something happen - I like Doyle but he needs someone with him who is a bit different. We also need Wootton to be on his game all the time and someone alongside him - I would give Sam an opportunity of a start.

But what do I know!

[drillerpie]

Barrow lost loads of games at the beginning of last season so nothing to worry about.

Only kidding, there's plenty to worry about; we keep losing to crap teams and it's not as if we're unlucky. We aren't losing having peppered their goal with shots, we aren't laying siege to the opposition penalty area, opposition defenders aren't diving all over the place to block shots. No, crap teams are beating us without even having to play that well. Having said that, Maidenhead was probably a worse performance; losing away to relegation fodder is not as bad as surrendering a lead to a relegation fodder at home, so that's progress of a sort.

Something's got to give. Personally I'd like to see Ardley get a bit rattled, and pass that edge on to the players. No more seeing the players are up for a game and 'calming them down' so they can play 'the right way'. This isn't academy football, it's 5th division, old school, spit and sawdust football played by hairy-arsed blokes who are trying to keep a wage coming in. Until they start awarding extra points for 22-pass moves I'd like to see us do the basics like turning teams around, harrying, pressing, forcing mistakes and playing the game in the opposition half.

I hope our current predicament causes Ardley to question himself, re-evaluate his tactics and realise he's not working in a consequence-free environment. Sometimes a little bit of self doubt is a very useful thing.

[nw6pie]

Barrow lost loads of games at the beginning of last season so nothing to worry about.

Only kidding, there's plenty to worry about; we keep losing to crap teams and it's not as if we're unlucky. We aren't losing having peppered their goal with shots, we aren't laying siege to the opposition penalty area, opposition defenders aren't diving all over the place to block shots. No, crap teams are beating us without even having to play that well. Having said that, Maidenhead was probably a worse performance; losing away to relegation fodder is not as bad as surrendering a lead to a relegation fodder at home, so that's progress of a sort.

Something's got to give. Personally I'd like to see Ardley get a bit rattled, and pass that edge on to the players. No more seeing the players are up for a game and 'calming them down' so they can play 'the right way'. This isn't academy football, it's 5th division, old school, spit and sawdust football played by hairy-arsed blokes who are trying to keep a wage coming in. Until they start awarding extra points for 22-pass moves I'd like to see us do the basics like turning teams around, harrying, pressing, forcing mistakes and playing the game in the opposition half.

I hope our current predicament causes Ardley to question himself, re-evaluate his tactics and realise he's not working in a consequence-free environment. Sometimes a little bit of self doubt is a very useful thing.

Great post. Unfortunately, Ardley will probably say the players are too anxious if he fires them up (if that’s even possible). We need more grit, more urgency, more devilment in the side. At the moment we’re just far too nice, far too passive. Something needs to change on Wednesday.

I expect Ben Turner to start, even though this means we’ll need to defend deeper because he has no pace. We may also need to rethink this 4-3-3 formation, too, as our midfield just isn’t powerful or mobile enough to dominate the opposition.

I’ve yet to see anything that suggests Elisha Sam has what it takes to play at even this level. I imagine he’ll only get a game in the FA Trophy, but I’d love him to prove me wrong. Knowles probably deserves more game time, though, after his goal against Maidenhead.

[uysapie]

Great post. Unfortunately, Ardley will probably say the players are too anxious if he fires them up (if that’s even possible). We need more grit, more urgency, more devilment in the side. At the moment we’re just far too nice, far too passive. Something needs to change on Wednesday.

I expect Ben Turner to start, even though this means we’ll need to defend deeper because he has no pace. We may also need to rethink this 4-3-3 formation, too, as our midfield just isn’t powerful or mobile enough to dominate the opposition.

I’ve yet to see anything that suggests Elisha Sam has what it takes to play at even this level. I imagine he’ll only get a game in the FA Trophy, but I’d love him to prove me wrong. Knowles probably deserves more game time, though, after his goal against Maidenhead.

He's got to go if we want to get out of this league.